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Israel and four European countries reported more highly pathogenic H5N8 outbreaks, according to the latest updates from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Israel reported six new outbreaks in the central part of the country, with start dates ranging from Jan 23 to Feb 12, five of them at farms (turkeys, ducks, and laying hens) and one involving three barn owls found dead at a nature park.
H5N5 struck wild birds wintering at a Czech Republic zoo, as H5N8 was detected in an outbreak at a peacock farm in Cameroon, the third African country to report the virus.
An article yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases aims to help healthcare institutions comply with newly mandated antimicrobial stewardship standards by highlighting the habits of successful antimicrobial stewardship programs.
China reported two more H7N9 avian influenza cases, including the season's second case detected in Beijing, according to official sources and state media.
Surprisingly, tests on placental cells that correspond to the earliest pregnancy stages found more damage from the African Zika strain than the Asian one.
Today the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the yellow fever outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is over, based on an announcement from the DRC. The declaration follows Angola's Dec 23 announcement that the outbreak had ended in that country. The DRC reported its last case on Jul 12, 2016.
A WHO overview of recent Saudi cases says a small hospital outbreak in Buraydah is now considered over.
In other developments, Iran reported several more H5N8 outbreaks and Bosnia and Herzegovina reported its first H5 outbreak of the season.
The H7N9 avian influenza virus has sickened two more people in China. The infections were detected in two of the country's biggest cities: Beijing and Shanghai.
Getting a flu shot 2 years in a row apparently can, under certain circumstances, backfire.
Since November China has totaled at least 347 H7N9 avian flu cases.
Flu markers rose to their highest points yet, as influenza B detections rose slightly, typical for the later months of the flu season.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed another MERS-CoV infection yesterday, noting a severe case in Mecca.
The patient is a 60-year-old male expatriate who is hospitalized in critical condition with MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) illness. He is not a healthcare worker and had direct infection with camels, a known risk factor.
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have uncovered an alternative method by which bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Though interventions cut treatment length and hospital stays, only 10% use best steps.
Zika doesn't appear to transmit efficiently through breast milk, but questions still remain. Also, experiments with macaques found a low risk of spread by saliva.
Officials reported six more H7N9 avian influenza infections in five different provinces in China, signaling an ongoing surge of activity what will likely make the current fifth wave of illnesses the largest since the virus was first detected in humans in 2013.
A worrisome spike of more than 300 yellow fever cases in the past week has boosted Brazil's outbreak to 1,060 cases and 166 deaths, the country's health ministry said in an update yesterday.
The combination helped doctors treat 2 patients who had serious multidrug-resistant infections.
