H5N1

Nepal: Japanese encephalitis claims 3 in Kailali

Via The Himalayan Times: Japanese Encephalitis claims 3 in Kailali. Excerpt:

DHANGADHI: Three persons died of Japanese encephalitis while receiving treatment at different hospitals in Kailali district. 

Nine persons were admitted to the Tikapur Hospital after taken ill due to the Japanese encephalitis, a disease that transfers through the bites of the culex female mosquitoes. According to the District Public Health Office, Kailali, two persons died while undergoing treatment at the Tikapur Hospital while next one died while at the Seti Zonal Hospital, Dhangadhi. 

Similarly, a person has been referred to Nepalgunj from Dhangadhi for Dengue treatment while two others returned home after their treatment.

Vietnam: Dengue fever tipped to peak after recent rains

If you're tracking dengue, I strongly recommend the news page at UNITEDengue. It's bringing in a lot of reports every day, like this one from VietNamNet Bridge: Dengue fever tipped to peak after recent rains.

The dengue epidemic is expected to peak in Viet Nam in September following recent heavy rainfalls, said deputy head of the Health Ministry's Preventive Medicine Department Tran Thanh Duong. 

A department statistics report showed that nearly 39,900 Vietnamese people were stricken by dengue virus in the first seven months of this year, 35,000 of them in southern regions: an increase of 14 per cent compared with the same period last year. Twenty-six people died. 

In Ha Noi, the number of dengue virus carriers is few, with 78 patients reported since early this year. 

Dengue fever is transmitted by several species of mosquito. It is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. 

Duong said the dengue epidemic situation in Viet Nam was similar to nearby countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. 

He said the number of people with dengue virus remained high because there was not yet a vaccine and specific treatment. The rapid speed of urbanisation and the rainy season create favourable conditions for mosquitoes, spreading the epidemic.

ECDC epidemiological update: 2012 West Nile virus outbreak in US, 30 August

Via ECDC: Epidemiological update: 2012 West Nile virus outbreak in the USA, 30 August 2012. Excerpt:

As of 28 August 2012, 1 590 human cases of West Nile virus disease have been reported in the United States of America. Of these, 889 (56%) were classified as neuroinvasive disease [1]. West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes have been reported from 48 states of which 44 reported human cases. 

Seventy-one percent of the neuroinvasive human cases are reported from six states (Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas), with 44% of neuroinvasive cases from Texas. 

The USA experiences the largest outbreak of West Nile virus since the virus was first detected in 1999: the case numbers in 2012 are the highest since 1999 for this time of the year, and the number of neuroinvasive cases reported so far is higher than the number of neuroinvasive cases reported annually from 2008 to 2011. 

The upsurge of transmission of West Nile fever this year predominantly in the central and southern part of the country remains unexplained. One hypothesis states that the United States has suffered severe droughts in previous months which would have favoured closer contacts between birds and mosquitoes including bridge vectors biting humans. 

In Europe, WNV infection has become recognised as a major public health concern since the first large outbreak in Romania in 1996. To address this concern, ECDC publishes since 2011 weekly updates on the distribution of West Nile fever cases in the European Union and neighbouring countries on its website. 

Cases reported in the EU include confirmed and probable cases with positive laboratory results as per the EU case definition and all reported cases outside the EU. 

As of 30 August 2012, 115 human cases of West Nile fever have been reported in the EU (from Greece, Italy and Romania) and 224 cases in neighbouring countries.

104 deaths, 5,000 cholera cases reported in Guinea

Via Xinhua: 104 deaths, 5,000 cholera cases reported in Guinea. Excerpt:

Six months since the discovery of the first case of cholera in Guinea, the West African country has reported 5,152 cases and 104 deaths, a lethality rate of 2.01 percent. 

Health authorities on Wednesday made the disclosure, calling for technical and financial support from international partners including the World Health Organization (WHO) and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). 

The government has launched a sensitization campaign through the media, erected bill boards in mosques and churches and sent health officials to door-to-door services to advise people to adopt proper hygienic lifestyles. 

Mobile phone operators have also been incorporated in the campaign in which they are sending messages to their subscribers, informing them of ways to avoid cholera contamination.

