Analyses of samples from China and Taiwan hint at resistance to antiviral drugs.
Vietnam reports its first H5N6 and H5N1 outbreaks of 2017 as 5 European nations battle more H5N8 outbreaks in both domestic and wild birds.
Five more babies have been born in the United States with Zika-related birth defects, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There are now 43 babies in the country with documented defects from the mosquito-borne illness.
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.
The 61 new infections reported last week push the mainland's total to at least 419 cases.
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.
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.
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.
In other developments, Iran reported several more H5N8 outbreaks and Bosnia and Herzegovina reported its first H5 outbreak of the 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.
