The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) issued a report on the smattering of H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases in Hungary and India reported last week. They said the cases are likely from the Tyva 2016 strain first reported in Russia in September, and predicted the strain will pose a risk to Europe and the Middle East through March of 2017.
Hungary and India reported H5N8, and Algeria found an H7N1 link to a waterfowl die-off.
A study published yesterday in the journal Pediatrics shows that a single inhaled dose of 20 milligrams of laninamivir octanoate reduced the relative risk of contracting influenza by 45.8% in children under the age of 10 years.
Sixteen of 18 cases of variant H3N2 influenza (H3N2v) reported in Michigan and Ohio this summer were caused by a new genotype, according to a report today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
A "real-world" analysis of flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) today in Eurosurveillance that included 2 million Stockholm County, Sweden, residents each season found low flu VE in general but surprisingly robust results in two of the four seasons in adults 65 years and older who had chronic conditions.
Jack Payne Woodall, PhD, 81, died Monday at his home in London after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Woodall might be best known for cofounding ProMED (Program for Monitoring Emerging Disease) in 1994, the online outbreak reporting system run by the International Society for Infectious Diseases, according to a Stat obituary today.
Melinta Therapeutics yesterday submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug for the approval of intravenous and oral Baxdela (delafloxacin), an antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial skin and skin structure infections.
Saudi Arabia reported three more MERS-CoV cases yesterday and today, one of them a fatal case that is linked to what appears to be a hospital-related outbreak in Hofuf.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new MERS-CoV case, the country's fifth in 6 days.
A multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli infections tied to Adams Farm beef, veal, and bison products appears to be over after 11 cases, which is 4 more than when the outbreak was first reported last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
