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Sunday, October 7, 2012

UPDATE 2-Deadly US meningitis outbreak increases to 91 cases


Sun Oct 7, 2012 3:28pm EDT


* Most new cases in Michigan

* Thousands of patients may have received injections

By Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Sunday reported an additional 27 cases in a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to steroid injections that has killed seven people and now affected 91 in nine states.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a new total of 91 cases in an update on its website, up from 64 on Saturday. Most of the new cases were reported in Michigan, where the total increased to 20 from five. Virginia's total increased to 18 from 11.

The widening outbreak has alarmed U.S. health officials and focused attention on regulations of pharmaceutical compounding companies like the one that produced the drugs, the New England Compounding Center Inc in Framingham, Massachusetts.

The company shipped 17,676 vials of the steroid methylprednisolone acetate to 76 facilities in 23 states from July through September, the Massachusetts Health Department said.
The steroid is used as a painkiller, usually for the back, and could have been injected in thousands of patients, authorities have said.

Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, and affected patients started showing a variety of symptoms from one to four weeks after their injections.

The company, which was previously the subject of complaints, said it suspended its operations while an investigation proceeds and has recalled the three lots of the drug.

A compounding pharmacy takes medications from pharmaceuticals manufacturers and makes them into specific dosages and strengths for use by doctors.

Complaints against New England Compounding Center (NECC) in 2002 and 2003 about the processing of medication resulted in an agreement with government agencies in 2006 to correct deficiencies, the Massachusetts Health Department said.

LIMITED FDA AUTHORITY

In 2011, there was another inspection of the facility and no deficiencies were found. In March 2012, another complaint was made about the potency of a product used in eye surgery procedures. That investigation is continuing, the state health department said.

The U.S. Food and Drug administration has limited authority over the day-to-day operations of compounding pharmacies, which are regulated primarily by state boards that oversee the practices, licensing and certification of pharmacies and pharmacists.

Compounded products do not have to win FDA approval before they are sold, and the agency has no jurisdiction over how the products are manufactured or labeled for use. Instead, the FDA investigates cases of adulterated drugs in cooperation with state regulators.

The FDA has tried to exert greater authority over compounded drug products under a section of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that covers new drugs. But those efforts led to federal court challenges that resulted in two separate and conflicting rulings at the appellate level.

The nine states where cases have been reported are Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.

Tennessee, where the outbreak was first detected, accounted for most of the cases, with 32, including three deaths. Many patients there remain hospitalized, some in critical condition.

Michigan had 20 cases and two deaths. One person died in Maryland and another in Virginia, the CDC said.


Reuters had reported 65 cases on Saturday, including one additional case after the CDC published its total.

This form of meningitis is not contagious, the CDC said. Symptoms include fever, headache, nausea and neurological problems that would be consistent with deep brain stroke.

The steroid was sent to California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas and West Virginia, the CDC said.

A list of facilities that received vials from the infected lots can be found online via the website cdc.gov.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8L723D20121007

Multi-State Meningitis Outbreak - Current Case Count October 7, 2012 2:00 PM EDT Persons with Meningitis Linked to Epidural Steroid Injections, by State Persons with meningitis linked to epidural steroid injections, as of October 7, 2012: Total case count: 91 Florida: 4 cases Indiana: 8 cases Maryland: 3 cases, including 1 death Michigan: 20 cases, including 2 deaths Minnesota: 3 case North Carolina: 2 cases Ohio: 1 case Tennessee: 32 cases, including 3 deaths Virginia: 18 cases, including 1 death http://www.cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/meningitis-map.html

Multi-State Meningitis Outbreak - Current Case Count

October 7, 2012 2:00 PM EDT
Persons with Meningitis Linked to Epidural Steroid Injections, by State


