http://english.pravda.ru/health/02-01-2012/120134-murray_valley-0/

Outbreak of rare deadly disease in Australia

It is called Murray Valley encephalitis, it is very rare, it can infect humans, it is deadly and it has been found among chickens in Australia's New South Wales State, in the first appearance since the 1970s. The population in the areas infected in this State and the State of Victoria is being warned to protect itself.

Murray Valley encephalitis is more commonly found in north-western Australia but has been seen before in the south-east after rainfall. It is a mosquito-borne disease and has been found in birds which were placed in high-risk areas - part of Australia's early warning system. High-risk areas for humans are wetlands and areas near rivers. The insect in question is the common banded mosquito, Culux annulirostris.

The symptoms of the disease are similar to meningitis and include a temperature and severe headache, stiffness of the neck, confusion and sleepiness, photophobia, nausea and vomiting. Symptoms last for a few days usually and the patient makes a full recovery. Only one per cent of those infected feel the symptoms, and a small percentage of these die. There is no specific treatment - patients with severe symptoms are treated in hospital, sometimes in Intensive Care Units.

Local sources point towards the outbreak among flocks of chickens in the southern and western regions of the Australian State of New South Wales. The "sentinel" chicken flocks had been strategically placed as part of an early warning system within easy reach of the NSW border town of Moama and the town of Echuca in the State of Victoria.

The last time a serious outbreak of the virus appeared was in the 1970s, when there were around 70 cases reported. Since then there have been very sporadic cases among humans. Mainly a virus that attacks birds, humans can also be infected if a mosquito carrying it bites, and can infect other humans from the blood of a person infected. 99% of victims do not feel any symptoms at all - one per cent can feel poorly and a small percentage of these can die. Last Summer one person in NSW was infected without symptoms, the other had very mild symptoms and recovered.

The conditions in which Murray Valley encephalitis, or MVE, appears are also propitious for other fatal diseases carried by mosquitoes such as Barmah Forest virus or Ross River fever. In times of global warming, such unheard-of viruses could become endemic in heavily populated areas of countries where such diseases have not yet been seen.

http://www.examiner.com/infectious-disease-in-national/scarlet-feve...

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City health officials in Baltimore sent letters home Thursday to parents of students at George Washington Elementary to keep an eye on possible symptoms of scarlet fever after three students at the school were confirmed positive this week.

The letter urges parents of students at the school to contact their medical provider if a child has symptoms.

According to a WJZ Baltimore report, school authorities are having the southwest Baltimore school sanitized to prevent it from spreading to more students. Disinfection will be performed on all surfaces and handrails.

Dr. Nardine Assaad, a pediatrician at St. Joseph Medical Center told the news source that this is actually common this time of year, we’re seeing multiple kids with sore throats, strep throat and/or scarlet fever.

Scarlet fever is a form of group A strep disease, however this disease can follow strep throat.

In addition to the symptoms of strep throat, a red rash appears on the sides of your chest and abdomen. It may spread to cover most of the body.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/diseases/ukraine-declares-meas...

Kiev: Ukraine Monday declared an outbreak of measles, with at least 883 cases of the infectious disease reported across the country so far.

Sergey Platov, a top official in the health ministry, however, said it was still too early to talk about the epidemic, according to Xinhua.

Platov told the press that alerts have been sounded in the country`s western and central regions as well as in the capital Kiev.

He urged people to be vaccinated against the disease immediately.

Measles is not usually life-threatening but can cause complications in people with a weak immune system and in pregnant women.

IANS

Contagion Lands in India with Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

The deadly and feared drug-resistant tuberculosis hits India (Photo: Global Post)

In what sounds nothing short of the “Outbreak” genre witnessed only in Hollywood, Indian doctors reported the country’s first cases of “totally drug-resistant tuberculosis”. At least 12 cases of the lung disease’s untreatable form were announced this weekend, though outlets suspect many more cases remain unaccounted for.

The hospital in India that discovered the initial cases tested patients with at least a dozen medications, but to no avail. And while this lethal type of TB is not expected to spread at a rapid pace, the fear of any such possibility remains palpable. The disease has previously been found in Italy and Iran and is primarily transmitted through close personal contact.

Patients have typically failed antibiotics tried over a period of two to three years. In India, three of the 12 infected have died, and not a single successfully treated.

Adding fuel to the fire are claims that the three deceased fell victim to medical malpractice. Doctors from the P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Center wrote a letter stating that the patients in question received “erratic, unsupervised second-line drugs, added individually and often in incorrect doses, from multiple private practitioners”.

India’s Health Ministry has yet to release a statement and did not return requests for comment as of Monday.

http://divanee.com/2012/01/16/contagion-lands-in-india-with-drug-re...

Doctor die of Lassa fever in Abakaliki

•Others in critical condition

A Doctor has reportedly died of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, otherwise known as Lassa fever, in Ebonyi State.

Some other doctors are being treated for the disease at the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Abakaliki.

Though no official confirmation has been made by the Ministry of Health, doctors have raised the alarm over the outbreak of the disease.

Some doctors at the FTH, who spoke to our reporter, regretted the outbreak of the disease, adding that doctors are prone to it since they are exposed to infected patients.

The doctors called for the quick intervention of the Federal Ministry of Health to forestall the spread of the disease.

The outbreak of Lassa fever was first reported in the state in 2008. 

Several people died. They included two doctors and other health workers. 

Last year, four persons said to be residing at the Military cantonment, Nkwoagu, near Abakaliki also died of the disease.

The government said it has set up an emergency response team for the treatment and control of outbreak of communicable diseases, such as Lassa fever, gastroenteritis and meningitis, usually associated with dry season.

The Commissioner for Health, Sunday Nwangele, said this while addressing stakeholders in Abakaliki.

Nwangele said epidemiologists from the ministry had been deployed to health facilities in the state to check the possible spread of the disease.

He urged the people to report any suspected case to a hospital or the epidemiology unit of the ministry.

The commissioner said the ministry had procured drugs for the treatment of the disease, adding that more was still expected from the Federal Ministry of Health.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/falklands-refuses-to-allow...

Falklands refuses to allow sick cruise ship to dock
January 18, 2012 - 12:27PM

Passengers and medical experts have criticised the Falkland Islands for refusing to allow a cruise ship with an outbreak of stomach flu to dock.

Tourists on the Star Princess told The Associated Press they were forced to cancel long-planned trips when officials in the disputed British territory off Argentina refused them entry on Saturday, saying an outbreak could strain its medical resources.

About 74 passengers and crew among the more than 3,500 people on board were reported ill with norovirus, 20 of them with symptoms like vomiting and diarrhoea.

Norman Noah, an infectious diseases expert at London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, described the Falklands' decision as ''over the top''.

He has previously investigated norovirus outbreaks and says the illness normally passes within a couple of days and is unlikely to overwhelm hospitals.

''If you're suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, you probably won't be sightseeing,'' Noah said. ''Chances are you'll be staying in your cabin by yourself.''

Passenger John Sturgeon and his wife had been looking forward to the visit as one of the highlights of the South American cruise, saying they wanted to see the islands for the upcoming 30th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the colony. Argentina and Britain continue to be in a diplomatic row over the islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas.

Argentine passenger Liliana Rodriguez said some of the passengers had been planning to pay respects to loved ones buried on the island.

The Falklands has defended its decision as being ''in the wider interests of the public and tourism industry''.

Norovirus is highly contagious. It can linger on surfaces like door handles, carpets and tabletops.

The virus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the US. About one in five norovirus outbreaks reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention occurred on cruise ships or in holiday settings. The CDC has documented about a dozen outbreaks a year on cruise ships worldwide.

The US CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program never advises that ships cannot dock, though they might issue a ''no sail order'' in the case of repeated or large outbreaks with little controls in place.

Even if the ship had been allowed to dock in the Falklands, experts weren't sure the infected passengers would have spread the virus very far.

According to guidance from Britain's Health Protection Agency, any passengers on board a ship who have norovirus should be isolated in their own cabin until at least 24 hours after their symptoms have passed. There are more stringent recommendations for sick crew members.

The agency does not advise that ships with infected patients be prevented from docking, but says certain measures should be in place when the ship arrives into port, like thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the vessel before it sails on.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/falklands-refuses-to-allow...

http://www.libertynewsonline.com/article_301_31440.php

I'm posting this again because I'm wondering what in the heck is this.....and why just girls?

The Zetatas have stated time and time again that disease will be rampant with new strains and disorders.  I wonder if its a combination of the bodys psychic awareness that Planet X is interfering with our weakened immune system or an hysterical psychiatric incident, occurring only in that pocket of space at that time.

I think we will see an uptick in miscarriage now but I'm not sure how to monitor that. 

TWELVE TEENAGE GIRLS IN ONE NY SCHOOL COME DOWN WITH TOURETTE SYNDROME SYMPTOMS - HEALTH OFFICIALS REMAIN MUM ON THE CAUSES - WHY?
01-18-2012 8:38 am -
Twelve teenage girls in a New York school have developed tics and other classic symptoms resembling Tourette syndrome, and their parents want answers. But officials aren’t saying much.

Tourette syndrome was first recognized and identified in 1885 after France’s compulsory smallpox vaccination program began. Tourette is considered rare in the United States; but it has become more common, affecting 1 percent of the population since 2000. Autism Spectrum Disorders also affect 1 percent of the population.

One of the classic symptoms of Tourette is an involuntary muscle twitching, or motor tic, that may affect the ability to speak at times. It’s a frightening and debilitating condition that may be an adverse reaction to vaccines containing aluminum, especially the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines that young girls are encouraged to get. There are two HPV vaccines, Gardasil® and Cervarix®, both of which have “generous” aluminum amounts [as high as 225 mcg] as adjuvants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System details thousands of adverse effects experienced by girls and women after receiving Gardasil®. [1] Other aluminum-containing vaccines include DTaP, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A, Hib [Haemophilus influenza B] and PVC [pneumonia]. [2]

During a recent meeting with parents, Dr. Greg Young of the New York State Department of Health said: “I can assure you these children have all been seen by professionals that have come up with answers, and they are being treated and they’re actually doing pretty well.”

