Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Senegal confirms 2nd Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) case
Outbreak News Today The first case was confirmed on April 21 in a 35-year-old male patient. He was a butcher residing in Fadia city, Guédiawaye district, Dakar region. The date of onset of symptoms was 10 April with fever and flu-like syndrome. Samples were collected on 20 April for suspected viral hemorrhagic fever after he […]
May 30, 2023
Oldest evidence of plague in Britain is over 4,000 years old
UK Natural History Museum The plague was already circulating in Britain thousands of years before the Black Death. New research reveals that Yersinia pestis was widespread across Europe during the Bronze Age, with multiple strains circulating across the continent. The earliest evidence of the plague in Britain has been discovered. Researchers investigating Bronze Age human remains found […]
May 30, 2023
Genetic change increased bird flu severity during U.S. spread
NewsWise St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists discovered how the current epizootic H5N1 avian influenza virus (bird flu) gained new genes and greater virulence as it spread west. Researchers showed that the avian virus could severely infect the brains of mammalian research models, a notable departure from previous related strains of the virus. The researchers […]
May 30, 2023
Inside the Troubled Early Days of Guinea’s Ebola Response
PBS Why wasn’t the largest Ebola outbreak on record, which has now killed more than 10,000 people, stopped before it was too late? That’s the question at the heart of Outbreak, a FRONTLINE investigation from journalist and filmmaker Dan Edge that premieres tonight. In vivid, comprehensive detail, the film traces Ebola’s spread across West Africa, uncovering a string […]
May 23, 2023
Spontaneous splenic rupture during dengue fever
NIH Dengue fever is one of the most frequent arboviral diseases in the world. Dengue is known to cause myocarditis, hepatitis, and neurological illustrations but one of the established presentations is leakage of plasma resulting in circulatory failure. Spontaneous rupture of the spleen is one of the most infrequent but known outcome of dengue fever […]
May 23, 2023
Some 25 types of mammals died in latest bird flu outbreak
Reuters About 25 types of mammals have died in the latest bird flu outbreak, a larger number than in previous ones, increasing the risk of the virus turning into a pandemic, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said. Cases of the disease, officially called highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), have been detected in mammals in […]
May 23, 2023
If bird flu starts to spread among people, existing vaccines may be inadequate, experts say
NBC News The current U.S. stockpile of H5N1 flu shots likely won’t offer much protection in the event of a pandemic, vaccine researchers said. Wild birds and poultry flocks alike continue to drop dead from the highly pathogenic bird flu that began spreading globally in 2020. Almost 59 million commercial birds have already been culled in the United States. It’s the broadest […]
May 23, 2023
Bird flu: Brazil declares animal health emergency after several cases found
BBC Seven cases have been reported in Espirito Santo state, with another discovered in Rio de Janeiro state. The emergency declaration makes it easier for the government to now bring in measures to stop the highly infectious H5N1 virus from spreading. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of chicken meat, with annual sales of nearly […]
May 23, 2023
Covid update by Dr. Chang
Today’s biweekly update is presented by Arthur Chang, MD. Dr. Chang provides an update about the drastic decrease in MIS-C cases post-Omicron and the persistence of PASC (aka “Long Covid”) in children.
May 23, 2023
Brazil declares 180-day animal health emergency amid avian flu cases in wild birds
Reuters Brazil on Monday declared a state of animal health emergency for 180 days in response to the country’s first ever detection of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds, in a document signed by Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro. Infection by the H5N1 subtype of avian flu in wild birds does not trigger […]
May 23, 2023