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Thread: The random plague, tick-borne disease, and similar related illnesses thread

  1. #26
    Senior Member curiouscat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnLanders View Post
    https://www.ndtv.com/andhra-pradesh-...report-2335864




    If this is true the preliminary data is on Lead and Nickel poisoning as of this posting.
    I hope it's not another virus, because until Biden is president, you know if it comes over here, the clown will do nothing.
    Quote Originally Posted by Boston Babe 73 View Post
    I don't have a thousand dollars hanging around to buy a fart in a jar lol.

  2. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    I hope it's not another virus, because until Biden is president, you know if it comes over here, the clown will do nothing.
    Also that clown will politicize the pandemic to his own benefit even though he lost the election.

  3. #28
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    https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/yo...lth-officials/


    A Nevada man in his 20s has died after being hospitalized because of recent exposure to rodent droppings, health officials said.

    The Washoe County Health District reported Tuesday that the cause of death was hantavirus, the first death from the disease in the county this year and the third since 2019.

    Infected rodents can carry hantavirus and release it in their droppings, urine or saliva, which can then be transmitted to people breathing in the contaminated air or people who touch something contaminated and then touch their face. About 38% of all hantavirus cases are deadly, officials said.

    ?While rare, this disease is very serious and a reminder for other residents to be very careful in areas where rodents, especially deer mice, are active,? District Health Officer Kevin Dick said. ?Our thoughts go out to the family of this resident.?

    District health officials urge people to take precautions when entering spaces where mice may have been present, such as storage places, garages, sheds, cabins and barns, since rodents show no signs of the disease.

  4. #29
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    https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/...h-tetanus.html

    Update an Anti-Vax Doctor named Dr. Paul Thomas is under investigation for failing to issue vaccines to his patients according to the Oregon Medical Board.

    The Oregon Medical Board on Thursday suspended the license of Dr. Paul Thomas, citing a litany of cases in which he failed to adequately vaccinate patients, including a case involving a boy who contracted tetanus and required hospitalization for 57 days.

    According to the order, the medical board can temporarily suspend a medical license without a hearing when it has evidence that a doctor’s continued practice constitutes an immediate danger to the public.


    Willamette Week first reported the story.

    In the order, the medical board wrote, “The Board finds that Licensee’s conduct has breached the standard of care and has placed the health and safety of many of his patients at serious risk of harm.”

    Thomas, who practices in the Portland area, has a history of misleading parents, the board found. He published an “alternative vaccination schedule,” the order said, which “fraudulently asserts that following his vaccine schedule will prevent or decrease the incidence of autism and other developmental disorders.”

    Multiple studies have shown no link between vaccines and autism.

    According to the board, Thomas promotes his “Dr. Paul approved” vaccine schedule, which can leave children exposed to “multiple potentially debilitating and life-threatening illnesses.”


    The order lists multiple times Thomas misled parents about vaccines. According to one example, “Patient A’s mother requested polio and rotavirus vaccinations for Patient A according to CDC Recommendations, but Licensee did not have those vaccines in the clinic, and Patient A would therefore not be able to get them.”

    Then, the order said, Thomas questioned the mother about why she wanted the polio vaccine, asking, “whether they were traveling to Africa.”

    The mother also reported that Thomas “continually connected vaccines (not specific) with autism” and “asked her how awful she would feel if Patient A got autism and she could have prevented it.”

    In addition, the board cited the case of a boy who was hospitalized with tetanus and was “completely non-immunized.”

    “Patient D sustained a large, deep scalp laceration at home in a farm setting on August 8, 2017,” the order said, “and was treated with colloidal silver and with his parents suturing the wound independently.”

    The boy developed such a severe case of tetanus he required “intubation, tracheotomy, feeding tube placement and an almost two-month ICU stay at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital,” the order said.


    He was then moved to Legacy Rehabilitation. When Thomas saw him there, the order said, his notes show he recommended “fish oil supplements, and ‘phosphatidyl seine.’”

    “He did not document an informed consent discussion about the risk/benefit of immunization for a child who had just sustained and still had sequelae of, and remained vulnerable despite prior infection, to tetanus, a life-threatening and disabling disease that is preventable by proper vaccination,” the order said. It added, “Licensee’s care placed Patient D at serious risk of harm and constitutes gross negligence.”

