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Saudi Arabia reports another MERS case

For the second time in as many days, Saudi Arabia has reported a new MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case after a month-long hiatus, its Ministry of Health (MOH) said today.

CDC reports 96 new chikungunya cases, 584 total

The number of travel-related US chikungunya cases has grown to 580, an increase of 96 in the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update. The number of locally acquired cases stayed at 4, for 584 total US cases.

Cyclospora infection total rises to 283, some travel-linked

States reported another bump in Cyclospora cases last week, and health officials are still trying to determine how many are travel-related and if there is a common source for the locally acquired cases. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that as of Aug 12 it had been notified of 283 Cyclospora infections, 48 more than the previous week.

Vaccine advisers recommend Prevnar 13 for seniors

A federal vaccine advisory group yesterday recommended that adults age 65 and older receive the Prevnar 13 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, according to a press release from Pfizer Inc., the vaccine's maker. Using the vaccine alongside the current 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine is thought to provide broader protection.

Salmonella Enteritidis clusters in England lead to national investigation

A national investigation is under way in England to look into a number of isolated clusters of Salmonella Enteritidis over the past few months that have been handled locally but that may represent a more widespread outbreak possibly related to catering outlets, says a press release today from Public Health England (PHE).

Promising results for Chikungunya candidate vaccine in phase 1 trial

A chikungunya candidate vaccine developed using noninfectious virus-like particles (VLPs) has been shown to provide long-term protection against multiple genotypes of the disease, according to results of the first human trial, conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and published today in The Lancet.

FDA approves first flu vaccine for jet-injector use

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Aug 15 that it had approved the administration of bioCSL's Afluria inactivated influenza vaccine for use with ajet-injector device, the PharmaJet Stratis. The approval applies to intramuscular injection only in adults ages 18 through 64 years, the FDA said in its statement.

Chikungunya cases appear to slow, outbreak total passes 585,000

The number of newly reported chikungunya cases in the Caribbean region was down dramatically last week, but it's not clear if the drop was related to delays in reporting or a downturn in disease transmission. According to an Aug 15 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the region reported 9,798 new cases, accounting for an increase of only 1.7%.

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.

12-year study finds 42% of flu B cases involved strains not in vaccine

Researchers who sifted data from 12 recent influenza seasons in Finland concluded that about 42% of influenza B cases involved strains that were not targeted by the vaccine, which they say supports the inclusion of both influenza B lineages in seasonal flu vaccines.

Doubts raised about screening and isolation to control MRSA

It's time to reassess strategies for controlling methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals, mainly because of poor evidence for the efficacy of screening and isolation, which have been regarded as the gold-standard approach, say three German and Swiss experts writing in The Lancet.

Four salmonellosis cases tied to recalled nut butter

Four illnesses in four states have been confirmed in a Salmonella outbreak likely associated with recalled nut butter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an update yesterday.

Florida confirms 2 more locally acquired chikungunya cases

Two Palm Beach County, Fla., residents have acquired chikungunya locally, bringing the nation's total number of locally acquired cases to six, the Palm Beach Post reported yesterday.

State and county health officials said that a 43-year-old man and 35-year-old woman contracted the painful mosquito-borne disease without traveling to outbreak areas.

CDC: Variant H3N2 case reported in Ohio

Ohio last week reported a case of variant H3N2 (H3N2v) influenza in a person who had had close contact with pigs, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Aug 22, marking what appears to be the first such US case this summer.

The infected person was hospitalized but has recovered completely, the CDC said in its weekly FluView surveillance report.

CDC posts guidance for safe Ebola postmortem care

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday released guidance for handling the bodies of patients who die from Ebola infections. The advice is aimed at those performing postmortem care in US hospitals and mortuaries.

Another MERS case reported in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported another MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case today, the second in 2 days, following a 13-day spell without any cases.

The new case involves a 52-year-old Saudi woman in Dammam, the same location as the case reported yesterday in a 60-year-old man. The new patient, who is not a healthcare worker, is hospitalized and has a preexisting disease, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

Study: 4 reassortant H7N9 strains circulating in Chinese province

Sequence analysis of human and environmental samples demonstrated that four strains of reassorted H7N9 avian flu viruses have been circulating in Guangdong province—one of the country's hardest hit—and that an increase of human cases last year coincided with an increase in H7 isolates in environmental samples, according to a study today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Feds plan to ask labs to pause for 'high-consequence' inventories

The US government plans to request that federally funded laboratories suspend all work on potentially dangerous pathogens for about 24 hours to inventory stocks of microbes, ScienceInsider reported today.

NIH part of international consortium to speed Ebola vaccine trials

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has partnered with an international-based consortium based in Britain to fast-forward work on an Ebola virus vaccine developed by GSK that has shown promise in nonhuman primate studies.

Vaccine coverage remained high in 2013 but pockets of concern continue

Vaccination coverage of young US children against all routinely recommended vaccines remained high and even increased for certain vaccines last year, according to data from the National Immunization Survey (NIS), published today in Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

Second variant H3N2 case confirmed in Ohio

Ohio health officials have reported another variant H3N2 (H3N2v) infection, the nation's second such case this year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

White House asks labs to assess pathogen stocks, biosecurity

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) said yesterday that it has requested US researchers to conduct a "safety stand-down" to assess stocks of potentially dangerous pathogens and outlined longer-term steps to ensure lab biosecurity.

HHS contract aims to boost ZMapp development for Ebola

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will spend up to $42.3 million to help accelerate development of the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp, the agency said in a press release today.

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).

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.