Category Archives: pandemic

Avian Flu Diary: WHO SitRep : Zika, Microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome – March 31st

Zika virus, Microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome Read the full situation report Summary From 1 January 2007 to 30 March 2016, Zika virus transmission was documented in a total of 61 countries and territories. Four of these (Cook Islands, French Polynesia, ISLA DE PASCUA – Chile, and New Caledonia) reported a Zika virus outbreak that is now over. Six countries have now reported locally acquired infection in the absence of any known mosquito vectors, probably through sexual transmission (Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and the United States of America). In the Region of the Americas, the geographical distribution of Zika virus has steadily widened since the presence of the virus was confirmed in 2015. Mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission has been reported in 33 countries and territories of this region. In the Western Pacific Region, mosquito-borne Zika virus cases have been reported in 16 countries and areas. Microcephaly and other fetal malformations have been reported in Brazil (944 cases), Cabo Verde (two cases), Colombia (32 cases), French Polynesia (eight cases), Martinique (one case) and Panama (one case). Two additional cases, linked to a stay in Brazil, were detected in the United States of America and Slovenia. In the context of Zika virus circulation, 13 countries or territories have reported an increased incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and/or laboratory confirmation of a Zika virus infection among GBS cases. Based on observational, cohort and case-control studies there is strong scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of GBS, microcephaly and other neurological disorders. The global prevention and control strategy launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Strategic Response Framework encompasses surveillance, response activities and research. This situation report is organized under those headings.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: WHO SitRep : Zika, Microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome – March 31st

Ebola no longer poses global risk, says WHO | News | DW.COM | 29.03.2016

{The very non-health related desire to say everything is OK now, is the same reaction that caused WHO and its member nations to urge calm and under-react to Ebola – which gave Ebola all the time it needed to outstrip several nation’s ability to fight it. Immediate “economic” concerns that drive this behavior may well be the leading cause of the pandemic that kills millions!}

Chan stressed that the three worst affected countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – remain vulnerable to Ebola flare-ups, including an ongoing cluster of cases in Guinea, which has left five people dead.But the UN’s health agency said all original chains of virus transmission have now ended.Chan said the “risk of international spread is now low, and…countries currently have the capacity to respond rapidly to new virus emergences.”Her statement brings to an end a nearly 20-month emergency that started in Guinea in late 2013, saw 28,638 cases emerge and 11,300 deaths.

Source: Ebola no longer poses global risk, says WHO | News | DW.COM | 29.03.2016

Tick saliva discovery could be key to treating blood and immune disorders – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The discovery of how the proteins in a tick’s saliva stop a human’s immune system from running amok could be the answer to treating life-threatening blood disorders, researchers say.

Source: Tick saliva discovery could be key to treating blood and immune disorders – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Curcumin may help fight drug-resistant tuberculosis | Vaccine News

Asians have long used turmeric to treat a variety of health conditions. Turmeric also has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and potentially anticancer properties. The health investigators discovered that provoking macrophages, which are human immune cells, can fight off experimentally infected cells within cultures. The infected cells have Mycobacterium TB, which causes TB bacteria to grow and spread through humans. Curcumin is able to stimulate these macrophages to fight the disease. This process was able to activate a cellular molecule, nuclear factor-kappa B. Curcumin can modulate the immune system against Mycobacterium TB, which suggests that it could be used as a new TB treatment that wouldn’t cause as much drug-resistance as traditional methods. “Our study has provided basic evidence that curcumin protects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in human cells,” Dr. Xiyuan Bai, lead author of the study that appears in Respirology, said. “The protective role of curcumin to fight drug-resistant tuberculosis still needs confirmation, but if validated, curcumin may become a novel treatment to modulate the host immune response to overcome drug-resistant tuberculosis.”

Source: Curcumin may help fight drug-resistant tuberculosis | Vaccine News

Water crisis in Marathwada worsens as 7 dams dry up – Times of India

{A shift of 5% of total water for agriculture in India can mean famine conditions and will pull down India’s resources significantly – do not know at present how drop in this state will affect overall needs}

A top bureaucrat said, “Last year, only one dam had reached zero level. This time, there are seven of them, so we are forced to lift water from the dead stock, which will not last long.” Marathwada has 11 big dams in all. The Jaikwadi one is the largest, with an irrigation potential of 2.37 lakh hectares and storage capacity of 2,171 million cubic litres. The other dams at zero level are Majalgaon, Manjara, Lower Terna, Manar, Siddheshwar and Sina-Kolegaon.

