H5N1

New Japan malaria vaccine cuts infections 'by 72%'

If true, this is the best news of the year, if not of the decade. Via Yahoo! News UK, an AFP report: New Japan malaria vaccine cuts infections 'by 72%'. Excerpt:

A team of Japanese researchers say they have developed a vaccine that cuts the risk of malaria developing in humans by more than two-thirds. 

The disease, which is carried by parasite-bearing mosquitoes, kills around 650,000 people each year, mostly African children under five, according to the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO). 

While there are a number of preventative medicines already in use, scientists say drug-resistance is growing. 

Researchers from Osaka University have developed a dry powder vaccine, called BK-SE36, from a genetically-modified protein found inside the parasite, which they mixed with aluminum hydroxyl gel. 

"The vaccine's effect is greater than those hitherto reported of any other antimalaria vaccines," a statement issued this week said, adding BK-SE36 is expected to reduce markedly the number of deaths caused by the mosquito-borne disease. 

The vaccine has already undergone trials on adults in Japan and was also tested in a malaria-endemic area in northern Uganda between 2010 and 2011. Neither study found any safety problems. 

A follow-up study of people in Uganda, aged between six and 20, found the vaccine lowered the number of people infected by malaria by 72 percent. 

The findings were published on Tuesday on the online US science journal PLOS One, according the statement. 

BK-SE36 far outperformed the 31 percent decline achieved by another new vaccine developed by a British company, the statement said. 

Professor Toshihiro Horii, who led the study, told Jiji Press he wants to put BK-SE36 to practical use "in five years after conducting a clinical trial on infants between zero and five, who account for the bulk of malaria deaths."

Philippines: Overseas workers in Middle East safe from coronavirus

Via ABS-CBN News in Manila, a June 1 report: OFWs in Middle East safe from coronavirus. Excerpt:

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remain safe from the SARS-like virus now spreading in the Middle East, the Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday. 

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said they have not received any report of Filipino workers being infected with the deadly virus. 

“This is not new to us, we have been monitoring these reports and we believe there is no reason for our workers and their families to be alarmed,” Baldoz said. 

She said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office has not recorded any Filipino worker who manifested symptoms of respiratory illness. 

But a group of OFWs in the Middle East urged the government to deploy a team of medical experts to Saudi Arabia to educate the OFWs on how to protect themselves from the infection. 

“Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia should be properly informed, educated, and guided about taking care of their health amid the spread of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Symptom Coronavirus),” Migrante Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said.

This is not an idle worry. Saudi Arabia has countless foreign workers from many countries, and any contagious disease could spread very far in those workers.

Saudi Arabia: Transparency urged in coronavirus cases

Via Arab News, a June 1 report that's the most interesting to come out of Saudi Arabia in weeks: Transparency urged in coronavirus cases. The complete article:

A specialist in infectious diseases said that withholding information by the Ministry of Health about the spread of the coronavirus following the deaths of the infected patients is significantly damaging and provides no benefit. 

The specialist spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said citizens and residents in Saudi Arabia have the right to accessible information about the disease. 

“I do not know why the Ministry of Health discreetly hid the information of the first case of coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, and the infection got to Al-Ahsa region where the disease has appeared and is starting to spread. They bear the responsibility for this,” he said. 

The specialist suggested that the reality seems to be withheld from the domestic public opinion, and the public does not know if the ministry has detailed information about the spread of the virus and refuses to disclose it, or whether they have not reached any conclusion. He said the Ministry of Health looks at research centers in Saudi universities as competitors when the relationship with research centers at universities should be a complementary relationship, not competitive. 

He added that MoH indeed prefers to discover the scientific research on diseases via universities abroad rather than Saudi universities, although there are a number of Saudi universities that enjoy a huge potential and have reference laboratories recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

However, the Ministry of Health refuses to cooperate with them because they perceive them as competitors in spite of their supportive work with the MoH, he said. 