Jim DuPont, whose daughter is one of the 12 girls, said: “There has to be more to it. There has to be a cause, a common dominator. I always thought that we could get together with families of the girls who have this and go through their daily routines and maybe find something that they’ve all done… These girls all go to the same neurologist and there is no diagnosis. They don’t know what’s causing it. That’s why we’re all here at this meeting.”

According to Young, the department ruled out environmental factors, poisonings, illicit drugs, hysteria, fake illness and various other causes. Vaccines were not mentioned as ruled out, as far as I understand. Furthermore, officials cited Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 privacy laws and allegedly remarked that it’s a “Federal issue.”

Someone has to belly up to the bar and set the record straight. If I were a parent of one of the girls involved, I would retain an effective Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) attorney and have him file request after request, since the children seemingly are being treated as political footballs with non-disclosure even to the child’s parents, which is the ultimate denial of parental rights.

Adding more fuel to the controversial fire is this: Le Roy Central School District Superintendent Kim M. Cox issued the following statement:

We

http://en.baomoi.com/Info/HCMC-alert-on-outbreak-of-brain-inflammat...

HCMC alert on outbreak of brain inflammatory disease

A highly contagious outbreak of a brain inflammatory disease spreading from the Ho Chi Minh City Tan Thuan export processing zone has placed on alert the Department of Preventive Medicine, which on Tuesday ordered its branch in HCMC to adopt immediate prevention measures.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jYOAtP7B_A3V0i4s...

Typhoid outbreak hits Zimbabwe

HARARE — At least 90 people were admitted to hospital and over 600 affected in a typhoid outbreak in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, a health official said on Tuesday.

"We have attended to over 600 cases in Kuwadzana alone," city health director Prosper Chonzi was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper.

"We have confirmed that the disease is typhoid. We have not recorded any deaths. We have over 90 patients admitted at the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital."

Chonzi said city health authorities found traces of the typhoid bacteria in meat samples taken from open-air vendors.

Typhoid thrives in areas that do not have proper sanitation.

Poor hygiene and sanitation have caused numerous disease outbreaks in Zimbabwe in recent years.

Some suburbs go for weeks without running water as Zimbabwean municipalities battle to keep up services.

Last October, over 6,000 cases of diarrhoea were reported in the southern towns of Masvingo and Kadoma and children were the worst affected.

Four years ago over 4,000 people died of cholera in an outbreak which affected nearly 100,000 people.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-news/2012/01/26/brockovich-looki...

Brockovich looking into teens’ mystery ailment

by Sharon Jayson, and Elizabeth Weise on Jan. 26, 2012, under USA Today News

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has started her own investigation into the mysterious illness that’s caused symptoms of facial tics and verbal outbursts among teenagers in Le Roy, N.Y., in light of new evidence about a toxic chemical spill more than 40 years ago that caused water and ground contamination nearby.

Brockovich gained notoriety with a 2000 movie (Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts) about her efforts to expose a toxic chemical coverup in California.

She told USA TODAY on Thursday that after families of affected teens and other community members asked her to look into the Le Roy case, she has spent the past week studying federal and state reports of a 1970 train derailment that spilled cyanide and an industrial solvent called trichloroethene within 3 miles of the high school attended by the 12 girls who started reporting neurological symptoms last fall. Three other teens, including one boy, are reportedly experiencing similar symptoms.

A statement issued by the school district said “medical and environmental investigations have not uncovered any evidence that would link the neurological symptoms to anything in the environment or of an infectious nature.” An indoor-air-quality report and a mold report are posted on the school district’s website.

“When I read reports like this that the New York Department of Health and state agencies were well-aware of the spill and you don’t do water testing or vapor extraction tests, you don’t have an all-clear,” says Brockovich, of Los Angeles.

According to a 1999 report by the U.S.

http://theintelhub.com/2012/01/28/mexican-swine-flu-outbreak-kills-...

Mexican Swine Flu Outbreak Kills 29, Infects Nearly 1,500mps up.

January 28, 2012

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) — An ongoing swine flu outbreak in Mexico has left at least 29 people dead and nearly 1,500 others infected, health officials confirmed on Saturday. Thousands more are also ill as the country faces several types of flu this season.

Since the start of the ongoing winter season, at least 7,069 people have reported suffering from symptoms similar to those of swine flu. Lab tests are still underway and have so far confirmed 1,456 cases of the disease, which is officially known as A/H1N1.

According to Mexico’s Health Ministry (SSA), at least twenty-nine people have died of swine flu so far this season. While no health emergency has been declared, officials expect the death toll will rise in the coming weeks as Mexico also faces A/H3N2 and B influenza.

The H1N1 influenza virus emerged in the Mexican state of Veracruz in April 2009 and quickly spread around the world, causing the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global flu pandemic in June 2009. At least 18,000 people have died of the disease since, although the actual number is believed to be far higher.

In August 2010, the WHO declared that the swine flu pandemic was over. “In the post-pandemic period, influenza disease activity will have returned to levels normally seen for seasonal influenza,” the WHO said at the time. “It is expected that the pandemic virus will behave as a seasonal influenza A virus.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/st-ignatius-virus_n_124900...

A violent stomach virus outbreak has forced St. Ignatius High School, a Jesuit college preparatory academy in the Sunset district, to shut down through the weekend.

Principal Patrick Ruff said in a news conference that more than 300 students (over 20 percent of the student body) and 30 teachers became ill from gastroenteritis, causing many to vomit in trash cans across the campus.

"We encourage students and staff to stay home when sick and to wash hands frequently," a message on the San Francisco Unified School District's website reads. Ruff explained that the number of absent teachers would make it difficult to hold classes. Officials are monitoring the situation closely, and affected individuals are urged to stay away from campus for at least 72 hours.

Peter Radsliffe, whose son was among the sickened, told Bay City News the virus already appeared to have cleared up. "He felt much better this morning," Radsliffe said. "He's sleeping, feeling fine, just the typical 24-hour bug that you get over."

St. Ignatius boasts a number of famous alumni, including California Governor Jerry Brown, former San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, Gordon Getty and Intel CEO Peter Otellini.

Health experts claim gastroenteritis only lasts a few days. New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning came down with the disease the week before his heartbreaking championship victory over the San Francisco Giants.

http://www.examiner.com/healthcare-industry-in-national/measles-out...

Measles outbreak: Person infected with measles attended Super Bowl festivities

If you were in Indianpolis for the 2012 Super Bowl, pay attention to this health alert. The Indiana State Department of Health reported on Feb 8, 2012 that one person who attended Super Bowl XLVI activities in Indianapolis last weekend has a confirmed case of the measles.

Two cases of highly infectious measles have been confirmed in Hamilton County, with two more cases still unconfirmed in Boone County. The Indiana State DOH states that one person who is confirmed to be infected "visited the Super Bowl festivities in downtown Indianapolis on Friday, February 3, but health officials report the individual did not go into the NFL Experience at the Indiana Convention Center.

http://blisstree.com/live/200-sick-after-washington-state-cheerlead...

200 Sick With Mysterious Disease Following Cheerleading Competition

Diarrhea. Uncontrolled vomiting. Aches and pains. These are the symptoms that are plaguing as many as 200 high school cheerleaders and their families across Washington state following a cheerleading competition last weekend, which was attended by around 3,000 people. And you thought you were having a terrible week.

Yes, it sounds like the beginning of a re-make of Outbreak, but the unknown disease is very real to hundreds of cheerleaders and their fans this week. Reports of flu-like symptoms by those who attended or participated in last Saturday’s Salute to Spirit and State Cheerleading Championships started pouring in earlier this week, as schools, parents, and health officials statewide scrambled to find a cause. So far, they haven’t established one yet–and the number of those who are experiencing this crappy illness keeps going up.

State health officials are working hard to figure out what the disease is, and where it may have come from, but so far, there’s little conclusive information about what’s got as many as 19 cheer squads (and their friends and families) feeling so gross. The symptoms are similar to those caused by bacteria, foodborne illness (like food poisoning), or the rotovirus, according the Health Department–but that doesn’t help narrow down the cause, or who patient zero might be. And it doesn’t help parents decide if their kids may still be exposing themselves to the cause.

But even those who haven’t been sickened yet are taking no precautions, which means cheerleading practice across the state has had to get a little creative. According to an MSNBC article, coaches and families are taking no risks.

Assistant cheerleading coach Michelle Whelan says until they know what’s going on, she’s taking extra precautions. “I’m not letting the girls use pom-poms, signs, flags or anything else that was at the competition until we can disinfect them.”

Most of those who have become ill have reportedly started to recover without seeking medical attention–which is sort of a good news/bad news situation, because, while it means the disease isn’t serious, it also means the health department has no way of collecting samples to test.

Anyone attendees who have experienced symptoms are being urged to see their doctor, if only to help isolate what might be wiping out squads across the state.

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2012/02/19-year-old_stud...

Huge uptick in meningitis

19-year-old student died of believed bacterial infection Friday morning

University, health officials address students on potential health risks

Justin Wan | The State News

From left, communicable diseases nurse at Ingham County Health Department Kathy Kacynski rests as disease control manager at Ingham County Health Department Ruby Rodgers, and university physician Dr. Beth Alexander speak Friday afternoon at Snyder-Phillips Hall. MSU held the town hall meeting with students after sophomore Carly Glynn, who used to lived in Snyder Hall, died Friday morning possibly due to meningococcal disease. Justin Wan/The State News

Sophomore Carly Glynn, 19, died early Friday morning of a suspected bacterial infection, university spokesman Kent Cassella said.

Glynn, who is a family community services major according to the MSU directory, was taken to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing by friends around midnight Thursday night and died a few hours later, according to an email from the MSU Provost Office.

Officials with the Ingham County Health Department and MSU’s University Physician’s Office are investigating potential causes of death, one of which is suspected to be the meningococcal disease, a bacterial infection.

Marcus Cheatham, a public information officer from the Ingham County Health Department, said Glynn’s test results are not yet confirmed.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012/Feb/15/skin-disease-outbrea...

