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Eight more outbreaks of H7N3 avian flu have struck Mexican chicken farms in recent weeks, prompting the destruction of more than 800,000 birds and the vaccination of 5 million more, Mexican authorities reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) today.
Intensive federal deliberations are under way on whether to stockpile a vaccine against the H7N9 flu virus that emerged this spring in China.
Saudi Arabian officials have deposited in a public database four MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) genetic sequences from the recent hospital cluster of cases in the Al-Ahsa region, increasing the number of available sequences for the virus to nine, according to a blog entry from virologist Andrew Rambaut, PhD, of the University of Edinburgh.
The WHO praised the Saudis for their MERS-CoV response, but also noted that big gaps persist in the world's understanding of it.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Sanofi Pasteur's Fluzone Quadrivalent (four-strain) injectable flu vaccine, the company announced today.
The WHO today proposed a new pandemic alert system designed to focus more on disease risk than geographic spread.
The CDC's recently modified advice suggests that clinicians test only suspected H7N9 influenza patients who require hospitalization.
A study from a Wisconsin team indicates that influenza vaccination does not increase the risk of infection with other respiratory viruses, which supports the validity of a common method for assessing flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) in observational studies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today updated its global count of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases to 55, including 31 fatalities, by including a previously reported Saudi case as the country reported a new one.
Though no new novel H7N9 avian flu cases have been reported since the end of May, response and preparedness activities are under way, with the World Health Organization (WHO) updating its risk assessment and US officials issuing and tweaking guidance documents.
An outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium cases linked to live baby poultry has grown to 224 cases in 34 states, up by 78 cases and 8 states since May 10, the US Centers for Disease Control and Infection (CDC) said in an update yesterday.
The World Health Organization's (WHO's) latest monthly update on human H5N1 avian flu infections reported cases in a Cambodian girl whose illness was already reported by the WHO's Western Pacific regional office on May 17 and in an Egyptian woman who died from her illness.
Federal food safety officials today proposed new labeling requirements for mechanically tenderized beef products, a step designed to reduce the foodborne illness risk related to the products.
An Italian health official reported today that 20 people who had contact with MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) patients in Italy have tested negative for the virus, while a US company announced it has made a potential vaccine for the novel pathogen.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told private sector representatives and philanthropists yesterday that they should "make a smart investment in the world's future" by joining the United Nations in helping wipe out the world's deadliest infectious diseases—malaria, polio, tetanus, measles, and HIV—in the next 5 years.
The hepatitis A outbreak linked to consumption of a frozen berry mix distributed by Oregon company Townsend Farms affected 61 people as of Jun 5, 12 more than reported in an update Jun 4, says a notice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted today. Affected patients come from seven states; there have been no deaths.
A study that profiled H5N1 avian infections and their costs in Cambodia found that care of the typically young patients is hampered by hospitalization delays, inadequate antiviral treatment, and poor access to mechanical ventilation, researchers reported today.
A new report on Listeria monocytogenes infections underscores the groups at greatest risk—older people and pregnant women—and sheds light on why progress has stalled in the battle against one of the deadliest foodborne diseases, federal officials said yesterday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported a MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case in a 14-year-old Saudi girl, while Saudi Arabia announced another death in a previously reported case.
H7N9 avian flu infections can progress rapidly from the onset of symptoms to severe illness and death, according to a letter yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine from Chinese researchers on 22 deaths from the disease.
