Disease outbreaks will increase as per ZetaTalk

[Starr DiGiacomo]

 

Taking Sick

On Jan 15, 1998 ZetaTalk stated that Illness will increase as Planet X approaches.  Zetas right again !!!

ZetaTalk: Take Sick, written Feb 15, 1998.

Increasingly, as the pole shift nears, the populace will take sick. This will take the form of known illnesses occurring more frequently, seemingly depressed immune systems, but will also appear as new and puzzling illnesses not seen before in the memory of man. What is going on here?

The changes at the core of the Earth that have resulted in El Nino weather patterns and white buffalo and deformed frogs also affect man. The germs are on the move. Their carriers are on the move. And thus humans are exposed to diseases that are so rare as to be undocumented in medical journals.

You will see increasing illness, odd illnesses, microbes that travel because an insect is scattering about and spreading germs in places where it normally doesn't travel. 90% of all the illness and distress you're going to see is a natural situation, a natural occurrence. Because of the changing, swirling in the core of the Earth, and this will continue to up-tick until the pole shift.

And reiterated in 1999

ZetaTalk: Next 3 1/2 Years, written Sep 15, 1999.

Sickness will slightly increase from where it is today. There is a lot of illness now because people who are already unstable are unable to take the turmoil caused by the increased emanations from the Earth. Some of them have simply sensed what is coming and have decided to die. This is true of animals as well as humans. Sickness will increase, but not to the point where it is going to get exponentially worse.

On Feb 2, 2000 a Washington report confirmed this increase, and published concerns were subsequently reported.

Diseases From Around World Threatening U.S.
Reuters, Feb 2, 2000

30 New Diseases Make Global Debut
At least 30 previously unknown diseases have appeared globally since 1973, including HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis C, Ebola haemorrhagic fever and the encephalitis-related Nipah virus that emerged in Indonesia. Twenty well-known infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and cholera have re-emerged or spread since 1973.

  

Is Global Warming Harmful to Health?
Scientific American, August 2000

Notably, computer models predict that global warming, and other climate alterations it induces, will expand the incidence and distribution of many serious medical disorders. Disturbingly, these forecasts seem to be coming true.

And since this time, SARS and increased incidence of flesh eating disease,
and entire cruise ships regularly returning to port with the passengers ill with stomach flu have been reported.
Depressed immune systems?
Zetas RIGHT Again!

After the pole shift, there will be many opportunistic diseases that will afflict mankind. This does not require an imagination, as today they afflict mankind after disasters. The primary affliction will be from sewage laden water, which will pollute the drinking water man is forced to use. We have been adamant about mankind distilling their drinking water after the pole shift for this reason. Distillation removes heavy metals as well as killing microbes by the boiling process. Any disease that flourishes in malnourished bodies and in areas of poor hygiene will take advantage of the pole shift disasters. Scurvy due to lack of Vitamin C will occur, with bleeding gums and even death if not corrected. Many weeds are high in Vitamin C and survivors should arm themselves with knowledge about the vitamin content of weeds. Unprotected sex by survivors either taking advantage of the weak, as in rape, or by simple distraction and grief and a lack of contraceptive devices will spread AIDS and hepatitis. Morgellons, which is caused by a synergy of parasites and microbes when the immune system is low will likely increase. There will be outbreaks of diseases which were endemic in the past, such as small pox or measles, but in those survivor communities where the members have been immunized in the past these will be limited and quarantines can help in this regard.

http://www.zetatalk5.com/ning/20no2010.htm

 

