Category Archives: epidemics

Saudi Arabia has 13 cases of SARS-like coronavirus -WHO

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May 8 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has had 13 cases in a recent outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus that has emerged from the Gulf and spread as far as Britain and France, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, and seven of those have died.

Saudi Arabia has reported 23 confirmed cases in total, Qatar two, Jordan two, Britain two and the United Arab Emirates one, the WHO said. Although there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human spread, there are concerns about clusters of cases.

France reported its first case on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/08/saudi-coronavirus-idUSL6N0DP1V720130508

 

New bird flu poses “serious threat”, scientists say

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By Kate Kelland

LONDON | Wed May 1, 2013 5:34pm EDT

(Reuters) – A new strain of bird flu that is causing a deadly outbreak among people in China is a threat to world health and should be taken seriously, scientists said on Wednesday.

The H7N9 strain has killed 24 people and infected more than 125, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), which has described it as “one of the most lethal” flu viruses.

The high mortality rate, together with relatively large numbers of cases in a short period and the possibility it might acquire the ability to transmit between people, make H7N9 a pandemic risk, experts said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/01/us-birdflu-threat-idUSBRE94011D20130501

 

H7N9 is a virus worth worrying about

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Warnings about the emergence of another influenza virus may elicit scepticism, but we should not be complacent, cautions Peter Horby.

Once again an animal influenza A virus has crossed the species barrier to cause an appreciable number of human cases. Now, two months after the first known human infections with the H7N9 virus, the question is: which of the paths set by previous emerging influenza viruses will it follow?

One predecessor, H5N1, generated alarm owing to its high pathogenicity in humans. It has proved to be a tenacious adversary, remaining endemic in poultry across large parts of Asia, but thankfully it has not adapted to humans and person-to-person transmission remains rare. A second, H7N7, caused a number of mostly mild human infections in the Netherlands in 2003, with some evidence of limited person-to-person spread, but extensive poultry culling controlled it. A third, the H1N1 swine influenza virus that emerged in 2009, successfully adapted to humans and caused a pandemic.

http://www.nature.com/news/h7n9-is-a-virus-worth-worrying-about-1.12853

WHO says new bird strain is “one of most lethal” flu viruses

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By Sui-Lee Wee and Kate Kelland

By Sui-Lee Wee and Kate Kelland

BEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) – A new bird flu strain that has killed 22 people in China is “one of the most lethal” of its kind and transmits more easily to humans than another strain that has killed hundreds since 2003, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Wednesday.

The H7N9 flu has infected 108 people in China since it was first detected in March, according to the Geneva-based WHO.

Although it is not clear exactly how people are being infected, experts say they see no evidence so far of the most worrisome scenario – sustained transmission between people.

An international team of scientists led by the WHO and the Chinese government conducted a five-day investigation in China, but said they were no closer to determining whether the virus might become transmissible between people.

“The situation remains complex and difficult and evolving,” said Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s assistant director-general for health security.

http://news.yahoo.com/says-bird-strain-one-most-lethal-flu-viruses-072106064.html

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Dalla Cina nuovo virus di influenza aviaria.
Uccelli sterminati a Shanghai, effetti in Borsa

L’Organizzazione mondiale della Sanità conferma i 14 casi di contagio registrati in una vasta area ad est del Paese ma spiega che per il momento “non vi è prova della trasmissione da uomo a uomo” del nuovo ceppo H7N9. Chiuso il mercato del pollame, più di 20mila esemplari al macello

Le operazioni di bonifica al mercato degli uccelli di Shangai (corbis)

GINEVRA – Prime conseguenze della diffusione di un nuovo ceppo del virus dell’influenza aviaria in Cina, dove, nell’est del grande Paese, nei giorni scorsi sono stati accertati sei morti e 14 casi di persone contagiate, vittime comprese. A Shanghai, il mercato del pollame sarà chiuso e andranno al macello decine di migliaia di uccelli.

Ma l’allarme crea scompensi anche nelle borse asiatiche, già alle prese con la crisi diplomatica tra le due Coree. In particolare, affonda la piazza di Hong Kong, che perde il 2,7%, ai minimi da 4 mesi, mentre Shanghai e Taiwan si salvano in quanto chiuse per festività. Ne risentono anche le Borse europee, per il timore di una forte corrente di vendite sulle compagnie aeree per le ipotesi che il ritorno dell’aviaria in Asia possa ridurre i viaggi.

http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2013/04/05/news/dalla_cina_nuova_influenza_aviaria-55997925/?ref=HREC2-6

Bird Flu Death In China Sparks Fear Of Human-Transmitted H5N1 Strain

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Bird Flu Death In China Sparks Fear Of Human-Transmitted H5N1 Strain

A woman diagnosed with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu last week has died in southwest China.

Health authorities in Guiyang, Guizhou province, announced that the 21-year-old woman, Shuai Pengyue, died on Wednesday due to multiple organ failure as a result of the flu. Shuai was one of two women reported in the area to have contracted the new strain of the avian influenza. Health officials have investigated the two of them and concluded that neither patient was in contact with poultry before showing symptoms of the illness. Victim proximity is important to note because typically, the bird flu is contracted by being in contact with poultry. In this case, health officials worry this could be signs that the H5N1 strain can now be transmitted between humans.

http://www.ibtimes.com/bird-flu-death-china-sparks-fear-human-transmitted-h5n1-strain-1088412

 

 

 

 

 

Thousands at Risk of Fungal Meningitis

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news-video?freewheel=90080&sitesection=usnews&VID=23838703

CDC: Thousands May Have Received Contaminated Steroid Linked to Meningitis

About 13,000 patients across 23 states may have been injected with a potentially contaminated steroid that’s linked to a national meningitis outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Typically used to relieve back pain, the steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, was made by New England Compounding Center in Framingham (NECC), Mass., where a leafy mold likely contaminated the product. Reuters reports that since the September 25 recall of three lots of the steroid, 105 cases of the fungal meningitis and eight deaths have been confirmed nationally.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2012/10/09/health-buzz-thousands-at-risk-of-fungal-meningitis

‘Brain-eating’ amoeba kills 10 in Pakistan

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EPIDEMICS

‘Brain-eating’ amoeba kills 10 in Pakistan
by Staff Writers
Karachi (AFP) Oct 9, 2012

Authorities in Pakistan’s largest city have launched an urgent investigation after a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba killed 10 people in four months, officials said Tuesday.

The water company and health officials monitoring water in Karachi, home to 18 million people, have been ordered to trace the source of the Naegleria fowleri outbreak.

Saghir Ahmed, health minister of southern Sindh province of which Karachi is capital, said the drinking supply, swimming places and facilities used for the ritual ablutions Muslims must perform before prayers were all under investigation.

“There is no reason to panic and citizens should stay calm and take precautions,” Ahmed said.

“It is a water-borne infection and we are thoroughly inquiring about its arrival and spread here.”

Shakeel Malick, a health ministry official, said the amoeba had caused 10 deaths so far this year. He said there have been cases in the past, but so few that detailed numbers were not recorded.

The amoeba causes primary amoebic meningitis, a disease with a fatality rate of over 99 percent, said Faisal Mehmood, an expert in infectious diseases.

 

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Brain-eating_amoeba_kills_10_in_Pakistan_officials_999.html