Category Archives: pandemic

Saudi Arabia reports 12 MERS cases; UAE adds 1 | CIDRAP

The three linked cases involved three men from Hofuf, ages 76, 62, and 59, all of them in stable condition. The 76-year-old, who got sick on Jan 19, owns a camel farm, has frequent contact with camels, and drinks raw camel milk, the WHO said. He has no history of exposure to other risk factors.

The 59-year-old and the 62-year-old fell ill on Jan 28 and 29, respectively. Like the older man, they both have other illnesses, and neither was exposed to other risk factors in the 2 weeks before getting sick.

Of the other seven patients noted in the WHO statement, only one is a healthcare worker, and three are foreigners. One patient, an 80-year-old man who lived in Riyadh, died on Feb 1. Another patient, a 62-year-old man from Riyadh, has no symptoms and was identified by tracing and testing contacts of an earlier case-patient.

Aside from the asymptomatic patient and the man who died, all the patients were in stable condition, the WHO reported.

In a third statement yesterday, the WHO added a few details on the MERS case in a 55-year-old man in Qatar, which was announced Feb 1 by the nation’s Supreme Council of Health. The WHO said he is a foreigner living in the city of Al-Shahaniya who fell ill on Jan 28 and was hospitalized Feb 1.

The man, who is in stable condition, often had contact with camels and goats but has no other known risk factors for MERs and no comorbidities, the WHO said.

The WHO’s current MERS count is 977 confirmed cases, with at least 359 deaths.

via Saudi Arabia reports 12 MERS cases; UAE adds 1 | CIDRAP.

BBC News – ‘Wild birds may spread flu virus’

Outbreaks in poultry may become more common in the future, especially in ill-prepared countries, they warn.

A severe strain found at a duck farm in the UK last year may have been carried by wild birds out of Russia, according to Dutch researchers.

The virus is a low human health risk, but wild birds on long migratory routes should be monitored, they say.

H5N8 is a strain of bird flu that appeared late last year in Russia, East Asia, North America and four European countries, including the UK.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

The outbreaks should be monitored closely, given that several animal species are susceptible and that influenza viruses are generally unpredictable”

Flu researchers

Erasmus Medical Center

via BBC News – ‘Wild birds may spread flu virus’.

Free from Ebola, survivors complain of new syndrome | Reuters

Ben Neumann, a virologist at Britain’s Reading University who studies Ebola and other viruses and their effects, notes that Lassa virus, which comes from West Africa and causes a similar disease to Ebola, has also been reported as having longer-term health effects.

“(Lassa) survivors often report signs of nerve damage such as loss of hearing,” he told Reuters, adding that it would be “surprising that something as damaging as Ebola did not have lasting effects.”

The current lack of knowledge about post-Ebola health effects is probably “due to Ebola being a rare virus that left few survivors before this outbreak,” he said.

via Free from Ebola, survivors complain of new syndrome | Reuters.

Happy Lunar New Year – Tet_ Avian flu rampages in Taiwan, hits China, India | CIDRAP

Taiwan yesterday reported more than 100 avian flu outbreaks of three different subtypes, affecting hundreds of thousands of poultry, while China and India reported fresh outbreaks as well.

In addition, Bulgaria reported finding the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus H5N1 in a wild bird, while Nigerian officials said H5N1 outbreaks have struck lately in 11 states around the country.

Scores of Taiwan outbreaks

In a report to the World Organization for animal Health (OIE), Taiwan officials said 108 waterfowl farms were struck by HPAI H5N8 outbreaks. The farms are in Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, and Pingtung counties and the cities of Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Taichung. Officials said 52 of the farms also were affected by HPAI H5N2 viruses.

via Avian flu rampages in Taiwan, hits China, India | CIDRAP.

Tests reveal H5N1 in Israeli turkeys, four countries report other strains | CIDRAP

{Will resist joke about Israeli turkeys and their upcoming elections – but too many have been looking the other way or have had heads in sand hoping that global trade in live chicks of ducks, turkeys, geese, chickens, quail did not

blow up in their our faces. Problem has now come home to roost and attempts to “blame” wild birds will not fly!}

Israel outbreak details

Israel’s agriculture ministry said tests have confirmed H5N1 as the cause of an outbreak at a turkey farm in Haifa, the largest city in the northern part of the country, according to a Jan 18 report to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The event began on Jan 14 at a fattening facility, with deaths occurring in 5 of the farm’s 13 pens. Of 141,000 susceptible birds, the illness sickened 30,000 of them, killing 15,000.

via Tests reveal H5N1 in Israeli turkeys, four countries report other strains | CIDRAP.

New ‘super mosquito’ discovered in Mali | Vaccine News Daily

CRAP!

A new “super mosquito” has been discovered in Mali and is being researched by a team of researchers and scientists at the University of California-Davis.

Interbreeding among two malaria mosquito species in the West African country has resulted in a new mosquito hybrid that’s shown to be resistant to insecticide-treated bed nets.

“It’s ‘super’ with respect to its ability to survive exposure to the insecticides on treated bed nets,” UC Davis medical entomologist and research team leader Gregory Lanzaro said.

via New ‘super mosquito’ discovered in Mali | Vaccine News Daily.

VDU’s blog: Bats in a tree…

Of course this will raise the usual question of whether we cull all bats to prevent this from ever happening again. Don’t be ignorant! Bats have very important roles in pollinating and thus in keeping our ecosystem going. Should we kill all bees because they sting us? I’m pretty sure I’ve been stung by a bee more times than I’ve had Ebola/Hendra/SARS/Nipah/MERS/Lyssavirus or any other bat-hosted virus infection. Killing off everything to prevent a very rare zoonotic event when better knowledge can resolve the problem is just a typically short-sighted and knee-jerk human reaction (not a fan-can you guess?).

One question that does still remain, and one that is of extreme interest to me, is how often mild disease results from an Ebola virus infection? Good, robust serology methods to the rescue.

via VDU’s blog: Bats in a tree….

FrontPageAfrica – ‘Alarm’: 49 New Ebola Cases in Cape Mount, Travelers Warned

{Denial by political leaders of community kills!} “We even noticed secret burials are still ongoing in Grand Cape Mount County,” he averred. He said people are no longer washing hands with chlorinated water or the use of sanitizers or other items. He said in the wake of this grave health alert, the government and its partners are holding an emergency meeting in Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County, something that coincides with the opening of the first Ebola Treatment Unit of 100-bed in Grand Cape Mount County.

via FrontPageAfrica – ‘Alarm’: 49 New Ebola Cases in Cape Mount, Travelers Warned.

Hong Kong reports 11th imported H7N9 avian influenza case, Influenza pandemic alert raised | Outbreak News Today

What we know about the case is the confirmed H7N9 bird flu case is a 68-year-old local woman who has been admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital. She is currently described to be in critical condition  with fever and pneumonia symptoms.

Although the exact source of the infection has yet to be determined, it is reported that she ate chicken and was at the home of a friend who had chickens; however, it is believed she had no direct contact with the birds.

This has prompted Hong Kong authorities to raise the influenza pandemic alert. Read more the government’s response plan HERE.

Prior to this case, Hong Kong has seen 10 imported H7N9 avian flu cases, all from Guangdong Province.

via Hong Kong reports 11th imported H7N9 avian influenza case, Influenza pandemic alert raised | Outbreak News Today.