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Ebola totals grow steadily in Guinea, Sierra Leone

A fresh round of Ebola virus infections in West Africa is continuing, with Guinea and Sierra Leone together reporting 52 more cases and Guinea reporting more deaths, according to an update from the World Health Organization (WHO) that covers outbreak developments between May 29 and Jun 1.

Flu exit nearly final in Northern Hemisphere

Most Northern Hemisphere countries are at or approaching interseasonal flu levels, with North America and eastern Asia still reporting some influenza B circulation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest global flu update.

The countries at interseasonal levels included China, with the percentage of positive flu tests low in both the northern and southern parts of the country.

CDC warns of more imported chikungunya cases

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today warned health providers that the number of imported chikungunya cases is likely to increase, given ongoing outbreaks in Caribbean countries and territories and some parts of South America, according an update in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

With seven more cases, Saudi MERS count reaches 700

Saudi Arabia has reported seven more MERS-CoV infections since Jun 6, lifting the country's count to 700 cases, including 287 deaths.

The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 4 MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases on Jun 6, 1 on Jun 7, and 2 today. (The Jun 6 cases were not reported here previously because the ministry's Web site was down much of that day.)

Experiments suggest a 1918-like flu virus could rise again

Avian influenza viruses with components similar to those in the 1918 pandemic flu virus still circulate in nature, and genetic engineering experiments suggest it would take only a few mutations to turn them into a human threat, according to a team of scientists led by Yoshiro Kawaoka, DVM, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin.

Report profiles first fatal Heartland virus case

A recently published case report on the nation's first death from Heartland virus, in an 80-year-old man who had been reported as Tennessee's first case, sheds light on the clinical profile and hints that older people who have underlying complications may be more vulnerable to complications from the disease.

Salmonella cases from chia powder mount in US and Canada

Four more cases of Salmonella linked to sprouted chia powder have been added to the US count and five to Canada's, and a third strain of the organism has been implicated in the outbreak, according to updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Early results from chikungunya vaccine trial called promising

An Austrian pharmaceutical company today reported promising findings from a phase 1 study of its candidate chikungunya vaccine. The vaccine, which uses a standard measles vaccine vector, induced a significant neutralizing immune response and appeared to be safe, according to a press release from the Vienna-based company, Themis Bioscience.

Salmonella cases linked to bearded dragons climb to 150 in 35 states

Eighteen more illnesses, including five from a second subtype, have been reported in a multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to contact with pet bearded dragons, and four more states are reporting cases, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday in an update.

The new cases push the outbreak total to 150 and the number of affected states to 35.

California declares pertussis epidemic

California health officials today upgraded pertussis activity in the state to epidemic status, with more than 800 cases reported over the past 2 weeks, according to a statement from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)

WHO voices concern over public health in Iraq

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday said it is working with local and international health partners in Iraq to address pressing concerns—including measles and polio risks—of populations hit hard by recent instability there.

China reports fatal H7N9 case

Health officials in China's Guangdong province today reported a fatal H7N9 avian influenza infection in a 42-year-old man, according to a health department statement translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.

Companies seek approval for meningococcal serogroup B vaccines

Novartis and Pfizer today announced that they have submitted applications to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing approval of their vaccines against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B infection.

Man dies of H5N1 avian flu in Indonesia

A fatal case of H5N1 avian flu has been reported in Indonesia, according to a story in the Jakarta Post today. This represents the second confirmed human case of the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in the country this year.

Another WHO/UNICEF polio vaccine campaign begins in Syria

Syria's eighth vaccination campaign in as many months begins this week and hopes to reach 2.8 million children over 5 days, according to a news release yesterday from the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. 

Dengue identified as source of Sudan febrile illness outbreak

An outbreak of an unknown febrile illness that initially prompted suspicion for hemorrhagic fever or Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has been diagnosed as dengue fever, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in a statement.

European study finds 33% vaccine effectiveness against hospital flu

The flu vaccine in three European nations in 2012-13 provided 33% protection against hospitalization for influenza in adults, according to a study yesterday in PLoS One.

Indonesia confirms H5N1 death

Indonesia's Ministry of Health has confirmed the country's second H5N1 case this year, in a 28-year-old man from Bekasi.

The man died from the disease, according to a machine-translated health ministry statement today on FluTrackers, the Web-based infectious disease message board. The health ministry statement is dated Oct 3.

GSK reports malaria vaccine follow-up, eyes regulatory application

At a malaria conference in South Africa today, researchers reported more promising findings for a vaccine that is furthest along in development, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) officials said they now intend to submit a regulatory application for it to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2014, according to a company press release.

Study: Statin failed to help patients with ventilator-related pneumonia

In a randomized controlled trial in France, a statin drug failed to improve survival rates in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), according to a report published online today by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Tests find H7N9 replicates well in human lung tissue

A German research team that analyzed and compared H7N9 influenza virus from a diseased human and H7 viruses from birds found that the human strain replicated as well as seasonal flu in lab culture designed to mimic human lung tissue, but the avian H7 strain grew poorly. They reported their findings yesterday in the latest edition of mBio.

Study finds evidence of dengue infections in Houston area

Texas researchers have found evidence of 47 cases of dengue infection after testing 3,768 clinical specimens from Houston-area patients suspected of having a mosquito-borne viral disease from 2003 through 2005, according to their findings published yesterday in Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases.

USDA says Foster Farms poultry plants can stay open

Foster Farms has taken adequate contamination-control steps at three of its California plants linked to a multistate Salmonella outbreak to have the plants remain operational, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said, according to an NBC News report yesterday.

Southern Hemisphere flu drops as Northern Hemisphere's season starts

As the end of the Southern Hemisphere's flu season draws near, activity in Australia and New Zealand seems to have peaked, though over the last few weeks South Africa has seen a second, smaller peak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in a global flu update.

CDC: 2011 measles outbreaks cost public health up to $5 million

The United States experienced a marked increase in imported measles cases in 2011. A new analysis of 16 outbreaks that year involving imported measles found that they cost public health agencies from $2.7 million to $5.3 million.