Flu Scan for Jan 28, 2015

News brief

Flu activity up in North America and Europe, with H3N2 predominating

The Northern Hemisphere continues to see high levels of influenza A (H3N2), especially in North America and northwestern Europe, according to a Jan 26 World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Global data from 88 countries as of Jan 11 showed that 32,903 of 133,812 specimens tested positive for influenza, with 94% typed as influenza A and 6% as influenza B. Of the flu A specimens, 97% were subtyped as H3N2, and 3.4% were 2009 H1N1. Subtyping of flu B specimens showed that 98% were of the Yamagata lineage, and 2% were of the Victoria lineage.

The US flu season appears to have peaked, the WHO said, with flu-related mortality above the epidemic threshold of 6.9%. The WHO said that 68.4% of US H3N2 cases were not an antigenic match for the H3N2 virus used in this year's flu vaccine.

North America and Europe are seeing high rates of flu activity, with H3N2 being most common. The majority of flu outbreaks in Canada have occurred in long-term-care facilities, the WHO said.

Northwestern Africa appears to have reached the peak of its flu season, with flu B predominating. Elsewhere on the continent, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Madagascar are reporting increasing flu cases, with both flu B and H3N2 circulating in Madagascar.

Flu levels remain low in Asia, with slight increases in flu B in the tropical and southeastern parts of the continent. In western Asia, Bahrain, and Iran, 2009 H1N1 is the predominant circulating strain.

The Caribbean, Central America, and tropical South America continue to see low rates of influenza. Several Pacific islands, including American Samoa, are reporting high numbers of influenza-like illness cases.
Jan 26 WHO report

 

Egypt confirms 2 new H5N1 cases and 1 death; China reports 1 case

Egypt's health ministry reported that a 31-year-old woman from Giza governorate has died of H5N1 avian flu, according to Daily News Egypt today.

Of the 31 cases of H5N1 avian flu reported in Egypt this year, 10 people have now died, the story said.

The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population also announced that two more people have been hospitalized with H5N1. The new cases occurred in a 4-year-old girl from Cairo and a 34-year-old woman from Al-Sharqia governorate, which is north of Cairo near the Nile Delta.

Egypt also reported that two people with H5N1 avian flu have recovered. One recovery occurred in a 6-year-old girl from Cairo whose case had not been reported previously. The second patient who recovered is a 20-year-old woman from Cairo whose case was reported by Egypt's health ministry on Jan 2.
Jan 28 Daily News Egypt story
Jan 12 CIDRAP News Scan on previously reported case

Meanwhile, a woman from China's Jiangsu province has been reported to have H5N1 avian flu, according to a press release today from the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP). The 37-year-old woman, who is in critical condition, is from Suzhou in southeast Jiangsu province. The release says she had a history of poultry exposure.

"Locally, we will remain vigilant and work closely with the World Health Organization and relevant health authorities to monitor the latest developments," the release quotes a spokesman for China's department of health as saying.
Jan 28 CHP press release

 

Elderly man, young boy have newest H7N9 cases in Guangdong

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has been notified of two more cases of H7N9 avian influenza in China's Guangdong province, continuing the spate of cases reported from there recently.

The case-patients are an 83-year-old man from Meizhou and a 4-year-old boy from Heyuan, according to a press release from the CHP. The elderly man is in critical condition and the boy in stable condition.

The two new cases bring the H7N9 total to 535, according to a case list maintained by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board. The CHP gives the total as 499.

The CHP release notes that a number of surveillance measures have been implemented in response to the continuing cases, such as temperature checks for inbound travelers, and the public has been warned to avoid visiting poultry markets and farms, avoid crowds, wear a mask if respiratory symptoms develop, and practice careful hand washing.

Meanwhile, a statement yesterday from the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed an H7N9 case that was reported earlier by the CHP and involved a 79-year-old man from Hong Kong. He had traveled to the mainland before his illness, visiting a poultry market but having no direct contact with birds.
Jan 28 CHP press release
Jan 28 FluTrackers case list
Jan 27 WHO story

News Scan for Jan 28, 2015

News brief

World Bank president airs new private-public pandemic preparedness plan

The world is "dangerously unpreprepared" for future pandemics, and a private-public sector proposal that includes a pandemic facility and insurance coverage could help countries across the globe mitigate the risk, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said today in a speech at Georgetown University.

Kim said insurance companies, governments, multilateral organizations, corporations, and international donors could work together to build a system, which the World Bank and partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have been working on for the past several months, according to a press release today from the World Bank. It said the idea of developing a "pandemic facility" was also raised in informal discussions at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He told the group that the short-term goal in the Ebola outbreak is to get to zero cases, but the world needs to also prepare for an infectious disease outbreak that could be worse than the one West Africa is experiencing.

Kim said he expects that a proposal will be presented over the next months to leaders of both developed and developing countries and that it would probably involve a constellation of bonds and insurance instruments. He added that a pandemic facility would be similar to a homeowners insurance policy.

Like a homeowner adding smoke detectors to lower an individual premium, private and public groups could work together to help prepare for future pandemics—such as by building stronger health systems or improving supply chains—that would lower the "premium" for all groups. He added that the greatest benefit would be that market mechanisms would help foster improvements in preparedness for future disease outbreaks.
Jan 27 World Bank press release

 

Saudi Arabia reports new MERS case and recovery in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported one MERS case yesterday and one recovery today, both in residents of Riyadh, bringing the country's MERS case total to 843.

The new case-patient is an 80-year old man with an underlying medical condition who is in critical condition. He has no history of animal exposure and was not exposed to MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) patients in clinical or community settings. The man is not a healthcare worker, the MOH said.

Today, the MOH reported the recovery of a 77-year-old man from Riyadh. The man had an underlying medical condition and is not a healthcare worker.

Four MERS-CoV cases remain active in Saudi Arabia, 475 people have recovered, and 364 have died.
Jan 28 MOH
update
Jan 27 MOH
update


Listeriosis and E coli rates rise, Salmonella cases decline in Europe

Cases of foodborne illness from Listeria increased in Europe between 2012 and 2013, while Salmonella cases have decreased, according to a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report issued today.

In 2013, 1,763 listeriosis cases were reported in Europe, representing an increase of 8.6% from 2012 numbers, continuing an upward trend observed over the last 5 years. The ECDC said that most listeriosis cases reported in 2013 were severe and invasive. Cases of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli also increased by 5.9%, with 6,043 reported.

The number of campylobacteriosis cases stabilized, but with 214,779 cases reported, the infection remains the most commonly reported foodborne illness in Europe. Cases of illness related to Salmonella have declined steadily over the past 8 years, likely due to the implementation of stringent poultry control measures, the ECDC said. The 82,694 cases of salmonellosis reported in 2013 represent a 7.9% decrease from 2012 numbers.

Yersiniosis cases dropped by 2.8% in 2013. Foodborne Yersinia infections, contracted mainly via contaminated pork products, were responsible for 6,471 cases of illness in Europe.

Case numbers for zoonotic diseases were fairly low overall. In 2013, zoonoses in Europe responsible for human illness included Echinococcus infections (811 cases), Q fever (648 cases), brucellosis(357 cases), tularemia (279 cases), West Nile virus infection (250 cases), trichinosis (217 cases), Mycobacterium bovis tuberculosis (134 cases), and rabies (1 case).

During 2013, 5,196 outbreaks of foodborne disease were reported in Europe. The most commonly implicated foods were eggs and egg products, mixed foods, and fish and fish products.
Jan 28 ECDC press release
Jan 28 ECDC report

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