US: West Nile virus outbreak claims 66 lives this year

Via Xinhua: West Nile virus outbreak claims 66 lives this year in U.S. Excerpt:

U.S. federal health officials said on Wednesday that West Nile virus cases rose more than 40 percent over last week, claiming altogether 66 lives in the country so far this year. 

According to new numbers announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a telephone news briefing, 48 U. S. states had reported 1,590 human infections of the virus as of Tuesday, including 66 deaths. The figures represent a 42 percent surge in the number of cases and a 61 percent increase in the number of deaths in a week. 

The number of human cases further marked the highest case count through the last week of August since the virus was first detected in the country in 1999, said the center. 

But as for a whole year record, 2003 saw 9,862 reported cases of West Nile Virus in the United States, and 2002 saw over 4,100 cases including more than 260 fatalities. 

Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the center, said this year's numbers will continue to rise.

Mexico: Five states unite against dengue

Via Prensa Latina: Estados mexicanos se unen en lucha contra el dengue. [Mexican states unite in fight against dengue] Excerpt, with my translation:

Los estados mexicanos de Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Nuevo León y San Luis Potosí integrarán un frente común de lucha contra el dengue, ante los cuatro mil 733 casos registrados hoy en esas entidades.   

The Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, and San Luis Potosí with form a common front against dengue, which has caused 4,733 confirmed cases in those states.

El titular tamaulipeco de Salud, Norberto Treviño, al encabezar la Reunión Interestatal de Coordinación, Prevención y Control del Dengue hizo un llamado urgente a desarrollar, de forma coordinada, estrategias para controlar la transmisión de este mal, que tiene una tendencia al alza. 

The Tamaulipas minister of health, Norberto Treviño, leading the Interstate Meeting of Coordination, Prevention, and Control of Dengue, made an urgent call to develop coordinated strategies to control the transmission of the disease, which is tending to increase.

De acuerdo con el reporte del diario El Universal de los casos comprobados 44 se localizan en Hidalgo; 355 en San Luis Potosí; 523 en Tamaulipas; 619 en Nuevo León, y tres mil 192 en Veracruz.

According to the daily El Universal, of confirmed cases 44 are in Hidalgo; 355 in San Luis Potosí; 523 in Tamaulipas; 619 in Nuevo León, and 3,192 in Veracruz.

Alarming levels of drug-resistant TB found worldwide

Via Reuters AlertNet: Alarming levels of drug-resistant TB found worldwide. Excerpt:

Scientists have found an alarming number of cases of the lung disease tuberculosis in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America that are resistant to up to four powerful antibiotic drugs. 

In a large international study published in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday, researchers found rates of both multi drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) were higher than previously thought and were threatening global efforts to curb the spread of the disease. 

"Most international recommendations for TB control have been developed for MDR-TB prevalence of up to around 5 percent. Yet now we face prevalence up to 10 times higher in some places, where almost half of the patients ... are transmitting MDR strains," Sven Hoffner of the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, said in a commentary on the study. 

TB is already a worldwide pandemic that infected 8.8 million people and killed 1.4 million in 2010. 

Drug-resistant TB is more difficult and costly than normal TB to treat, and is more often fatal. 

MDR-TB is resistant to at least two first-line drugs - isoniazid and rifampicin - while XDR-TB is resistant to those two drugs as well as a powerful antibiotic type called a fluoroquinolone and a second-line injectable antibiotic. 

Treating even normal TB is a long process, with patients needing to take a cocktail of powerful antibiotics for six months. Many patients fail to complete their treatment correctly, a factor which has fuelled a rise in the drug-resistant forms. 

Researchers who studied rates of the disease in Estonia, Latvia, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Thailand found almost 44 percent of cases of MDR TB were also resistant to at least one second-line drug. 

Tom Evans, chief scientific officer at Aeras, a non-profit group working to develop new TB vaccines, told Reuters treatment options for XDR-TB patients were "limited, expensive and toxic". 

Treatments for drug-resistant TB can cost 200 times more than those for normal TB, he said in an emailed statement. They can also cause severe side effects like deafness and psychosis, and can take two years to complete, he added. 

In the United States, MDR-TB treatment can cost $250,000 or more per patient, and in many poorer countries costs can be catastrophic to health systems and patients' families. 

"Without a robust pipeline of new drugs to stay one step ahead, it will be nearly impossible to treat our way out of this epidemic," Evans said.