    In another case documented in the order, 10-month-old twins under Thomas’ care became infected with rotavirus gastroenteritis. They suffered “from severe dehydration and serum electrolyte abnormalities and required five days of hospitalization,” the order said.


    Thomas’ charts indicated the twins’ parents had refused the vaccines, but, according to the board, the mother “stated during hospitalization that she thought her children had received rotavirus vaccine.”

    Rotavirus is preventable by vaccine.

    According to the order, Thomas has the right to request a formal hearing in writing to contest his suspension.

    Thomas’ office, Integrative Pediatrics on Barnes Road, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    -- Lizzy Acker

  5. #30
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    https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-...r-nigeria.html

    A yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 172 people so far, the World Health Organization said Friday.


    The outbreak poses an extra challenge to the country's health system as Africa's most populous nation deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, several concurrent disease outbreaks and a humanitarian crisis in the northeast, the WHO said.

    Nigeria has been battling successive yellow fever outbreaks since 2017. This latest outbreak was detected in November, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.

    "As of November 24, the outbreak has been reported in five states in Nigeria: Delta, Enugu, Bauchi, Benue and Ebonyi," he said.

    "A total of 530 suspected cases have been reported, including 48 that have been confirmed by lab testing.

    "A total of 172 deaths have been reported out of those 530 suspected cases."

    He said sample testing was ongoing through national reference laboratories.

    The spokesman said Nigerian national and state authorities were focused on the COVID-19 pandemic response, limiting the human resources required to conduct investigations and response activities for the yellow fever outbreaks.

    Capacity has been increased in certain hospitals to help manage patients who develop yellow fever symptoms and complications.

    Currently, 16 of Nigeria's 36 states and the federal capital territory have completed vaccination campaigns.

    Six more are expected to do so in the first quarter of 2021, with a further six set to do so by the end of next year, bringing the total to 28, the WHO said.

    The percentage of people immunised against yellow fever remains low in many parts of Africa, even though the vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective and relatively cheap.

    There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, which is largely transmitted in urban settings by mosquitoes.

    Nigeria?like the rest of Africa?has so far been spared the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic but authorities are wary of a fresh wave.

    So far, more than 68,300 cases of COVID-19 have been registered, and 1,179 deaths.

    https://www.voanews.com/africa/vacci...fever-outbreak

    BAUCHI, NIGERIA - More than 170 people have died from yellow fever outbreaks in Nigeria this year, despite vaccines being available since 2004.  A preference among some Nigerians for traditional, herbal medicine is part of the problem. But experts said apathy to vaccines in rural areas is the biggest challenge.

    Nigerian car washer Jonathan Sale caught yellow fever from mosquito bites while in secondary school, 23 years ago, before a vaccine was available to treat the viral disease.

    ?When I had that sickness, my lips turned yellow, and my tongue, my eyeball became yellowish. And I was vomiting yellow, yellow, yellow," Sale said. "I was thinking I was going to die, and God saved me. I went to the hospital and they gave me drips and some drugs.? 

    Nigeria has had the yellow fever vaccine since 2004 and offers it free for children.

    But since 2017, outbreaks of yellow fever have left scores dead and many others suffering.

    Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, the executive chairman of the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, said many parents fail to get their children vaccinated.

    ?We now did a small survey and found out that out of the people we sampled, half had not taken the vaccination," Rilwanu Mohammed said. "The children sampled were under the age of five, and half had not taken the vaccination.?

    Traditional medicine

    While apathy among parents is the main challenge to vaccines, some Nigerians also opt for traditional medicine instead, like Ahmadu Mohammad, who claims he was cured from yellow fever by visiting the community traditional healer.

    Mohammad said that people use with herbal medicine and don?t often go to a hospital. He said the treatment is a syringe placed in fire, and once the needle turns red, the herbal doctor prays on the syringe before piercing it into the chest. He said that is the gift God has given the herbal doctor.

    Aisha Rufai is an immunologist in the city of Jos. He believes more Nigerians are willing to get the yellow fever vaccine, which lasts a lifetime.

    ?There is great awareness now, almost everybody is aware of immunization now, so that of traditional, you?ll find out that it is a very minute number of people that go for traditional,? Rufai said. 

    The Nigerian federal government plans to carry out a massive yellow fever immunization campaign across five high-risk yellow fever states starting mid-January.

