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Ohio scientists find new coronavirus in pigs

Scientists with the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) have identified a new coronavirus in pigs on four Ohio farms that recently had outbreaks of diarrheal disease, the ODA announced yesterday.

Study: 2 HPV doses protect against genital warts, but 3 better

Two doses of quadrivalent (four-strain) human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine provide good protection against genital warts (condylomata), but three doses are better, according to a large Swedish study published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

New fatal H10N8 case reported in China

Health officials in China's Jiangxi province today reported their third recent human case of H10N8 avian flu, which proved fatal, according to a provincial statement in Chinese translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.

The patient, a 75-year-old man from the capital city of Nanchang, got sick on Feb 4 and was hospitalized with severe pneumonia. He died on Feb 8.

Berkeley student may have exposed thousands to measles

Individuals in the San Francisco Bay area are being told to stay alert for symptoms of measles after an infected and contagious student at the University of California, Berkeley, attended classes and used public transportation before his diagnosis last week, according to news sources.

Study: Last year's flu vaccine yielded 42% to 50% protection in Europe

Data from seven European countries suggests that last season's influenza vaccine yielded about 42% to 50% protection, depending on the flu type, according to a recent report in Eurosurveillance.

Saudi Arabia reports its 60th MERS death

Saudi Arabian health officials on Feb 15 announced the death of a young adult cancer patient from the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), bringing the number of fatal MERS cases in that country to 60.

The 22-year-old man is from Eastern province, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) said. The nation has reported 145 MERS-CoV cases.

H5N1 strikes Chinese farm

More than 300,000 poultry have been culled at a farm in Guizhou province in southern China after about 1,000 birds died and more than 3,600 became sick from H5N1 avian flu, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reported today.

1,500 chickens culled for H5N1 in Nepal

After about 300 chickens on a farm in Nepal died mysteriously, H5N1 avian flu was confirmed and 1,552 chickens on that and a neighboring farm as well as 30 crates of eggs were destroyed yesterday by a rapid response team, according to a story in Republica, a Nepalese newspaper.

Two-state Listeria outbreaks sickens 8, kills 1

Eight people of Hispanic ethnicity in Maryland and California have contracted listeriosis, possibly from soft cheese, and one has died, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Feb 21.

H5N1 leads to 20,000 poultry deaths in Vietnam

Seven outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu among village flocks in seven separate provinces in northern and southern Vietnam have led to almost 20,000 new poultry deaths, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reported on Feb 22.

China reports one H7N9 case; Hong Kong survey finds low anxiety

China today reported one H7N9 case, in a 71-year-old man from Guangdong province who is hospitalized in critical condition, according to a provincial health ministry statement translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.

The man's illness bumps the overall number of H7N9 infections to 371. The unofficial number of deaths remains at 114.

Outbreak Listeria strain found in cheese products

Officials have identified in cheese products produced by Roos Foods of Kenton, Del., the strain of Listeria monocytogenes responsible for a two-state outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday. The outbreak has sickened seven people in Maryland and killed a person in California, the CDC said.

Saudi Arabia reports MERS case in Riyadh woman

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today announced that a 56-year-old Saudi woman in Riyadh is sick with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

The woman has chronic diseases and is being treated in an intensive care unit, the MOH said. It gave no other information on her condition or her possible exposures to the virus.

Study: 10% avian flu rate in Egyptian birds, H5N1-H9N2 co-infections

Active surveillance in Egypt found that 10% of all poultry samples from August 2010 through January 2013 tested positive for avian flu, and the H9N2 strain emerged in the country during that time and co-infected birds with H5N1, according to a report yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Bamboo bonfire sparked histoplasmosis outbreak in Arkansas

An outbreak of histoplasmosis was linked to a bonfire of bamboo at a family gathering in Arkansas in 2011, suggesting that heating of fungal spores that cause the disease may fuel their transmission, says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

FDA picks flu vaccine strains for 2014-15 flu season

A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel today made its recommendation on strains to include for the next flu season vaccine. The move is part of a process that the Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) conducts to review the most current flu strains, surveillance, and updates on vaccine performance, uptake, and manufacturing.

Caribbean chikungunya cases may now top 10,000

The Caribbean now has 10,476 confirmed, probable, or suspected cases of chikungunya, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said late last week, up from 6,540 the week before.

Hong Kong detects sixth imported H7N9 case

Hong Kong health officials today announced another imported H7N9 influenza infection, in an 18-month-old girl who had recently traveled to mainland China's Guangdong province, one of the hot spots in the most recent wave of cases.

The girl's illness is the sixth imported H7N9 case detected in Hong Kong since December, according to a statement today from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).

Study: Common pro-vaccine messages may backfire

In a trial of several types of fact-based messages that encouraged parents to have their children immunized with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, none worked, especially among those least disposed to have their kids vaccinated, US researchers reported yesterday in Pediatrics.

The scientists tested four types of promotion based on information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site:

US flu activity declines, but virus still taking lives

Overall US influenza activity continues to decline, but the share of deaths attributed to flu and pneumonia is still on the high side, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update.

Study links community C difficile cases in kids to antibiotics

A study published this week in Pediatrics suggests that most Clostridium difficile infections in children are unrelated to hospitalization and that a majority of these community-associated cases involve children who recently received antibiotic treatment for unrelated conditions.

H7N9 infections pause in China, but 2014 death toll reaches 72

China reported no H7N9 infections or deaths over the past 3 days, keeping the total number of human cases at 389, according to searches of provincial health announcements and a case compilation kept by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board. The unofficial number of deaths remained at 120.

WHO adds H7N9 updates amid case lull

For the fourth day in a row, no new lab-confirmed H7N9 influenza infections were reported from China, but the World Health Organization (WHO) in two separate updates today provided more details about four case reports it received from China on Mar 7 and Mar 8.

Libya reports first H5N1 outbreak

Libya's agriculture ministry today reported the country's first highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, according to a report to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

Drug-resistant Salmonella linked to hospitalization, study finds

Drug-resistant Salmonella is associated with more severe clinical illness than drug-susceptible strains are, according to a study yesterday in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.