Yesterday the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) released its epidemiologic survey of Zika virus and said the mosquito-borne illness was on the decline in Mexico but increasing in Anguilla, Paraguay, and Peru. Zika cases in the United States, meanwhile, topped 4,600.
The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) reported two new locally acquired Zika cases in Miami-Dade County residents yesterday, while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance for Brownsville, Tex., after state officials recently reported five local cases there, the first in the state.
The data show different rates of defects but shed light on the link between exposure timing and poor outcomes.
Macao has reported its first human H7N9 avian influenza case, involving a 58-year-old man who owns a poultry market stall, according to a Xinhua report today in Chinese translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary (AFD), an infectious disease news blog. AFD said there are multiple media outlets reporting the finding, which was announced in an early morning media briefing by the local health department.
All of Miami-Dade County is still a CDC cautionary area, and officials said more sporadic cases are likely.
The report adds to the growing body of literature linking Zika to a rise in microcephaly.
Also, New York's first 80 cases point to the usefulness of urine testing for diagnosis.
Also, Florida reported five more local Zika cases, all involving people who were sick earlier this fall.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison today described a new technique that could improve the production of influenza B vaccine viruses, consisting of a "backbone" for adding specific components to protect against both the Victoria and Yamagata lineages. They reported their findings today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Florida said the Little River neighborhood is no longer an active site of Zika transmission.