Chile battles youth unrest and typhoid fever outbreak

Posted on September 15, 2011 by The Extinction Protocol

September 15, 2011 – SANTIAGO – Chile’s problems dealing with youth unrest over slow education reforms are being compounded by concerns the capital may be in the grip of a typhoid fever outbreak. The government has battled to enforce restraint on law enforcement agencies amid angry student-led protests, which have disrupted urban centers across the country for more than a month. The reforms demanded by youth groups are nowhere near being implemented and protests continue to simmer with support from teachers and workers unions. Now authorities are faced with the more immediate risk of typhoid. Health authorities issued repeated alerts for tougher hygiene checks and controls after they found several people infected and seriously ill with typhoid in the western metropolitan area of Santiago. At least seven cases were confirmed by the Public Health Institute but there were no immediate reports of fatalities. “Typhoid fever is an acute infectious disease triggered by a salmonella bacteria strain,” Institute Director Maria Teresa Valenzuela said. In most cases the infection is caused by consumption of contaminated food and drink or fruit and vegetables grown in areas where contaminated water is used in irrigation. Typhoid fever produces symptoms of high fever, diarrhea or intense headaches. The Santiago region has been prone to typhoid outbreaks since the 1990s when incidence of the disease caused up to 190 cases a year.

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/chile-battles...

Epidemic Hazard in India on Saturday, 17 September, 2011 at 03:16 (03:16 AM) UTC.

Description
The Department of Health and Family Welfare has informed that it had received a message through telephone on 12th September 2011 of an outbreak of fever of unknown cause leading to three deaths at Poilwa village, Peren District. Immediately the State Rapid Response Team (RRT) of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP), Nagaland, comprising of Dr. John Kemp (State Surveillance Officer), Dr. Sao Tunyi (Epidemiologist), Dr. Kevisevolie Sekhose (Epidemiologist), and Venezo Vasa (Entomologist) conducted an outbreak investigation at Poilwa village. The team collected three samples from suspected cases out of which all the three were tested positive for Scrub Typhus. Till date, there are 9 cases with 3 deaths. This was stated in a official press note issued by Dr. Imtimeren Jamir, the Principal Director, Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, Kohima. Scrub Typhus is Rickettsial disease caused Orientia tsutsugamushi and transmitted by the bite of mite called Leptotrombidium deliense. In Nagaland, it was formerly detected by IDSP with Central Surveillance Team at Longsa village Mokokchung in 2006, and in Porba village of Phek District in 2007. The State RRT team carried out the outbreak investigation along with doing and entomological survey. The patients were treated with appropriate medicines and awareness and preventive measures were communicated with the villagers. The concerned local health authorities and programs are informed for further necessary action. The mop-up operation is being carried out by the National Vector Borne Disease Control Program.
Biohazard name:	Typhus (Scrub)
Biohazard level:	3/4 Hight
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS virus, variola virus (smallpox), tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria. Among parasites Plasmodium falciparum, which causes Malaria, and Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes trypanosomiasis, also come under this level.
Symptoms:	- After bite by infected mite larvae called chiggers, papule develops at the biting site which ulcerates and eventually heals with the development of a black eschar. - Patients develop sudden fever with headache, weakness, myalgia, generalized enlargement of lymph nodes, photophobia, and dry cough. - A week later, rash appears on the trunk, then on the extremities, and turns pale within a few days. - Symptoms generally disappear after two weeks even without treatment. - However, in severe cases with Pneumonia and Myocarditis, mortality may reach 30% Diagnosis - The most commonly used test for diagnosis is Wel-Felix Test, which is available at State IDSP laboratory, Kohima. - More specific serological tests like detection of IgM can also be done for diagnosis.
Status:	confirmed

Turns out, the plague isn't just ancient history. New Mexico health officials recently confirmed the first human case of bubonic plague — previously known as the "Black Death" — to surface in the U.S. in 2011. 

An unidentified 58-year-old man was hospitalized for a week after suffering from a high fever, pain in his abdomen and groin, and swollen lymph nodes, reports the New York Daily News. (Officials declined to say when the man was released from the hospital.) A blood sample from the man tested positive for the disease.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/10/first-case-of-bubonic-plague-...

http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/10/first-case-of-bubonic-plague-...

Epidemic Hazard in USA on Saturday, 17 September, 2011 at 03:33 (03:33 AM) UTC.