  6. #31
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    https://biologydiscussionsforum.blog...-of-congo.html

    According to a recent UNICEF Humanitarian Report, in Ituri province in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), officials have reported 286 cases of bubonic plague, including 27 deaths were reported since August.



    Rethy and Biringi health zones have the highest number of cases, with 210 registered cases, including 15 deaths.

    In a letter to ProMED mail published Thursday, officials with EcoHealth Alliance also report on the bubonic plague outbreak in Biringi health zone reporting some 150 suspected cases from mid-November to mid-December.

    Of the total, overall, women and men are equally affected; however, adolescents (under 17 years old) seem the most at risk, representing 78.9% of the sick people, they write in the letter.

    The authors write: In this region, where there are nearly 47,000 internally displaced refugees from South Sudan, with some moving freely between the 2 countries, the risk of a regional flare-up is to be considered if the epidemic also reaches this camp.

    Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. It is found in animals throughout the world, most commonly rats but other rodents like ground squirrels, prairie dogs, chipmunks, rabbits and marmots in China. Fleas typically serve as the vector for plague.

    People can also get infected through direct contact with an infected animal, through inhalation and in the case of pneumonic plague, person to person.

    Yersinia pestis is treatable with antibiotics if started early enough.

    There are three forms of human plague; bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic.



    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/plague-...-august-25381/

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    https://biologydiscussionsforum.blog...-epidemic.html

    Peru has reported 56,394 total dengue fever cases in 2020, making it the worst dengue epidemic since 2017, when the virus infected over 68,000 people.



    88 dengue related deaths have been reported.

    The Peru dengue crisis began in October of 2019 when the cases increased in the Madre de Dios region in the country’s southeast.

    In February, the government declared dengue a health emergency.

    Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. There are four closely related but antigenically different serotypes of the virus that can cause dengue (DEN1, DEN 2, DEN 3, DEN 4).

    Dengue Fever (DF) – marked by an onset of sudden high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and pain in muscles and joints. Some may also have a rash and varying degree of bleeding from various parts of the body (including nose, mouth and gums or skin bruising).Dengue has a wide spectrum of infection outcome (asymptomatic to symptomatic). Symptomatic illness can vary from dengue fever (DF) to the more serious dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
    Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) – is a more severe form, seen only in a small proportion of those infected. DHF is a stereotypic illness characterized by 3 phases; febrile phase with high continuous fever usually lasting for less than 7 days; critical phase (plasma leaking) lasting 1-2 days usually apparent when fever comes down, leading to shock if not detected and treated early; convalescence phase lasting 2-5 days with improvement of appetite, bradycardia (slow heart rate), convalescent rash (white patches in red background), often accompanied by generalized itching (more intense in palms and soles), and diuresis (increase urine output).
    Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) — Shock syndrome is a dangerous complication of dengue infection and is associated with high mortality. Severe dengue occurs as a result of secondary infection with a different virus serotype. Increased vascular permeability, together with myocardial dysfunction and dehydration, contribute to the development of shock, with resultant multiorgan failure.
    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/peru-re...ic-since-2017/

  8. #33
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    https://biologydiscussionsforum.blog...announced.html

    A new Salmonella Miami outbreak has been announced by the FDA in their CORE Table. The only information we have is that 48 people are sick. No food or establishment has been identified. We don’t know the patient age range, where the patients live, illness onset dates, or if anyone has been hospitalized. A traceback investigation has been launched.


    Salmonella outbreaks in the past few years have been linked to dried wood ear mushrooms, backyard poultry, peaches, onions, cut fruit, ground beef, papayas, tahini, raw tuna, pre-cut melon, and ground turkey. In other words, just about any food can be contaminated with enough of this ubiquitous pathogen to make people sick.



    This is the second unusual Salmonella serotype outbreak that has been announced in the FDA table recently. Salmonella Miami is a rare type of this pathogen. On December 23, 2020, a Salmonella Potsdam outbreak that sickened at least 7 people was announced. No food or establishment was named in that outbreak either, although and onsite inspection was initiated. We don’t know what facility was inspected, or what food that facility produced.



    With little information to go on, it’s important that consumers know that there is an outbreak and understand the symptoms of a Salmonella food poisoning infection so they can be diagnosed if they feel sick. This infection is usually diagnosed with a fecal sample.