Persons with meningitis linked to epidural steroid injections, as of October 7, 2012:
Total case count: 91
Florida: 4 cases
Indiana: 8 cases 
Maryland: 3 cases, including 1 death
Michigan: 20 cases, including 2 deaths
Minnesota: 3 case
North Carolina: 2 cases
Ohio: 1 case
Tennessee: 32 cases, including 3 deaths
Virginia: 18 cases, including 1 death

http://www.cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/meningitis-map.html

CDC: More than 90 people ill with meningitis



Published : Sunday, 07 Oct 2012, 1:33 PM CDT

ATLANTA (AP) —Health officials say they have now confirmed more than 90 cases of a rare fungal meningitis that has been linked to a steroid commonly used to ease back pain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted updated figures to its website Sunday. The death toll stood at 7, the same number as a day earlier.The outbreak is spread across nine states, the same states reported Saturday: Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.

The CDC figures show there are 91 cases in the U.S. altogether.

The steroid linked to the outbreak has been recalled, and health officials have been scrambling to notify anyone who may have received an injection of it. The Massachusetts pharmacy that made it has said it is cooperating with investigators.
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/national/CDC-More-than-90-people-ill-with-meningitis_39905146

U.S. CDC to give update on deadly meningitis outbreak Sunday


U.S. CDC to give update on deadly meningitis outbreak Sunday

Oct 7 (Reuters) - The latest tally of cases in a widening outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections will be made available at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said...As of Saturday, the death toll had risen to seven and 65 people in nine states were reported to have fallen ill after receiving steroid injections. The cases have been traced to three lots of the steroid prepared by a pharmaceutical compounding plant in Massachusetts, New England Compounding Center Inc.

The CDC, which advised of the pending update on its website, said vials of steroids linked to the outbreak were shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states and could have been used to inject thousands of patients.

So far, cases of people becoming ill after receiving the steroid injections have been reported in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.

Deaths have been reported in Tennessee, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia.

Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The particular form affecting people in the outbreak is not contagious.

:tiphat:[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/07/health-meningitis-idUSL1E8L71H420121007[/url]

Hong Kong probes suspected case of new coronavirus infection

Hong Kong probes suspected case of new coronavirus infection
(philstar.com) Updated October 07, 2012 10:38 PM Comments (0) View comments


HONG KONG (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's health authority received a report from a local hospital on Sunday, over a suspected case of severe respiratory disease associated with new coronavirus affecting a four-year-old boy who came from Jeddah of Saudi Arabia, the city government said in a statement.
The boy presented with fever, cough and vomiting today and attended the Accident and Emergency Department of Ruttonjee Hospital on Hong Kong Island. The boy has been transferred to Queen Mary Hospital for isolation, and his current condition is stable.
Respiratory specimen has been taken from the patient and test result is pending, according to the Center for Health Protection of the Department of Health.
Investigation by the Center for Health Protection revealed that the boy traveled with his father from Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong on Oct. 3. His father also had fever two days ago but has recovered.
A spokesman with the Center advised travelers who fall sick within 10 days after visiting from affected countries should put on a mask and seek medical advice immediately, as well as report their travel history to the doctor concerned.
The WHO said earlier that two cases of acute respiratory syndrome with renal failure had been reported from two persons who had both traveled to Middle East, and a novel coronavirus has been later confirmed relating to the two cases.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which includes viruses that cause the common cold and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=857212&publicationSubCategoryId=200

Seven dead from meningitis outbreak..


Seven dead from meningitis outbreak... amid fears THOUSANDS at risk across 23 states

  • Two more deaths have been reported in Michigan, bringing the total death toll to seven
  • 64 people have been sickened in nine states - Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio
  • Massachusetts company who made product has shut down operations
    The death toll has risen to seven from a 'rapidly evolving outbreak' of rare fungal meningitis that has been linked to spinal steroid injections, sparking fear as new cases have been reported in nine U.S. states. 
The potential scope of the meningitis outbreak, that has sickened 64 people, widened dramatically as health officials warned that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of patients who received steroid back injections in 23 states could be at risk.
The outbreak of the disease, known as aspergillus meningitis, is caused by a fungus found in a spinal steroid injections, a fairly common treatment used to relieve back pain, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration....
Beware
Beware: Health officials warned that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of patients who received steroid back injections in 23 states could be at risk (stock photo)