Description
Umatilla County health officials today confirmed a case of plague in an adult male county resident. He may have been infected while hunting in Lake County, noted Sharon Waldern, clinic supervisor for the county’s public health department. “Lake County had two cases of human plague last year.” The man has been hospitalized and is receiving treatment, Waldern noted. “People need to realize he was never considered contagious and he started treatment fairly quickly.” Plague is spread to humans through a bite from an infected flea. The disease is serious but treatable with antibiotics if caught early, officials said. Plague can be passed from fleas feeding on infected rodents and then transmitted to humans. Direct contact with infected tissues or fluids from handling sick or dead animals can pass the disease, as well as through respiratory droplets from cats and humans with pneumonic plague, officials said in a press release. Some types are spread from person to person, but that is not the case here, Waldern said. Symptoms typically develop within one to four days and up to seven days after exposure and include fever, chills, headache, weakness and a bloody or watery cough due to pneumonia, enlarged, tender lymph nodes, abdominal pain and bleeding into the skin or other organs. Plague is rare in Oregon. Only three human cases have been diagnosed since 1995 and they all recovered. Last year two human cases of plague were diagnosed in Lake County. As far as she knows, this is the first ever incident in Umatilla County. “In this recent case it is important to stay away from flea-infested areas and to recognize the symptoms. People can protect themselves, their family members and their pets,” said Genni Lehnert-Beers, administrator for Umatilla County Health Department. “Using flea treatment on your pets is very important, because your pets can bring fleas into your home.” People should contact their health care provider or veterinarian if plague is suspected. Early treatment for people and pets with appropriate antibiotics is essential to curing plague infections. Untreated plague can be fatal for animals and people. Antibiotics to prevent or treat plague should be used only under the direction of a health care provider. Additional steps to prevent flea bites include wearing insect repellent, tucking pant cuffs into socks when in areas heavily occupied by rodents, and avoiding contact with wildlife including rodents.
Biohazard name:	Plague (Bubonic)
Biohazard level:	4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.:	Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Statu The Black Death: Bubonic Plague	confirmed http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=EH...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/world-headed-for-dangerous-post-antibi...

World headed for dangerous 'post-antibiotic era,' WHO warns in landmark report

Unless immediate action is taken, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era where infections that were once treatable will turn deadly, according to a landmark report from the World Health Organization.

The report, issued Wednesday, says that antibiotics resistance is found in all parts of the world and can affect anyone of any age in any country. Antibiotics resistance, which the WHO says occurs when bacteria change and antibiotics no longer work against infections, “is now a major threat to public health.”

“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general for health security at the WHO, said in a statement.

Hospitals across Canada are struggling to deal with new strains of killer bacteria that seem to be resistant to antibiotics.

“Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine. Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”

The study, entitled “Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance,” gathered data from 114 countries. While it is not a complete picture of antibiotics resistance, it is “the most comprehensive picture that we’ve had to date,” Fukuda told reporters at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The report focused on antibiotics resistance in seven different types of bacteria that are responsible for common but serious diseases. These include blood infections such as sepsis, diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhea.

Rates of resistance to treatment among bacteria that cause some of the most common serious infections are “very high,” Fukuda noted.

In all regions of the world, hospitals are reporting “untreatable or nearly untreatable” infections, he said. And medications of “last resort” for some infections are proving completely ineffective.

For some infections, such as bacteria-related diarrhea or urinary tract infections, “we really are beginning to run out of medicines that can be taken by mouth.” This means patients require treatment in hospital, Fukuda said.

Not only will some infections simply become “untreatable,” but antibiotics will also become ineffective at preventing infections in people with compromised immune systems: cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, premature babies and elderly patients undergoing joint replacements, he said.

What antibiotics resistance means “is that all of us, our family members…our friends, when we are most vulnerable and in need of these medicines, there is a chance that they simply are not going to be available and we are not going to be able to have access to effective medical care in a number of instances,” Fukuda said.

[Derrick Johnson]

MERS Cases Spike As Virus Makes First Appearance In Egypt

 

ISTANBUL -- A highly deadly and little-understood virus that has struck fear across the Middle East and caused more than 100 deaths in the region made its first appearance in Egypt last week, coinciding with a spike in patients in Saudi Arabia, its place of original identification.