    People usually start feeling sick 6 to 72 hours after infection. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal and stomach pain and cramps, and diarrhea that may be bloody. Long term health complications from this infection can be severe and can occur even after full recovery. These complications include reactive arthritis, endocarditis, and high blood pressure. If you have been experiencing these symptoms, see your doctor.

    https://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/20...ounced-by-fda/

  9. #34
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    https://biologydiscussionsforum.blog...-syndrome.html

    HELENA – Samples taken in six eastern Montana counties this past summer have tested positive for the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) disease in bats.

    The presence of the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) does not necessarily confirm the presence of the disease, but biologists are closely monitoring the situation and further sampling and testing will be conducted. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff is asking the public to report any dead or dying bats they observe this winter and spring to their local FWP office.

    “We are disappointed but not at all surprised at this finding,” said FWP’s Wildlife Division Bureaus Coordinator Lauri Hanauska-Brown. “As the fungus and this deadly disease have moved across the states, we knew it was only a matter of time before it reached Montana. Now, we have to work together to help understand and combat this disease.”

    Pd is a powdery white fungus that grows on the skin of hibernating bats, often on the face – hence the name “white nose.” The fungus causes several problems, one of which is that it irritates bats, causing them to arouse early from hibernation and search for water and food. Food is obviously scarce in winter, and this early arousal can exhaust fat stores that bats need to survive the winter. WNS is not known to affect humans, pets, livestock or other wildlife.

    In May 2020, North Dakota Game and Fish Department reported a cluster of bat deaths from WNS just over the Montana border. This put FWP staff on full alert, and sampling efforts became more crucial.

    FWP temporarily prohibited the capture of all live bats due to unknown risks of COVID-19-infected humans inadvertently transferring the virus to bats. To substitute for sampling of live bats, biologists collected bat droppings at eastern Montana roosts in May and June. During this effort, no unusual mortalities were observed that were associated with WNS, but summer is not the typical season to find bats sick with this disease.

    Mid-to-late winter is when bats infected with this disease tend to become sick or die, due to the tendency of the fungus to rouse them out of hibernation. Therefore, biologists will want to investigate unusual bat activity such as seeing bats out during the cold and sick or dead bats found on the ground. This is where FWP needs the public’s help: by being on the lookout.

    WNS has been in North America since at least 2006, killing an estimated 6.7 million bats. It has been confirmed in 35 states and seven Canadian provinces. It can wipe out entire colonies of bats and has caused dramatic population declines in eastern states.

    In some cases, WNS has been unintentionally transferred to different bat roost sites by human activity, as the microscopic Pd fungal spores can easily be transported on clothing and equipment. FWP asks that anyone that has been in or around caves and other roost sites to be extremely proactive about cleaning their equipment and clothing to prevent further spread of this disease.

    Over the last several years, FWP has been using acoustic-recording equipment to help identify populations, species and distributions of bats across the state. It is hoped this will give biologists a good baseline to see how Pd, or WNS, may affect current and future populations.

    FWP staff asks anyone who sees a sick or recently deceased bat or group of bats not to handle them but to notify health officials or state biologists, who can provide further guidance. Callers can reach the FWP Wildlife Health Lab in Bozeman at (406) 577-7882, or they can contact a biologist at their local FWP office.

    http://www.belgrade-news.com/news/st...932f157a7.html

  10. #35
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    https://biologydiscussionsforum.blog...ulosis-on.html

    An animal scientist wants more Australian sea lions tested for tuberculosis, after one of the creatures was found to have died from the disease on Kangaroo Island.



    The three-year-old juvenile sea lion was found dead on a beach at Kingscote in 2017, but the case was only reported in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases last week.

    Paper author Rachael Gray, from the University of Sydney, said tuberculosis had been detected in seals and sea lions around the world but it was rare in Australian waters.

    She said the Kangaroo Island case was the first time tuberculosis had been detected in a sea lion's abdomen, rather than its lungs, in South Australia.

    The island is home to one of Australia's largest colonies of sea lions which are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation.

    Dr Gray said while the discovery of tuberculosis in one of the animals was a public health issue, there was no "need to panic".

    She said the main threat to the public was from finding dead or dying animals, and that the risk at Seal Bay Conservation Park — where tourists can join sea lions on the beach — was "not present".

    "It's mainly transmitted in people that have really close contact to infected animals — people like me: researchers, people involved in animal rescue, zookeepers," she said.

    However, she warned people not to touch sick or dead seals or sea lions.

