Two Asian countries reported on different strains of avian influenza being a potentialdanger in food this weekend–Vietnam advised against eating tiet canh, or raw duck or goose blood soup during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays because of the risk of H5N1 avian influenza, and in China’s Guangdong Province, health officials tested samples of goose meat sold at a Guangzhou market, which turned out positive for H7N9 avian influenza.
Category Archives: pandemic
Goose meat tests positive for H7N9 in Chinese city – Xinhua | English.news.cn
As the wet/live poultry and pig markets build up for sales prior to Lunar New Year, the cases of deadly flu will increase, unless authorities really control cleanliness of the markets. Millions of live animals will be sold for Lunar New Year.
“According to expert assessments, Guangdong faces an extremely high risk of sporadic human H7N9 infections in winter and next spring,” said Zhang Yonghui, head of the provincial CDCP.
The cases may occur at any time across the province and the Pearl River Delta region requires special attention, Zhang said.
The province has urged local agricultural and forestry authorities to strengthen daily management, tests and disinfection of live poultry markets and crack down on illegal wildlife trade.
Antiflu drugs such as Tamiflu should be used within 48 hours by those who show flu symptoms such as fever and have been in contact with poultry, said Chen Yuansheng, director of the provincial health and family planning commission.
The Chinese mainland has reported more than 140 human cases of the deadly virus since it emerged in March, including 45 fatalities.”
via Goose meat tests positive for H7N9 in Chinese city – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
Pakistan’s Polio Campaign Runs Into Taliban Wall – Inter Press Service
Pakistan’s Polio Campaign Runs Into Taliban Wall – Inter Press Service.
Religion is not the block, politics and power is.
IRIN Africa | Plague in Madagascar | Madagascar | Governance | Health & Nutrition | Urban Risk
The bubonic plague season arrived in Madagascar earlier than usual in 2013, and with it an apparently greater prevalence of a more deadly strain of the disease.
Between September and December the health ministry reported 42 known deaths and 84 cases from the illness in four of the country’s 112 districts. The cases have been recorded at various geographical locations: Mandritsara in the north, Soanierana Ivongo in the northwest, Ikongo in the southwest, and Tsiroanomandidy in the central highlands.
via IRIN Africa | Plague in Madagascar | Madagascar | Governance | Health & Nutrition | Urban Risk.
Drug-Resistant Bacteria on Chicken: It’s Everywhere and the Government Can’t Help – Wired Science
Two important, linked publications are out today, both carrying the same message: The way we raise poultry in this country is creating an under-appreciated health hazard, and the government structures we depend upon to detect that hazard and protect us from it are failing us.
The two pubs are:
A long piece that will be in the Feb. 2014 edition of Consumer Reports but has been placed online today.
A companion report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, addressing some of the systemic problems raised by the Consumer Reports story.
Short version: Independent tests show that multi-drug resistant disease-causing bacteria are widely present on chicken, and the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has insufficient personnel, or legal authority, to change that.
via Drug-Resistant Bacteria on Chicken: It’s Everywhere and the Government Can’t Help – Wired Science.
VDU’s blog: Influenza A (H10N8) virus, the new kid one the block…
Step by step we seem to be getting familiar with the entire influenza spectrum of naming combinations and permutations. When you consider that even 2 influenza viruses with the same common naming scheme (like H7N9) may have completely different evolutionary histories and clicnial impact, well, influenza is a tough act to follow epidemiologically.
The latest, called H10N8 was detected in a human (73-year old female) for the first time Dec-6th. H10N8 has been found in the environment in the past.
via VDU’s blog: Influenza A (H10N8) virus, the new kid one the block….
Zoonotic TB may be public health threat in Zambia | Vaccine News Daily
According to the research, Namwala contains a large degree of genetic variation amongst M. tuberculosis strains in humans and the bacteria isolated from humans and cattle are respectively related. Because the bacterium is found in cattle, the animals may be a reservoir for human tuberculosis. Humans may become infected with M. tuberculosis and M. bovis by eating untested meat and by drinking unpasteurized milk.Malama concludes that health authorities, cattle owners and wildlife managers must work together to stop zoonotic TB in Namwala and its bordering areas. He said a one health approach adapted to local needs should be employed to control the spread of TB in the area.The incidence of all forms of human TB in Zambia is estimated to be 444 infections per 100,000 people.
via Zoonotic TB may be public health threat in Zambia | Vaccine News Daily.
Proliferation of Multidrug-Resistant New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase Genes in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants in Northern China – Environmental Science & Technology Letters (ACS Publications)
This is the first report of the occurrence, persistence, and fate of NDM-1 genes through different processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Conjugation experiments with an NDM-1-positive Achromobacter sp. isolated from a WWTP and indigenous bacteria in Haihe River sediment were also conducted to address the potential propagation of NDM-1 genes in environments receiving WWTP discharges. Knowledge of the distribution of NDM-1 genes in WWTPs and the associated discharge patterns helps inform strategies for mitigating the propagation of multidrug resistance determinants and the associated risks to public health.
Health Alert Network | HAN Archive – 00358
Notice to Public Health Officials and Clinicians: Recognizing, Managing, and Reporting Chikungunya Virus Infections in Travelers Returning from the Caribbean
Summary
On December 7, 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the first local (autochthonous) transmission of chikungunya virus in the Americas. As of December 12th, 10 cases of chikungunya have been confirmed in patients who reside on the French side of St. Martin in the Caribbean. Laboratory testing is pending on additional suspected cases. Onset of illness for confirmed cases was between October 15 and December 4. At this time, there are no reports of other suspected chikungunya cases outside St. Martin. However, further spread to other countries in the region is possible.
Bubonic plague killed 20 villagers in Madagascar, health experts confirm | World news | theguardian.com
Once feared as the Black Death – the rodent-born disease that wiped out a third of the world\’s population in the Middle Ages – bubonic plague has killed 20 villagers in Madagascar in one of the worst outbreaks globally in recent years, health experts have confirmed.
The confirmation that bubonic plague was responsible for the deaths last week near the north-western town of Mandritsara follows a warning in October from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the island nation was at risk of a plague epidemic.
The Pasteur Institute of Madagascar revealed on Tuesday that tests taken from bodies in the village last week showed that they had died of the bubonic plague. The institute added it was concerned the disease could spread to towns and cities where living standards have declined since a coup in 2009.

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