The virus, known as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS, is closely related to the Asian flu SARS, which sickened thousands of people and left nearly 800 dead a decade ago. Thus far, MERS, which was first detected in 2012, is not believed to be nearly as contagious as SARS, and not everyone who contracts the disease becomes ill. However, MERS is significantly more fatal, with no known vaccine or cure.

Despite the relative difficulty of acquiring the disease, it continues to spread. Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia reported 26 new cases of MERS and 10 deaths, an alarming increase, according to health officials there.

Also over the weekend, Egyptian authorities confirmed their first official case of the virus in a 27-year-old civil engineer who had recently returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia.

Public health advocates and watchdog groups have criticized Saudi officials for failing to fully acknowledge the severity of the crisis. More than three hundred cases have already been linked to the Kingdom.

A week ago, in apparent response to these criticisms, the Saudi leadership fired its Minister of Health, Abdullah al-Rabia, who a day earlier had told reporters that he had no idea why cases of MERS were rising so dramatically.

But the government has also continued to caution against panic, saying that the spike in cases could be tied to the changing seasons.

"We have faced an increase in the number of cases around the same time last year at the end of winter," a Saudi health official told reporters, according to CNN.

In a recent report on the virus, the World Health Organization also suggested that seasonality may play a role, as could an increased vigilance for testing. But the report warned that more cases of MERS seem to be spreading through person-to-person contact, a worrisome development. Previously, most cases were believed to be linked to people who acquired the disease from contact with camels.

Still, the WHO said there is little evidence that patients who acquired the disease in Saudi Arabia before traveling abroad have spread it further, suggesting the virus remains relatively contained to the Middle East, and has not grown more contagious since it was first detected.

Most of those who have acquired the disease, the organization said, are health care workers who did so through contact with sick patients in the hospital.

Some public health experts have cautioned against overreacting, pointing out that as long as the virus remains difficult to contract, it is unlikely to develop into a full-blown epidemic.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/mers-saudi-egypt-spike_n_5... 

[Derrick Johnson]

Killer Pig Virus Wipes Out More Than 10 Percent Of Nation's Hogs, Causing Spike In Pork Prices

By Meredith Davis and Theopolis Waters

CHICAGO, April 27 (Reuters) - John Goihl, a hog nutritionist in Shakopee, Minnesota, knows a farmer in his state who lost 7,500 piglets just after they were born. In Sampson County, North Carolina, 12,000 of Henry Moore's piglets died in three weeks. Some 30,000 piglets perished at John Prestage's Oklahoma operation in the fall of 2013.

The killer stalking U.S. hog farms is known as PEDv, a malady that in less than a year has wiped out more than 10 percent of the nation's pig population and helped send retail pork prices to record highs. The highly contagious Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus is puzzling scientists searching for its origins and its cure and leaving farmers devastated in ways that go beyond financial losses.

"It's a real morale killer in a barn. People have to shovel pigs out instead of nursing them along," Goihl said.

Since June 2013 as many as 7 million pigs have died in the United States due to the virus, said Steve Meyer, president of Iowa-based Paragon Economics and consultant to the National Pork Board said. United States Department of Agriculture data showed the nation's hog herd at about 63 million as of March 1, 2014.

PEDv was first diagnosed in Ohio last May and has spread within a year to 30 states with no reliable cure in sight. U.S. packing plants may produce almost 2 percent less pork in 2014, according to Ken Mathews, USDA agricultural economist.

Last week the USDA responded to calls for more reliable data and classified PEDv as a reportable disease, a step that requires the pork industry to track its spread.

"It's a positive step that I wish they had taken last summer when it became obvious this was spreading rapidly," said Meyer.

Most farmers and researchers believe PEDv is transmitted from pig to pig by contact with pig manure.

