Category Archives: pandemic

Listen: The Ebola song that isn’t ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ – The Washington Post

The new recording of Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” already looks set to be a huge hit. Irish singer Bob Geldof, who organized the re-recording to raise funds to fight Ebola, told the BBC on Monday that pre-sales of the song had been “extraordinary” and had raised millions in just minutes.

via Listen: The Ebola song that isn’t ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ – The Washington Post.

Second Danish death attributed to MRSA – The Local

According to SSI’s third quarter report, a patient was hospitalised with a hardening of the arteries and underwent several procedures before dying within 30 days of being infected with MRSA CC398, a variant that can be transmitted from livestock to humans.

 

“There were three new incidences [of MRSA] in the third quarter, one of which ended in death. Throughout all of 2014 there have been six cases of toxaemia in total, two of which ended in death with 30 days,” SSI spokesman Robert Skov told DR.

 

Two leading experts said in August that between 6,000 and 12,000 people are currently infected with MRSA CC398 in Denmark. It has also been found that at least 13 babies whose parents work in the swine industry have been infected with MRSA.

via Second Danish death attributed to MRSA – The Local.

Danish MRSA pork found in Sweden – The Local – Make it very, very, very well done!

The massive increase in the prevalence of MRSA in Denmark is also affecting Swedish consumers. A study carried out by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter in tandem with Sweden’s National Veterinary Institute (Statens veterinärmedicinska) found that four of 20 packages of Danish pork bought throughout the Stockholm area contained the resistant MRSA bacteria.

 

A random sampling of German pork found the presence of MRSA in just one of 20 packages.

via Danish MRSA pork found in Sweden – The Local.

H9N2 influenza virus in China: a cause of concern – duh? Infectious Diseases 2014 | Infectious diseases | Poultrymed

Industry just does not get it! Influenza viruses are not accidents, something un-natural to be exterminated somehow. These viruses and diseases like them is the natural system’s means of maintaining a balance in ecosystems. Human efforts to industrialize the raising of many different types of poultry for

profit continuously triggers “disease” responses from the natural system. Humans cannot alter this but we can learn to “farm” differently, in a manner that does not trigger “disease” responses. Trying to outsmart or bypass nature is a fools’ game that sometimes buys a bit of time for massive profit which is followed by unexpected results and humans pay with death from diseases that pass on to humans or massive die-offs that cause starvation.

 

H9N2 influenza virus has become endemic in different types of terrestrial poultry in multiple countries on the Eurasian continent, resulting in great economic losses due to reduced egg production or high mortality associated with co-infection with other pathogens. In China, which is regarded as an epicenter of avian influenza viruses, the H9N2 virus has been detected in multiple avian species. The first outbreak of the H9N2 influenza virus in China occurred in Guangdong province of Southern China during November 1992 to May 1994. These H9N2 viruses killed broilers with mortality of 10%-40%, and reduced the laying rates by 14%-75%. The H9N2 influenza virus is now the most revalent subtype of influenza viruses in chickens in China. H9N2 infections occur throughout the whole year, with lower morbidity in the summer. To prevent H9N2 infection in chickens, China implemented long-term vaccination programs in chicken farms as early as 1998. At least over twenty different commercial vaccines are used in China, with the vaccines are frequently updated. However, H9N2 avian influenza viruses continues to persist in chicken populations, even in vaccinated flocks.

via H9N2 influenza virus in China: a cause of concern | Infectious Diseases 2014 | Infectious diseases | Poultrymed.

Study finds possible explanation for why yellow fever mosquitoes favor human blood | Vaccine News Daily

Anti-sulcatone cover-ups will be added to commercial mosquito repellants, if it looks like it would be a money maker!?!

Results of a new study recently reported in the journal Nature found that the yellow fever mosquito contains an odor-detecting gene in its antennae that is highly attuned to

Results of a new study recently reported in the journal Nature found that the yellow fever mosquito contains an odor-detecting gene in its antennae that is highly attuned to sulcatone, which is a common compound prevalent in human odor.

The study’s researchers reported that the AaegOr4 gene is more prevalent and sensitive in the human-preferring “domestic” form of the yellow fever mosquito than the “forest” form, its ancestor that typically goes after the blood of non-humans.

“The more we know about the genes and compounds that help mosquitoes target us, the better chance we have of manipulating their response to our odor,” Carolyn “Lindy” McBride, an assistant professor in Princeton University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, said.

McBride performed the study when she was a postdoctoral researcher at Rockefeller University.

Uncovering the genetic basis of changes in behavior can help scientists and researchers understand the neural pathways that carry out that behavior, in addition to helping to develop ways to stem the yellow fever mosquito’s lust for human blood.

Yellow fever kills tens of thousands of people worldwide, most notably in Africa.

