Officials at the Pasteur Institute in Paris say the laboratory's loss of 2,349 "tubes" containing fragments of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus does not pose an infection risk, but they call the lapse an "unacceptable mistake," according to media reports.
Cases of chikungunya in the Caribbean have reached 19,682, according to data today from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), up from 18,493 cases a week ago.
A chikungunya outbreak in the Dominican Republic underscores the need for greater mosquito-control efforts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed a new fatal case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in a 64-year-old man from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) late on Mar 21 reported three cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections in adults from Riyadh.
The Caribbean now has 10,476 confirmed, probable, or suspected cases of chikungunya, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said late last week, up from 6,540 the week before.
Martinique and neighboring Caribbean islands have seen a major surge of suspected chikungunya cases this week, and two locally acquired cases in French Guiana mark the first indigenous cases in South America, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported today.
Chikungunya, which has a foothold in the Caribbean, seems likely to spread to other parts of the Americas.
The count of confirmed and probable chikungunya cases on Caribbean islands and neighboring areas reached 1,446 late last week, a spike of 411 cases in only 4 days, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported on Feb 7.
The ECDC said St. Martin has reached 601 cases on the French side of the island, an increase of 125 cases, and 60 on the Dutch side, which saw a dramatic 51-case increase.
A 67-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen in Riyadh is hospitalized for treatment of a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) announced yesterday.
In a statement dated yesterday, the ministry said the man has a chronic disease and is being treated in an intensive care unit. It gave no details about his possible sources of exposure to the virus or when he fell ill.