Diana Reed
The caretaker: Diana Reed dedicated her life to helping underprivileged children before a routine medical procedure infected her with a rare fungal meningitis
Source: The outbreak of the deadly form of meningitis was traced to St Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee
Source: The outbreak of the deadly form of meningitis was traced to St Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee
The injectable steroids responsible for Reed's death were produced by New England Compounding Center, a specialized pharmacy in Framingham, Massachusetts. The company has shut down operations and said it is working with regulators to identify the source of the infection.
It is not clear how many patients received tainted injections, or even whether everyone who got one will get sick.
So far, 64 people in nine states - Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio - have contracted fungal meningitis, and five have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In an alarming indication that the outbreak could get a lot bigger, Massachusetts health officials said the pharmacy involved, the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, has recalled three lots consisting of a total of 17,676 single-dose vials of the steroid, preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate.
New England Compounding Center
No solicitors: Specialized pharmacy New England Compounding Center has hidden from the public as its steroids are linked to multiple deaths and critical infections
An unknown number of those vials reached 75 clinics and other facilities in 23 states between July and September, federal health officials said. Several hundred of the vials, maybe more, have been returned unused, one Massachusetts official said.
However many other vials were used. At one clinic in Evansville, Indiana, more than 500 patients got shots from the suspect lots, officials said. At two clinics in Tennessee, more than 900 patients received them.
The incubation period before symptoms appear is 28 days, and its almost certain more cases will be reported say health officials, who are now calling this a national health crisis. 

STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN

Tennessee: The initial outbreak site with a suspected 16 cases, two of whom are in critical condition. Three others have already died.
North Carolina: The second state to report infection with one case found at an unidentified clinic.
Florida: Only two cases have been reported but health officials fear more may come forward.
Virginia: One person has died from fungal meningitis and three more cases are still being treated.
Maryland: Seven medical clinics in Maryland pulled their stock of a questionable steroid after one person died and two more cases were reported.
Indiana: At least five people in Indiana are sick with fungal meningitis, with no fatalities yet reported
Michigan: There are at least eight confirmed cases of meningitis in Michigan, including two deaths
Minnesota: Fungal meningitis has been diagnosed in two women hospitalized in Minnesota 
Ohio: Health officials reported Saturday of a 65-year-old man being treated for the meningitis after receiving the steroid
Unlike the more common viral and bacterial meningitis, fungal meningitis is not contagious. It is an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. 
Symptoms include a severe headache, nausea, fever, and dizziness.
The first patients identified in Tennessee experienced slurred speech, and difficulty walking and urinating.
The pharmacy voluntarily recalled three lots of the steroid Methylprednisolone Acetate on September 26 according to the FDA. The drug is primarily used to relieve back pain. 
The drug was administered to patients in their late 40s to early 80s.
Tennessee's S. Thomas Hospital, ground zero for the outbreak with a suspected 15 cases as of Wednesday with two in critical condition, reported having 2,000 vials of the steroid in stock before the threat was discovered. 
'Some are doing well and improving. Some are very ill - very, very seriously ill and may die,' Tennessee health official Dr. David Reagan said.
In Tennessee alone roughly 1,000 people were administered the steroid. 
The link between the injections and the meningitis was discovered by Tennessee physician April Pettit, who found the initial cases were all people who'd recently received an epidural.
Officials are still investigating how the steroid ...