Ebola: Kibaale public gatherings ban lifted

Via New Vision: Ebola: Kibaale public gatherings ban lifted. Excerpt:

The national Ebola task force has lifted a ban that had been slapped on all public gatherings in Kibaale district. 

“We have deemed it necessary to allow public gatherings (in places) such as markets, schools and any other social gatherings to open up because the Ebola epidemic is now contained,” Dr. Jackson Amony, the national coordinator of the Ebola task force said. 

All public gatherings had been banned following the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic that was declared on July 28. 

Amony said that the epidemic is now in the low risk period and the public can now go on with their normal business but with caution. 

“We are waiting for the next two days and if no Ebola case is registered then Kibaale will be declared Ebola free,” said Dr. Amony. The last confirmed Ebola case was registered on August 3, and since then all the blood samples from the suspects have tested negative. 

Dr. Amony said that the ministry of health is now more prepared to respond to outbreaks and to reduce on fatalities. Dr. Amony said that the ministry now wants to emphasize infection control for the health workers and urged the public to also invest in their health. 

He attributed the success in handling the Ebola epidemic in Kibaale to the rapid response and collaboration of the other partners such as world health organization, Medicines Sans Frontires-MSF and local NGOs.

Nigeria: 41% of children stunted by malnutrition

Via ReliefWeb, a disturbing report (with video) from UNICEF: Nigeria battles a worsening malnutrition crisis. Excerpt:

KATSINA STATE, Nigeria, 28 August 2012 - It’s 9 a.m., and already the soil is being scorched by the unforgiving sun. The landscape is bleached out with no shade. The only splash of color is provided by 10 yellow watering cans lined up neatly by the side of a muddy well. Next to them, Al Haji Yahaya and his young son are methodically filling them up with brown-coloured water from what is little more than a sandy hole. 

Deepening crisis 

It’s a ritual that this family and countless others across the Sahel region practise daily. The two-hour round trip on a donkey cart is the only way Mr. Yahaya can be assured access to water for his cattle and for his household. “I know it’s not clean. The children sometimes get sick, but what can I do?” he says. 

Mr. Yahaya and his family live in the northern part of Nigeria, one of eight states that make up the Sahel region. UNICEF estimates that 1.1 million children are threatened with severe acute malnutrition in the region, which is fuelled by poverty, insecurity and lack of access to clean water. 

Yet, the crisis in Africa’s most populous nation is largely a “silent one”, argues Bamidele Davis Omotola, Senior Nutrition Specialist at UNICEF’s Nigeria country office. “Most people do not see it, but 41 per cent of Nigeria’s children are stunted, and that is a basic indication that something is very wrong,” he says.

India: Viral fever, dengue, now a bird flu scare in Bengal

Via Hindustan Times: Viral fever, dengue, now a bird flu scare in Bengal. Excerpt:

There appears to be another assassin at Bengal’s doorstep. While parts of Kolkata and its surroundings have been hit by dengue and viral fever, a spectre of bird flu is lurking in Baduria and Swarupnagar, about 100 km from here, where more than 1 lakh [100,000] chickens have reportedly perished. 

The suspected outbreak of the virus took place over the past fortnight with birds displaying symptoms of respiratory trouble, lack of energy, swelling of head, eyelids and comb, similar to the deadly virus. Bird flu virus (H5N1) had struck Bengal between 2007 and 2009 affecting the entire poultry industry. 

“We have got reports of several thousands of poultry birds, mainly chickens, dying in some villages of Baduria and Swarupnagar with symptoms of bird flu. Our experts have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation,” K K Saha, director of the animal resource development department), told HT. 

“Some carcasses have been sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) in Belghachia for serological tests which will confirm if the birds died because of H5N1 virus. But there is no need to spread panic among the villagers,” Saha added. 

An ARD official said all villages in both the blocks and adjoining areas have been sensitised on how to keep a watch on poultry birds. 

Bengal’s poultry industry suffered more than Rs. 500 crore [5 billion] loss following the deaths of about 40 lakh chickens in 18 districts during 2007 and 2008. Most of the deaths were because of precautionary culling to prevent the spread of the virus.

I wish officials would never, ever say "No need to panic." It's both stupid (there's never a need to panic) and patronizing.