Skin disease outbreak at Khag,Tangmarg

SCORES INFECTED; HEALTH AUTHORITIES DISPATCH TEAMS

Budgam, Feb 14: Scores of people have been infected by an unknown skin disease in many villages of Khag and Tangmarg areas of Central Kashmir’s Budgam and Baramulla districts respectively.
 According to reports, few days back during a medical camp organised by army’s 35 Rashtriya Rifles and Border Area Development Programme (BADP) Mobile Medical Team at Hamchipora Khag, some cases of skin disease were treated by the doctors. “The patients complained of severe rashes and itching on the skin and in few days hundreds of similar cases surfaced in the adjoining Gogaldara area which falls in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. This skin disease has now spread over to few more villages of Khag and Tangmarg areas,” reports said.
 “A joint medical team compromising Mobile Medical Team under Border Area Development Programme (BADP) and doctors from Khag and Tangmarg medical blocks along with Army doctors visited Gogaldara and few other villages and examined hundreds of patients suffering from this skin disease,” reports added.
 "We found around 60 percent of the population at Gogaldara suffering from this skin ailment and our joint team of doctors gave free medicines to the patients in spite of the fact that they had to walk to the village as the road leading to it was closed due to heavy snowfall," said Dr Sheikh Ghulam Rasool Medical Officer Mobile Medical Team (MMT) under BADP.
 BMO Tangmarg, Dr Asif and Dr Javaid from Khag Medical block also played a great role in reaching out to the ailing people in this far flung area which falls between Budgam and Baramulla district near Khag. “The disease is under control now,” Dr Sheikh added.
 The team led by Block Medical Officer Tangmarg collected the samples of sputum from the area as many people complained of some respiratory disease as well. “We are thankful to the medical team which reached our area on the right time in spite of the fact that vehicles could not ply on the road due to snowfall,” said Sarpanch of Gogaldara village, Muhammad Maqbool.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/02/lasa-fever-kills-doctor-nurse-11...

Jalingo – An outbreak of the deadly Lasa fever has claimed the lives of 13 people, including a medical doctor and a nurse in Jalingo, Taraba,  a week after it was first diagnosed.

The deaths were largely recorded at the Federal Medical Centre Jalingo, a situation which had forced officials of the centre to close down the Accident and Emergency Unit.

The outbreak of the disease had also led to panic among patients on admission at the centre who had deserted it in droves, leaving the wards virtually empty.

The state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Mustapha Hamman-Gabdo confirmed the development to newsmen in Jalingo on Tuesday.

He said that a female medical doctor named Aisha Isa died on Sunday at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital while Amina Abdullahi, a nurse died in Jalingo on Monday, adding that the deceased were staff of the center.

He said that some patients admitted into the centre for different ailments were diagnosed with the disease.

The commissioner, however, assured that the state government was making efforts to prevent further spread of the disease.

Also in a chat with Journalists, the state Epidemiologist, Dr. Innocent Vakai said the fever started from Mayo-Ranewo village in Ardo-Kola local government area of the state.

He said the disease spread after a patient from the village was brought to the centre for treatment.

Vakai, explained that the disease was caused by rats’ excreta and advised the people to keep their environment clean and ensure that their food was not contaminated by rats.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/12950581/nz-safe-from-lamb...

A new virus detected in Europe that causes deformities so severe in new born calves and lambs that they die within seconds is worrying farmers here.

Federated Farmers fear the Schmallenberg virus could be potentially disastrous for New Zealand.

But MAF Director of Animal and Animal Products Standards Matthew Stone says the virus is spread by a certain type of fly that we don't have in New New Zealand.

He says even if we were to get one or two cases by what ever means, the likelihood of further transmission in New Zealand is almost zero.

Dr Stone says MAF maintains ongoing controls on aircraft and ship arrivals to manage the risk of insects arriving and establishing in New Zealand.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=EH...

A mysterious illness affecting multiple teenage girls at a high school in upstate New York has residents of the small town all aflutter. In the small town of Le Roy, New York, (population of just under 8,000) at least a dozen teenaged girls, one boy, and one school nurse have begun exhibiting symptoms ranging from subtle twitches to violent jerking of body parts and verbal outbursts. Since August, researchers and the media alike have taken an interest in what could possibly be the cause of this emerging trend. Doctors from the Dent Neurological Institute in Amherst, New York, were among the first to look into the issue, ruling that tics and twitches were a result of a conversion disorder. Conversion disorder, which has in the past been referred to as ‘mass hysteria’ is a “condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic) symptoms that cannot be explained by medical evaluation.” Prompted by inner conflict, conversion disorder is the physical embodiment of psychological turmoil. Those who typically are afflicted with conversion disorder typically must look to therapy or other psychological treatments for this disease.

For many who believe that the mystery at Le Roy Junior/Senior High School is a product of a psychosomatic phenomenon, the popularity of social networking sights proves to be the perfect transmitters for the disease. Sites like Facebook and YouTube are just as popular with teens in Le Roy as they are with teens all around the world. Dr. David Lichter has tested one of the afflicted girls and believes this to be the case. As a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Buffalo, he believes that “If you are a person who is vulnerable in some way because of your own stresses and anxieties and particularly if you identify with that individual through some kind of an emotional bond…then I think there is a potential to create a further potential spread.”

For many young people, social media and online identities are just as important as face-to-face interactions. This idea that ailments have gone viral is not completely unwarranted. Dr. Lichter and other researchers suggest that perhaps on some unconscious level these symptoms may be implanted into another person and physically mimicked. “I think you do have the potential for people going online and witnessing other student’s behavior, then I think this medium has the potential to spread it beyond the immediate environment,” states Lichter. This seems all the more likely since many of the girls have posted videos on YouTube showing the differences in their body movements.

But this answer is not enough for many including the worried parents who are looking for answers or preventative steps in protecting themselves and their families. At the behest of concerned parents, another opinion was sought—this time from a New Jersey-based specialist in pediatric neurologist. PANDAS/PANS was then thrown into the mix. An acronym for pediatric acute neuropsychiatric syndrome, PANS draws a line from the “body’s response to certain bacterial infections.” Perhaps then a bacterial infection, like strep throat, could have been the catalyst for this new disease.

Another possible answer to this mystery revolves around a train wreck that occurred within a couple miles of the high school in 1970, spilling approximately 30,000 gallons of tricholorethene (TCE) into the surrounding soil and water sources. Believed to have been cleaned up at the time, this alarm has still sparked much concern amongst residents and interested parties across the country, including well-known activist Erin Brokovich. While the spill was considered clean, with wells dug to monitor water at the site (by hydraulic cleansing, a controv

Hi Wayne

Here is some ZetaTalk about immunizations

http://www.zetatalk6.com/ning/20no2010.htm

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.zetatalk3.com/index/zeta539.htm  

The dangers of vaccines are well known by man, and thoroughly discussed on the Internet. While trying to stimulate the immune system, vaccines can also stimulate an autoimmune response. This is the basis for the increased incidence of Guillian Barre syndrome after vaccinations, and the basis for increased autism in youngsters. Autism is caused in part by an immune response of the mother to the infant in her womb, due to stress and tension in the mother. This tendency is heritable, so the infant can develop autoimmune responses to its own brain tissue too.

http://www.zetatalk.com/index/zeta448.htm

A recent measles outbreak in Milwaukee is causing a renewed push for immunizations amongst preschoolers. Many people believe that there are just too many immunizations given to our youngest most precious children and can't be good for them. There is still mercury in a lot of the vaccines and who knows what else is being injected into our life's blood. Is stepping up on these early childhood immunizations a good thing or a not so good thing?

At present, vaccines do not poison people, though this has been planned by those who would sculpt mankind into the worker base they desire in the Aftertime. There are a certain number of adverse reactions to vaccines, as is known. We have stated that mercury is not responsible for the increase in autism, and consistent statistics bear this out. Autism is on the rise for many reason, most related to the increase in tension in mankind, who senses that things are amiss and that they are being lied to by the authorities. The rise in illness has been noted for the past few years, which was one of our predictions, due to depressed immune systems and emanations from the core of the Earth. A parallel phenomena is a rise in auto-immune reactions, which is due to a heightened immune system. Many cases of autism are auto-immune related, either from the

http://www.livemint.com/2012/02/20231407/India-seeks-to-integrate-d...

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202220127.html

Nigeria: 40 Die From Lassa Fever Outbreak

By Ezra Ijioma, 22 February 2012

Nigerian lab technicians (file photo) (Photo Courtesy Flickr/US Army Africa)

Forty people have died across the country from the outbreak of Lassa fever in the last six weeks. So far, 397 cases have been reported and all patients are to be treated free.

This was disclosed in a statement by the minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, yesterday.

The minister said that six of the dead were health workers (two doctors and four nurses) and that cases have been reported in 12 states Edo, Nasarawa, Plateau, Ebonyi, Taraba, Yobe, Ondo, Rivers, Gombe, Anambra, Delta and Lagos.

Out of the 397 cases reported, only 87 cases have been positively confirmed by medical officials. Chukwu narrated the case of a 28-year-old female corps member who completed her three weeks orientation in Rivers State but travelled home to visit her families in Afikpo and Abakiliki, capital of Ebonyi State, where she contracted the fever on January 1 and died two days later.

On what the Ministry is doing to contain the situation, Chukwu said adequate quantities of Ribavirin injections and tablets, the specific antiviral drug for Lassa fever, have been released to the affected states.

He also said that the ministry has deployed rapid response teams to all affected states and there is great emphasis on routine barrier nursing precautions.

He said, "Nigeria has the capability to diagnose Lassa fever and all the cases reported so far were confirmed by our laboratories."

Chukwu added that no travel restriction will be imposed on the affected areas but hotlines have been provided for health workers for expert advice. The numbers are: 08037154575, 08023214998, 08037879701 and 08023047101.

However, the minister of state for health, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, in a media conference yesterday, said the ministry has also distributed over 750,000 doses of Ribavirin doses of injection and tablets as well as safety gloves and protective vests for health workers.

He said that there are nine specialist centres across Nigeria where tests on Lassa fever can be done. Pate advised Nigerians not to panic as the government is responding promptly and effectively to the outbreak.

