Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported eight more lab-confirmed Middle East respiratory coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases, one of them fatal and all from Riyadh, where a large hospital-linked outbreak is ongoing. The MOH also said five case-patients announced previously have died from their infections.
Russia detected highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in seven healthy wild birds, according to an Aug 21 report posted by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The birds were hunted in three towns in Novosibirskaya Oblast, located in southwestern Siberia, as part of Russia's ongoing H5N1 monitoring activities. On Jun 9, laboratory testing confirmed H5N1 in 4 rooks, 1 mallard, 1 crane, and 1 unidentified waterfowl.
Officials identified a cooling tower at the Opera House Hotel in New York City's South Bronx as the source of a recent outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, according to a New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) press release yesterday.
The health department also confirmed that, given no new cases or onset of symptoms since Aug 3, the outbreak is officially over.
In two separate reports this week to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced closure to its follow-up to H5N8 avian flu outbreaks and noted that 11 states—because of measures taken after H5N2 outbreaks—are now free to move poultry domestically and internationally.
The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) yesterday announced two actions to help prepare for a potential return of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to US flocks: a request for proposals for vaccines to equip the National Veterinary Stockpile and a notification that it will publish an environment assessment on vaccinating poultry.
Iowa took an economic hit of about $1.2 billion from this year's avian flu outbreaks.
Three countries reported fresh avian influenza outbreaks today from four different strains, three of them highly pathogenic, according to separate reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
China's agriculture ministry today reported two outbreaks involving two different high-path strains, H5N6 at a commercial farm in Guangdong province and H5N2 on a farm in Jiangsu province.
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement yesterday confirming that a wild poliovirus case has not been detected in Africa for 1 year.
Animal health officials in Ghana and Ivory Coast yesterday reported more highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in poultry, signaling a continuation of virus activity that reemerged late last year in Africa.
In an ongoing trickle of MERS-CoV cases, especially from the Riyadh area, Saudi Arabia's health ministry today reported another infection. The latest case involves a 38-year-old Saudi man, and though he is from Riyadh, it's not clear whether his illness is part of recent transmission occurring in the city's hospitals or is from the community.
