First CWD case in wild deer in Ohio triggers mandatory sampling
A sample from a white-tailed deer in Wyandot County, Ohio, tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) Dec 10, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) yesterday, the first in a wild deer in the state. A Daily Record report from May says there have been 21 cases of CWD at three captive deer farms in Ohio since 2015.
The new CWD case triggers enhanced surveillance within a 10-mile radius of the harvesting site, which was private property. Additionally, for the rest of the hunting season, which closes next Feb 7, deer samples will be mandated from all harvests in the county's Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area.
CWD is a fatal, neurologic disease affecting the cervid family, which includes deer, elk, and moose. The cause, misfolded prions, are transmitted through body fluids, environmental contamination, and antler velvet. No case has yet been reported in humans.
Ohio hunters can submit samples via authorized taxidermists, like this case, or through authorized processors, DNR drop off sites, or direct arrangements with the Department of Agriculture's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.
Dec 14 ODNR notice
Black children with severe sepsis have 19% higher death rates
Black children under age 21 with severe sepsis have 19% increased adjusted odds of death compared with white children, finds a study published yesterday in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. Hospital stays were also longer for black and Hispanic children (10 days) than white children (8) or children with other racial backgrounds such as Asian and Native American (8).
The researchers analyzed health records for 9,816 children with severe sepsis as reported by the 2016 Kids' Inpatient Database. Overall, the mortality rate was 14.6%, with 18.4% case mortality in black patients, 16.0% in patients with other ethnicities/racial backgrounds, 13.7% in Hispanic patients, and 13.4% in white patients. Despite the higher mortality percentage in children of "other" backgrounds, they had only a 3% increased adjusted likelihood of mortality compared with white patients. Hispanic patients actually had a 4% decreased adjusted likelihood of death.
Across the United States, the greatest disparities for black death rates were in the South (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 to .62) and the West (AOR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.05 to 2.38).
"The results bear witness to a reality that Black children (and their parents) in the USA already know: when other factors are accounted for, they are still more likely than their White counterparts to die, in this case from sepsis," writes Katherine Peeler, MD, a Harvard pediatrician, in a commentary in the same journal. "It is imperative that further research begin to understand why such disparities exist to inform efforts to mitigate them."
Previous studies found that black adults and uninsured patients have higher mortality rates for sepsis, and while this study also found the racial disparity, the AOR between privately and publicly insured children was statistically insignificant. For the 7.7% of children whose payer category was no charge, self-pay, or other, their death rate was 30% higher than for those with public or private insurance.
Dec 14 Lancet Child Adolesc Health study
Dec 14 Lancet Child Adolesc Health commentary
More high-path avian flu confirmed in France, Netherlands, Taiwan
France and Taiwan reported more highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks in poultry involving different strains, and the Netherlands reported more H5N8 in captive birds, according to the latest notifications from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
France reported three more H5N8 outbreaks in poultry, which affected commercial farms in three departments: Vendee, Deux-Sevres, and Landes, all in the west. The events began on Dec 10 and Dec 11, and, taken together, the virus killed 820 of 14,297 susceptible birds.
In other European developments, France also reported H5N8 in a wild goose found sick on Nov 30 in Morbihan department, and the Netherlands reported another H5N8 detection, this time in captive gamebirds in North Holland province, where the outbreak began on Nov 12, killing two birds.
Taiwan reported four more outbreaks involving H5N5 in poultry, two at slaughterhouses and two on commercial goose farms. The outbreaks began from Nov 13 to Nov 23, and the virus killed 1,450 of 2,918 total susceptible birds.
Dec 14 OIE report on H5N8 in France
Dec 14 OIE report on H5N8 in French wild birds
Dec 14 OIE report on H5N8 in Dutch wild birds
Dec 15 OIE report on H5N5 in Taiwan