A study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases tracked two waves of chikungunya infections in Nicaragua, demonstrating that outbreak intensity is linked to more severe clinical presentations of the mosquito-borne disease.
The number of suspected cases in Nigeria's Lassa fever outbreak has climbed to 1,386 over the past week, which includes 12 more confirmed cases and 4 more deaths, the country's Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said in its latest report for the week ending Mar 11. So far 365 confirmed cases and 114 deaths have been reported.
The Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria continues this week with 68 new confirmed cases, including 4 deaths, according to the latest weekly update by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. That's up from 19 confirmed cases the week before.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed one new case of MERS-CoV on Feb 17. The MOH has issued only sporadic updates this month, and this is the second update in 3 weeks.
A 74-year-old Saudi woman from Rafha was diagnosed as having MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus). She is in stable condition. The probable source of her infection is indirect contact with camels, a likely risk factor for the virus.
Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resigned today after a report that she bought tobacco stocks while leading the agency.
Anne Schuchat, MD, the CDC's principal deputy director who served as interim CDC director before Fitzgerald began her tenure last year, will resume that role, the Wall Street Journal and other news sources reported.
In the past month the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has reported 1,106 new chikungunya infections, bringing the yearly total to 184,636 confirmed, suspected, and imported cases.
In the past, the city has experienced outbreaks of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya that were spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) on Nov 3 said a sexually transmitted Zika infection has been confirmed in Miami-Dade County, affecting a person whose partner had recently traveled to several countries, including Cuba, where active transmission is occurring.
Italy's chikungunya outbreak has expanded to a second region, and the total number of suspected or confirmed cases has climbed to 298 as of Oct 4, a rise of 115 cases from World Health Organization's update at the end of September.
After a lag in reporting last week, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) updated it information on MERS-CoV cases over the weekend, noting three new cases since the agency last reported on Sep 25.
