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News Scan for Aug 19, 2014

Study: Flu viruses can quickly evolve, gain transmissibility in pigs

In a study designed to simulate how the pandemic 2009 influenza (pH1N1) virus might have evolved, researchers say it took only nine passages in pigs for a virus to gain "greatly enhanced virulence and transmissibility" in pigs, guinea pigs, and ferrets.

  • Flu evolution in pigs
  • MERS-CoV in African camels
  • Lab incident findings
  • Vaccine-resistant polio
  • WHO gets large Saudi gift for Iraq

News Scan for Aug 11, 2014

Chikungunya outbreak expands by 12%, to 576,000 cases

Officials reported more than 62,000 new chikungunya cases in the Caribbean and surrounding areas last week—almost all in the Dominican Republic—expanding the outbreak to 576,000 cases, according to an Aug 8 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

  • Another chikungunya spike
  • MERS case in Saudi Arabia
  • Salmonella from baby poultry
  • Polio vaccination in Iraq

News Scan for Aug 04, 2014

WHO emergency committee extends polio emergency declaration

A World Health Organization (WHO) emergency committee has extended a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) over the global polio situation and the temporary recommendations that came with it, the WHO said in a statement yesterday. The group met by teleconference on Jul 31, its first meeting since it first declared the PHEIC on May 5.

  • Panel extends polio emergency
  • End of E coli sproutbreak
  • Flu vaccine effectiveness

News Scan for Jul 23, 2014

CDC: Imported US chikungunya cases surge to 300

The chikungunya epidemic in the Caribbean is continuing to spill over into the United States, with 300 imported cases identified as of yesterday, an increase of 66 from a week earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

  • More chikungunya in US
  • MDR-TB treatment resistance risks
  • Polio vaccination in Syria

News Scan for Jul 22, 2014

Final report on E coli lettuce outbreak notes two additional products

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) yesterday released a final report on a 2013 Escherichia coli outbreak traced to pre-packaged salads sold at Trader Joe's stores that sickened 33 people in four states, Food Safety News (FSN) reported today.

  • Trader Joe's E coli outbreak recap
  • Polio cases in Somalia

News Scan for Jul 18, 2014

ECDC says 'gain-of-function' research needs more evaluation

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said this week that the safety of gain-of-function (GOF) studies like a recent one involving the generation of a 1918-like influenza virus merits more public discussion, given the obligation of researchers to "first do no harm."

  • ECDC questions gain-of-function work
  • AIDS researchers' deaths
  • More chia salmonellosis
  • Polio in Equatorial Guinea

News Scan for Jul 11, 2014

Dengue candidate vaccine shows promise in phase 3 trial

Phase 3 clinical trial results for the most advanced dengue vaccine in development, known as CYD-TDV and made by Sanofi Pasteur, showed it is more than 50% protective overall and nearly 90% effective against the most serious, hemorrhagic form of the disease, according to a new study published in The Lancet.

  • Dengue vaccine
  • Antibiotic use up
  • Modified mosquitoes and WNV
  • Polio shot for added immunity
  • Avian flu 2013 recap

News Scan for Jul 08, 2014

New Ebola cases boost West Africa total to 844, plus 518 deaths

The latest pattern in West Africa's Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak suggests a "mixed picture," with Guinea showing a drop-off in infections, but Sierra Leone and Liberia reporting several new cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its latest update.

  • 50 more Ebola cases
  • H7N9 case in China
  • Mongolia measles-free
  • Fungal foodborne pathogen
  • Pneumococcal vaccine in kids
  • Polio vaccine ban in Afghanistan

News Scan for Jul 07, 2014

Foster Farms recalls chicken linked to 621-case Salmonella outbreak

As the United States celebrated Independence Day late last week, federal officials announced that Foster Farms has recalled chicken products implicated in a Salmonella outbreak that has now reached 621 cases in 29 states.

  • Foster Farms chicken recall
  • Polio vaccine travel guidance

News Scan for Jun 25, 2014

WHO reiterates high risk of polio from central Africa

The detection this week of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) from Equatorial Guinea in Brazilian sewage and the virus's movement from Cameroon into Equatorial Guinea point up the high risk of international spread of the virus from the western portion of central Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

  • Polio in central Africa
  • More Foster Farms salmonellosis

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