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Officials at the Pasteur Institute in Paris say the laboratory's loss of 2,349 "tubes" containing fragments of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus does not pose an infection risk, but they call the lapse an "unacceptable mistake," according to media reports.
Saudi Arabia announces nine new MERS cases as Yemen reports its first.
Dutch researchers say they've found five mutations that make H5N1 airborne transmissible in ferrets.
Guinea reports 10 more cases, bringing its total to 168, and Liberia reports 1 new case, for 26 total there.
Northern states appear to have higher rates of Escherichia coli O157 than southern states do, and young children appear to be infected most often, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published today in Epidemiology & Infection.
Hong Kong and China each reported a new H7N9 influenza case over the past 2 days, according to official statements, signaling ongoing low-level activity in the second wave of activity.
All told, officials report 10 new MERS cases, 3 fatal.
Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Fronteires, or MSF) said it resumed treating patients with Ebola infections at a center in the Guinea city of Macenta yesterday, following protests last week by some of the local people.
China reported one additional H7N9 influenza case and another death from the virus today, according to health officials in Guangdong province.
The latest case-patient is a 79-year-old man from the Guangzhou, the province's capital, according to a health department statement translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board. He is hospitalized in critical condition.
The new H7N9 cases include three from the mainland and one from Hong Kong.
The patients are all from Jeddah; the WHO, meanwhile, confirmed 5 other cases.
Five more suspected cases have been detected in Guinea and Liberia.
A Cochrane review that included published studies as well as unpublished drug-company data for the two most common antiviral drugs for flu—oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza)—found that they can shorten symptoms by about two thirds of a day but can cause side effects. The investigators also found few data to support stockpiling the drugs for pandemic or seasonal flu, according to reports today in BMJ.
Readiness is better now, Fineberg said, "but it's not adequate."
Saudi Arabian officials today reported four Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases in Riyadh, one of them fatal and the other three severe enough to require intensive care.
Editor's Note: The North Korea item was edited on Apr 10 to reflect the correct avian flu strain (H5N1) in last year's outbreak in that country.
China's Anhui province yesterday reported a new case of H7N9 avian flu, according to a provincial health report posted by the infectious diseases news board FluTrackers.
Those fighting the outbreak focus on providing accurate information and on minimizing risk.
A Saudi emergency department was closed for disinfection over MERS concerns after recent cases.
Food from restaurants was associated with almost twice the number of disease outbreaks and more than double the illnesses as food prepared at home, according to data compiled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a food safety watchdog.
At least 4 health workers are among 9 new MERS cases reported by Saudi Arabia over the past 2 days.