Lassa fever is a viral disease that attacks the liver, nervous system, spleen and kidney, causing them to bleed, hence the haemorrhagic fever. According to online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, Lassa fever was first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria, in the Yedseram river valley at the south end of Lake Chad. It is an infection that is endemic in West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and even Central African Republic and Congo DR. About 300,000-500,000 cases occur annually, with approximately 5,000 deaths. Symptoms of Lassa fever include fever, retrosternal pain (pain behind the chest wall), sore throat, back pain, cough, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, facial swelling, proteinuria (protein in the urine), and mucosal bleeding, bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract and low blood pressure.

The virus lives in rats and infects humans when they come in contact with these rats' urine and faeces. Pate explained that increasing awareness is being created for Nigerians to avoid rats and keep them away from stored food and drinking water. People living in rural areas or in crowded and unsanitary environment, where rats breed, are at the greatest ri

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6514033/Hepatitis-outbreak-h...

Hepatitis outbreak hits Auckland schools

Auckland is facing a hepatitis A outbreak with 19 cases confirmed, including some schoolchildren.

Auckland Regional Public Health Service spokesman Dr Shanika Perera says a "large team" is working with the patients and affected schools.

"At this time it is unknown how the disease was initially contracted. We are currently working with the cases to determine the source of the disease and prevent further spread."

As of 9am today, 19 people were infected.

Hepatitis A is usually a mild illness in children with complete recovery and no ongoing health effects, but it affects teenagers and adults more seriously.

It is excreted through faeces and can be spread from person to person or by swallowing food or water that has been contaminated. 

Symptoms in children usually include fever, an upset stomach and feeling tired and generally unwell, Perera says.

Many children don't show signs of the infection, but very occasionally they will develop jaundice - a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes.

"If a parent is concerned that their child may have been exposed to hepatitis A infection and they are unwell, we ask that they stay away from school, childcare centres and social events and contact their doctor. Hepatitis A is diagnosed by a blood test."

Perera says more information would be made available to affected schools and families.

The best way to prevent the spread of the infection is careful hand washing with soap and proper drying, especially after using the toilet and before eating.

"Hepatitis A is an uncommon disease in New Zealand but to keep it that way we need to contain the spread, regular hand washing with soap and warm water then drying thoroughly is the simplest way to prevent spread," Perera said.

WHO: Unknown Disease Kills 60 Cambodian Children in 3 Months

The World Health Organization ( WHO) reported on Wednesday that an unknown illness has claimed the lives of 60 Cambodian kids within the past three months. The agency is currently coordinating with the Cambodian health ministry to investigate the cause of the deaths. The WHO said the symptoms of the mysterious illness include high fever and neurological involvement or respiratory distress. To date, 61 cases have been reported, all under 7 years old. According to Dr. Pieter van Maaren, the representative of WHO-Cambodia, the agency is working with the Ministry of Health in carrying out an investigation. As of the moment, little information is available since the investigation is still underway. Cambodian Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said his officials as well as WHO personnel are in close coordination to identify the disease and its manner of transmission.

Source

WHO Investigators Probe Unknown Disease Killing Cambodian Children

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with Cambodian health authorities in investigating the mysterious deaths of 61 children in the country after suffering severe respiratory and neurological complications. The unknown disease was first reported to Cambodian health officials by Dr. Beat Richner of the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospitals. According to the Ministry of Health, 56 of the fatalities shared common symptoms including fever, neurological and respiratory disorders. It added that 74 cases of the mysterious disease have been identified to date. Neighboring countries have already been notified about the deadly disease through the International Health Regulations event information system. Majority of the identified cases were among children under 3 years old. The deputy director of the ministry, Dr. Ly Sovann, stated that they are studying detailed information from hospital records, adding that they hope to have a clearer picture of the situation in the coming days. The children are taken to hospitals but they later die because their lungs have been destroyed. Richner said he suspects that an enterovirus or an intoxication of a drug or a combination of both, may have been responsible for the deaths. According to the WHO, majority of the known cases were from the southern region of Cambodia although there haven't been any signs of clustering. Source

EDIS Number: EP-20120720-35857-SLE

Event type: Epidemic

Date/Time: Friday, 20 July, 2012 at 18:12 (06:12 PM) UTC

Continent: Africa

Country: Sierra Leone

County / State: Southern Province

Area: Bevehun in the Pujehun Districts

Coordinate: N 7° 22.340, W 11° 36.947

Description;

Director of Disease Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Amara Jambai, has yesterday disclosed that the outbreak of yellow fever in the Pujehun District. Yellow fever on the other hand is potentially a fatal viral infection that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Our investigation team is trekking to Bevehun in the Pujehun District to look into the outburst.

Biohazard name: Yellow Fever Outbreak

Biohazard level: 3/4 High

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

EDIS Number: EP-20120720-35858-SLE

Event type: Epidemic

Date/Time: Friday, 20 July, 2012 at 18:17 (06:17 PM)

Continent: Africa

Country: Sierra Leone

County / State: Eastern Province

Area: Kenema

Coordinate: N 7° 52.631, W 11° 11.114

Infected person(s): 66

Description;

Director of Disease Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Amara Jambai, has yesterday disclosed that the outbreak of Lassa fever in Kenema district. Lassa fever is a viral disease which is carried by rats. It is spread from infected rodents to humans through direct contact with urine and droppings of an infected rat. Speaking to journalists at the weekly press briefing at the Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr. Jambai said the outbreak, which started in three districts but has extended to other parts of the country, should be a serious concern to the government and people of Sierra Leone.

Biohazard name: Lassa Fever Outbreak

Biohazard level: 4/4 Hazardous

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

EDIS Number: EP-20120720-35859-SLE

Event type: Epidemic

Date/Time: Friday, 20 July, 2012 at 18:20 (06:20 PM) UTC

Continent: Africa

Country: Sierra Leone

County / State: Northern Province

Area: Port Loko, Kambia, Pujehun and Kailahun districts

Coordinate: N 8° 46.000, W 12° 47.250

Dead person(s): 62

Description;

Director of Disease Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Amara Jambai, has yesterday disclosed that the outbreak of cholera in Port Loko, Kambia, Pujehun and Kailahun districts and the Western Area has claimed 62 lives so far. Speaking to journalists at the weekly press briefing at the Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr. Jambai said the outbreak, which started in three districts but has extended to other parts of the country, should be a serious concern to the government and people of Sierra Leone. Dr. Jambai explained adding that 26 cholera deaths have been reported in Kambia, 22 in Port Loko, nine in Pujehun and another nine in the Western Area which sum up to 62 cholera cases reported since January to date. "We have set up cholera treatment units at Macaulay Street and Connaught hospital with three more to follow. Also, we have provided technical assistance, drugs and rapid diagnostic test kits at various locations across the country," he added to highlight measures his department has put in place to curtail the situation. He however warned that despite efforts by the health ministry to cub the outburst, people should be more careful about their food and water sources and should endeavour to always keep their environment clean.

Biohazard name: Cholera Outbreak

Biohazard level: 2/4 Medium

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...  

Epidemic Hazard in Nigeria on Friday, 20 July, 2012 at 11:14 (11:14 AM) UTC.

Two people have been confirmed dead in Igbaraodo in Ekiti State as a result of cholera. The Ekiti State commissioner for health, Olusola Fasuba, who confirmed the report, said that at least over 20 cases of cholera has been reported in the state. According to Mr Fasuba, the case of cholera was first noticed when some residents complained of vomiting and diarrhea. He added that the victims are currently receiving treatment from various hospitals in the town and that the situation is currently under control. The commissioner further said Ministry of Health has dispatched a rapid response team to the town, led by the director, of disease control, Ayodele Seluwa. He said that his team have visited those receiving treatment and also other victims are hospitalized. The Ministry of Health has sent messages to residents to work on their hygiene situation.

Biohazard name: Cholera

Biohazard level: 2/4 Medium

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

Epidemic Hazard in Bangladesh on Saturday, 23 June, 2012 at 19:43 (07:43 PM) UTC.

Twenty six more Anthrax infected people have been identified at Panchil and Ultadab village under Shahzadpur upazila in Sirajganj district in the last six days. District Sanitary Inspector Ram Chandra Shaha Milon confirmed this to this correspondent yesterday. With the new ones, the number of total infected has risen to 67 in the district. Sources said, they were infected after taking meat of a sick bullock and a sick goat, which were carrying the germ of Anthrax disease. The bullock was slaughtered by one Abdul Mannan Byapari at Panchil Baza on June 2 and the goat was slaughtered by Abdul Baten at Ultadab village on June 6. Doctors said, the people who were involved in skinning and processing the sick bullock and goat would be infected within a few days. A medical team of Sirajganj health department visited the areas of the infected patients recently and prescribed them with the directive to continue the treatment. They also distributed some medicines free of cost, civil surgeon office sources said. Civil surgeon Dr. Nazim Uddin Khan said, people of the district are being infected with Anthrax one after another due to lack of awareness about the disease. Though the people are being warned about the disease and asked not to take meat of any sick cattle or goat, poor and ultra-poor people are ignoring the directives and taking meat of sick cattle or goat. He further said, there is nothing to fear over the disease, because it is curable. However, he urged the people not to slaughter any sick animal. Locals also complained that, due to lack of proper vaccination, many cattle in the areas are being infected with the disease and then people are being forced to slaughter such sick animals to recover their losses.

Biohazard name: Anthrax

Biohazard level: 4/4 Hazardous

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

EDIS Number: EH-20120720-35850-PHL

Event type: Epidemic Hazard

Date/Time: Friday, 20 July, 2012 at 08:22 (08:22 AM) UTC

Continent: Pacific Ocean - West

Country: Philippines

County / State: Davao Region (Region XI)

City: Davao City

Coordinate: N 7° 11.442, E 125° 27.320

Infected person(s): 1

Description;

A one-year-old boy from Davao City has been found positive for the Enterovirus-71 (EV-71), the mysterious illness that killed dozens of children in Cambodia. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the screening and confirmatory tests done at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) revealed that of the eight suspected Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) patients, one was tested positive of the virus similar to the ones in Cambodia. Ona clarified, however, that the boy has no history of travel outside the country. "The virus is similar to Cambodia but this case is the mild one," Ona told reporters in a press conference Friday. EV-71 causes diarrhea; rashes; and hand, foot and mouth disease; and is sometimes associated with severe central neurological disease. The virus, which was earlier tagged as a "mystery disease" in Cambodia, caused the deaths of 52 children there. Based on the details of the case, the official said the boy had developed fever and rashes on his hands, soles of feet, mouth and buttocks last July 6. He was brought for consultation at a local health facility but was subsequently sent home and has since recovered very well, Ona said. Although the victim's family members have no sickness, they are still being closely monitored for possible manifestation of symptoms such as high fever, chest and muscle pain, sore throat and headache, Ona said.