    "If you found a sea lion or fur seal on a beach in a remote area, you're better off contacting the appropriate authorities and letting them know an animal is there," Dr Gray said.

    The bacteria that causes tuberculosis in seals and sea lions, Mycobacterium pinnipedii, is different to the one that causes the disease in humans — but humans can catch the seal version.

    Zookeepers in Western Australia in the late 1980s and early 1990s caught it from sea lions in captivity.

    "If you had a sea lion that was actually positive, it's like any respiratory disease — which we know a lot more about after COVID — they have to cough on you and the aerosols in that cough would have to get into your respiratory system," Dr Gray said.

    "If the animal has an intestinal form of tuberculosis, which this case actually did, that the bacteria can also be passed in the faeces and in some cases, [we] also think, in the urine.

    "We need to keep in mind safety and hygiene when we deal with any animal, really."

    The South Australian Department for Environment and Water, Biosecurity SA and SA Health were notified of the tuberculosis case after results of the necropsy came back.

    An SA Health spokeswoman said the risk to the public was deemed to be "minimal".

    Push for 'population surveillance'
    In their article, Dr Gray and Adelaide-based PhD candidate Scott Lindsay called for "population surveillance" among sea lions to as assess the threat posed to the animals by tuberculosis and other diseases.

    "It's the first time in a while in a sea lion that it's been detected, but I think it's only because we don't get many opportunities to do really thorough disease investigations in these animals," Dr Gray said.

    "A lot of them will just disappear and die in the ocean rather than actually hauling out on land and in a site [we] can actually find."



    Tony Coppins, who runs tours for people to swim with seals, sea lions and dolphins on Kangaroo Island, said tourists were "fairly well versed in keeping their distance from wild animals".

    Dr Gray said hookworm was a much greater threat to sea lions than tuberculosis.

    About 40 per cent of the species failed to reach adulthood, and a considerable proportion of the premature deaths could be attributed to hookworm, she said.



    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-...lions/13056730

  11. #36
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    https://biologydiscussionsforum.blog...cover-new.html

    JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African scientists have discovered chemical compounds that could potentially be used for a new line of drugs to treat malaria and even kill the parasite in its infectious stage, which most available drugs do not.



    The research led by the University of Pretoria, published in the Nature Communications journal this week, found that chemical compounds undergoing trials for the treatment of tuberculosis and cancer -- the JmjC inhibitor ML324 and the antitubercular clinical candidate SQ109 -- can kill the disease-causing parasite at a stage when it normally infects others.



    The World Health Organisation said in November that deaths from malaria due to disruption during the coronavirus pandemic to services designed to tackle the mosquito-borne disease will far exceed those killed by COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa.



    Malaria killed more than 400,000 people across the world in 2019, according to the latest WHO figures, all but a few thousand of them in Africa. There were 229 million cases across the world, 215 million of them on the continent.

    “Our innovation was around finding compounds that are able to block the transmissible stages and we if we are able to do so then we stop the spread of malaria,” Research Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control and biochemistry professor Lyn-Marie Birkholtz, who was part of the team, told Reuters on Friday.

    Most drugs kill malaria as it gets established in the liver or after it has infected red blood cells, but cannot tackle it once the parasite is released from the cells, which is when it is transmissible to other people via mosquito bites, she said.

    The one drug that can have an effect during the transmissible phase, primaquine, is not widely used, owing to concerns about side effects.

    “If we can develop these compounds ... then we have an additional new tool that we can use to eliminate malaria,” said Birkholtz.

    More tests would still need to be carried out before the compounds could be approved as a treatment for malaria but the breakthrough would also address concerns over drug resistance, she said.

    Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Tim Cocks and Alison Williams



    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-s...-idUSKBN29K210

  12. #37
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    https://biologydiscussionsblog.blogs...deaths-in.html

    After reporting a record year of Lassa fever in Nigeria last year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported nine confirmed Lassa fever cases, including 2 deaths in Bauchi state among the confirmed cases.


    Four states (Bauchi, Ebonyi, Edo and Ondo) have recorded at least one confirmed case across six Local Government Areas.

    In 2020, Nigeria saw a record 1189 confirmed cases and 244 deaths in confirmed cases with a CFR of more than 20 percent.

    Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses. It is transmitted to humans from contacts with food or household items contaminated with rodent excreta. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.

    Person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in the hospital environment in the absence of adequate infection control measures. Diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential.



