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Nearly 600 million cases of foodborne enteric disease, with 351,000 deaths, occurred worldwide in 2010, 40% of them in young children, a World Health Organization (WHO) research group noted today as it released early findings of a broad analysis of the global burden of the diseases. The full report is planned for release in October.
Shigellosis, until recently resistant to first-choice drug ciprofloxacin in only 2% of US cases, has been found resistant nearly 90% of the time in recent outbreaks, according to a study published online today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Ebola cropped up again in two of Guinea's districts that hadn't reported cases in about 50 days.
H5N2 and H5N8 continue in US birds, but testing in Minnesota found no further infected poultry.
The first two phase 1 trials of VSV-EBOV vaccine show good immune responses.
A study involving more than 160,000 elderly US military veterans suggests that the high-dose (HD) influenza vaccine didn't lower their risk of hospitalization for flu or pneumonia overall, compared with standard-dose (SD) vaccine, but it did reduce the risk for those 85 and older.
Infection with Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 independently predicts severe disease and mortality, but demographic and clinical factors are stronger predictors of severe disease, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Funding will be used to continue trials of BCX4430 and prepare for its large-scale manufacture.
The virus was found in half the acute flaccid myelitis patients studied, and earlier testing may have identified more, say authors.
The number of chikungunya infections in the Americas has increased to 1,343,372, a rise of 32,504, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in its latest update. The bump in cases was slightly higher than the 28,768-case increase recorded the week before.
Liberian officials urged longer sexual abstinence for survivors, and extra response measures are under way in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Egypt has 10 more cases in the past few days, and both Indonesian cases involved likely poultry exposure.
A 39,000-bird turkey farm was hit by H5N2, and H5N1 killed pelicans in Romania.
The WHO reports 114 Saudi MERS cases in January & February, compared with 21 in that time last year.
Filovirus experts who met a year ago say that evidence is lacking for recommending personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers treating patients for diseases like Ebola and Marburg, and they outline several priorities for research, according to a report late last week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The agency has begun developing a vaccine as a backup tool to protect US poultry if needed.
The Obama administration unveils a plan for addressing the threat in the next 5 years.
The findings clear the way for the next step, which may require a change in venue.
WHO pleads for funds to address Syrian health crisis
As the public health crisis in Syria continues to deteriorate, the World Health Organization (WHO) is asking for $124 million to continue its support of health services in the war-torn country, the agency said in a news release today.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus H5N2 has struck a turkey farm in southwestern Minnesota, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today, marking the second H5N2 outbreak reported in the state this month.
The virus was found on a farm housing 66,000 turkeys in Lac Qui Parle County, which is about two counties to the southwest of the previous outbreak in Pope County.
