It is Iraq's first H5N8 outbreak since 2016, and Afghanistan's first since 2007.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) recorded two new cases of MERS-CoV in Riyadh in recent days.
On Jan 5, a 48-year-old Saudi man from the country's capital was diagnosed as having MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) after presenting with symptoms. He is in stable condition. The MOH said the man had direct contact with camels, a known risk factor for MERS-CoV.
Two groups gauge the threat of H5N6 avian flu to mammals and poultry.
A Malaysian man who recently returned from a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia has been diagnosed as having MERS-CoV.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Dec 11 reported another MERS-CoV infection, in a man from Oman whose asymptomatic case was found during screening when he was transporting camels, some of them infected, into the UAE, according to a Dec 22 update from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The outbreaks involved different strains, including H5N6, H5N1, and H5N8.
Dutch officials report H5N6 outbreaks in wild birds, and Italy confirms an H5N8 poultry outbreak.
The USDA proposes moving away from a per-bird payment for outbreak response efforts.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in an update yesterday on 18 Saudi MERS-CoV cases, said that 5 of the 18 cases involved contact with camels before symptom onset.
According to an updated situation report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), there are now 61 monkeypox cases in that country, 5 more than last month. This is Africa's largest-ever monkeypox outbreak.
