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Treatment with antiviral drugs early in the course of hospitalization for influenza in elderly patients is associated with a shorter hospital stay and a lower risk for extended care after discharge, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Two cases are in Guinea and 1 in Sierra Leone; also, an IOM task force tackles IHR outbreak response issues.
Also, the WHO's MERS emergency committee met today to discuss the latest outbreak developments.
After reporting an H5N1 avian flu outbreak in poultry 2 days ago, Vietnam reported another one yesterday, this one affecting a village flock in Ninh Thuan province in the southern part of the country, according to a report filed by animal health authorities with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Also, Saudi officials reported four more cases from Riyadh, and South Korea announced new prevention steps in the wake of its outbreak.
The Guinea Ebola ring vaccination trial will be expanded to Sierra Leone and include contacts with the recently reported fatal case there, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in a news release.
New reports indicate hospital MERS outbreaks in both Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Federal regulators have privately threatened to revoke permits to study select agents (potential bioterror pathogens) from at least six labs for safety and security violations, including at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, the University of Hawaii-Manoa (UHM), and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), USA Today reported late last week in its continuing probe of US lab biosecurity
Sierra Leone health officials said yesterday that tests on a 67-year-old woman who died in Kambia district were positive for Ebola, but further testing is under way to confirm the findings, Reuters reported yesterday. The positive test is the country's first since its countdown to Ebola-free status began on Aug 24.
Three of the four new cases appear to involve contact with other patients, and the ECDC issues a risk assessment.
A salmonellosis outbreak tied to pork products grew by 18 cases, to 152, as a slaughterhouse in Washington state expanded a prior recall to more than 500,000 pounds of pork products and whole hogs after environmental sampling revealed insufficient sanitary conditions.
The CDC also lauded the increase in states making vaccine exemption levels available on the Web.
In a related development, the WHO provided more details on 13 recent Saudi cases, 12 with hospital-outbreak links.
Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza stuck two more commercial farms in Ivory Coast and Nigeria, according to separate reports from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that all of India's 675 districts have eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus.
Maternal and neonatal tetanus cases in India have been reduced to less than one case per 1,000 live births ahead of the elimination target date set for December 2015.
Also, a ring vaccination trial extends to Sierra Leone and a report details postexposure treatment for health workers.
In addition, a new WHO update details 29 recent cases from Riyadh, 24 of them connected to a large hospital outbreak.
The National Chicken Council (NCC) yesterday released recommendations for preventing the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza to farms that raise and breed broiler chickens.
The recommendations, which were developed by a working group of veterinarians and avian flu experts, are intended to increase biosecurity on poultry farms before wild birds begin migrating south from Canada in the fall.
The group will present its final report to the World Health Assembly next May.
A side-by-side look at MERS-CoV and SARS infection patterns shows differences and some similarities, according to a study presented this week at the International Conference on Emerging and Infectious Diseases (ICEID) in Atlanta.
