MERS-CoV

EV-D68 count reaches 160 cases in 22 states, CDC says

The national count of confirmed enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) cases reached 160 in 22 states on Sep 19, which is seven more cases and three more states than reported a day earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Saudi audit finds 16 earlier MERS cases; 1 new case reported

An independent audit of MERS-CoV data in Saudi Arabia yesterday identified 16 more infections with illness onsets before Jun 3 and has reclassified a handful of previously reported cases, the country's Ministry of Health (MOH) announced yesterday.

It said the review is part of an ongoing effort to ensure that MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) data are accurate.

Saudi Arabia confirms another MERS-CoV case

Today Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed another MERS-CoV case, the sixth in just over a week and the second in as many days.

The case involves a 27-year-old Saudi man who is hospitalized in a ward in Taif in Mecca province, the MOH said. He is not a healthcare worker and had pre-existing disease and no contact with animals, the agency said. He is symptomatic. No other details were provided.

12 states and Canada report enterovirus D68 cases

The number of states reporting confirmed cases of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has doubled, to 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today, and cases have been confirmed in Alberta as well.

EV-D68, a respiratory virus that was relatively rare until recently, has been sending children to hospital emergency departments with wheezing and breathing difficulty.

Chikungunya outbreak total tops 700,000 infections

Health officials reported another big spike in the Caribbean region's chikungunya outbreak, much of it due to updated surveillance information from the Dominican Republic, the hardest-hit country, according to the latest report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). PAHO also reported a tripling of outbreak deaths, to 113.

Saudi Arabia confirms MERS in man, woman

A man and a woman have developed MERS-CoV illness in Saudi Arabia, continuing a trickle of recent cases, according to the nation's Ministry of Health (MOH).

The man, 43, is from the Saudi capital of Riyadh in the center of the country. He has no underlying medical conditions and is being treated in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Saudi Arabia reports MERS in another health worker

Saudi Arabia today confirmed one new MERS-CoV case, in a 60-year-old foreign health worker whose illness was detected in the city of Jubail, in the northeastern part of the country, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The man is hospitalized in an intensive care unit, according to the report. He had no pre-existing disease, the MOH said.

Plague bacteria, other misplaced pathogens found at NIH, FDA labs

A search of government labs in the wake of a July discovery of old vials of smallpox virus has turned up additional improperly stored pathogens that cause plague, tularemia, melioidosis, botulism, and a certain foodborne disease, as well as the toxin ricin, the Washington Post reported today.

China confirms H7N9 death in far northwest region

China has confirmed a fatal H7N9 avian flu case in a 66-year-old woman, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said today.

The woman is from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the country's far northwest. The only other reported H7N9 case in the region, in a 53-year-old man, was confirmed last week. All other mainland H7N9 cases have been in eastern provinces, hundreds of miles away.

Chikungunya outbreak in Caribbean tops 650,000 cases

With 69,343 new cases, mostly from the Dominican Republic, the chikungunya outbreak in the Caribbean reached 658,466 cases last week, according to an Aug 29 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).