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Report cites global US HIV success, encourages 'health diplomacy'

A new bipartisan US report details impressive strides made by federal efforts worldwide to reduce HIV/AIDS and says officials would be wise to incorporate the same "strategic health diplomacy" (SHD) approach to other health threats, starting with malaria and hepatitis C, the SHD Initiative said in a news release yesterday.

Vietnam reports H5N1, H5N6 outbreaks; Hong Kong finds H5 in songbird

Vietnam reported small outbreaks of H5N1 and H5N6 avian flu in backyard poultry flocks, according to reports posted yesterday by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), while Hong Kong officials said they had detected an H5 avian flu virus in a dead Oriental magpie robin.

CDC lowers Chipotle E coli outbreak from 50 cases to 37

Federal and state officials yesterday downgraded the number of Escherichia coli cases linked to Chipotle restaurants in Washington and Oregon to 37, down from 50 on Nov 12.

Cases of Salmonella linked to cucumbers top 800

A multistate outbreak of Salmonella Poona linked to cucumbers imported from Mexico has grown by 71 cases since Oct 14, to 838, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in an update.

US flu activity shows slight increase

US flu activity rose slightly last week, with two regions of the country—the south central and central Midwest—at or above their regional baseline that measures clinic visits for flulike illness, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update.

Researchers find new E coli gene in China resistant to last-line antibiotics

Researchers have identified an Escherichia coli strain in pigs, pork, and humans in China that is resistant to colistin—a critical last-line antibiotic—and the gene that causes the resistance is readily transferred to other bacteria, posing an epidemic threat, according to a new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

GAO says DHS needs to prove BioWatch pathogen-detection capabilities

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) today recommended in a report that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) BioWatch program not pursue any upgrades to its second-generation (Gen-2) technology for monitoring the country for potential bioterror attacks until it can provide better efficacy data.

H7N9 sickens farmer in China

Health officials in China's Guangdong province have announced an H7N9 avian influenza infection in a man in his 70s who is hospitalized, according to a report today from Xinhua, China's state news agency.

The man is a farmer from the city of Meizhou, and the source of his infection is still under investigation.

Costco chicken salad linked to 19 E coli cases from 7 states

Rotisserie chicken salad sold at Costco stores that was contaminated with Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 has sickened 19 people in seven states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today.

FDA approves first US adjuvanted flu vaccine

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday approved the nation's first seasonal flu vaccine containing an adjuvant—an immune-boosting substance—although European and other countries have used adjuvanted vaccines for years.

South Korean man dies from MERS after 6-month battle

A South Korean man who recently suffered a MERS-CoV relapse died from his illness today, according to a report from the Korea Herald, which cited the country's health ministry. The 35-year-old man had also been battling lymphoma.

Avian flu detected in Vietnam, Canada

Agriculture officials in Vietnam reported another highly pathogenic H5N1 outbreak in poultry, while Canadian authorities reported that low pathogenic H5N2 turned up in a hunter-shot duck in British Columbia.

New Saudi MERS case, blood study in Kazakh camels

Saudi Arabia reported a new MERS-CoV infection yesterday in the city of Buraidah, while an international team of researchers found no serologic evidence that the virus is endemic in Kazakh camel herds.

WHO flu profile shows low activity

Overall flu activity has remained low, with hot spots in only a few areas, such as some Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar, which are reporting that the 2009 H1N1 virus is the dominant strain, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its regular update.

Saudi Arabia reports Riyadh MERS case

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new MERS-CoV case today in the capital city of Riyadh.

The case involves a 21-year-old Saudi woman who is in critical condition with a MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection. She is not a healthcare worker and was not exposed to other MERS patients, the agency said. No other risk factors were noted.

Researchers link longer MERS incubation to lower risk of death

Having a longer incubation period—the time from virus exposure to disease—was tied to a lower risk of death in MERS-CoV patients in South Korea, according to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

French and Hong Kong researchers analyzed data on 170 cases of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection, of which exposure data were available for 109.

Study: Preexisting flu antibodies may impede broad immune response

Past exposure to influenza virus or antigens—whether by infection or vaccine—might reduce a person's ability to mount a broadly protective antibody response to the virus, a finding that could complicate efforts to develop a "game-changing" universal flu vaccine, according to a study yesterday in Science Translational Medicine.

CDC notes 43 cases of highly resistant CRE 'superbug'

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today noted that it has received reports of 43 cases of an especially resistant form of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in recent years, often among patients who traveled internationally, according to a report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

US flu activity inches upward

For the third week in a row, US influenza activity increased slightly, with H3N2 still the dominant strain, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

The percentage of clinic visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) rose from 1.6% to 1.9%, according to the CDC update, which covers the week through Nov 28. That level is still below the national baseline of 2.1%, but several regions reported elevated outpatient ILI levels.

Low-pathogenic H7N3 virus found in California turkey flock

A low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus of the H7N3 subtype has hit a commercial turkey farm in California's Central Valley, causing only mild illness in the birds, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

CDC: Despite warning, drug for tick-borne disease doesn't harm kids' teeth

Concern over a potential for causing dental staining often prevents doctors from using the best drug to treat Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in young children. But a new study suggests that this concern is groundless, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Study: 2 antibiotics equally effective against MRSA skin infections

Two common antibiotics used for serious skin infections—clindamycin and trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) —both had about an 80% success rate in curing uncomplicated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infections, according to a study today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

WHO seeks vaccine viruses based on recent H5N1, H5N8 strains

As part of its ongoing influenza pandemic preparedness efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for the development of candidate vaccine viruses based on H5N1 viruses from recent human cases in Egypt and an H5N8 virus that was found in a wild bird in Washington state in December.

Three MERS cases in Saudi-Arabia end 3-day quiet spell

Saudi Arabia ended a 3-day stretch without any new MERS-CoV cases by reporting one on Mar 21 and two more yesterday, while news of findings from an unpublished study suggested that undetected cases may be much more numerous than previously supposed.

MERS sickens 3 more in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported three more MERS-CoV cases today, including the second one from Mecca this year, along with one death in a previously reported case.