In related developments, a pair of WHO updates flesh out the details for 22 infections reported by Saudi Arabia since late November.
Macao has reported its first human H7N9 avian influenza case, involving a 58-year-old man who owns a poultry market stall, according to a Xinhua report today in Chinese translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary (AFD), an infectious disease news blog. AFD said there are multiple media outlets reporting the finding, which was announced in an early morning media briefing by the local health department.
Also, Korean researchers detailed transmission patterns in its 2015 outbreak, including a role for doctor shopping and ED visits in super-spreading events.
About 40% of people in the United States had received a flu vaccine by early November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today, adding that it estimated the intervention prevented an estimated 5 million flu illnesses, 71,000 flu hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new case of MERS-CoV in Riyadh. Riyadh has been the site of a number of recent cases, including one yesterday.
The MOH said a 56-year-old man was in stable condition after presenting with symptoms of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus). His infection is listed as primary, meaning it's unlikely he contracted the disease from another person.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported three new MERS-CoV cases today, and announced the death of a former patient. All three new patients are listed as having primary exposure to the virus, which means it is unlikely they contracted the disease from another person.
Of 9 recent cases detailed by the WHO, 4 involved contact with camels or drinking raw camel milk.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported three more MERS-CoV cases, involving a woman and two men from three different locations. All of them had primary exposure to the virus, meaning investigations revealed that they didn't contract MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) from another person.
Pigs and llamas appear prone to infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), according to researchers who experimentally infected four animal species and reported their findings yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
A clearinghouse that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set up to take questions from industry and stakeholders about a new rule that established the food safety standards for the produce industry is slow to answer questions, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Nov 28. The produce rule is part of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, passed in 2011.
