Category Archives: pandemic

WHO: Array of Zika birth defects equals new syndrome | CIDRAP

WHO: Cast surveillance net beyond microcephaly Current evidence and unpublished data coming into the WHO are showing a wider range of birth defects besides microcephaly, including craniofacial disproportion, spasticity, seizures, irritability, eye problems, and brainstem dysfunction, leading to, for example, feeding difficulties. The WHO said clinicians are seeing a range of severity, including neurologic problems in babies born with normal head circumference, similar to those associated with other maternal infections. Unpublished data from Colombia and Panama, however, hint that Zika virus might be linked to other problems in babies, affecting the genitourinary, cardiac, and digestive systems, according to the report. The WHO said it has established a process to define the new congenital syndrome, which will focus on mapping and analyzing the clinical manifestations. Experts will need good antenatal and postnatal histories and follow-up data, lab findings, and neuroimaging results to flesh out the syndrome, the agency added.

Source: WHO: Array of Zika birth defects equals new syndrome | CIDRAP

3 E. coli cases linked to recalled flour reported in Chicago area – Chicago Tribune

The Chicago area has three reported cases of E. coli infection linked to a massive nationwide recall of General Mills flour, public health officials said Thursday.The illnesses occurred in Chicago, suburban Cook County and McHenry County, according to Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health. A fourth Illinois case was reported in Brown County, in western Illinois.General Mills recalled several varieties of Gold Medal flour Tuesday after an investigation led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified 38 cases of E. coli infections in 20 states connected with the products. The cases were traced back to flour produced in November at the General Mills facility in Kansas City, Mo.People began getting sick in December, according to the CDC. Ten people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

Source: 3 E. coli cases linked to recalled flour reported in Chicago area – Chicago Tribune

OpenFlights: FAQ

What can I do with OpenFlights? Quite a few things: Track exactly how far you’ve flown and how much time you’ve spent sitting on a plane. (Quite a few of our members have been to the Moon and back, but nobody has yet reached Mars.) See at a glance where you’ve been and where you’re going. Rapidly search your flight history: now when did I go to the Bahamas, and on what airline? Share your flights and trips with friends. Check where you can fly to from any airport, or any pair of airports. (Learn more) Check where you can fly to with any airline. (Learn more) Coordinate flights for conferences and other events. (Learn more) View your flights in gorgeous 3D with Google Earth and other visualization apps. (Learn more)

Source: OpenFlights: FAQ

Zika virus in Brazil: “The Games must be postponed: Zika will spread via unexpected channels” | In English | EL PAÍS

“The clearest consequence is that you increase the risk of spreading the virus and the disease. With half-a-million people going to Rio for the Games – not just the usual visitors but people coming from every corner of the world – you open up the possibility of someone from each one of those places getting infected. Once the individual returns to his country, the local mosquitoes may then transmit the disease,” says Amir Attaran, a professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Ottawa. Attaran co-authored the letter that more than 170 scientists have signed and sent to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Olympic Committee, urging them to postpone the upcoming Games – scheduled for August 5 to August 21 – until the Zika virus is no longer a threat. The letter also asks the organizations to consider moving the Games to another host country.

Source: Zika virus in Brazil: “The Games must be postponed: Zika will spread via unexpected channels” | In English | EL PAÍS

Avian Flu Diary: Detection Of Airborne H9 Nucleic Acid In Chinese Live Poultry Market

In China the link between live poultry markets (LPMs) and the spread (and reassortment of) avian flu strains is already well established, and it is easy to understand why. Large quantities of birds of varying species (chickens, ducks, geese, quail, and others) are brought in from different farms, housed together in cramped quarters, and then slaughtered (and often de-feathered) in open air booths as thousands of people walk by.  Not only does this expose humans to avian viruses, it facilitates the sharing of different avian flu subtypes (H5, H7, H9) among the birds, promoting continual reassortment and the creation of new clades, or subtypes.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Detection Of Airborne H9 Nucleic Acid In Chinese Live Poultry Market

WHO says ′no public health justification′ for postponing Olympics over Zika virus | News | DW.COM | 28.05.2016 – Deja vu Ebola Fail… economic and politics before public health by member states of WHO!

