WHO adviceGiven the increased transmission of Zika virus in the Region of the Americas, PAHO/WHO recommends that its Member States establish and maintain the capacity to detect and confirm cases of Zika virus infection, prepare their health services for a potential additional burden at all levels of health care, and implement an effective public communications strategy to reduce the mosquitoes that transmit this disease, particularly in areas where this vector is present. The complete set of recommendations is available in the latest Epidemiological Update (see related links)
Category Archives: pandemic
Avian Flu Diary: Media: Locally Acquired Zika Virus Now Reported In Panama
Health authorities today confirmed the existence of the first three cases of zika in Panama, a virus transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti and whose symptoms are similar to those of dengue.
Source: Avian Flu Diary: Media: Locally Acquired Zika Virus Now Reported In Panama
Learning from Ebola: Why MERS needs to be taken seriously
As with Ebola, there are few, if any, tools currently available to use in the case of a major outbreak of MERS. Experts point to last spring’s crippling outbreak in South Korea — 186 cases, 37 deaths, hospitals closed to new admissions, all stemming from a businessman who came home sick from the Middle East — as evidence of the danger of underestimating the coronavirus.Because the MERS virus can be transmitted through coughs and sneezes, its spread could be even more difficult to stop than Ebola, which people only catch if they have contact with blood and body fluids.You can generally avoid someone else’s bodily fluids, if you know you need to. But breathing is not an optional endeavor.
Source: Learning from Ebola: Why MERS needs to be taken seriously
Avian Flu Diary: Brazilian MOH Reports 500 New Microcephaly Cases In Past Week
In most years, the number of cases of this rare defect reported across Brazil runs in the low triple digits. Over the past two weeks we’ve seen that number jump from 399, to 739, to now 1248 suspected cases. This jump coincides with the arrival of the Zika Virus last spring (see ECDC: Complications Potentially Linked To The Zika Virus Outbreaks In Brazil & French Polynesia), and there is growing concern that the rapidly spreading Zika virus is to blame. Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition where the child’s head is smaller in circumference than normal, and is often associated with developmental disorders. It can be caused by congenital disorders, maternal illness, or environmental exposures.
Source: Avian Flu Diary: Brazilian MOH Reports 500 New Microcephaly Cases In Past Week
Hepatitis C cure may cost as low as Rs 67k
In a move that comes as a huge relief to patients of chronic Hepatitis C, the apex committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has granted a waiver of local trials for crucial new direct-acting antiviral drugs treating the disease.
Eco-protesters delay German environment minister Hendrick′s train to Paris | News | DW.COM | 28.11.2015

As Hendrick’s train pulled into Frankfurt station on Saturday en route to the French capital, protesters chained themselves to the railway tracks, police said.Others descended by ropes onto the train, which stopped in Europe’s financial capital en route from Berlin where Germany’s environment minister and her 30-strong entourage had boarded.Hendricks and her team were traveling to Paris for the global climate change conference which gets underway on Monday.German journalist Harriett Wolf tweeted that as the demonstrators had refused to come down, officers had no choice but to climb onto the train’s roof.
Microcephaly – Brazil
The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Brazil has provided PAHO/WHO with an update regarding the unusual increase in the number of cases of microcephaly among newborns in the northeast of Brazil. As of 21 November, a total of 739 cases of microcephaly were being investigated in nine states in the northeast of Brazil. The distribution of the cases was as follows: Pernambuco (487 cases), Paraíba (96 cases), Sergipe (54 cases), Rio Grande do Norte (47 cases), Piauí (27 cases), Alagoas (10 cases), Ceará (9 cases), Bahia (8 cases) and Goiás (1 case). One fatal case was reported in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.
Source: Microcephaly – Brazil
Avian Flu Diary: Post-Zika Outbreak Spike In Congenital Abnormalities In Brazil & French Polynesia
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the HSE and HPSC are advising women who are pregnant or who might become pregnant to ensure that they make every effort to protect themselves against biting mosquitos while travelling in areas affected by Zika virus disease. Zika virus infection is a febrile illness caused by Zika virus (ZIKAV). ZIKAV is spread by infected biting Aedes mosquitoes and can be found in a number of countries in the tropics (see here for a map of affected areas).Authorities in Brazil and French Polynesia who have been monitoring extensive outbreaks of ZIKAV disease in these countries (each consisting of many thousands of ZIKAV cases) have begun – in the last two months – to see the emergence of large numbers of brain and skull abnormalities in new born babies. Currently there are 17 cases of brain abnormality under investigation in French Polynesia and more than 700 cases of microcephaly in north-eastern Brazil (microcephaly is a congenital condition in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and it is frequently associated with markedly impaired intellectual development).
Source: Avian Flu Diary: Post-Zika Outbreak Spike In Congenital Abnormalities In Brazil & French Polynesia
International travel and acquisition of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae: a systematic review
International travel is considered to be an important risk factor for acquisition of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (MRE). The aim of this systematic review was to determine the effect of international travel on the risk of post-travel faecal carriage of MRE. Secondary outcomes were risk factors for acquisition of MRE. A systematic search for relevant literature in seven international databases was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Articles needed to report on (i) foreign travel, (ii) screening of asymptomatic participants, (iii) antimicrobial susceptibility data and (iv) faecal Enterobacteriaceae carriage. Two researchers independently screened the abstracts, assessed the full article texts for eligibility and selected or rejected them for inclusion in the systematic review. In case of disagreement, a third researcher decided on inclusion. Eleven studies were identified. In all studies, a high prevalence (
Source: International travel and acquisition of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae: a systematic review
Climate Refugees and a Collapsing City | Inter Press Service
“Over the next two to three decades millions of people will no longer be able to live and earn their livelihoods from farming and fishing as they are now,” said Saleemul Huq, a senior fellow with the Climate Change Group of the International Institute for Environment and Development.Conversely, prolonged droughts are affecting arable land by causing soil erosion and damaging crops that depend on predictable monsoon patterns.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates 20 million people will be displaced in Bangladesh in the coming five years. That is more than the cumulative populations of Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. And this should be very worrying.Even now, many of the half-a-million-plus people who move their families – along with their hopes – to Dhaka, are driven there by the effects of climate change.
Source: Climate Refugees and a Collapsing City | Inter Press Service
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