Source: Water crisis in Marathwada worsens as 7 dams dry up – Times of India

The worst is yet to come: New virus even deadlier than Ebola, Zika may emerge, warn Swiss scientists | Christian News on Christian Today

The worst is yet to come: New virus even deadlier than Ebola, Zika may emerge, warn Swiss scientists Andre Mitchell 23 March 2016 Email Print More Sharing Services Share (Wikipedia) Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo, or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under an electron microscope. The coronavirus is now recognised as the etiologic agent of the 2003 SARS outbreak. In 2014, the Ebola virus outbreak killed more than 11,000 people in Africa. This year, the Zika virus is currently affecting millions of people and even unborn children in South America, prompting the declaration of a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO). If you think you’ve seen the worst in terms of deadly diseases, think again. In a study published last week in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” scientists from Switzerland warned that a deadlier virus may emerge, causing more illnesses and deaths. According to a report on WND.com, the Swiss scientists described the virus as something similar to the one which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS, which killed over 700 people during an outbreak in southern China from November 2002 to July 2003. The virus, which is called “WIV1-CoV,” may come from zoonotic sources, meaning it may be transmitted from animals to human beings. It is likely to exhibit flu-like symptoms which will eventually escalate into pneumonia. “Focusing on the SARS-like viruses, the results indicate that the WIV1-coronavirus (CoV) cluster has the ability to directly infect and may undergo limited transmission in human populations,” the researchers wrote in their study. Lead researcher Dr. Vineet Menachery of Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explained that the transmission of this new virus to humans is not yet a certainty, but if it happens, the scenario is discouraging. “This virus may never jump to humans, but if it does, WIV1-CoV has the potential to seed a new outbreak with significant consequences for both public health and the global economy,” the lead scientist explained.

Source: The worst is yet to come: New virus even deadlier than Ebola, Zika may emerge, warn Swiss scientists | Christian News on Christian Today

Puerto Rico Braces for Its Own Zika Epidemic – The New York Times

A quarter of the island’s 3.5 million people will probably get the Zika virus within a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and eventually 80 percent or more may be infected. “I’m very concerned,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the C.D.C. director, said in an interview after a recent three-day visit to Puerto Rico. “There could be thousands of infections of pregnant women this year.” The epidemic is unfolding in one of the country’s most popular vacation destinations, where planes and cruise ships disembark thousands of tourists daily. Anyone could carry the virus back home, seeding a mosquito-borne outbreak or transmitting it sexually. Health officials here have begun intensive efforts to stop the virus, which has been linked to abnormally small heads and brain damage in babies born to infected mothers, and to paralysis in adults.

Source: Puerto Rico Braces for Its Own Zika Epidemic – The New York Times

Avian Flu Diary: Germany’s RKI Statement On Lassa Fever Cluster In Cologne – Oops!

The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health provides only spotty updates on the outbreak, but two days ago CNN reported in Lassa fever death rates in Nigeria higher than expected): NCDC’s latest report, dated 14 March 2016, the total number of reported cases is 254 (129 of which confirmed by lab tests) and the total number of deaths (suspected, probable and confirmed) is 137, with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 53.9%. Remarkable because last year (2015),  Nigeria reported 250 cases (likely a substantial under count) and only 8 deaths. Normally, 80% who are infected only experience mild symptoms, and the overall mortality rate is believed to be in the 1% to 2% range (although it runs higher (15%-20%) among those sick enough to be hospitalized). The Lassa virus is commonly carried by multimammate rats, a local rodent that often likes to enter human dwellings. Exposure is typically through the urine or dried feces of infected rodents, although human-to-human transmission is possible. Over the years we’ve seen a number of imported cases of Lassa fever to Europe, and into the United States (see here and here). Despite the potential for H-2-H transmission, we’ve never seen a cluster of cases outside of Africa. Until now.  About 10 days ago the medical director of a missionary hospital in Togo, who had been transferred to a hospital in Cologne, Germany, died of Lassa fever.  Yesterday German authorities announced that three contacts of his – including the mortician who prepared his body – have been diagnosed with Lassa.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Germany’s RKI Statement On Lassa Fever Cluster In Cologne