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Upcoming Chinese New Year gatherings will put humans in the crosshairs of both H7N9 and seasonal flu strains.
In a study designed to shed light on a phenomenon seen in Canada of increased risk of pandemic 2009 H1N1 flu in those who received a flu vaccine the year before, ferrets given a seasonal flu shot had worse H1N1 disease than those who had not received the vaccine.
In addition to severe respiratory failure, nonrespiratory illnesses like shock and kidney injury were common in 12 intensive care unit (ICU) patients in Saudi Arabia who had Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections, according to a study today in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study also noted a low rate of MERS-CoV infection among healthcare workers (HCWs) who had contact with MERS patients.
China confirms 14 new cases in five provinces as tests show a mixed picture on poultry farms.
The WHO confirms two fatal cases cases and releases guidance for use in healthcare settings.
Caribbean territories reporting indigenous cases of Chikungunya fever now number six and confirmed and suspected cases number at least 786, with several more imported cases as well, according to a Jan 24 report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
That number is up from 485 in the previous update, from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, on Jan 20.
A second case of H10N8 avian flu has been confirmed in the same province as the world's first case, which was reported last month, Chinese health officials told Xinhua, the nation's state-run newspaper.
China reported 11 new H7N9 flu cases today, including the first one in Beijing since last spring.
Numbers hint that season may have peaked, and obesity is being reported in many hospitalized flu patients.
Four cases of wild poliovirus type 1, the first polio cases of the new year, have been reported in Pakistan, the only polio-endemic country in the world that saw an increase in cases last year, according to a Jan 22 report from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
H7N9 avian flu replicates well in finches, sparrows, and parakeets experimentally inoculated with the pathogen, and the birds shed the virus in high numbers and show few signs of disease, scientists reported today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Seven new cases threaten to push the second wave higher than the first one last spring.
The H5N8 strain of avian flu has been found in wild geese in the same South Korean province that has seen H5N8 outbreaks in domestic ducks, according to a story today in The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper.
As 4 new cases are confirmed, the WHO notes a trend toward slightly younger patients and a lower death rate.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released updated guidelines for treating and preventing anthrax in adults and pregnant women, recommending, among other things, the simultaneous use of antimicrobial drugs and antitoxin in patients who have systemic disease.
The pace of H7N9 equals last year's peak of activity, with 23 new cases in the past 4 days.
The notice means no confirmed MERS cases have been linked to the 2013 Hajj.
A 52-year-old man in the southern province of Binh Phuoc has died of H5N1 avian flu, the first case in Vietnam in 9 months, Than Nien News reported today.
The number of confirmed or probable cases of chikungunya—a mosquito-borne disease that, aside from imported cases, had not been seen in the Caribbean until just last month—on St. Martin and nearby islands has spiked to 485, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in an update yesterday.
Some influenza markers are down, others up, and regions are seeing widely varying case levels.
