Chikungunya outbreak cases in the Caribbean and the Americas continued a modest increase for the third straight week, with only 3,085 new infections reported in an update late last week from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The most recent weekly updates before last week's included 7,156 and 4,857 new cases. The two updates before that noted much higher levels of 34,866 and 27,867 new cases, respectively.
The USDA issued a preparedness and response report and poultry culling guidance as turkey growers followed suit.
Nigeria reported six new outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu affecting more than 28,000 chickens, bringing to 12 the number of outbreaks reported this month, according to separate reports filed yesterday with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Sierra Leone has reported two more Ebola cases, including a fatal one that is not part of a recent cluster in the northwestern Kambia district.
Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu has struck Nigerian poultry again, this time a backyard flock in Rivers state in the south, according to a report posted yesterday by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The virus killed 450 of a flock of 528 broiler chickens, cockerels, and turkeys. The surviving 78 birds were culled to prevent disease spread. All the birds were housed in the same pen.
Temporary poultry market closures can drop environmental levels of H7N9 and other avian flu viruses, but after stalls reopen, contamination quickly returns to preclosure levels, Chinese researchers reported yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The study took place in Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China's Guangdong province, during the second wave of human illnesses.
Treatment with antiviral drugs early in the course of hospitalization for influenza in elderly patients is associated with a shorter hospital stay and a lower risk for extended care after discharge, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
After reporting an H5N1 avian flu outbreak in poultry 2 days ago, Vietnam reported another one yesterday, this one affecting a village flock in Ninh Thuan province in the southern part of the country, according to a report filed by animal health authorities with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The Guinea Ebola ring vaccination trial will be expanded to Sierra Leone and include contacts with the recently reported fatal case there, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in a news release.
Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza stuck two more commercial farms in Ivory Coast and Nigeria, according to separate reports from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
