Category Archives: environment

CDC probes rise in AFM cases as Washington reports cluster | CIDRAP (As current polio is close to eradication – is the virus trying to find new pathways to fulfilling its “purpose?”)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating a national increase in acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) this year, with a surge in recent months, a pattern that may be linked to a recent cluster of suspected cases in Washington state.Though this year’s cases of AFM—marked by sudden onset of limb weakness associated with spinal cord inflammation—haven’t reached levels seen in 2014 when the condition first appeared on the national radar with 120 cases reported, the CDC said it is worried about the recent uptick.No common cause identifiedIn an update on its AFM page yesterday, the CDC said as of Sep 30, 89 AFM cases have been confirmed in 33 states, mostly in children. The rise in cases from across the country began in August, and the CDC said it has been actively investigating the illness since then.For comparison, in 2015 the agency received reports of 21 confirmed AFM cases from 16 states.

Source: CDC probes rise in AFM cases as Washington reports cluster | CIDRAP

CDC highlights high-risk Zika areas in South Florida | CIDRAP – not going away – wait till next spring for a major outbreak in the Gulf States

Almost 900 US pregnant women infectedIt its weekly Zika case update today the CDC said infections have been reported in 21 more pregnant women in the continental United States, putting the total at 899. The US territories reported 121 more illnesses in pregnant women, boosting its total to 1,927, most of them from Puerto Rico.The number of Zika-affected pregnancies in the states remained at 25 live births and 5 pregnancy losses, and the CDC has not yet posted the latest totals from the territories.For Zika-infected travelers, 71 more cases were reported from US states, bringing the total to 3,878. The CDC subtracted 1 sexual transmission case from its total, putting that number at 32, and added 1 more Zika-related Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) case, making 14 so far.US territories reported 1,443 more local infections, boosting the total to 27,314 illnesses so far, about 99% in hard-hit Puerto Rico. The number of GBS complications held steady at 40.

Source: CDC highlights high-risk Zika areas in South Florida | CIDRAP

Zika virus found in Florida blood bank, mosquitoes | CIDRAP

Despite increased surveillance, spraying, and testing, Florida is still experiencing signs of widening Zika virus transmission, based on positive blood bank samples and detection of another positive mosquito pool.Also, Public Health England found Asian Tiger mosquito eggs in southeast England, a first for that country.Pool, blood bank detectionsAccording to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, an eighth pool of mosquitoes has tested positive for Zika virus in Miami Beach, one of two active transmission zones in Miami-Dade County. The positive sample was from a trap located at 1236 Drexel Ave in Miami Beach.Despite testing 5,400 mosquito samples across the state, all eight positive traps have come from Miami Beach. According to an online statement, the department said “Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control team will continue to conduct inspections to reduce mosquito breeding and perform spray treatments as necessary in a minimum of 200-yard radius around the trap location.”In addition to the positive mosquito pool, a Seattle Times story yesterday confirmed that Zika virus had been found in a few units of donated blood in Florida. The Food and Drug Administration confirmed this discovery but did not say how many units had been detected.In July, blood donations stopped in Broward and Miami-Dade counties until Zika testing began. Earlier this year, it was estimated that 1% of all blood donations in Puerto Rico were positive for Zika virus, and many have suggested that a similar trend will be seen in Florida.In August, FDA officials urged at-risk states (Florida, Texas) to begin testing blood bank donations for Zika virus.

Source: Zika virus found in Florida blood bank, mosquitoes | CIDRAP

Culex mosquitoes in Nha Trang contains Zika virus – oops

Culex mosquitoes in Nha Trang contains Zika virusSaturday, 15.10.2016, 18:45 PM(Tieudung24h.vn) – A survey of the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology showed that viral Zika pretty much hidden midges.HCMC add 2 women infected ZikaZika virus invade 70 countries and territoriesZika raging in Singapore, Vietnam Ministry of Health to discuss how to respondInstitute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has summed up the survey to learn about viral Zika, in total nearly 24,000 female Culex natural form in Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa), detected 56 children brought Zika virus, accounting for approximately 0 , 3%.Also, there are 29 children tested positive for dengue virus causes hemorrhagic fever , accounting for 0.12% rate.TTU April so far has recorded 9 Zika patients in 5 provinces.

Source: Culex mosquitoes in Nha Trang contains Zika virus

‘True Scale’ of India’s Tuberculosis Problem: 2.8 Million New Cases – The New York Times

Finally coming to terms with the enormity of its tuberculosis problem, India is preparing a radical overhaul and expansion of its national treatment program to fight an affliction that kills more adults worldwide than any other infectious disease.The severity of the matter was underscored on Thursday when the World Health Organization substantially increased its estimate of the number of new patients with TB in India, to 2.8 million in 2015, compared with 2.2 million in 2014 — more than in any other country in the world and more than a quarter of the world total.

