Avian Flu Scan for May 22, 2015

News brief

H7N9 update adds two more cases in China

According to an April surveillance report from China, six H7N9 avian flu illnesses were reported, two more than previously noted in earlier updates from individual provinces, according to an analysis of a report from the country's National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.

No details were available about the two cases. The other four cases FluTrackers had flagged for April in earlier reports included two from Anhui province and one each from Hubei and Jiangxi province. The NHFPC also reported eight deaths from the disease in April.

The additional cases lift the H7N9 total to 665 infections, according to a case list maintained by FluTrackers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently noted that cases in China have dropped off over the past several weeks, but it added that sporadic cases are likely to be reported in the coming months in China and perhaps in neighboring countries.
May 22 FluTrackers thread
FluTrackers H7N9 case list

Vietnam reports another H5N1 outbreak

The latest H5N1 avian flu outbreak in Vietnam has hit a poultry farm in the central part of the country, Vietnamese officials said in a report to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) today.

On a farm in Dak Lak province, the virus infected all 1,500 poultry of an unspecified kind and killed 100 of them, the report said. The rest will be destroyed to prevent any further spread. Dak Lak is in south-central Vietnam.

The outbreak is presented as the latest in a series of H5N1 events that began in November 2014, most of them in the southern part of the country.
May 22 OIE report from Vietnam

News Scan for May 22, 2015

News brief

Sierra Leone, Guinea report 10 more Ebola cases

Sierra Leone has reported three more lab-confirmed Ebola infections in two different districts, while a case detection push in Guinea's Forecariah district—a disease hot spot over the past several weeks—has turned up seven more cases, the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) reported today.

The cases in Sierra Leone are new ones reported since the last World Health Organization weekly epidemiologic update on May 20, reflecting cases reported to the country's National Ebola Response Centre between May 19 and May 21. Two infections are in Western Area Urban district, and the other is in Port Loko. One of the Western Urban Area cases prompted the quarantine of six households near Freetown.

Meanwhile, the cases in Guinea were reported between May 16 and May 19, the first 4 days of a case-finding and sensitization campaign targeting Forecariah district.

The cases lift the overall outbreak total to 26,971 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases in the three main outbreak countries. The number of deaths has reached 11,122, according to UNMEER.
May 22 UNMEER update

Qatar reports another MERS infection

For the second day in a row, Qatar's Supreme Council of Health (SCH) reported a new MERS-CoV case, the country's fourth this year.

The patient is a 73-year-old Qatari citizen who is hospitalized with severe pneumonia, according to a translated SCH statement flagged and posted by Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease news blog. Yesterday the SCH announced a MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection in a 29-year-old foreigner who works at a camel farm.

According to a case list kept by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board, the latest case lifts Qatar's total from the virus to 15, which includes 6 deaths.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported two deaths in previously announced case-patients. They include a 30-year-old Saudi woman from Hofuf and a 36-year-old Saudi man from Khamis Mushait. The country's number of infections remained at 1,002, with the newly reported deaths lifting the fatality total from the disease to 436. The MOH added that 558 people have recovered from MERS, while 7 are still in treatment and 1 is in home isolation.
May 22 Avian Flu Diary post
May 22 Saudi MOH statement

Salmonella outbreak linked to raw tuna grows to 53 cases

A Salmonella outbreak apparently associated with raw tuna in sushi has increased to 53 cases in nine states, with most cases in California, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported yesterday. The new number is up by two cases from a day earlier.

The source of contamination has not been conclusively determined, but 34 of 36 sick people who were interviewed said they had eaten sushi containing raw tuna in the week before their symptoms began, the CDC said.

California has reported 31 of the 53 cases. Other states and their numbers are Arizona, 10; New Mexico, 6, and 1 each in Illinois, Mississippi, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Illness-onset dates ranged from Mar 5 to May 3, the CDC said. Among 46 people with available information, 10 were hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

The outbreak involves Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+), an unusual strain. It typically causes diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever starting 12 to 72 hours after exposure, the CDC said, but it doesn't cause paratyphoid fever, enteric fever, or typhoid fever.

No common brand or supplier of raw tuna linked to illnesses has been identified so far, and hence there are no specific preventive steps for restaurants, retailers, or consumers to take, the agency said.

But the CDC repeated its warning that those at increased risk for complications of foodborne illness—children under age 5, seniors, pregnant women, and the immunocompromised—should not eat any raw fish or raw shellfish.
May 21 CDC statement
Related May 19 CIDRAP News item