"Something like a tablespoon of PEDv infected manure is roughly enough to infect the entire U.S. hog herd," said Rodney "Butch" Baker, swine biosecurity specialist at Iowa State University.

The National Pork Board has spent about $1.7 million researching the virus, which is nearly always fatal in pigs younger than 21 days. With pork prices at an all-time high of $3.83 a pound, the loss of baby pigs cuts into profits for hog farmers.

"If you have four weeks of mortality in a PEDv break, that's pretty devastating to the financial wellbeing of that operation," said Greg Boerboom, a Minnesota hog farmer.

"I think most producers are scared," Boerboom said. "They stay up at night."

PEDv does not pose a risk to human health and is not a food safety issue, the USDA says.

ORIGIN MYSTERY

Months of forensic research so far have turned up no clear evidence of how the disease entered the United States.

The virus is nearly identical to one that infected pigs in China's Anhui province, according to a report published in the American Society of Microbiology journal mBio. Researchers also are exploring whether the widespread use of pig-blood byproducts in hog feed might have introduced the disease.

There have been outbreaks in recent years in Europe, Japan, Mexico and parts of South America, though in milder forms than seen in the U.S. and China.

The disease has taken root in Canada, too, where the pork industry is deeply integrated with U.S. pork production.


LIKE A LAWN MOWER

PEDv thrives in cold, damp environments, and after slowing last summer its spread accelerated during the past winter. In mid-December, there were over 1,500 cases but by mid-April, that had more than tripled to 5,790, according to USDA data.

Altogether, of nearly 15,000 samples tested for PEDv about 32 percent have been positive.

The virus "acts like a lawn mower" on the villi in a pig's intestines, which are the tiny projections that aid digestion, said Tony Forshey, chief of animal health at the Ohio Department of Agriculture. With their villi gone, the piglets cannot absorb nutrients from food or water, contract diarrhea and die from dehydration.

So far, no vaccine has been able to completely protect pigs from the disease. An Iowa company, Harrisvaccines Inc., has made some progress, while pharmaceutical giants Merck Animal Health and Zoetis Inc have joined with universities to begin vaccine development.

"There is no silver bullet for PEDv," said Justin Ellis, marketing manager at Alltech, which developed a feed additive designed to reduce risk of the disease.


STRINGENT MEASURES

The disease is spreading even as farmers and truckers impose stricter cleanliness measures across the so-called Hog Belt, which stretches across most of the U.S. Midwest and Plains States and extends south to North Carolina, the nation's No. 2 hog producer. Iowa ranks first.

"It's a complete lifestyle change," said Iowa State's Baker. "In the past the truckers haven't thought of biosecurity much."

Some hog farmers prohibit outside visitors. Others require workers to change clothes when entering and leaving barns. Truck drivers wipe down the step into their cabs, disinfect their steering wheels and change boots or wear disposable booties before entering farm yards.

The industry wants truck washes to use fresh water instead of recycled, since PEDv can live in room temperature water for up to 13 days, a University of Minnesota study said.

"The only truck I regularly allow on site is the feed truck and last November I told the driver not to get out of the truck," said Bill Tentinger, an Iowa farmer who so far has kept PEDv at bay.

The extra washing, drying and disinfecting can consume at least two hours and cost up to $500 per load, industry sources said.


DEATH TOLLS

Bright yellow signs marked "PED" are popping up outside North Carolina farms warning the virus is present. One-third of North Carolina's 3,000 hog farms have been struck by PEDv since the first diagnosed case there in June 2013, the state says.

So many piglets have died that Tom Butler, a farmer who fattens hogs for market in southeastern Harnett County, is having difficulty finding animals. His herd is down 25 percent to 6,000 pigs, costing him more than $100,000.

"We were spiraling downhill for a while but I think we've leveled off," Butler said. "The industry is learning to cope." (Additional reporting by P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago, Marti Anne Maguire in Sampson County, N.C. and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by David Greising and John Pickering)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/27/pig-virus-wipes-out-nation...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/bd397f2075f74f158325bcf8d2f20...

