Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Marburg virus outbreak: researchers race to test vaccines
(Nature) Control measures such as quarantine could end the outbreak in Equatorial Guinea quickly — good news for inhabitants but a mixed blessing for clinical trials. Health officials worldwide are sprinting to test whether experimental vaccines can protect against a deadly illness, after Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first outbreak of Marburg virus disease on 13 […]
Feb 15, 2023
Cameroon detects two suspected cases of Marburg virus near Eq. Guinea
(Reuters) – Cameroonian authorities detected two suspected cases of Marburg disease on Monday in Olamze, a commune on the border with Equatorial Guinea, the public health delegate for the region, Robert Mathurin Bidjang, said on Tuesday. Equatorial Guinea officially declared its first outbreak of the Marburg virus, an illness similar to Ebola, on Monday. Neighbouring Cameroon had restricted movement along the […]
Feb 14, 2023
Researchers ‘cannot rule out’ bird flu spreading between sea lions
(New Scientist) More than 600 sea lions have been found dead or dying on Peruvian beaches this year in the first mass mortality event of wild mammals from bird flu in South America. A mass outbreak of avian flu among sea lions in Peru has revived fears the virus could be passing between mammals. Since […]
Feb 14, 2023
Wild ducks found dead in Maine test positive for bird flu
(Maine News) Wildlife authorities in Maine said six wild ducks found dead in a stream in Winthrop have tested positive for bird flu. The hooded mergansers were found dead in Mill Stream and tested positive for a highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said Friday. The wildlife department said […]
Feb 14, 2023
Avian Flu hits migratory birds in north Louisiana(
(KTBS) The H5N1 Avian Flu is not just affecting poultry on farms. The virus has spread to migratory water fowl, and there are infected birds in north Louisiana. According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, several geese that died from the flu were discovered in late November. In September, the virus was also found […]
Feb 14, 2023
(NBC News) Adapted to birds, H5N1 has been found in various mammals, but it would need a complicated string of mutations to spread more easily in people. Hundreds of wild sea lions in South America, a farm of minks in Europe, and more than 58 million poultry birds have died. All of these animals fell victim to the impact of […]
Feb 14, 2023
NCDC Records 117 Lassa Fever Outbreak In 13 States, FCT
(Science Nigeria) The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said it has recorded 117 additional Lassa fever cases from 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the reporting week 4. Disclosing this via its official website today (February 13, 2023), the NCDC said the 13 states include Ondo, Edo, Taraba, Bauchi, Ebonyi, […]
Feb 14, 2023
NCDC reports 763 Monkeypox cases, as Lassa fever kills 53 in January
(The Nation) Nigeria has recorded 763 (501 male, 261 female) confirmed cases of Monkeypox diseases from 34 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as of January 1, 2023, according to the latest epidemiological data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC). Of the states with the cases of Monkeypox in the country, […]
Feb 14, 2023
COVID Rebound Can Happen Even without Paxlovid
(Scientific American) Concerns about Paxlovid rebound are preventing some doctors from prescribing the lifesaving drug and some high-risk patients from taking it. Paxlovid gets a bad rap over concerns about COVID “rebound.” That’s the primary takeaway from a series of papers showing that whether or not people take the antiviral medication, many have symptoms that […]
Feb 14, 2023