Meantime, two HFMD patients were found negative of human Enterovirus while the five others will be further tested for Coxsackie A16, which is also associated with HFMD, the health official said. The health official said there is no vaccine on EV-71 yet, so the "approach is to monitor the cases." Ona, however, reiterated that the incident should not come as a surprise to the public since EV-71 is not new to the Philippines. "This virus could have been here all along… Maybe, this specific strain has not been examined before, therefore, it has not been identified in the past," Ona said. The DOH had already related in the past that there have been cases of human Enterovirus in the country but that they are not the fatal ones like those found in Cambodia. Meanwhile, the health department strongly urged the public to always maintain personal hygiene and cleanliness as this would be the best way against the virus. "Prevention relies on individual personal hygiene and hand washing; shared toys or teaching tools in daycare should be cleaned, washed and disinfected as they easily become contaminated," said Ona.

Biohazard name: Enterovirus-71 (EV-71)

Biohazard level: 3/4 Hight

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

An epidemic of H1N1 flu has infected almost 900 people and claimed 11 lives in Bolivia, health officials said Tuesday. Although most of the cases occurred in the last few weeks, the outbreak does not rise to the level of a national epidemic, officials said. "At the national level, the situation is under control. The most affected area is in the west," Johnny Rada, director of the ministry of health's epidemiology service reported. According to official tallies, 873 cases have been reported across the country, of which 606 are in the western department of La Paz and 60 in the department just south of it, Oruro. There have also been 167 cases reported in the large eastern department of Santa Cruz, and 36 in central Cochabamba department. A health alert has been issued for La Paz and Oruro, which, according to Rada, will permit health workers to intensify preventative measures. Deputy Health Minister Martin Maturano also urged Bolivians to take precautions, such as eating well and frequently washing their hands. Bolivian authorities have not said whether the strain of the virus originated as swine or avian flu -- in other words whether it first spread to humans from pigs or birds. Bolivia's current outbreak has primarily affected young children, the elderly, and those whose systems are already weakened by illness or chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes. Eight of the deaths were identified in the department of La Paz department, while the remaining three were in the eastern department of Santa Cruz.

Biohazard name: H1N1

Biohazard level: 3/4 Hight

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

More than 100 people in the Zimbabwean capital Harare and Chitungwiza, a dormitory town 35km southeast of the city, have contracted typhoid this month, and the dilapidated water and sanitation systems are again being blamed for another round of water-borne diseases. According to health officials cited in the local media, 83 cases of typhoid have been confirmed in Chitungwiza and a further 28 in Harare, of which 25 were linked to a supermarket in the Avenues area of the city centre. Portia Manangazira, the chief disease control officer in the Health Ministry, told IRIN that in June 22 cases of suspected cholera, 10 of which were confirmed, were reported in Chiredzi – a town in Masvingo Province close to neighbouring South Africa – and one confirmed case of cholera was reported in Manicaland Province, which borders Mozambique. “We are monitoring the situation very closely to make sure the cholera does not spread. The health sector is on high alert,” she said. A year-long outbreak of cholera in 2008 killed more than 4,000 people and infected about 100,000 others and since then there have been regular outbreaks of waterborne diseases in both urban and rural areas. In January 2012 about 900 Harare residents were diagnosed with typhoid, but no fatalities were recorded.

Biohazard name: Cholera Outbreak

Biohazard level: 2/4 Medium

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

EDIS Number: EP-20120727-35948-MYS

Event type: Epidemic

Date/Time: Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:17 (03:17 AM) UTC

Continent: Indonesian Archipelago

Country: Malaysia

County / State: State of Sarawak

Area: Bintulu Region

Coordinate: N 3° 11.434, E 113° 5.407

Infected person(s): 177

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh yesterday confirmed that there is a cholera outbreak in Bintulu. Speaking to reporters after a briefing by officers from the state Health Department at his office here yesterday, he said the department detected the outbreak on July 14 after a case was confirmed positive with Vibrio Cholerae. “Since July 14, the state Health Department declared there is an outbreak detected in Bintulu. Since then, the state Health Department initiated its investigation to trace all the suspected symptomatic cases. Anyone coming down with diarrhoea and vomiting will be investigated to check whether it is cholera or not,” he added. Based on investigation by the department, the outbreak was believed to have started when three groups of regatta participants from Rumah Gawan, Kampung Jepak and Kampung Hilir in Sebauh, Bintulu used water from Kemena River to wash plates, fish and their hands. “The bacteria from the river had contaminated the food and the hands of the people during the regatta and then continuously spread from person to person and contaminated food and drinks. Now the state Health Department is also suspecting that it is spread from Ramadan Bazaar due to contaminated food and drinks,” he added. He noted that as of yesterday, the department had received 140 cases - 33 positive for cholera, 55 negative and 52 cases still pending result. The youngest patient was one year 11 months old while the oldest was 84 years old. The department also detected nine cases with Vibrio Cholerae but without any symptom. As of yesterday, 177 people had been screened for signs and symptoms of acute gastroenteritis and were given doxycycline, an antibiotic.

On the outbreak, Wong said it was still spreading in Bintulu with 11 localities declared positive for cholera; Rumah Panjang Gawan at Sungai Sebauh, Kampung Jepak, Kampung Sebauh Hilir in Sebauh, Rumah Usah in Sungai Segan, Setinggan Mozako, Kampung Assyikirin, Kampung Sinong in Jalan Masjid, Setinggan Hock Peng Tanjung Kidurong, Batu 10, Jalan Bintulu/Miri, Kampung Baru and Kirana Palm Oil/Brightwood Quarters, Kemena Industrial Estate. “The state Health Department will continue to take all samples from Sungai Kemena and its tributaries as well as food sampling from Ramadan Bazaar and houses. Besides that, the state Health Department will intensify diarrhoea and vomiting surveillance in all health facilities in Bintulu and issue cholera alert to all government, private health facilities in the state whereby when there is increase in number of admission, the state Health Department will investigate whether it is cholera or not,” he said. Wong said attention would also be given to all food handlers in the Ramadan Bazaar in Bintulu to ensure that they meet the department’s health standards, which also requires them to go for cholera screening. “Once they are cleared from the disease, they will be issued health cards and they must bring the health cards with them when they operate the stalls. If they refuse to go for screening, they will be asked to close down their stalls,” he added. For the convenience of the public, a screening centre is opened at the old Bintulu health clinic from 8am to 10pm every day. The department is also using Bintulu Hospital for isolation of severe cases while mild cases and asymptomatic cases would be treated at the national service camp in Samalaju in Bintulu. Wong appealed to the public to give their fullest cooperation to the department to ensure that the outbreak could be contained.

Biohazard name: Vibrio Cholera Outbreak

Biohazard level: 2/4 Medium

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

Patients flee hospital over Ebola outbreak

TERRIFIED PATIENTS fled from a hospital in western Uganda as soon as news broke that a mysterious illness that killed at least 14 people in the region was Ebola, one of the world’s most virulent diseases.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0730/1224321094355.html

Epidemic Hazard in Uganda on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 15:57 (03:57 PM) UTC.

Sixteen people are reported dead in Uganda from a mystery illness. The Uganda publication UG Pulse reports that a strange illness, cause unknown, is spreading in the Kibaale district in western Uganda. The District Health Officer, Dr. Dan Kyamanwa, stated that 11 of the deaths were from the same family in the Nyamarunda Sub County. A twelfth death was a health officer. There are also reports of the illness appearing in the clinical officer who treated the family from Nyamarunda and a driver who transported the deceased. Kyamanwa says that symptoms of the illness include high fever, vomiting, diarrhea and systems failure. Death occurs within four to seven days.The Ugandan government is reportedly sending a team of experts to investigate the outbreak.

Biohazard name: Unidentified fatal disease

Biohazard level: 4/4 Hazardous

Update; Saturday, 28 July, 2012 at 13:38 UTC

The deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month, Ugandan health officials said on Saturday, ending weeks of speculation about the cause of a strange disease that had many people fleeing their homes. The officials and a World Health Organization representative told a news conference in Kampala Saturday that there is "an outbreak of Ebola" in Uganda. "Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute…have confirmed that the strange disease reported in Kibaale is indeed Ebola hemorrhagic fever," the Ugandan government and WHO said in joint statement. Kibaale is a district in mid-western Uganda, where people in recent weeks have been troubled by a mysterious illness that seemed to have come from nowhere. Ugandan health officials had been stumped as well, and spent weeks conducting laboratory tests that were at first inconclusive. On Friday, Joaquim Saweka, the WHO representative in Uganda, told The Associated Press that investigators were "not so sure" it was Ebola, and a Ugandan health official dismissed the possibility of Ebola as merely a rumor. It appears firm evidence of Ebola was clinched overnight.

Health officials told reporters in Kampala that the 14 dead were among 20 reported with the disease. Two of the infected have been isolated for examination by researchers and health officials. A clinical officer and, days later, her 4-month-old baby died from the disease caused by the Ebola virus, officials said. The officials urged Ugandans to be calm, saying a national emergency taskforce had been set up to stop the disease from spreading far and wide. There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, and in Uganda, where in 2000 the disease killed 224 people and left hundreds more traumatized, it resurrects terrible memories. Ebola, which manifests itself as a hemorrhagic fever, is highly infectious and kills quickly. It was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists don't know the natural reservoir of the virus, but they suspect the first victim in an Ebola outbreak gets infected through contact with an infected animal, such as a monkey. The virus can be transmitted in several ways, including through direct contact with the blood of an infected person. During communal funerals, for example, when the bereaved come into contact with an Ebola victim, the virus can be contracted, officials said, warning against unnecessary contact with suspected cases of Ebola.

