The number of chikungunya cases imported into the United States rose by 41 in the past week, to 114, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an update yesterday. The number of states reporting imported cases climbed from 22 to 27, plus the US Virgin Islands.
The overall epidemiologic status of Guinea's Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is improving, with 4 of the 6 locations that have reported cases passing the 21-day incubation period with no new cases, according to an update from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. Two incubation periods need to pass before the outbreak can be declared over in a particular location.
China reported two more H7N9 influenza infections today, along with two deaths in patients whose illnesses were announced earlier.
Wild birds in Iceland harbor avian influenza viruses (AIVs) of entirely American lineage, entirely Eurasian lineage, and mixes of the two, providing compelling evidence of the importance of the North Atlantic as a corridor of virus movement and mixing, according to a study yesterday in PLoS One.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recently urged countries to strengthen surveillance and control of the New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase–producing (NDM) antibiotic resistance, based on continued spread and detection in several countries.
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.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported two new cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, one of which was fatal.
The first patient is a 58-year-old male citizen of Al-Ahsa, who has "various chronic diseases." He is receiving medical treatment, but the MOH didn't provide any details on his condition or whether he had contact with any animals or infected people.
The investigation of tuberculosis (TB) cases in a Las Vegas, Nev., hospital has revealed two active TB cases and 59 latent infections, including 22 infections in healthcare workers, the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) reported this week.
Global malaria-control efforts since 2000 have saved an estimated 3.3 million lives and reduced global mortality rates by 45%, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its "World Malaria Report 2013," released today.
California researchers say they have determined that a mosquito neuron that detects human breath also detects human skin odors, and they report the discovery of two compounds that may reduce the insects' ability to zero in on humans.