Health officials: Unvaccinated person with measles may have spread disease around Phoenix area

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  
April 10, 2014 - 6:14 am EDT

PHOENIX — Maricopa County health officials say an unvaccinated person who has measles may have spread the disease around portions of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

They are trying to identify additional cases and stop a possible outbreak of the contagious disease.

Health officials say the person returned from Europe with the measles late last month and visited several areas in Scottsdale and Cave Creek between March 29 and 31 in addition to Sky Harbor Airport's terminal 4.

That person hasn't been identified yet.

Authorities say measles symptoms typically surface within seven to 12 days of exposure but some cases take as long as three weeks.

The disease is spread through coughing, sneezing and contact with certain body secretions and can survive outside the body for hours.

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.examiner.com/article/massive-samoa-pink-eye-outbreak-hit...

Massive Samoa pink eye outbreak hits thousands, forces school closures

 

April 9, 2014

The American Samoa pink eye outbreak has continued to get worse, and it’s now so bad that most schools in the U.S. territory will remain closed for the rest of the week, with thousands of students and teachers affected by the eye infection, ABC News reported on April 9.

The American Samoa pink eye outbreak now affects at least 2,400 students and teachers and has also disrupted court proceedings and prevented passengers from boarding some flights.

Pink eye, known officially as conjunctivitis, is one of the most common eye conditions affecting children and adults alike, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Samoa pink eye outbreak has left more than 30 percent of teachers on sick leave with pink eye, which is highly contagious.

Schools in American Samoa had shut down last week because of the pink eye outbreak and were scheduled to reopen this Wednesday. But with the American Samoa pink eye outbreak still growing, only four of 28 schools were back in session as planned this week.

Officials said the number of people affected by the American Samoa pink eye outbreak was alarming, according to The Associated Press. Officials said it’s thought that the pink eye outbreak on American Samoa spread from neighboring Samoa, which saw a pink eye outbreak in March.

The Samoa pink eye outbreak began in March and affected hundreds, according to the Samoa Observer. The Acting CEO of Education ordered schools there closed for at least a week, according to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.).

In American Samoa, some 13,000 kids are enrolled in public schools, which means that more than 10 percent of students there are thought to have pink eye now.

American Samoa is a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.

[lonne rey]

Scarlet fever at record high with nearly 900 cases of the illness in just a week

The number of cases of the highly contagious scarlet fever has reached a record weekly high, health officials have warned.

In the last week of March, Public Health England (PHE) was notified of 883 new cases – the highest weekly total since records began in 1982.

Since September 2013 PHE has noted 5,012 new cases when they would normally only expect to see around 1,400.

'We are continuing to see increases in scarlet fever notifications across England and are working closely with healthcare professionals to try and understand the reasons behind these increases and do our best to reduce the impact of this infection,' said PHE's head of streptococcal infection surveillance Dr Theresa Lamagni.

source

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDise...

Lassa Fever Reported in U.S.

Published: Apr 4, 2014

A man is in stable condition in a Minnesota hospital with Lassa fever after returning from a trip to West Africa, where an outbreak of Ebola virus is now raging.

The Minnesota Department of Health said the man flew to Minneapolis-St. Paul on March 31 and soon after his arrival visited a physician.

Because of his travel history and symptoms, the doctor suspected a possible hemorrhagic fever. The man was admitted to the hospital with fever and confusion and CDC testing confirmed a diagnosis of Lassa fever on April 3, the department and the CDC said in separate statements.

"This imported case is a reminder that we are all connected by international travel," CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, said in a statement. "A disease anywhere can appear anywhere else in the world within hours."

Lassa fever is rarely seen in the U.S., with only seven cases recorded, the latest in 2010, according to the CDC.

The agency reported that preliminary information suggests the man flew from West Africa to New York City and on to Minneapolis on another flight. The agency did not say where in West Africa the trip started.

The CDC is working with public health officials and airlines to identify anyone who might have had close contact with the infected person, although Lassa fever is not easily spread from human to human.