Update; Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 04:48 UTC

Ugandan authorities did not initially detect an Ebola outbreak because patients weren't showing typical symptoms of the lethal virus, the nation's health minister reported on Sunday. Patients had fevers and were vomiting, but did not show other typical symptoms like hemorrhaging, Health Minister Dr. Christine Ondoa said. A team made up of personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ugandan health ministry and the World Health Organization early Monday were in Kibaale, a district in the midwestern part of the landlocked central African nation, WHO said in a statement. Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, also is involved in setting up an "isolation center" at Kibaale's hospital. National health authorities say the outbreak has infected at least 20 people, of whom 14 have died. Nine of the deaths were from a single household in the village of Nyanswiga, according to WHO. A medic who was treating victims is among the dead, Ondoa said. Officials are trying to determine the extent of the outbreak, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said Sunday. The Atlanta-based organization was sending about five people to join a group of CDC staffers who are permanently based in Uganda, according to the spokesman.

"These outbreaks have a tendency to stamp themselves out, if you will, if we can get in and ... stop the chain of transmission," he said. Ondoa described the Ebola-Sudan strain detected as "mild" compared to other types of Ebola, noting that victims' lives can be saved with intervention. The cases have emerged in Kibaale, where a national task force had been mobilized in an effort to combat the outbreak. As of early Monday in Uganda, two people with the virus remained hospitalized in stable condition, said WHO. One was a 38-year-old woman who'd attended to her sister, the medic who died, and another was a 30-year-old woman who participated in the burial of one of the other victims. The Ebola virus is considered a highly infectious disease spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, with symptoms that include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, measles-like rash, red eyes and at times bleeding from body openings. Health officials urged the public to report suspected cases and avoid contact with anyone who has contracted the virus and to disinfect the bedding and clothing of an infected person by using protective gloves and masks. Officials also advised against eating dead animals, especially monkeys, and to avoid public gatherings in the affected district. Given these precautions, WHO said in its statement that it would not recommend any travel restrictions to Uganda because of the Ebola outbreak.

Update; Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 18:37 UTC

Ebola, one of the world’s deadliest viruses, has been confirmed in Uganda, where 14 people have already died from what health officials were calling a mysterious illness. The illness was not immediately described as Ebola because patients were not showing the typical signs of the lethal disease, the nation’s health minister told CNN on Sunday. After news of the virus broke, a team of health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ugandan government were deployed to the area to begin emergency response measures, according to a government statement. The experts discovered the strain was Ebola Sudan, one of the most common strains of the virus. This particular strain has been associated with a 70 percent mortality rate in recent years. The virus manifests as a hemorrhagic fever. The last severe outbreak occurred in 2000, killing 224 people in Uganda. It was first reported in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the CDC. The strange disease was first reported in the area several weeks ago, according to a government statement.

Ignatius Besisira, an MP for Buyaga East County in the Kibaale district, said people first believed the unexplained deaths were from witchcraft. “Immediately, when there was confirmation that it was Ebola … patients ran out of Kagadi hospital (where some of the victims had died),” Besisira told the Guardian. “Even the medical officers are very, very frightened.” Lab tests confirmed the illness was Ebola hemorrhagic fever. A baby from the village of Nyanswiga was the first confirmed death and so far 14 of some 20 that are known to have been infected have died. A clinical officer who treated the original case also fell ill and died soon afterward. Her four-month-old baby, admitted for treatment last Monday, died four days later. The clinical officer’s sister, who took care of the baby when she became ill, has been admitted for treatment with similar symptoms, but is currently in stable condition, the government statement said. There is no treatment or vaccine against Ebola, which is transmitted through close contact and, depending on the strain, can kill up to 90 percent of those who contract the virus. While Ebola outbreaks occur every few years, the virus’s delicate composition has so far impeded a significant, long-duration attack. But much about the disease remains a mystery.

The CDC has a team of scientists stationed at a Ugandan laboratory who study Ebola and other deadly viruses that are often found in equatorial Africa. Ebola is among a list of viruses highlighted by the US as a potential biological-weapons threat. Officials are currently trying to determine the extent of the outbreak, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner told CNN.com on Sunday. “These outbreaks have a tendency to stamp themselves out, if you will, if we can get in and … stop the chain of transmission,” he explained. Health officials are urging area residents to report any suspected cases and avoid contact with anyone who has contracted the virus and to disinfect bedding and clothing of an infected person by using protective gloves and masks. They also advise against eating dead animals, especially monkeys, and to avoid public gatherings if at all possible. Despite the ongoing threat, the WHO said in its statement that it does not recommend travel restrictions to Uganda because of the outbreak. Besisira said officials in Kibaale had released radio broadcasts outlining the precautionary measures on Saturday. “We have assured (the people) that we have a very strong team … who are making sure the disease is controlled … I am very confident we can contain it,” he added. While there are no reports of people moving out of the region, the Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya said on Sunday that people were leaving the area around Kagadi town, where the disease first appeared. “We have to move to safer places because we can easily get infected by this disease here,” the paper quoted a resident, Omuhereza Kugonza, as saying. Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids and tissues of infected persons. It can also be transmitted by handling sick or dead infected wild animals, such as chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope and fruit bats. Symptoms include sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, impaired kidney and liver function and bleeding.

Update; Tuesday, 31 July, 2012 at 11:53 UTC

Six more patients thought to have the highly infectious Ebola virus have been hospitalized in Uganda, days after investigators confirmed an outbreak of the disease in a remote Western corner of the country, a health official said on Monday. Stephen Byaruhanga, health secretary of the affected Kibaale district, said possible cases of Ebola, at first concentrated in a single village, are now being reported in more villages. "It's no longer just one village. There are many villages affected," Byaruhanga said. In a national address Monday, Uganda's president advised against unnecessary contact among people, saying suspected cases of Ebola should be reported immediately to health officials. Officials from Uganda's Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization announced on Saturday that the deadly Ebola virus killed 14 Ugandans this month, ending weeks of speculation about the cause of a strange illness that had some people fleeing their homes in the absence of reliable answers.

The deceased include a clinical officer who attended to a patient, and her four month-old child. Nine of the 14 deaths have occurred in a single household, the World Health Organization said Sunday. Ebola, which manifests itself as a hemorrhagic fever, is a potentially lethal disease that kills quickly. It was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognized. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ebola is characterized by fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. A rash, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding may be seen in some patients. If the six new cases are confirmed as Ebola, it would bring to 26 the number of Ugandans infected with Ebola. This is the fourth occurrence of Ebola in Uganda since 2000, when the disease killed 224 people and left hundreds more traumatized in northern Uganda. At least 42 people were killed in another outbreak in 2007, and there was a lone Ebola case in 2011.

Investigators took nearly a month to confirm Ebola's presence in Uganda this year. In Kibaale, a district with 600,000 residents, some villagers started abandoning their homes to escape what they thought was an illness caused by bad luck. One family lost nine members, and a clinical officer and her 4-month-old baby died from Ebola, Byaruhanga said. D.K. Lwamafa, of Uganda's Ministry of Health, told reporters on Saturday that one Ebola patient from Kibaale had been referred to the national hospital in the capital but had then died in Kibaale. The confirmation of Ebola's presence in the area has spread anxiety among sick villagers, who are refusing to go the hospital for fear they don't have Ebola and will contract it there. All suspected Ebola patients have been isolated at one hospital where patients admitted with other illnesses fled after Ebola was announced. Only the hospital's maternity ward still has patients, officials said, highlighting the deadly reputation of Ebola in a country where the authorities do not always respond quickly and effectively to emergencies and disasters.

Barnabas Tinkasimire, a lawmaker from the area, said that some nurses refused to look after Ebola patients after one clinical officer died and another was taken ill. "They are saying, `We can't remain here if there is no sufficient allowance,'" Tinkasimire said of medical officers handling Ebola cases. The lawmaker said the government's response so far has been poor and that it would have been worse without the technical support of organizations such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It took long for the government to respond, and up to now many people don't know how to guard against Ebola. We need sensitization," he said. Scientists don't know the natural reservoir of the virus, but they suspect the first victim in an Ebola outbreak gets infected through contact with an infected animal. Some people are able to recover from Ebola and others are not for reasons not understood, however, it is known that patients who die usually have not developed a significant immune response to the virus at the time of death. The virus can be transmitted through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person, or objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions. During communal funerals, for example, when the bereaved come into contact with an Ebola victim, the virus can be contracted, health officials said.

Update; Wednesday, 01 August, 2012 at 02:58 UTC

Four more patients suspected to be suffering from Ebola have died as 14 new cases are also currently isolated in wards at Kagadi and Mulago hospitals. This brings the death toll to 18 in the country's third massive wave of Ebola outbreaks in the last one decade. Medical authorities were also Tuesday investigating a suspected Ebola case in Mbarara. The case was placed under isolation. The patients who died on Monday all from Kibaale were identified as Susan Nabulya from Burunzi village, the first patient to be admitted at Kagadi hospital, five-year-old Nicholas Asingwire (Kenga village), 12-year-old Kato (Nyamarunda village) and Frediano Nsabimaana of Nyamugusa village in Bwamiramira sub-county. Another 11 new suspected Ebola patients were Tuesday admitted at Kagadi hospital in Kibaale and three others in Mulago hospital in Kampala.

The number of suspected cases at Kagadi hospital has reached 18, which puts the total suspected cases at Kagadi and Mulago to 21. The three admitted in Mulago are also from Kibaale district; a four-year old boy, his mother and uncle, according to the deputy executive director, Dr. Doreen Male. However, the health ministry in a statement issued Tuesday said there were 18 patients in Kagadi hospital, of whom three are confirmed to have contracted Ebola. The health ministry's surveillance team in Kibaale, according to the statement, is, "actively and closely monitoring 40 people who are suspected to have got in contact with the dead." "These contacts have not shown any signs of the disease but will be monitored for 21 days," said the statement, adding that after 21 days, they will be declared Ebola-free if no signs are detected.

