The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded contracts to two companies to manufacture doses of avian flu vaccine for the nation's veterinary stockpile in case the measure is needed to combat the disease in poultry, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said in a press release yesterday.
Minnesota health officials yesterday linked two recent Salmonella infections to an unusual multistate outbreak tied to raw tuna. The outbreak, first announced by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 21, involves Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+). As of Jun 5, the CDC had received reports of 53 cases from 9 states.
A large study in Bangladesh of oral killed whole-cell cholera vaccine found that it cut disease rates in half, even with moderate coverage, according to a report yesterday in The Lancet.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health (MOH) today announced one new MERS-CoV infection, yet another case linked to an outbreak in the city of Hofuf, which has reported clusters linked to healthcare facilities and at least one family.
The patient is a 41-year-old Saudi man who is a household contact of an earlier reported case. He is not a healthcare worker and is hospitalized in stable condition.
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has announced that samples from 4 of 10 areas tested at the Whatcom County fairgrounds implicated in an outbreak of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 that began sickening people last month matched the outbreak strain, according to a May 22 update.
E coli and some Salmonella infections dropped, but Campylobacter and Vibrio cases increased.
Veterinary officials in Burkina Faso and Turkey reported more highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu outbreaks, as their counterparts in Taiwan reported that highly pathogenic H5N2 has struck 10 more locations, according to separate reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that it and partner groups working on earthquake response in Nepal are deploying extra medications and equipment to prevent the spread of diarrheal diseases such as cholera, which can spread when disasters damage and contaminate the clean water supply.
Groups estimate that at least 2.8 million people have been displaced, with many living in 16 makeshift camps.
Health officials in Ohio have confirmed botulism as the illness that sickened several people and killed one who attended the same church lunch in Lancaster, Ohio, on Apr 19, the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette reported on Apr 25.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has detected 12 cases of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection in four provinces that might be linked to leafy greens, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