Source: ‘True Scale’ of India’s Tuberculosis Problem: 2.8 Million New Cases – The New York Times

New Zika cases confirmed in Miami Beach | CIDRAP

Active transmission in Miami BeachAfter a weekend of extreme weather due to Hurricane Matthew, the Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) is reporting more cases of locally transmitted Zika virus in the Miami Beach area.Yesterday and today, Florida Health said there were six non-travel related cases—three of which are tied to Miami Beach—and one case in a non-Florida resident who contracted the virus when traveling in the Wynwood neighborhood earlier this summer. There are now 147 locally acquired Zika cases in Florida, plus 19 cases in non-Florida residents.

Source: New Zika cases confirmed in Miami Beach | CIDRAP

More Zika mosquitoes found in Miami Beach | CIDRAP – When will governments care more about health than tourist dollars?

Traps show mosquitoes still in Miami BeachDespite more than a month of ground and aerial spraying, officials in Florida reported that a trap in Miami Beach showed Aedes mosquitos harboring the Zika virus over the weekend. This was the sixth Zika-positive mosquito pool found in Miami Beach since Aug 19, and the first to show Zika-carrying bugs in the Mid-Beach neighborhood (the previous five mosquito pools were found in South Beach), according to the Miami Herald.The trap was located at 575 W. 49th street, near the La Gorce Golf Course. More than 64,000 Florida mosquitos have been tested for Zika virus since May; only the six pools in Miami Beach have tested positive for mosquitos carrying Zika virus.This was the first time health officials released the location of the traps as soon as samples tested positive, a move promoted by the Herald’s Sep 28 lawsuit that demanded the state release the location of traps that tested positive for Zika.The news comes after Florida Health, the state’s Department of Health, reported five more cases of locally acquired Zika virus on Sep 30 and nine more cases today. All nine cases were in Miami-Dade County; seven people had exposure in Miami Beach, and exposure in the other seven cases is currently under investigation.Also, Florida Health reported one more infection in an out-of-state resident who was exposed to Zika in Miami-Dade County and three new cases in those who traveled to both Miami-Dade County and countries where the virus is circulating, so exposure location can’t be definitively pinned down.The state now has recorded 133 local cases, 16 in out-of-state people, and 4 of undetermined exposure source.

Source: More Zika mosquitoes found in Miami Beach | CIDRAP

Timber Company Tells California Town, Go Find Your Own Water – The New York Times – People to Company – “your time will come (end)!

Watching the water dispute warily are members of the Winnemem Wintu, a small Native American tribe that considers the slopes of Mount Shasta sacred.According to tribal beliefs, one of the springs on the mountain is the place where animals and mankind emerged into the world. Six years ago, for the first time in the oral history of the tribe, that spring dried up, according to Luisa Navejas, a tribe member.The water around Mount Shasta is not limitless, she said.“This mountain is calling us now, and we need to listen,” Ms. Navejas said of the inactive volcano.“This mountain will talk,” she said. “The time will come.”

Source: Timber Company Tells California Town, Go Find Your Own Water – The New York Times

Delhi economy hit hard by mosquito-borne diseases | Asia | DW.COM | 30.09.2016

The latter is what knocked out Golu Kumar Paswan a week ago. The 18-year-old, who works as a laborer in a manufacturing facility, developed a high fever and pain. The virus has sapped him of all energy, making it impossible for him to go to work.”My company doesn’t pay me when I don’t show up, so I’m losing out on my wages, which I need desperately to pay for my rent in Delhi and to send back to my family in the Uttar Pradesh state,” Paswan said. “Things are really difficult. How am I going to survive?”Worker crunch hits industrial outputIt’s a question that many of Paswan’s fellow migrant workers laid low by the viral illnesses have answered by packing up their bags and leaving for their villages.That has left the over 1,500 small-scale factories in Mayapuri, an industrial hub that relies on the steady supply of cheap labor from the neighboring slums. Everything from car parts, textiles to machinery is produced here. The area has witnessed a 20 percent dip in production and profits because workers have been calling in sick or leaving to go back home.

Source: Delhi economy hit hard by mosquito-borne diseases | Asia | DW.COM | 30.09.2016

Congress Finally Agrees To Budget $1.1 Billion To Fight Zika: Gothamist

Yesterday, members of Congress remembered they are obligated to, like, do stuff, when they narrowly avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to allocate $1.1 billion to fight Zika.Initially, the bill was held up thanks to language that would bar funds from Planned Parenthood, since any effort to boost women’s healthcare is akin to slaughtering schoolchildren on national television. (Note that the actual slaughter of schoolchildren fails to prompt any Congressional action.) But yesterday the Senate approved the bill by a vote of 72-26, and later in the day the House of Representatives approved it 342-85, narrowly averting a shutdown that would leave the government without money to operate Friday at midnight.President Obama, who requested $1.9 billion in Zika funding in February, is expected to sign the bill into law by tomorrow. Though an initial iteration of the legislation prohibited funds from going to Planned Parenthood, that language has since been removed. “Women’s health should never be treated like a political football,” Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington, told NPR. “I am glad that Republicans finally agreed to set aside the extreme provisions that would have specifically blocked Planned Parenthood health care providers from accessing critical funding.”

Source: Congress Finally Agrees To Budget $1.1 Billion To Fight Zika: Gothamist