Kibaale district health officer, Dr. Dan Kyamanywa said that the new suspected Ebola patients were picked from Kagadi town council and the sub-counties of Nyamarunda, Burora, Bwamiramira, Kyaterekera and Muhorro. The patients, however, on Tuesday protested being poorly fed at the hospital. One of the patients forced his way out of the isolation ward, as the others caused commotion and were calmed by the police, local and district leaders. "It is true that we do not have money to feed these patients, but we are making arrangements to get money and buy them food," one of the health officials said on condition of anonymity. Dr. Kyamanywa said the Medicines Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) had donated plampenats (packed foods) for the patients. But patients had refused to eat the food. The chief administrative officer of Kibaale, Emmanuel Ssenoga said that the district has not received any funds since the financial year started. Meanwhile, hotlines have been created for all people to call, in case they suspect anyone to be infected with the disease.

Update; Wednesday, 01 August, 2012 at 18:29 UTC

The number of Ebola cases in Uganda has increased during the past few days, a spokesman from the World Health Organization tells SHOTS. But the outbreak is still limited to a small region. "Accumulatively to date, there are 36 suspected or confirmed cases," WHO's Gregory Hartl says. "All cases are in the Kibaale district," a rural region west of Uganda's capital, Kampala. Laboratory tests, conducted by the Uganda Virus Research Institute and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have confirmed Ebola infection in 5 people. The specific strain of the virus is Ebola Sudan, which has caused 5 outbreaks in Africa since 1976, including one in Uganda that killed 224 people in 2000. Ebola Sudan typically kills about 50 percent of people infected.

A team, led by the CDC, WHO and Uganda's Ministry of Health, are now at the scene to determine the scope of the outbreak and then control it. This involves a strategy known as contact tracing. "You take every patient who is infected or suspected of infection and ask who they've been in contact with," Hartl explains. "Then you go find those people and do the same." All people in contact with the virus must be isolated and watched for 21 days, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner says. "Only once you've [i.e. all suspects] gone through 2 21-day periods can you be sure that the outbreak is over." This is a massive undertaking, but it's one of the only options for stopping a deadly virus that has no cure or vaccine. The current Ebola outbreak 1st appeared at Ugandan clinics in early July 2012, but it was initially confused with cholera. Doctors didn't suspect Ebola until tests for cholera came back negative and a clinician got sick. "In Ebola outbreaks, health care workers often get infected because you touch somebody and can get the virus," Hartl says. Despite this ease of transmission, he says, Ebola rarely spreads outside a small geographic region. One infected person traveled to a hospital in Kampala, triggering reports that the Ebola outbreak had spread to the capital city. But Hartl says there are no signs that people in Kampala have been infected.

Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

EDIS Number:     EH-20120728-35961-ZWE
Event type:     Epidemic Hazard
Date/Time:     Saturday, 28 July, 2012 at 03:34 (03:34 AM) UTC
Continent:     Africa
Country:     Zimbabwe
County / State:     Multiple areas
Area:     Harare (Capital City) and Chitungwiza
Coordinate:     S 18° 0.000, E 31° 3.000
Infected person(s):     111

Updated:     Thursday, 02 August, 2012 at 13:56 UTC
Description
A typhoid outbreak has hit Harare and Chitungwiza, with at least 111 confirmed cases by yesterday. City officials attributed the outbreak to water shortages in the city and its satellite towns of Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa and Epworth. Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa and Epworth receive water from Harare whose water treatment plant is facing mechanical problems. The majority of the cases are in Chitungwiza where at least 83 people were treated for the disease. Harare had 28 confirmed cases, with 25 of them occurring at a supermarket in the Avenues area, while three were in Mabvuku/Tafara suburb. City health services director Dr Prosper Chonzi said the supermarket has since been barred from selling fresh, raw and cooked foods.

"We are still tracing the customers who bought food from the supermarket," he said. "We have a full outbreak response team in Mabvuku and Tafara. We have stationed a doctor at Mabvuku clinic to attend to the cases." Dr Chonzi said six of the affected people were detained at the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital. He said the majority of the cases were treated and discharged depending on the severity of their conditions. The outbreak in Tafara and Mabvuku, Dr Chonzi said, was caused by the use of unprotected wells. He said the outbreak in Chitungwiza was posing serious threats to Harare because of the high human traffic between the two urban centres. Chitungwiza acting director of health services Mr Herbert Chiroodza said they would drill boreholes in the affected areas. "We did alert Harare City Council and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare on the outbreak," he said. "We have since made negotiations with Harare so that the affected areas do not experience water cuts during this outbreak."

Chitungwiza residents urged the authorities to address the water situation before the disease gets worse. The residents believe that a death which occurred in the location was linked to the outbreak and that people who attended the man's burial could have contracted and passed on the disease. "We used to get tap water thrice a week, but now we are getting it only once a week. Can you imagine that we last had supplies on Saturday and we do not know when we are going to have tap water," said Mrs Kudzanai Joseph. She said residents have no choice, but to dig shallow wells at their homes. Another resident, Ms Nyasha Kujeke, who is still recuperating from typhoid, said the municipality must act urgently on the disease.

"Everyone is sick in this area. We do not know where else to get safe drinking water," she said. "The boreholes are overwhelmed, our wells are contaminated. Should we buy bottled water while we are paying water bills to council?" Harare town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi said on Tuesday that most of Harare would not have adequate water because of the mechanical problems. The water problems have been traced to Norton, which is accused of discharging 10 million litres of raw sewer close to Harare's raw water abstraction point. Norton chief executive officer Mr Winslow Muyambi confirmed his council was discharging raw sewer into Lake Manyame.

 Source; http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_summary&edis_id...

EDIS Number:     EP-20120808-36093-PAK
Event type:     Epidemic
Date/Time:     Wednesday, 08 August, 2012 at 04:48 (04:48 AM) UTC
Continent:     Asia
Country:     Pakistan
County / State:     North West Frontier Province
Area:     Swabi District
Coordinate:     N 34° 7.000, E 72° 28.000
Infected person(s):     130

Description
Around 130 people suffering from cholera and gastroenteritis in Swabi district’s Takeel village were rushed to tehsil and district headquarters (DHQ) hospitals on Tuesday. According to Executive District Officer (EDO) Dr Gul Muhammad Khan, the victims had been drinking water from a contaminated spring in the area, leading to the outbreak. He added that the area was a remote village in Gadoon, where people lack healthcare and educational facilities. Gul said the district health department has dispatched a medical mobile unit along with an ambulance to contain the outbreak. He maintained it was the responsibility of basic health units (BHU) in Ghani Chatra and Ghabasini – the village’s adjacent areas – but they have not been provided a staff by the government yet. “If the BHUs had staff, the number of people we had to vaccinate would have been less,” he added. Mukhtiar Khan, an administrative official in Topi’s Tehsil Headquarters Hospital said more than 35 cholera patients had been admitted so far. “We vaccinate the victims, try to control their dehydration… if their condition is serious, they are transferred to the DHQ hospital,” he informed. The official added that despite lacking in facilities, they were extending all possible medical care to the patients.

Biohazard name:     Cholerae Outbreak
Biohazard level:     2/4 Medium

Source

EDIS Number:     BH-20120815-36186-USA
Event type:     Biological Hazard
Date/Time:     Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 03:14 (03:14 AM) UTC
Continent:     North-America
Country:     USA
County / State:     State of Texas
Area:     Dallas County
Coordinate:     N 32° 48.148, W 96° 50.106
Dead person(s):     9
Infected person(s):     175

Description;
Nine people have died from a West Nile virus outbreak that infected 175 people in Dallas County, Texas, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency. The emergency was declared on Friday by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county’s director of homeland security and emergency management. “This declaration will expand our avenues DisasterNew assistance in our ongoing battle with West Nile virus,” Jenkins said. “While we are busy doing everything we can to keep residents well informed and as protected as possible, we need your help.” Jenkins also said that planes would be spraying insecticide over areas most effected by the virus, which is spread by mosquitoes. He assured citizens that the insecticide is safe and that the planes will be precise in their spraying. Tarrant County has also received 146 reported cases of West Nile in the last few weeks. The county has not declared a state of emergency, though. Houston officials are warning residents of an increased threat of the virus. “Houston can definitely expect an increase in West Nile disease,” said Kristy Murray, an infectious disease specialist at the Baylor College of Medicine’s National School of Tropical Medicine, DisasterNews reports. “From mid-August through September is the big season here.”

Biohazard name:     West Nile virus outbreak
Biohazard level:     2/4 Medium
Source.

Researchers identify rare adult immune disease in Asia

 Doctors have identified the disease as a syndrome that creates AIDS-like symptoms but say it’s not a virus, and it’s not contagious.

Source

EDIS Number: EP-20120720-35859-SLE

Event type: Epidemic

Date/Time: Friday, 20 July, 2012 at 18:20 (06:20 PM) UTC

Continent: Africa

Country: Sierra Leone

County / State: Northern Province

Area: Port Loko, Kambia, Pujehun and Kailahun districts

Coordinate: N 8° 46.000, W 12° 47.250

Dead person(s): 258

Infected person(s): 13 000

Updated: Friday, 24 August, 2012 at 06:08 UTC

Description;

Sierra Leone's health ministry said Thursday that deaths from a cholera outbreak had reached 220, affecting over 12,000 people in the west African nation, which is struggling to curb the disease. "Some 12,140 people are affected nationwide in 10 of 12 districts," the health ministry's director of disease prevention and control, Amara Jambai, told journalists, saying the figure included cases recorded up to Wednesday. This is two more districts than were reported last week when the death toll stood at 176, prompting President Ernest Koroma to declare the outbreak a "public health emergency". "The outbreak has peaked mainly in slum areas in the capital due to poor sanitation including areas without latrines or people drinking contaminated water," Jambai said. International health organisations are grappling to stem the spread of the outbreak which has also hit neighbouring Guinea. Jambai said the outbreak had "opened up a window of opportunity whereby our partners are providing resources in a faster and more coherent manner."

He said cholera cases were expected to rise in September as the country's annual rainy season reaches its peak. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Freetown, Wondimagenehu Alemu: "Everywhere is at risk but everything is being done combat the spread." Amanda McClelland of the International Federation of Red Cross last week said the outbreak had the potential to be "devastating" and was proving difficult to control. The water-borne disease has also hit Mali and Niger, as well as Sierra Leone's northern neighbour Guinea, killing 82 people in that country since February. Poor water and sanitation systems give rise to the disease, an acute intestinal infection caused by ingesting contaminated food and water which causes acute diarrhoea and vomiting and can kill in hours, according to the WHO.

