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US flu activity increased slightly again last week, reflecting a season that's off to a slower start compared with the previous year, according to the latest data today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The use of antimicrobial drugs in farm animals raised for food increased 4% from 2013 to 2014 and a dramatic 22% from 2009 to 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday in its annual report on such drug use.
The plan calls for more visibility for a disease that kills tens of thousands a year.
RNA analyzed from camels in Nigeria is of a different lineage from Mideast strains.
As part of an ongoing effort to weigh different vaccine strategies against H7N9 avian influenza, researchers today reported results from a small clinical trial that showed promise for a prime-boost strategy.
A research team led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported the findings in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Arizona residents are experiencing the first known outbreak of concurrent West Nile virus (WNV) and St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) infections in the United States, and most cases involve neurologic disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Most cases arose from a single introduction that sprouted multiple transmission chains.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has replaced its longtime head of national lab regulation after a series of key lab safety breaches involving bioterror pathogens like Bacillus anthracis—which causes anthrax—and H5N1 avian flu viruses, USA Today reported yesterday.
A UK study of 779 young people 2 to 18 years old who had egg allergies showed that live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV, a nasal spray) can be administered safely, even among those with a history of asthma or recurrent wheezing, a study yesterday in BMJ found.
Disease incidence is down 37% and deaths 60% overall since 2000, and officials say malaria investments have prevented 6 million deaths.
A live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) candidate for H7N9 avian flu produced a good immune response and was shown safe in a phase 1 human trial, researchers from Russia and the World Health Organization (WHO) reported yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Tests on the Oregon duck found H5 genetic material, but not enough to pin down the subtype or pathogenicity.
The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) said today that the number of locally acquired dengue fever cases has risen by 27 in less than a week, for a total of 139 cases on the big island of Hawaii.
Of the confirmed cases of dengue fever, 122 are in Hawaii residents and 17 involve visitors. Most of the total cases (78%, or 108) have occurred in adults, while 31 cases (22%) involve children. Illness onset occurred from Sep 11 to Nov 28.
In related news, a review of US quarantine policies found they did harm and were unconstitutional.
Also, the WHO provided more details about recent cases in Mexico, Paraguay, and Venezuela.
For the third week in a row, US influenza activity increased slightly, with H3N2 still the dominant strain, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
The percentage of clinic visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) rose from 1.6% to 1.9%, according to the CDC update, which covers the week through Nov 28. That level is still below the national baseline of 2.1%, but several regions reported elevated outpatient ILI levels.
Cases of tularemia in four US states have reached at least 104 for 2015, according to federal and state officials.
The recall affects all of the company's nut butter spread products, which were distributed to nationwide retailers and through the mail.
Regions vary by disease impact and type of threat, with Africa and Southeast Asia bearing large burdens.
Past exposure to influenza virus or antigens—whether by infection or vaccine—might reduce a person's ability to mount a broadly protective antibody response to the virus, a finding that could complicate efforts to develop a "game-changing" universal flu vaccine, according to a study yesterday in Science Translational Medicine.