Egypt- Discovery of bird flu market Ashmun

The Directorate of Veterinary Medicine Menoufia, Sunday morning discovery of a new focus of bird flu market Ashmun public. has campaigns organized by the Directorate Bokhadd samples from birds for analysis through the villages, and centers to maintain and samples were the result is positive, which means the diseasecurrently being executions infected birds, and the burial of health through cleansing market, and take a sample of the contacts have to be analyzed to make sure illness or not. http://gate.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/35/258687/%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1/%D8%B8%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A4%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A5%D9%86%D9%81%D9%84%D9%88%D9%86%D8%B2%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D9%88%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9.aspx


Discovery focus positive for bird flu Menoufia


Discovery focus positive for bird flu Menoufia
2012 - 02:30:26 Sunday 0
discovered the committee supervising the bird flu Menofia a positive foci of HIV infection, following the withdrawal of a random sampling of a public markets Ashmoun center.  showed results of the analysis laboratory that conducted laboratory National Veterinary poultry production agriculture ministry a positive samples drawn and domestic poultry bird flu virus, and immediately moved to the problem of the directorates of health, agriculture and veterinary medicine and the local unit of the center and the city Ashmun to take preventive measures and actions to address HIV and burying infected poultry quicklime.  http://www.akhbarelyom.org.eg/news76380_33.aspx

Egypt- New #H5N1 outbreak suspected

The emergence of a new focus of bird flu Menoufia

Managed Directorate of Veterinary Medicine Menoufia discovery of a new focus of bird flu market Ashmun GP, and was immediately taken it samples from birds for analysis, through campaigns organized by the Directorate villages and centers the province and the result of samples positive disease. operations are presently carried culling infected and buried roads health with cleansing the market, and take a sample of her contacts analyzed to make sure the illness or not.   http://www2.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=808457

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Up to 1,000 Minnesota patients linked to meningitis outbreak; no reports in Coulee Region



ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Health estimates that as many as 1,000 patients may have received contaminated steroids that have been implicated in a national meningitis outbreak, but no patients in the Coulee Region have been exposed.
Two Twin Cities-based health care groups used steroids from the same product lots that have been linked to the deaths of five patients and 30 illnesses in six states.
So far Minnesota has not identified any cases of fungal meningitis related to the outbreak.
Officials at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center and Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse and Winona Health in Winona checked their pharmaceutical supplies and determined they never had that brand of steroid in their facilities, spokesmen said.
Officials with Medical Advanced Pain Specialists and the Minnesota Surgery Center are scrambling to contact all of their patients who received the potentially contaminated steroid injections. Medical Advanced Pain Specialists has locations in E http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/up-to-minnesota-patients-linked-to-meningitis-outbreak-no-reports/article_3045d8fe-0f74-11e2-bf70-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true

Friday, October 5, 2012

Maryland braces for more meningitis cases


Outbreak widens across the country

The potential scope of the meningitis outbreak that has killed at least five people widened Thursday as health officials warned that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of patients who got steroid back injections in 23 states could be at risk.

By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun
[B]8:15 p.m. EDT, October 5, 2012[/B]

Maryland could see new cases of meningitis for a month or more as health officials continue to search for new and past cases of the disease, which has sickened 50 people in several states who received injections of a tainted steroid.

[B]In the cases health officials are already aware of, the incubation period for the infections has been between two days and four weeks, but it's possible the period could be even longer for some, said Dr. Lucy Wilson, chief of Maryland's infection preventi[/B]on and outbreak response program. Health officials are basing their estimate on the existing cases, but it could change, Wilson said.    http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-meningitis-more-20121005,0,4173607.story?

Number of U.S. meningitis cases rises to 50 in deadly outbreak



Fri, 5 Oct 2012 23:18 GMT
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Vials of steroids linked to outbreak sent to 23 states

* Doctor urges that recipients be tracked down immediately


By Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct 5 (Reuters) - The number of people stricken with a rare form of meningitis linked to steroid injections rose to 50 in seven U.S. states, authorities said on Friday, in a widening outbreak that has killed at least five people.

Michigan said it had confirmed six cases of fungal meningitis, the seventh state to report people falling ill after receiving the injections, mainly for back pain.

Other states with cases are Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and Indiana.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported 47 cases of meningitis on Friday, while Michigan reported an additional two cases and North Carolina one not included in the CDC count. That brought the national total to 50, compared with 35 on Thursday...
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/n...adly-outbreak?

