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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.
Five more suspected cases have been detected in Guinea and Liberia.
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.
A Cochrane review that included published studies as well as unpublished drug-company data for the two most common antiviral drugs for flu—oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza)—found that they can shorten symptoms by about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."
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.
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.
A Saudi emergency department was closed for disinfection over MERS concerns after recent cases.
Those fighting the outbreak focus on providing accurate information and on minimizing risk.
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.
Each country has confirmed 6 new cases, bringing the outbreak total to 143.
China has reported two more cases of H7N9 avian flu, according to a provincial health report posted by the infectious diseases news board FluTrackers.
Both patients are from Jiangsu province, and their cases were confirmed on Apr 5. The first is a 73-year-old man from Taizhou City who is hospitalized in critical condition.
Cases of chikungunya in the Caribbean have reached 19,682, according to data today from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), up from 18,493 cases a week ago.
A chikungunya outbreak in the Dominican Republic underscores the need for greater mosquito-control efforts.
A study focusing on H7N1 avian flu viruses prompted special prepublication reviews because of "dual use" concerns.
Minnesota health officials diagnosed Lassa fever in a man who had traveled to West Africa.
Guinea has reported 10 more suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD), along with three more deaths. Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO), said today in a Twitter post that the developments push the country's overall outbreak total to 137 illnesses, 86 of them fatal.