He said preventive measures taken by the Ministry of Health lacks transparency, with no announcement about where the spread of infection started and whether it originated in Al-Ahsa or came from abroad. He also noted that ministry did not give any scientific information or details about the reasons for the spread of the virus. 

“Unfortunately there are no details and nothing was published except the number of cases and deaths. This is not enough. It does not allow us to investigate the causes of the disease.” 

Today, he said, there are more than 30 cases, but there is no clear information about the source of the disease and we do not know the results of the investigations.

CIDRAP on the Italian MERS case

Via CIDRAP, Robert Roos summarizes what we know so far: Italy resident has MERS after trip to Jordan. The report also deals with the latest Saudi cases. Excerpt:

Italy announced its first Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) case today, in a man who recently spent time in Jordan, site of the first known MERS illnesses, according to media reports. 

Also today, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed earlier reports of another apparent hospital cluster of MERS-CoV cases in Saudi Arabia, involving five patients whose cases were reported 3 days ago. 

In Italy, the health ministry said MERS was diagnosed in a 45-year-old man who is a foreigner living in Italy, according to a Reuters report today. He recently spent 40 days in Jordan, where one of his sons was suffering from "an unspecified flu," the story said. 

The man was hospitalized in Tuscany with a high fever, a cough, and difficult breathing, but he is now in good condition and being monitored in isolation, Reuters reported. 

Unofficially, the new case raises the global MERS-CoV count to 51 cases with 30 deaths. The WHO, which has not yet noted the Italian case, listed its count today at 50 cases, including 30 deaths.

WHO: Yellow fever in Ethiopia

WHO has published a statement on Yellow fever in Ethiopia. Excerpt:

The Ministry of Health of Ethiopia is launching an emergency mass-vaccination campaign against yellow fever from 10 June 2013. This is in response to laboratory confirmation of six cases in the country on 7 May 2013. 

The campaign aims to cover more than 527,000 people in the following six districts: South Ari, North Ari, Benatsemay, Selamago, Hammer, and Gnangatom and one administrative town (Jinka) in South Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. The International Coordinating Group on Yellow Fever Vaccine Provision (YF-ICG1) will provide over 585,800 doses of yellow fever vaccine for the mass vaccination campaign run by the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia, with support from the GAVI Alliance and other partners. 

WHO is closely supporting the outbreak investigation, capacity building for case management, resource mobilization for outbreak management, and monitoring preventive and control activities in the field.

Italy: A little more on the MERS case in Florence

Via La Nazione, a Google translated report: Tuscany, new SARS case of the first in Italy hit a 45 year old man. Excerpt:

First case of 'new Coronavirus' in Italian, has been isolated in Tuscany interested and sees a citizen of 45 years of foreign nationality, who lives in Italy, and has recently been in Jordan for 40 days, where one of his sons seems to suffer from a flu unspecified.   

A report is the Ministry of Health , after the notice received by the Region of Tuscany and after confirmation of the diagnosis came the Istituto Superiore di Sanita '- Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated. The patient, who at admission had a high fever, cough and signs of respiratory failure, and 'currently hospitalized in isolation' and is in good condition. It seems to be admitted to the hospital of Careggi in Florence. 

The recognition of the case occurred following the procedures outlined in the circular that the Ministry of Health has issued to the Departments of Health of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces May 16 to increase the degree of attention to persons with fever and respiratory symptoms from important geographical areas in which there have been similar cases or who have witnessed a patient suffering from MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus), as it is now called the virus, whose almost-human transmission seems to be possible only where there were close contacts and prolonged as for example in the context of a family or in a hospital ward.

So we can begin to speculate a little about this case. The person is likely to be a Jordanian citizen resident in Italy, who went home for an extended visit. His son (resident in Jordan?) fell ill there and it also seems likely that if he too contracted MERS, it was from a local source.

