Two more H7N9 avian influenza cases have been reported from China's mainland, and one new imported infection has been detected in Hong Kong, according to separate announcements today from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).
The virus claimed 700 chickens, and more than 70,000 were culled to contain the outbreak.
In other developments, Nepal reported its second H5N1 outbreak of the year, France continues battling several strains, and H5N8 triggered more European outbreaks.
A study today of Zika infections in Canadian travelers who visited destinations in the Americas revealed they were just as common as other mosquito-borne diseases, with complications more severe than expected. A team from Canada reported its findings in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
The virus caused an outbreak in early February, but it was originally mistakenly reported as H5N8.
The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) yesterday reported three more locally acquired Zika cases, all involving samples collected a few months ago.
Two involve people who were sampled in October as part of an ongoing investigation, and Florida Health recently received confirmation test results back from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The incidence type of birth defects seen with congenital Zika infections in the United States rose 20 times higher than it was before the virus started circulating in the Americas region, researchers reported today in the latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Officials said the shifts haven't changed the epidemiologic or clinical patterns in people.
Also, Taiwan notes new H5N6 outbreaks, and China detects more highly pathogenic H7N9 in poultry markets.
H5N8 has now been confirmed in 40 countries, and South Korean scientists shared genetic findings from a recent H5N6 isolate.