Ebola: a virus, two epidemics


Ebola: a virus, two epidemics (Alfonso Verdú, MSF emergency coordinator)

Roger had Ebola. Besides treating him and strengthen him so he could fight a virus for which we have no vaccine, it was essential to keep spirits high and to give comprehensive assistance . To do this we videotaped messages crowd of family and friends, some dancing, others encouraging him, which will then project from the visitor's area on a large screen. At the end of the corridor we could see his huge smile that illuminated the flag of confirmed cases. A projection joined some of the people who were under our monitoring and retained the strength to get out of bed and go to the corridor that gives the visiting area. Mom or La Petite Charlotte Louise received the news that they would be forthcoming. 
Emotional support to patients and their close circles affects their general welfare . That is why from the beginning we designed the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in a way that will have a series of open spaces where family and friends can look out to talk to them, guaranteeing a safe distance. A simple forecast whose consequences are extraordinary: the center, inhabited by real astronauts (due to the protective equipment that must be used) suddenly becomes human; families who thought their loved ones would be isolated from life, suddenly interact with them, the community, where it was rumored that whoever comes out alive with Ebola, is informed that there still occur sometimes miracles.  http://www.msf.es/blog/africa-no-es-un-pais/2012/ebola-un-virus-dos-epidemias-por-alfonso-verdu-coordinador-emergencia

Arabian Coronavirus: Plot Thickens But Virus Lies Low


It now appears that the new coronavirus found on the Arabian Peninsula is more widespread than initially thought, even though only two people are known to have gotten sick from it.
At first it seemed likely that the two known cases of illness from the new cousin-of-SARS virus may have been exposed in or near the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.
But now it's pretty certain that a 49-year-old Qatari man who had traveled to Jeddah last month didn't pick up the virus there. Investigators say he probably got infected after he returned home to Qatar, a tiny Persian Gulf kingdom 825 miles to the east.
report in the journal Eurosurveillance traces the man's movements, which hadn't been publicly known before.
A timeline for the case of a Qatari man sickened by a new virus.
EnlargeEurosurveillance
A timeline for the case of a Qatari man sickened by a new virus.
"It is likely that the patient's infection was acquired in Qatar, as he was in Qatar for the 16 days prior to the onset of his most recent respiratory illness in September," write researchers from the U.K.'s Health Protection Agency and co-workers.
 
The man remains on life support in a London hospital after he got infected last month by the previously unknown coronavirus. He can't breathe on his own, so requires treatment called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, basically an artificial lung. He has also suffered kidney failure.
The other known victim of the coronavirus was a 60-year-old Saudi man who died back in June.
The Qatari man, whose identity hasn't been disclosed, suffered a respiratory illness while he was traveling in Saudi Arabia. But, investigators learned, he recovered from that cold 16 days before he fell ill again, that tim..

FDA expands recall list of tainted drugs as meningitis outbreak grows to 47 cases

Federal health officials have expanded the recall list of potentially contaminated injectable medications suspected in a multi-state meningitis outbreak and the death of five peopleMore and more cases are being reported, with 47 people having contracted meningitis in seven states. 

The Food and Drug Administration released a list of 34 different drugs this morning that included steroids, epidural anesthetics used to block pain during childbirth, and surgery and saline solutions that are compounded to make different medications. All of the products on the recall list were made by the New England Compound Center (NECC) in Framingham, Mass., and are administered by injection into the spine. ..

..The Centers for Disease Control and FDA have asked the clinics, doctors offices and hospitals in 23 states that have received shipments of medications from NECC to stop using them immediately. Anyone who has received epidural injections since July 1 should watch for symptoms of meningitis. Health officials say the most common symptoms are worsening headache, fever, stiff neck, trouble walking or falling and progressing back pain. Many of these patients have suffered strokes.
Click for a full list of recalled drugs from the FDA...


