Burundi begins Ebola vaccine campaign, DRC reports 5 more cases

Burundi yesterday began vaccinating front-line workers against Ebola, part of efforts to prepare for possible Ebola cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in a statement. The country's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is southeast of the main outbreak area, and vaccination with VSV-EBOV began at the Gatumba entry point.

People vaccinated include health workers at entry points and other people who could potentially be exposed, including lab workers, surveillance teams, and burial teams.

Kazadi Mulombo, MD, the WHO's representative in Burundi, said in the statement, "The vaccination of health and front-line staff is a significant step forward in preparing for the response to this disease." The WHO has deployed experts to support the preparedness activities and trained 50 national immunization workers. The WHO has also provided logistical support to ensure cold chain storage for the vaccine and has provided supplies and equipment for the Ebola vaccine campaign.

No Ebola cases have been detected in Burundi. South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda are among the other DRC neighbors that have vaccinated frontline workers.
Aug 14 WHO statement

In other developments, the DRC today reported 5 more Ebola cases, raising the outbreak total to 2,842, according to the WHO's online Ebola dashboard. Authorities are still investigating 373 suspected cases.

Seven more people died from their Ebola infections, pushing the outbreak's fatality count to 1,898.
WHO online Ebola dashboard

Maternal immune system response to Zika connected to microcephaly

A woman's immune response to the Zika virus and subsequent antibodies may be behind the severe birth defects associated with prenatal exposure to the virus, including microcephaly, according to a new study in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Five percent of babies born to mothers infected with Zika during pregnancy will experience severe neurological complications, the most serious of which is microcephaly. But most children will be born without obvious physical or neurological deficits.

The new study included 150 Brazilian women who contracted the virus while pregnant in 2015, during the county's large Zika outbreak. The researchers found no evidence that the women's previous exposure to viruses related to Zika, including dengue, increased the likelihood their children would have microcephaly.

Instead, researchers found women with higher Zika antibodies were more likely to have affected babies.

 "…infected pregnancies with intermediate or higher ZIKV antibody enhancement titers were at increased risk to give birth to microcephalic infants compared with those with lower titers (P < 0.0001). The researchers confirmed these findings in rhesus macaques.

"Although our results only show a correlation at this point, there could be significant implications for vaccine development," said Davide Robbiani, MD, PhD, of the Rockefeller University in a press release. Robbiani led the study.
Aug 14 Rockefeller University press release
Aug 14 J Exp Med study

Myanmar joins other Asian nations experiencing rising dengue cases

Myanmar has recorded at least 10,700 cases of dengue since the first of year, including 48 deaths, according to new information from the country's health ministry.

Last year, Myanmar saw only 3,649 cases. Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions are the hardest hit by the virus, which is spread by mosquitoes.

According to news reports, children between 5 and 9 years old have been the most affected in Myanmar, with 4,473 cases registered during the period in that age group.

Earlier this week Malaysia reported to widespread dengue activity, as did Bangladesh and the Philippines. Dengue is endemic in many countries in southern Asia, with activity peaking in the rainy summer months.
Aug 14 Xinhua story

No widespread contamination found in FDA sampling of Yuma growing region romaine

In the wake of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to romaine lettuce that triggered an outbreak in the spring of 2018, the FDA has been testing romaine grown in the Yuma, Ariz., growing region implicated in the illnesses, and today it released the results, which found no widespread contamination.

Most of the leafy greens grown for US consumers in the winter months are from farms in the Yuma growing region. The outbreak last year sickened 201 people in 36 states, resulting in 96 hospitalizations, 27 patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome, and 5 deaths. In its statement today, the FDA said five suspected or confirmed multistate foodborne illness outbreaks since 2012 have been linked to produce from the Yuma growing region.

The FDA began sampling romaine from the region on Dec 17, 2018, shortly after the harvest began. It sampled the lettuce at commercial coolers and cold storage facilities to allow the collection of samples from multiple farms at the same time in a way that enabled them to easily identify the source farms. Field staff visited 26 commercial coolers and cold storage facilities with help from the Arizona Department of Agriculture and the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The FDA collected and tested 118 samples for each pathogen. None of the samples were positive for Salmonella. Tests found Shiga toxin-producing E coli (STEC) in one sample, but further testing found that it wasn't pathogenic.

Overall, the testing found no widespread STEC or Salmonella contamination of romaine from the Yuma growing region during the sampling period. The FDA added that it continues to work with leafy greens stakeholders in the Yuma region to consider longer-term environmental studies to identify and control risks to prevent future outbreaks.
Aug 14 FDA statement

FDA issues first food import warning based on FSMA rule

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced that it has issued the first warning letter to a food importer using new authority under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act's Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) regulation. The rule requires importers to verify that their foreign suppliers are producing food that meets US food safety standards.

Dated Jul 30, the FDA sent the warning letter to Brodt Zenatti Holdings LLS, based in Jupiter, Fla., which imported tahini from Israel-based Karawan Tahini and Halva. The product was tied to a Salmonella Concord outbreak that was first announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in May. In late June the CDC issued its final report on the outbreak, which sickened six people from three states. Epidemiologic, traceback, and lab evidence indicated that Karawan tahini products were the likely source of outbreak.

The FDA said in its statement that the warning letter was sent after FDA investigators found Brodt Zenatti Holdings LLC in violation of the FSVP rule, which specifies certain risk-based activities to verify that imported food meets US food safety standards. The FDA asked the company to respond in 15 working days with a plan to correct the violations or provide evidence that the problems have been corrected. If the company doesn't address the violations, they may be subject to a newly established import alert that allows detention without inspection of human and animal foods by importers who are not in compliance with the FSVP rule.

In the statement, the FDA's acting commissioner Ned Sharpless, MD, said, "The FDA continues to work with food importers that are developing plans to adhere to the FSVP regulation and working to come into compliance. However, neglecting to meet the FDA’s food safety requirements puts consumers at risk, and our top priority is using the full range of our available tools to protect public health."
Aug 13 FDA statement