Flu levels are rising in some parts of the country, but nationally activity is still low, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly flu update.
In new romaine-linked Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak developments, federal health officials yesterday reported nine more illnesses and said trace-back investigations are focusing on 12 growers.
An analysis of Puerto Rican Zika patients who had thrombocytopenia, a rare complication, found that, in those with the severest cases, immune treatments may be more effective than platelet transfusion. A team from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Puerto Rico reported its findings today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
A WHO panel raises concerns about an increase in wild poliovirus cases, among other setbacks.
Today the ministry of health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported two more Ebola cases in the ongoing outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The outbreak total now stands at 421 cases (374 confirmed and 47 probable), including 241 deaths.
The two new cases are from Kyondo and Kalunguta, and one additional death was recorded in Beni. Seventy-four cases are still under investigation.
Romaine lettuce suspected in Escherichia coli O157:H7 illnesses in the United States and Canada probably came from California, based on growing and harvesting patterns, Scott Gottlieb, MD, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, said in a Nov 23 Twitter post.
The next step is to withdraw the product that's at risk from the market, then restock the market, he said.
A total of 126 more people have been sickened by a strain of Salmonella Newport in an outbreak tied to JBS Tolleson, Inc. beef products, and three more states are affected, according to an outbreak update yesterday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported a new MERS case for epidemiologic week 46 in the Qassim region.
The patient is a 67-year-old man hospitalized for his infection with MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus). He had no contact with camels, and the source of his infection is listed as "primary, community acquired."
In the latest global polio developments, Pakistan reported two new wild poliovirus type 1 cases and three African countries reported seven more vaccine-derived polio cases in their outbreaks, according to today's weekly update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
Afghanistan officials have reported 3 new cases of wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1), while Papua New Guinea (3 cases), Nigeria (2 cases), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, 1 case) have all reported cases involving circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV), according to a weekly update today from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
