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Chikungunya cases approach 1.1 million, with big increase in Guatemala

Total cases of chikungunya in the ongoing outbreak in the Caribbean and Americas now number 1,071,354, an increase of 36,428 from the previous week's total, according to a Dec 19 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

China reports world's 2nd H5N6 case

China today reported the world's second known human case of H5N6 avian flu, in a 58-year-old man in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said.

The first case, in early May, was in Sichuan province and proved fatal.

The current H5N6 patient is hospitalized in critical condition in Guangzhou, the CHP said in a press release. His close contacts have shown no sign of illness.

New, possibly tick-borne virus cited in death of Kansas resident

A Kansas resident who died this past summer was infected with a new virus that may have been carried by ticks, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported in a press release yesterday.

Iowa scientist on probation for irregularities in MERS-CoV research

A University of Iowa scientist has been put on a year's probation for conducting research on MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) without the university's approval and in a lab lacking the required level of biosafety measures, the Des Moines Register reported yesterday.

Signs of subclinical infection found in 10% of H7N9 patient contacts

Chinese researchers who tested 225 close contacts of H7N9 influenza patients found that about 10% of them carried antibodies suggesting they had been infected with the virus without getting sick, according to a letter yesterday in Emerging infectious Diseases.

US flu markers rise higher

The nation's flu markers showed another sharp spike last week, with all 10 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regions reporting that clinic visits for flu-like illness were above their baselines.

Overall, the percentage of doctor's visits for flu-like illness climbed from 3.7% to 5.5% last week, while the percentage of respiratory samples that were positive for flu increased from 25.9% to 28.1%

Jordan, Saudi Arabia report MERS-CoV cases

Jordan and Saudi Arabia reported three new Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases over the past 5 days, according to media and government sources.

H5N1 hospitalizes Egyptian man

Egypt's ministry of health (MOH) has announced another H5N1 avian influenza infection, this one in a 51-year-old man from Assiut governorate who is hospitalized, according to the ministry's translated statement posted today by Avian Flu Diary. The latest case lifts Egypt's total  this year to 26, 10 of which were fatal, the MOH said.

Chikungunya cases jump by 25,000; Colombia hit hard

Total suspected and confirmed cases of chikungunya in the Caribbean and the Americas increased by 25,639 over the past 10 days, with most of the new cases in Colombia, according to an update yesterday from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Human H5N1 uptick continues in Egypt with 1 case, 1 death

Egypt's ministry of health (MOH) today announced a case of H5N1 avian influenza in a 3-year-old boy in Giza governorate, bringing the country's 2014 total to 27 cases, according to a machine-translated statement posted by FluTrackers.

The MOH also reported the death from H5N1 of a 30-year-old woman from Ashmun, Monofia governorate, raising Egypt's H5N1 death toll this year to 11.

Listeriosis cases linked to caramel apples reach 32 in 11 states

Three more Listeria monocytogenes infections have been identified in an outbreak linked to commercially produced caramel apples, raising the count to 32 cases in 11 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in an update today.

Study: Children could be 'silent' H7N9 spreaders

An analysis of seven children infected with H7N9 avian influenza during the outbreak's second wave in China found that the illnesses were mild, a phenomenon that could contribute to spread of the virus. Researchers from China's Guangdong province published their findings today in an early online edition of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

CDC advises US physicians to be alert for Ebola

With the continuing spread of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday issued an official advisory for US HCWs to consider EVD and possible isolation pending diagnosis in patients who have Ebola-like symptoms and a travel history to affected countries within the previous 21 days.

US imported chikungunya cases approach 400

The steady flow of imported chikungunya infections linked mainly to travel to the Caribbean continued in the United States last week, with 98 more cases reported, lifting the total to 398, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday.

Study: Drug-resistant malaria spreading in Southeast Asia

Resistance to artemisinin, the main drug for treating malaria, has now spread throughout Southeast Asia, including critical border regions, and a genetic mutation in the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes the disease may be the culprit, according to a study today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

USDA declines to classify resistant Salmonella as meat adulterant

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has turned down a long-pending petition to declare antibiotic-resistant (ABR) Salmonella an adulterant in raw ground meat and poultry, saying there's not enough evidence to support the change.

Poor phase 2 results lead Biota to suspend flu drug laninamivir

The neuraminidase inhibitor laninamivir, made by Biota Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga., failed to perform better than a placebo at alleviating influenza symptoms in a phase 2 trial, the company said in a press release today, adding that it will no longer develop the drug.

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.

Letter raises possibility of human-adapted H5N1 in Canada case

An H5N1 avian flu virus that killed a Canadian woman in January had two uncommon mutations that may have helped increase its ability to bind to human cells, researchers from Singapore and Canada reported yesterday in a letter in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Enhanced UK MERS surveillance found 2 imported cases in 2012-13

An enhanced system of surveillance for MERS-CoV in England turned up 2 cases of the disease among 77 potential candidates meeting case definitions in its first year of operation, according to a dispatch yesteday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The numbers are small, say the authors, but in the context of emerging pathogens, reporting data like theirs can help optimize case detection and surveillance systems.

Continuous treatment with newer agent protects infants against malaria

Long-term treatment with a newer artemisinin-based combination drug for malaria, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP), substantially and safely reduces the risk of malaria in young children, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published online yesterday in PLoS Medicine.

Travel-related chikungunya cases in US rise to 484

This year's tally of US chikungunya cases related to foreign travel, mostly to the Caribbean, has risen to 484, an increase of 86 over the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.

Forty states have reported cases, three more than a week ago, the agency said in an Aug 5 update. The number of locally acquired cases stayed at four, all of them in Florida.

Federal panel to ponder using Ebola drugs; FDA eases hold on one

The Obama administration is setting up an Ebola working group to consider making policy for the possible use of experimental drugs in West Africa's Ebola epidemic, Reuters reported yesterday, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted a barrier to the potential use of an unlicensed drug made by a Canadian company.  

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).

Study of H7N9 in macaques shows widespread, sustained replication

H7N9 avian flu, which emerged in humans in China in the spring of 2013 and has since caused more than 450 cases, was found to replicate well in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts of cynomolgus macaques, a model for humans, and to show extended replication in the upper tract, indicating the possibility of prolonged shedding and transmissibility, say findings of a study today in mBio.