Zika Scan for Jul 01, 2016

News brief

Bacteria blocks Zika transmission in Aedes, study finds

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison report that a harmless bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis prevents transmission of the Zika virus by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The research was published today in the journal Scientific Reports and offers hope that Wolbachia could be a cost-effective weapon against Zika.

The research team introduced Wolbachia into Aedes mosquitoes in Medellin, Colombia. In the study, female mosquitoes housing Wolbachia fed on Zika-infected mice or membranes containing Zika-infected sheep's blood. They had low to undeductible levels of Zika virus compared with the controls and were incapable of transmission. In comparison, 95% of the control mosquitoes were capable of spreading the virus 7 days after feeding.

Wolbachia has previously been investigated as a tool to control dengue virus transmission, and other studes have shown it to be effective against Zika, as well. The bacterium is often found in butterflies and bees but not mosquitoes. Researchers are optimistic the bacteria could provide a low-cost way to control the spread of Aedes-transmitted illnesses, including chikungunya, yellow fever, and dengue.

Currently, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding pilot testing and introduction of Wolbachia to mosquito populations in Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Researchers hope that once the bacterium infects 80% of mosquitoes in a region, the rate of Zika transmission will be greatly reduced. Once a female mosquito is infected with Wolbachia, she passes the infection to her offspring.

It's estimated that the Zika virus could infect 4 million people this year, causing illnesses ranging from mild, transient fever to microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Jul 1 Sci Rep study
May 5 CIDRAP News story "Bacteria shown to curb mosquitoes' ability to spread Zika"
CIDRAP Zika resource page

Whole-blood testing may provide wider window for Zika diagnosis

Whole blood isolated from five patients with Zika tested positive for the virus for up to 58 days following symptom onset, a much longer diagnostic window than that provided by urine or serum samples, according to a study yesterday in Eurosurveillance.

A research team led by Israel's Ministry of Health analyzed whole-blood, serum, and urine specimens from six travelers to Zika-endemic areas diagnosed with the illness between December 2015 and April 2016. The patients ranged in age from 3 to 61 years, and two were male, the authors said.

Among six whole-blood samples obtained from five patients who tested positive for Zika RNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction), one remained positive for 58 days following symptom onset. In contrast, among urine specimens, the longest duration of positive results was 26 days in one of the three positive samples, and among five positive serum samples the longest was only 3 days. The authors also found a substantially higher quantity of Zika virus RNA in whole blood (88 plaque-forming units, or PFUs) in comparison with the 16 PFUs in urine samples.

The authors said that all samples of whole blood were positive for viral RNA during the first month following illness onset, three were positive during the second month, and all were negative after 2 months.

Whole blood may provide a more accurate and larger diagnostic window for Zika virus, an improvement in detection capability that may help in addressing the illness during pregnancy and in preventing sexual transmission, the authors said.
Jun 30 Eurosurveillance study

Feds award $25 million to local health departments for Zika preparation

Funding in the amount of $25 million to support Zika virus protection has been provided by the federal government to 53 state, city, and territorial health departments in the United States, says an announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today.

The recipients are areas of the country deemed at risk for local Zika transmission as determined by the estimated range of the Aedes mosquito species known to transmit the virus, a history of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks, and population, says the CDC press release.

The funds are available as of today and can be used through June of next year to identify and investigate possible outbreaks, coordinate comprehensive responses across all levels of government and nongovernmental partners, identify and connect families affected by Zika to community services, and buy preparedness resources like repellent, screens, and supplies for prevention kits.

The announcement also says that the CDC "has awarded $567.5 million in cooperative agreements to 62 public health departments across the country to improve and sustain emergency preparedness of state and local public health systems." These monies come from Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement funds, which annually provide resources for local communities to plan for and respond to various emergency events.

The Obama administration has asked for $1.9 billion in federal Zika funding, but action on the request has so far been held up by various congressional controversies.
Jul 1 CDC press release

News Scan for Jul 01, 2016

News brief

E coli outbreak linked to General Mills flour grows to 42 cases in 21 states

An outbreak of Escherichia coli O121 linked to General Mills flour has grown by 4 cases, to 42, and the company has expanded its recall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

Cases have now been reported in 21 states, with Indiana just added to the list. Eleven patients have required hospitalization, one more than in the CDC's initial report on the outbreak on Jun 1.

Illness-onset dates range from Dec 21, 2015, to Jun 8, with patients trending young. They vary in age from 1 to 95 years, but with a median age of 18. About 81% are female. No patient has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure, and no deaths have been reported.

Officials have isolated the outbreak strain of E coli from samples of General Mills flour collected from patients' homes in Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma.

Today General Mills expanded its recall to include additional lots of Gold Medal Flour, Signature Kitchens Flour, and Gold Medal Wondra Flour, the CDC said. The agency has a list of the recalled flours on its Advice to Consumers page. The company announced its first recall related to the outbreak on May 31.
Jun 1 CDC update

Wisconsin, Minnesota report variant H1N2 flu cases

Officials in Wisconsin and Minnesota have each reported a case of variant H1N2 (H1N2v) influenza in a person who had recent swine contact, bringing to three the number of such cases this year, the CDC said today in its weekly FluView update.

The patient in Wisconsin was hospitalized for the illness and "continues to recover," the CDC said. He or she had direct contact with swine in the weeks before illness onset, and authorities did not detect any transmission to other people. The agency did not say when the person contracted the disease or give other details about the patient or clinical course.

The H1N2v patient in Minnesota was infected in April. He or she also had close contact with swine, as recently as the week before illness onset. The Minnesota case, however, did not involve hospitalization, and the patient has fully recovered.

The previous H1N2v patient was also from Minnesota but was hospitalized before recovering, the CDC said on May 13. A few other H1N2v cases were reported in earlier years, including one in Minnesota in 2011 and one in Michigan in 2007. In January New Jersey reported an H3N2v case, the only other case of variant flu in the country this year.

In 2012, more than 300 people tested positive for H1N1v, H1N2v, or H3N2v strains—primarily the latter—in cases that were mostly linked to county and state fairs in the Midwest.
Jul 1 CDC FluView report
May 13 CIDRAP News story on earlier H1N2v case

H5N6 avian flu hits backyard birds in central Vietnam

Vietnam has seen another outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N6 avian flu, this one resulting in the loss of nearly 4,000 backyard birds, according to a report posted today by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The outbreak, which occurred in Quang Ngai city on the central coast of the country, sickened and killed 700 birds of unspecified species. The remaining 3,000 birds in the flock were destroyed.

Among containment measures undertaken were disinfection of the premises and vaccination, according to the report. The source of the outbreak is unknown, and its status is listed as "continuing."

There were several H5N6 outbreaks in Vietnam in January and February of this year, and the OIE lists the date of the most recent previous report as Mar 11.
Jul 1 OIE report