WHO noted, however, that people continue to travel between countries with the virus. There are also those who do not travel, for a number of other reasons. WHO has already urged pregnant women not to attend the games and in February called the virus a global health concern. The health experts questioned a possible conflict of interest because of WHO’s relationship with the International Olympics Committee. They called for an unbiased, evidence-based assessment to guide the UN health body. Moving the Olympics in such a short time period is not practical and cancelling or postponing the games would entail massive economic losses.

Source: WHO says ′no public health justification′ for postponing Olympics over Zika virus | News | DW.COM | 28.05.2016

WHO: Angola yellow fever deaths cross 300 | News | DW.COM | 27.05.2016

Yellow fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include a mild infection with fever, back pain and fatigue. But in 15 percent of cases, a second, toxic phase is experienced. This can lead to bleeding in the mouth, eyes and gastrointestinal tract. Around 20 percent of those who experience the toxic phase die. Although there is no specific treatment for yellow fever infection, vaccinations are recommended for travelers to tropical regions of Africa and Latin America’s Amazon region. Aid groups say poor health facilities and vaccine shortages are limiting Angola’s ability to cope with the outbreak. The WHO said 2.4 million doses of the yellow fever vaccine have been received and a further 2.6 million people will be receiving a jab in the next few weeks.

Source: WHO: Angola yellow fever deaths cross 300 | News | DW.COM | 27.05.2016

US warns of nearly invincible superbug | News | DW.COM | {The final “oops!”?}

US health officials reported Thursday that they had discovered the first case in the country of a patient with an infection resistant to all known antibiotics. The discovery raises fears that the so-called superbug could pose serious danger for routine infections if it spreads. “We know now that the more we look, the more we are going to find. We risk being in a post-antibiotic world,” said Thomas Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referring to the urinary tract infection of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman who had not travelled within the prior five months. “We need to do a very comprehensive job of protecting antibiotics, so we can have them and our children can have them,” Frieden added.

Source: US warns of nearly invincible superbug | News | DW.COM | 26.05.2016

Eurosurveillance – Europe at risk for Dengue, Zika, and CHIKV? You bet and at your nearest airport!

The outbreak of seven autochthonous dengue cases reported by Succo et al. in this issue of Eurosurveillance [6] was triggered by one infected traveller returning from French Polynesia in the summer of 2015, and occurred in an area where another vector, Ae. albopictus, the Asian Tiger mosquito, was established in 2005. This is not the first event of local transmission of DENV reported in Europe in recent years. Since 2010, at least 23 dengue cases were detected. In September 2010, two autochthonous cases of dengue fever were identified in Nice, southern France. The index case had friends from the West French Indies staying with him, while the second case was an individual living nearby [7]. In the summer of the same year, another transmission event occurred in Croatia [8,9]. The index case was a German man returning in mid-August from a two-week holiday spent at the Peljesac peninsula and the isle of Korĉula, ca 100 km north-west of Dubrovnik. A second autochthonous case, and other 15 individuals with serological evidence of recent infection, were identified in October 2010. How the virus was introduced in Croatia remains unclear. In 2013 and 2014, five autochthonous case of dengue were identified in southern France, one in Bouches-du-Rhône (2013) [10], and four in Aubage and Toulon-Hìres (2014) [11]. Ae. albopictus was the vector in all the transmission events listed here. Dengue is not the only Aedes-borne viral disease threatening the health of European citizens. Nearly 10 years ago, in the summer of 2007, more than 250 cases of chikungunya occurred in the north-east of Italy [12]. The primary case was a viraemic individual arriving from the Indian State of Kerala. The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) implicated in the sustained outbreak carried the A226V mutation, which increases virus fitness and is usually detected in areas where the Tiger mosquito is the predominant vector [13]. In September 2010, autochthonous transmission of the CHIKV was also identified in south-east France, where chikungunya was diagnosed in two children living in the same area as another child who developed a febrile illness after returning from Rajasthan, India [14].

Source: Eurosurveillance – View Article

Study: Different resistant E coli strains can cross-protect | CIDRAP “So, who’s smarter – humans or bacteria? No contest…”

Two strains of bacteria resistant to different antibiotics can protect each other in an environment where both drugs are present, according to the first experimental study of microbial cross-protection published last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Physics explored the potential of mutualism—an interaction that benefits two different species—on two strains of Escherichia coli, one of which was resistant to ampicillin and the other resistant to chloramphenicol.

Source: Study: Different resistant E coli strains can cross-protect | CIDRAP