The father, whether from the original source or from his son, contracted a more serious case and carried it back to Italy...just one year after the first MERS cases emerged in Zarqa. It would be almost too tidy if Zarqa turned out to be the home town of the new patient.

China reports 38th H7N9 death

Via Shanghai Daily, a Xinhua report: China reports 38th H7N9 death.

A man in Shanghai died from the H7N9 strain of bird flu on Friday, local health authorities said, raising the death toll from the virus in China's mainland to 38. 

The 59 year old, surnamed Shen, died on Friday afternoon, nearly two months after being confirmed as infected with the virus, the Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement late on Friday. 

Shanghai has so far reported 33 human infections. Fifteen have been cured and discharged from hospitals, 15 have died and the remaining three are still being treated, it said. 

The Chinese mainland has so far reported 131 confirmed H7N9 cases, 38 of which have ended in death.

Italy: Report from Tuscany on the first MERS case

Via Repubblica.it in Florence, a Google translated report: Tuscany, a new SARS case of the first in Italy, "in good condition". Excerpt:

There is a first case of a new coronavirus, also known as New Sars, in Italy is in Tuscany. This is confirmed by the Ministry of Health. 

The patient, a stranger of 45 years who lives long in Florence, was recently in Jordan. His condition is still described as "good." The reporting of the case came just from Tuscany. The patient is now in isolation and in good condition Careggi Hospital, the largest hospital in Florence. 

"The patient was admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases directed by Professor Alessandro Bartoloni - said the Regional Minister for Health Louis Brown - arrived Tuesday and were performed tests that confirmed today the positive to the virus." 

So he set in motion the procedure to the ministry, Tuscany has triggered a crisis unit and "is also taken surveillance for people who have found themselves in close contact with the patient," said the commissioner. 

The man lives in a house together with another family. The symptoms were those who had flu and breathing.  According to preliminary information, it would be a case of 'imported': the man who lives in Italy, had recently been in Jordan for 40 days, where one of his sons seems to suffer from a flu unspecified. 

The patient on admission had a high fever, cough and signs of respiratory failure. Confirmation of diagnosis was made ​​by the Institute of Health - Department of Infectious Diseases, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated. 

It is a new virus similar to SARS, and resulting in 49 cases and 30 deaths among the Middle East and Europe (one fatal case in France, other non-fatal accidents in the United Kingdom and Denmark.) 

More on the first Italian MERS case

Via Corriere della Sera, a Google translated report: New Sars, is the first Italian case. Excerpt:

The new SARS strikes in Italy. The Tuscany Region has announced a confirmed case of infection with the new strain of coronavirus, called a note the new Sars: This is an acute respiratory infection in Europe has already registered cases in France (with a victim), Denmark and the United Kingdom . 

PATIENT IN ISOLATION - 

It is a citizen of 45 years of foreign nationality, who lives in Italy, and which has recently been in Jordan for 40 days. In the Middle East one of his sons has accused a flu unspecified. The patient, who at admission had a high fever, cough and signs of respiratory failure, is currently hospitalized in isolation and is in good condition. 

DIAGNOSIS - 

The Ministry is closely monitoring the situation in close collaboration with the health authorities of the Region of Tuscany. The confirmation of the diagnosis was made ​​by the National Institute of Health following the procedures outlined by the Ministry of Health on May 16 last year.

Italy's 1st MERS case travelled to Jordan

Via CBC News: Italy's 1st MERS case travelled to Jordan. Excerpt:

Health officials in Italy reported the country's first case of MERS coronavirus in a man who had been travelling in Jordan. 

The 45-year-old man was in good condition and was being monitored in isolation after being admitted to hospital in Tuscany with a high fever, cough and breathing difficulties, Italy's health ministry said in a statement. 

The man had recently been in Jordan for 40 days, where one of his sons seemed to have a flu. 

Earlier Friday, the World Health Organization said it's learned of a new case of MERS coronavirus in an eastern province of Saudi Arabia, raising the total number worldwide to 50.