"Casual contact is not a risk factor for getting Lassa fever," said Barbara Knust, DVM, a CDC epidemiologist in the lab that tested the patient's blood for Lassa virus.

"People will not get this infection just because they were on the same airplane or in the same airport," she said in a statement.

The Lassa virus is carried by rodents and transmitted to humans through contact with urine or droppings, but in some cases people can catch it from another person through direct contact with blood or bodily fluids, the mucous membranes, or sexual contact.

"Given what we know about how Lassa virus is spread to people, the risk to other travelers and members of the public is extremely low," Martin Cetron, MD, of the CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, said in a statement.

Between 100,000 and 300,000 cases of Lassa fever occur in West Africa each year, with up to 5,000 deaths.

A significant outbreak of Ebola virus -- a different hemorrhagic fever -- is currently affecting Guinea and Liberia in the region.

Although Lassa virus can produce hemorrhagic symptoms, the disease is not related to Ebola, the CDC noted.

The World Health Organization said the Ebola outbreak in Guinea is now at 137 confirmed or suspected cases with 83 deaths, while in neighboring Liberia there have been 14 confirmed or suspected cases with seven deaths.

The current outbreak is caused by a strain of Ebola virus with 98% homology to the Zaire strain, which caused the first recorded outbreaks of the disease, the agency said. This is the first time the disease has been detected in West Africa, aside from a single case reported in Ivory Coast in 1994.

[lonne rey]

Follow up on post by Kris H

Guinea faces Ebola epidemic on unprecedented scale, doctors warn

Médecins sans Frontières says lethal virus has broken out in areas hundreds of miles apart, while death toll passes 80

The warning from an organisation used to tackling Ebola in central Africa came after Guinea's president appealed for calm as the number of deaths linked to an outbreak on the border with Liberia and Sierra Leone passed 80.

The outbreak of one of the world's most lethal infectious diseases has alarmed a number of governments with weak health systems, prompting Senegal to close its border with Guinea and other neighbours to restrict travel and cross-border exchanges.

"We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country," said Mariano Lugli, the co-ordinator of Médecins sans Frontières' project in Conakry, the capital of Guinea.

source

[Mario Valencia-Rojas]

Foot and mouth disease spreads to cattle in North Korea -

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Wed, 26 Mar 2014 02:19 PM

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - North Korea is struggling to contain foot and mouth disease, which was earlier reported in pigs and has now spread to cattle, officials from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday after returning from a visit to North Korean farms and markets to assess the outbreaks.

North Korean officials originally reported to the FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health on Feb. 18 that foot and mouth disease (FMD) had affected 3,280 pigs in an area near the capital Pyongyang and killed 369, FAO health officer Carolyn Benigno said on Wednesday after a week-long visit to North Korea.

FAO officials found that the disease was still spreading among pigs and was also affecting cattle on at least two farms in a remote mountainous region in southern Kangwon province near the border with South Korea, she said.

“Foot and mouth disease was first reported on Jan. 8, on a pig farm near Pyongyang, and continued to spread in pigs despite containment measures taken by veterinary services,” Benigno told reporters at a briefing in Bangkok. “The first report to us is that FMD was in pigs, but when we were there, we received reports that some cattle were infected.”

The FAO officials visited the Pyongyang market, pig farms near Pyongyang and one cooperative cattle farm, where they saw four sick cows with lesions.

“The team was able to confirm that the FMD outbreak in DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is still ongoing at the time of our visit,” Benigno said.

The FAO officials visited the DPRK after its chief veterinary officer requested emergency assistance to improve his staff’s ability to diagnose and control the disease, she said.

The FAO advised North Korea on basic control measures, including disinfecting farms and limiting people’s movement to prevent spread of the disease to other farms, and is now preparing to provide training on farm biosecurity, field and laboratory equipment and training in animal handling and collection of samples.

Source- http://www.trust.org/item/20140326141907-8tonu/

 

[Kris H]

http://m.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26701733

Mystery disease in Guinea being identified as Ebola.