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/1...#ixzz28TEFI9Uk


List of Recalled Products Related to Fungal Meningitis Outbreak

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm322752.htm

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

CDC providing support as Ebola outbreak in Congo claims three dozen


Tue, 2012-10-02 08:35 AM

Haut-Uélé district
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention continues to provide laboratory resources and personnel to help battle a growing outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the African nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The outbreak of the virulent virus may have killed up to 36 people, out of 81 suspected cases, according to new tallies released by the country’s health ministry on Oct. 1.
CDC said its teams are on the ground in DRC to help the Ministry of Health with epidemiologic and diagnostic aspects of the investigation. The agency is also providing laboratory support through its field laboratory in Isiro, and through the CDC/UVRI lab in Uganda.
The outbreak is centered in the Isiro and Viadana health zones in Haut-Uélé district in Province Orientale, according to the World Health Organization. To date, 28 suspected cases have been reported and are being investigated.
The Haut-Uele cases follow an earlier outbreak of the disease in July in the in the Kibaale District of Uganda which borders the DRC to the west. In that incident, the CDC said there was a total of 24 human cases (both probable and confirmed), 17 of which were fatal. However, the CDC said the outbreak in DRC is not linked epidemiologically to the recently-ended outbreak in Kibaale district.
The new numbers from the DRC show the outbreak spreading. On Sept. 27, the WHO said it recorded 51 cases (19 laboratory confirmed, 32 probable) with Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) there. Of those, it said, 20 had been fatal (7 confirmed, 13 probable).
The WHO said the DRC’s Ministry of Health (MoH) continues to work with partners, under the National Task Force which includes: WHO; Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF); the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC); US Agency for International Development (USAID); US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to identify all possible chains of transmission of the illness and ensure that appropriate measures are taken to interrupt transmission and stop the outbreak.
Response operations continue in coordination; Infection Prevention and Control (IPC); surveillance and epidemiology; case management; public information and social mobilization; psycho social support; anthropological analysis; and logistics.
The WHO said it is training health managers and heads of clinic services to strengthen surveillance; reaching out to schools through principals, teachers and students; providing psychosocial support to affected families, particularly in Isiro and surrounding areas, where the latest cases are being detected, and to health care workers; training social workers who provide support in the Ebola treatment rooms; and honing interpersonal communication skills training for front-line staff. Local community-based radio programs, it said, are also broadcasting information to address the concerns of the local populations.
WHO and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) have also deployed experts to support operational response. Technical support has been further strengthened with an infection prevention and control expert to assist in preventing disease transmission in health care and community settings.  http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/27499?c=cbrne_detection

The balance of the Ebola epidemic led to 36 deaths


10/01/12 - 24:26 Source: belga.be
© afp.
The Ebola epidemic raging in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo has probably killed 36 people on 81 cases recorded, according to a new report from the Department of Health on Monday.
At September 29, 81 cases were recorded - including 20 confirmed, 32 probable and 29 suspect - and 36 deaths were recorded. Laboratory tests revealed that 10 of these deaths were directly related to Ebola.
September 25, 33 deaths had been recorded on 79 cases and seven deaths were due to the certainty with Ebola...

Vietnam says progress on a new #H5N1 vaccine

There have been new control avian influenza virus vaccine
Wednesday, 03.10.2012, 01:58 (GMT +7)
  • Delta urgently to prevent disease in livestock, poultry
(SGGP). - Which information is the Department of Animal Health, said at a meeting of the Steering Committee National bird flu dimensional 2-10.Pham Van Dong, director of the Veterinary Department said new virus control group C vaccine being tested (the toxic intensity) on chickens, the results are quite encouraging. In the near future, will continue to flock trials, if positive results continue to be put into mass use.
According to the Department of Animal Health, there are currently five provinces appear avian influenza, including: Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, Peace, Tuyen Quang and Pacific. In it, the Quang Ngai bird deaths and the destruction of the largest with nearly 24,000 children out of 40,000 poultry deaths and destruction to this point. Animal Health Department said that the bird flu will be complicated from now to the end of the year because of trading activity, the re-breeding herd in adults. In addition, from August to now, our country found a new branch H5N1 virus group (group C). New group of virus entry into Vietnam, spread along the routes from north to south, is now appearing in the outbreak in Quang Ngai province...

