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After five human cases of avian influenza A (H7N9) appeared in China earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that limited human-to-human transmission cannot be ruled out for some that are part of a family cluster. Three of the five recent cases in humans appear to be in a cluster, the WHO said today in a statement.
Suspected cases have been reported in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, but none have been confirmed.
Patients infected with the Ebola virus were 20% more likely to survive if they were co-infected with malaria, according to a study of Liberians who received care at a treatment center in Monrovia in 2014 and 2015 during West Africa's outbreak. A research team led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) published the findings yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
In another key development, HHS recently declared a public health emergency for Zika virus in Puerto Rico.
Infectious disease doctor Daniel Lucey, MD, MPH, penned an open letter to Director-General Margaret Chan, MD, MPH, of the World Health Organization (WHO), suggesting that the WHO reconsider declaring a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) over yellow fever cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the possibilities of an outbreak in the Republic of the Congo.
Two more Michigan county fairs, one in Cass County and one in Ingham County, are reporting variant H3N2 (H3N2v) influenza in pigs, according to a media release from the Van Buren/Cass District Health Department. No ill human contacts have been reported, according to state health officials.
Cases in Puerto Rico topped 10,000, as more countries and regions reported local spread, microcephaly, and GBS.
In another development, UK health officials warned travelers about an uptick in cases linked to Mexico, particularly the Riviera Maya coast.
Two new variant H3N2 (H3N2v) influenza cases have been reported in Ohio, both of them in people who had contact with pigs at agricultural fairs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly flu update. The report also notes two H3N2v cases that were reported in Michigan a week ago.
A study of recent human and swine cases of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in Norway noted that occupational exposure, trade of pigs, and livestock transport vehicles were common routes of transmission.
Yellow fever has declined in Angola, with no confirmed cases reported since June, but the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is spreading to new provinces and new parts of already affected provinces, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in a weekly update.
Two reports today detail evidence of rising antibiotic-resistant Shigella among men who have sex with men.
HHS Secretary Burwell says lack of congressional action forced $81 million to be taken from other programs.
SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc., of Sioux Falls, S.D., announced today that its experimental human antibody treatment for MERS-CoV—called SAB-301—has entered human trials, the first potential treatment for the disease to do so.
The first local case involved a 23-year-old pregnant women, and several other patients infected locally have work ties to the Wynwood neighborhood.
An expert from the March of Dimes said arthrogryposis appears to be a "downstream effect" and shows how severe viral damage can be.
Yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO) posted a statement on a chikungunya virus outbreak in Kenya that began in May, with partial genetic sequencing suggesting that the strain is linked to one that has circulated in the Indian Ocean islands, Asia, and Europe since 2005.
Like another recent microcephaly case in Texas, the baby's mother likely contracted Zika in Latin America during pregnancy.
Researchers call cardinals West Nile virus "supersupressors," because their lower viral blood levels are less likely to transmit the disease back to mosquitoes.
A study yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases suggests that although the Ebola outbreak originating in West Africa in 2013 was the deadliest to date, that strain of Ebola virus (EBOV) did not possess more aerosol stability than a strain of 1976 EBOV.
