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Today's emergency declaration was tailored to spur coordinated international study into the possible serious complications of the disease.
In other developments, a Zika gene sequencing study found parallels with chikungunya, and experts are gearing up for an Aedes aegypti summit in Brazil.
Two outbreaks of Escherichia coli O26 infections linked to Chipotle restaurants are now over after causing 60 total cases in 14 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement today.
Saudi Arabia today reported a new MERS-CoV case after a 5-day lull, and a new study shows effectiveness of a monoclonal antibody treatment in monkeys.
The new MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case involves 43-year-old foreign man in Riyadh who is not a healthcare worker, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) reported. He is in stable condition, and probable sources of infection are under investigation.
Also, more vaccine details emerge, including a candidate that might be available for emergency use this year.
A pair of US biotechnology companies today announced the launch of what appears to be the first phase 1 clinical trial of a MERS-CoV vaccine, while the World Health Organization (WHO) provided more details on the MERS-CoV case reported in Thailand earlier this week.
The United States saw another small uptick in flu activity last week, with increases seen in most indicators that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses to track the season. The percentage of respiratory specimens that tested positive for flu climbed from 4.2% to 5%, with the percentage of clinic visits for flulike illness hovering just above the national baseline.
The committee will meet Feb 1 to discuss the growing threat and possibly related neurologic complications.
A CDC expert says US spread will likely be localized but calls for better mosquito control.
The multistate outbreak of Listeria infections tied to Dole salads has grown by 3 cases, to 15, while the number of affected states has grown from 6 to 8 and Dole announced an expanded recall, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in an update. The number of deaths remains the same, at one.
Zika outbreaks are getting high-level attention, and Brazil reports 287 new microcephaly cases.
Provincial health officials have confirmed H7N9 avian flu in a 33-year-old man in Hunan province, the first case in the central China province this winter, according to Xinhua, China's state news agency.
The man, from Xintian County, is hospitalized. No other information about his condition or risk factors is available.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed a new MERS-CoV case today in the central city of Al-Kharj, the country's fifth case in under a week.
The new MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case involves a 47-year-old Saudi man who had direct contact with camels, a known risk factor for the disease. He is hospitalized in stable condition and is not a healthcare worker, the MOH said.
Also, 5 of 6 recent cases detailed by the WHO involve camel contact.
The guidance covers testing of newborns, and the Virgin Islands and DR are now on the travel advisory.
In the more than 2 months since a previous update, the toll of a cucumber-linked Salmonella outbreak has risen by 50 cases and 2 deaths, and Tennessee has joined the list of affected states. Cases have reached 888, deaths 6, and states 39, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
In its monthly report on influenza at the animal-human interface, the World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed human H5N1 and H9N2 avian flu cases in Bangladesh. Both were from October.
All areas that harbor Aedes are vulnerable, and the Dominican Republic now has a local case.
For the 2nd time in 7 months, Thailand has reported a case in a traveler from Oman.
Over the weekend the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) linked Canada's multiprovince outbreak of listeriosis to salads from a Dole production plant in Springfield, Ohio, that on Jan 22 was implicated in a 12-case US outbreak, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued its own recall.