Mysterious New 'Heartland Virus' Discovered In Missouri (August 30) -

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/29/160272241/mysterious-new...

Two Missouri farmers have been infected with a brand-new tick-borne virus that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling the Heartland virus.

The men recovered but suffered serious illness that required hospital care and weeks of convalescence. Symptoms included fever, severe fatigue, headache and nausea. Their platelet counts plummeted, but even though platelets are necessary for blood clotting, the men didn't suffer abnormal bleeding.

A report on the new virus is in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

So far, the Missouri men are the only known cases of Heartland virus in the world. But experts are sure they'll find more.

After all, the men lived 60 miles apart and got infected independently. That means there must be more of the mysterious new virus in the northwest Missouri environment.

"We expect to find new cases," Dr. William Nicholson of the CDC told Shots. "We expect this thing may be wider in geographic distribution than we currently know."

The virus is dubbed "Heartland" not only because that's where it was discovered, but because of who found it: an astute infectious disease doctor named Scott Folk who works at Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, Mo.

Folk is well-known to the CDC. "Whenever he sends us a sample, we pay attention because we're likely to find something," Nicholson says. In this case, Folk sent samples from 14 patients back in 2009.

Two of them puzzled the CDC experts — and then surprised them when electron microscope studies revealed a novel virus now called Heartland. The other dozen cases involved a more common tick-borne bacterial infection called ehrlichiosis.

"We're pretty excited about it," Nicholson says about the Heartland virus. "It's not every day that you find something new — particularly in the world of tick-borne diseases. We often work with what might be considered antique diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever."

Nicholson says the new virus is in the phlebovirus family, which contains more than 70 members. And here's another twist: Heartland virus appears to be a cousin of another new human virus called severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus, discovered last year in China. Another possible cousin may be Bhanja virus, a little-studied virus that has been found in some mammals, birds and reptiles in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Nicholson says the CDC, working with Folk, is looking for other people with symptoms similar to the two Heartland victims to see if they're infected with the same virus. The researchers are also analyzing thousands of samples from Missouri ticks, other crawling insects, and animals wild and domestic to see if any harbor Heartland virus.

Iconic Moose Hit by Mysterious Virus in Sweden

The Swedish province of Blekinge has been the site of a curious and unexplained disease that has killed multiple moose over the past months.

The mysterious disease has left the iconic large mammals emaciated, apathetic, and paralyzed. One stricken moose was found blind and another suffered from severe hair loss.

The moose that were found in Blekinge in southern Sweden were between 2 and 7 years old—an age at which they normally should have been in top shape. The total number of moose found so far is 15, but it’s unclear how many more might be dead in the wild.

Samples have been taken and a whole moose has been sent in for examination to the National Veterinary Institute in Uppsala, roughly 350 miles further north.  ....

Source

Sharp Rise in Children Admitted to Hospital with Throat Infections

The number of children admitted to the hospital in England for acute throat infections increased by 76 percent between 1999 and 2010, according to new research published in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Acute throat infection (ATI), which includes acute tonsillitis and acute pharyngitis, is one of the most common reasons for consulting a GP. The majority of ATIs are self-limiting and can be managed at home or by the GP, but a small proportion may require hospital admission.

This study investigated admission rates for children up to age 17 with ATI alongside trends in tonsillectomy rates, between 1999 and 2010. The study was motivated by concerns that the decline in tonsillectomy rates in recent years has led to an increase in hospital admissions for tonsillitis of increased severity. It also investigated whether performing fewer tonsillectomies is associated with higher rates of complications such as quinsy, an abscess that can occur when an infection spreads from a tonsil to the surrounding area.

Source

http://www.weather.com/health/joplin-tornado-flesh-eating-fungus-20...

Joplin's Tornado Spurs Rare Flesh-Eating Fungus

Published: Jan 1, 2013, 3:11 PM EST weather.com

weather.com/Tornado Hunt 2011

Debris stretched for miles across Joplin, Missouri.

The Joplin tornado took more than 150 lives on May 22, 2011. Now, new studies reveal another killer lurked in Joplin that day:  A deadly, flesh-eating fungus.

The deadly Apophysomyces fungus killed five people in the days immediately following the tornado, according to studies by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

(MORE: Joplin Tornado Scars Those Who Covered Disaster)

Together, researchers tracked 13 people who were infected by the swift-moving, devastating fungus. Typically, Apophysomyces is found in soil, water and wood, TGen explains. Its mere existence in nature doesn't usually infect humans.

Play Video

Remembering deadly day in Joplin

• Remembering deadly day in Joplin
• Raw: The damage left by Joplin tornado
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But the EF-5 twister that hit Joplin launched massive debris through the air.  Some people who survived the initial tornado were left with deep wounds which were infected with the fungus when they came in contact with debris.

It's even possible the tornado carried the contaminated soil or debris for miles along its path, according to findings printed in the journal PLUS One on November 27.

What makes the Apophysomyces fungus so potent is it moves swiftly through the human body, shutting down vital blood flow to tissue, leaving it to rot.

Researchers say the ability to recognize this rare fungal infection quicker is the key to saving lives. You can read more about the findings at TGen's website, as well as in the New England Journal of Medicine.

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/us-hit-by-new-stomach-bug-spreadi...

US hit by new stomach bug spreading around globe

NEW YORK (AP) — A new strain of stomach bug sweeping the globe is taking over in the U.S., health officials say.

Since September, more than 140 outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by the new Sydney strain of norovirus. It may not be unusually dangerous; some scientists don't think it is. But it is different, and many people might not be able to fight off its gut-wrenching effects.

Clearly, it's having an impact. The new strain is making people sick in Japan, Western Europe, and other parts of the world. It was first identified last year in Australia and called the Sydney strain.

In the U.S., it is now accounting for about 60 percent of norovirus outbreaks, according to report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Norovirus — once known as Norwalk virus — is highly contagious and often spreads in places like schools, cruise ships and nursing homes, especially during the winter. Last month, 220 people on the Queen Mary II were stricken during a Caribbean cruise.

Sometimes mistakenly called stomach flu, the virus causes bouts of vomiting and diarrhea for a few days.

Every two or three years, a new strain evolves — the last was in 2009. The Sydney strain's appearance has coincided with a spike in influenza, perhaps contributing to the perception that this is a particularly bad flu season in the U.S.

Ian Goodfellow, a prominent researcher at England's University of Cambridge, calls norovirus 'the Ferrari of viruses' for the speed at which it passes through a large group of people.

"It can sweep through an environment very, very quickly. You can be feeling quite fine one minute and within several hours suffer continuous vomiting and diarrhea," he said.

Health officials have grown better at detecting new strains and figuring out which one is the culprit. They now know that norovirus is also the most common cause of food poisoning in the U.S.

It's spread by infected food handlers who don't do a good job washing their hands after using the bathroom. But unlike salmonella and other foodborne illnesses, norovirus can also spread in the air, through droplets that fly when a sick person vomits.

"It's a headache" to try to control, said Dr. John Crane, a University of Buffalo infectious disease specialist who had to deal with a norovirus outbreak in a hospital ward a couple of years ago.

Each year, noroviruses cause an estimated 21 million illnesses and 800 deaths, the CDC says.

For those infected, there's really no medicine. They just have to ride it out for the day or two of severe symptoms, and guard against dehydration, experts said.

The illness even got the attention of comedian Stephen Colbert, who this week tweeted: "Remember, if you're in public and have the winter vomiting bug, be polite and vomit into your elbow."

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50710441#.URK2YvJsiSo

Typhoid Fever Case At Purdue University (with Video)

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (www.incnow.tv) -- State health officials announced a positive case of typhoid fever in a food handler at Purdue University.

Anyone who ate at the Boiler Bistro, John Pudure Room, the coffee shop, Lavazza or at Marriot Hall on the Purdue campus from Jan. 23 to Jan. 25 may be at risk.

Health officials say syptoms may include high fever, weakness, stomach pains, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or loss of appetite. Symptoms usually begin within 8-14 days after exposure.

If you ate at these locations and have the above symptoms, you are urged to see a healthcare provider right away.

Local health officials and Purdue University are working with the Indiana State Department of Health to investigate the case and assess the risk to the public.

Minnesota cancels moose hunting as population plummets

Scientists suspect some combination of higher temperatures, parasites, disease, a large deer population and changes in forest vegetation are to blame for moose dying out in Minnesota.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota canceled the state's 2013 and future moose hunting seasons Wednesday, citing a "precipitous" decline in the animal's population.

Department of Natural Resources officials said in a news release that their annual aerial survey to estimate Minnesota's moose population was "extremely disappointing." The survey conducted last month pegged the population at 2,760 animals, down from 4,230 last winter. Minnesota's moose numbers were estimated as high as 8,840 in 2006.

Commissioner Tom Landwehr and other DNR officials called a news conference for Wednesday to discuss the details.

"The state's moose population has been in decline for years but never at the precipitous rate documented this winter," Landwehr said in the statement. "This is further and definitive evidence the population is not healthy. It reaffirms the conservation community's need to better understand why this iconic species of the north is disappearing from our state."

Researchers are conducting studies try to get a better understanding of the reasons why moose are dying out in Minnesota. Scientists suspect some combination of higher temperatures, parasites, disease, a large deer population and changes in forest vegetation in northeastern Minnesota may be to blame.

While Landwehr reiterated the view of some scientists that Minnesota's small, bulls-only hunt has not been a factor, he said it was prudent to suspend the hunt in light of the new data and the animals' uncertain future.

The DNR late last month launched a $1.2 million multiyear effort to capture and put tracking collars on 100 adult moose and 50 calves, and implant instruments in the digestive tracts of 27 of those adult moose to let researchers know when one dies. The researchers hope to be able to get to those carcasses within 24 hours, before wolves and other scavengers make it impossible to determine the cause of death.

Three state senators introduced a bill Tuesday to impose a temporary moratorium on the moose season. The owner of an outfitting service at the end of the Gunflint Trail, in Minnesota's prime moose country, started an online petition drive last month to stop the hunt.

Source- http://news.msn.com/us/minnesota-cancels-moose-hunting-as-populatio...