“At least one of the things that happened is a retuning of the ways odors are detected by the antennae,” McBride said. “We don’t yet know whether there are also differences in how odor information is interpreted by the brain.”

via Study finds possible explanation for why yellow fever mosquitoes favor human blood | Vaccine News Daily.

Chikungunya and Dengue Fever: A Public Health Responsibility | Petchary’s Blog

When it first arrived, it was made light of. “You’ll have pains for about three days, maybe a rash, then you’ll get better and will be immune to further attacks.” Not so for many, including myself. Those of us over 45 may take 1 to 2 or more months to get over the acute phase. After that there is the possibility of the subacute phase with arthritis and the possibility of disorders of the blood vessels. Then there is the chronic phase, occurring beyond 3 months and persisting for 2 -3 years. The symptoms include prolonged and severe arthritis, fatigue, body weakness, and depression (no wonder, with the prospect of these symptoms for 3 years!) The chronic phase occurs in 13% of people who contract the disease. If 2 million people in Jamaica contract it, that means that about 260,000 will be affected for up to 3 years. More tragically, many people have died. Yes, they had other conditions such as sickle cell, hypertension and diabetes, or were undergoing cancer treatment, but without chickV they would still be alive.

I think it is gross negligence on the part of WHO, PAHO and the Jamaican Ministry of Health, who were aware of this disease 2 years ago, to have done nothing. The least they could have done was to mount a public education campaign in the media, schools, churches and business places. The usual cry is that there is no money, but this outbreak has cost far more than a public education campaign would have. A public education campaign, at minimum could give the following information, which could be presented in simpler or more sophisticated ways depending on the audience.

via Chikungunya and Dengue Fever: A Public Health Responsibility | Petchary’s Blog.

Mali Reports a Second, Larger Ebola Outbreak – NYTimes.com

The first case in the new outbreak was a 70-year-old religious figure, a grand imam, who fell ill in Guinea and traveled to Mali for better treatment at a major private clinic in Bamako, Mali’s capital.

He died there on Oct. 27, and because of his importance, his body was washed at a large Bamako mosque before being returned to Guinea for burial.

But the Pasteur Clinic, where he was treated, failed to diagnose Ebola as the underlying cause of the kidney failure it was treating him for. According to a World Health Organization description of the case, numerous tests were performed, but not one for Ebola.

It was only realized how infectious he was after a nurse at the clinic fell ill and died, and when the chief W.H.O. representative in Mali heard from his counterparts in Guinea that the imam’s family members were dying.

“It was a real failure by the clinic,” said Dr. Ibrahima Soce Fall, the W.H.O. Mali team leader, in a telephone interview.

via Mali Reports a Second, Larger Ebola Outbreak – NYTimes.com.

AFRICA/SUDAN – Alarm: haemorrhagic fever in Southern Kordofan – Fides News Agency

The inhabitants of the town of Kadugli, Abu Jubaiha and Habila, Southern Kordofan, have complained about the appearance of a fever unknown to them. Meanwhile, the local Ministry of Health has been informed about the spread of this potentially deadly hemorrhagic fever, known as leishmaniasis and have sent a team of doctors. The symptoms reported by people are high fever, vomit and headache. The mortality rate is increasing, there is lack of medicines and medical centers. The Minister of Health in the Country has declared the contagion of 25 people who are isolated in hospitals, but so far there have been no deaths. The government has told health officials to intensify surveillance in areas where the disease has been recorded, including the three locations indicated. According to WHO, the definition of viral hemorrhagic fever refers to very serious diseases that can be caused by various viruses. Visceral leishmaniasis, also known as “black fever”, is a parasitic disease that kills almost all of those who contract it. It is caused by the bite of a pappataceo.

via AFRICA/SUDAN – Alarm: haemorrhagic fever in Southern Kordofan – Fides News Agency.

CDC assembling protective Ebola kits for U.S. hospitals | Vaccine News Daily

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  recently ordered $2.7 million in personal protective equipment for U.S. hospitals with Ebola patients to increase Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) supply levels.

Various products are being put into 50 kits that can be delivered quickly from SNS facilities to hospitals. Each kit can provide care of one Ebola patient for up to five days.

via CDC assembling protective Ebola kits for U.S. hospitals | Vaccine News Daily.

Nudist beach panics over possible Ebola from immigrants – UPI.com

A nudist beach in the Canary Islands had a moment of Ebola panic after 19 West African immigrants arrived on the beach with reports of fever.

The immigrants, who were planning on starting a new life in Spain, landed on Gran Canaria beach of Maspalomas. They landed at 8:30 a.m. Friday with at least three of the arrivals hailing from Guinea and Sierra Leone — two of the three countries severely affected by the Ebola outbreak.

via Nudist beach panics over possible Ebola from immigrants – UPI.com.