Chinese smuggled chicken: "Do not say it, say it!"



Tuesday, 02/10/2012, 09:15 PM (GMT +7)
(News) - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said so at the meeting of the National Steering Committee for bird flu and foot and mouth this afternoon (2/10).

Deputy Minister Tan expressed dismayed status chicken smuggled from China. He said that the story chicken smuggled from China has repeatedly said so many times. He asked relevant agencies to immediately terminate this situation, if not, the livestock sector in the country is difficult to develop. Meanwhile, as reported by Nguyen Thanh Son (Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry) in August and early September, after the Prime Minister has the power to direct and control the local close smuggled poultry. The markets barely illegal bird silhouette. Yet by the end of last September, when the authorities loosened control, illegal import of poultry has increased massively....

Mexican avian flu 'nightmare' as 25m birds lost



Mexican avian flu 'nightmare' as 25m birds lost
Two leaders of the Mexican egg industry have spoken of their "nightmare" after an estimated 25 million laying birds were lost in an outbreak of avian influenza.

Cesar de Anda (pictured) and Sergio Chavez told delegates at the London conference of the International Egg Commission (IEC) how the virus had devastated egg units in Jalisco - the state where most of Mexico's eggs are produced. "It was a very aggressive virus," said Cesar. "In a matter of days an infected farm was gone. It was a nightmare. I have been in the egg business all my life and it is the first time I have experienced anything like this. One day I just broke down in tears. It was unbelievable."

Conference delegates had earlier heard from Jorge Rueda of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture. He explained how the virus struck on June 18 in Jalisco, where 55 per cent of all the country's eggs are produced. For Mexico, it quickly became a crisis. The country has the highest consumption of eggs of anywhere in the world and is one of the world's major egg producers - turnin..



Egypt Health: examination of pilgrims returning to detect influenza virus and corona


Egypt Health: examination of pilgrims returning to detect influenza virus and corona

Cairo - ASHA
Dr. Amr Kandil, First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Preventive Affairs, that the preventive measures to be taken when the return of pilgrims this year include taking random samples from the throat of the pilgrims returning from ports and airports and analyzed to detect any new types of viruses especially virus influenza and coronavirus.
Kandil said in a press statement Tuesday that the preventive measures for pilgrims Egyptians generally include that for the pilgrims from the elderly and people with chronic diseases preferred resort for medical a..  http://www.egynews.net/wps/portal/news?params=193491

...the Ministry of Health for Preventive Medicine, it will take random samples from the throat swab as part of routine is every two years when pilgrims return from Hajj airports and ports in order to discover whether there are new types of influenza virus or Verurs Coruna... http://gate.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/13/54/257144/%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%B0-%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B9%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%89-%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%B4.aspx


DRC Ebola death toll at 36




iol pic afr Uganda Ebola
AP
A medical worker researchers who are working on the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, at their laboratory in Entebbe 42kms from the capital Kampala.
An outbreak of Ebola fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo may have killed up to 36 people, out of 81 suspected cases, according to a new death toll released by the health ministry on Monday.
The ministry said that 20 confirmed cases have been recorded, as well as 32 likely and 29 suspected as of September 29.
They said that among the 36 deaths, 10 were confirmed to have been a direct result of the killer virus.
They also said that the number of people under observation had risen to 216 since the outbreak was first reported in mid-August in the eastern Orientale province.
The vast majority of cases were reported in and around the town of Isiro.
DR Congo has recorded eight outbreaks of Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases, since the virus was first reported near a river that gave it its name in 1976. - AFP http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/drc-ebola-death-toll-at-36-1.1393828#.UGpcY03peek