    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/nigeria...-week-of-2021/

  13. #38
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    https://biologydiscussionsblog.blogs...-by-20-in.html

    Treating children with pneumonia in Afghanistan (ICRC)
    Last month, more than 20 children died in Balkh province from the Pneumonia disease prevalent to the extreme cold weather.

    Pneumonia cases are increasing among the children this winter, and 326 children have been hospitalized in December, health officials noted to ATN News.

    The Children’s Department of the Balkh public Health Directorate, Nawroz Seberi said that “1,679 children were hospitalized in Qaws (December 2020) of which 326 patients suffered from pneumonia; that shows a 20 percent increase in cases.”

    Concurrently, the Save the Children organization warned the country that more than 300,000 children are suffering from the cold and freezing weather crisis which can lead to diseases and worst-off to their death.

    The lack of proper clothing and heating equipment is considered to be one of the factors, the organization emphasized.

    Chris Nyamandi, the Organization’s country director in Afghanistan denoted last month in a statement that “while schools are closed until March in the coldest parts of the country, this is a serious blow because often the classroom is the only source of warmth for children during winter – where temperatures can plummet to below minus 27 degrees Celsius in parts of the country”, Ariana News reported.

    “For thousands of children the Afghan winter is a time of grim survival,” Nyamandi added.

    He further indicated that “the situation is bleak for children forced to live in camps in places like Balkh province. It is already very cold in this northern province with overnight temperatures as low as minus ten. But it will get much colder before March”.

    Meanwhile, a nationwide polio vaccination campaign has started in Afghanistan as the country suffers from polio disease.

    A five-day vaccination campaign has been launched by the Afghan government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

    The campaign program is expected to cover the vaccination of 10 million children under the age of five across the country.

    The Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health said that insecurity in different parts of the country is the main reason, vaccines couldn’t reach most of the children in Afghanistan.

    At the same time, as the vaccination campaign has started in the country, the Taliban announced their support for the program after the Taliban deputy leader, Mullah Baradar, met with the World Health Organization and the UNICEF representatives to discuss the polio program implementation in Afghanistan, BBC News reported.

    https://www.khaama.com/pneumonia-cas...nistan-445566/
    https://biologydiscussionsblog.blogs...ves-three.html

    CHAMAN: A measles outbreak in Chaman has left three children of a family dead, ARY News reported on Sunday.

    According to the levies sources, the measles outbreak is being reported in several villages of Tooba Achakzai in Chaman.

    Acting on the situation, District Health Officer, Rafique Mengal has sent special teams to the infected areas to control the epidemic.

    Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days.

    Symptoms:
    Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40 ?C (104 ?F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. Small white spots known as Koplik’s spots may form inside the mouth two or three days after the start of symptoms.



    A red, flat rash which usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body typically begins three to five days after the start of symptoms.

    Common complications include diarrhea (in 8% of cases), middle ear infection (7%), and pneumonia (6%).

    Prevention:
    Mothers who are immune to measles pass antibodies to their children while they are still in the womb, especially if the mother acquired immunity through infection rather than vaccination.

    Such antibodies will usually give newborn infants some immunity against measles, but these antibodies are gradually lost over the course of the first nine months of life.

    https://arynews.tv/en/measles-outbre...children-dead/

  14. #39
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    https://biologydiscussionsblog.blogs...ported-in.html

    The World Health Organization (WHO) reports one new case of human infection with avian influenza A(H9N2) virus in China during the first week of 2021.

    The case was a 1-year-and 4-month-old male from Yunfu, Guangdong Province, China, who had exposure to domestic poultry prior to the onset of illness. He developed mild symptoms on 28 December, 2020 and was admitted to a hospital on 29 December. As of 4 January 2021, no family cluster was reported. This is the first case to be reported from China in 2021.

    In addition, six new cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H9N2) virus were reported on Dec. 9, 2020.

    The cases were retrospectively detected through Influenzalike illness Surveillance (ILI) between July 2019 and December 2020. No deaths were reported among the reported cases and all six reported mild symptoms. Five of the cases had exposure to poultry and one case had no clear poultry exposure. No family clusters were reported from any of the six cases. In 2020, there were thirteen cases reported from China. A total of 42 cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H9N2) in China have been reported since December 2015.



    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/h9n2-av...e-china-82113/


    https://biologydiscussionsblog.blogs...-in-leyte.html

    Agriculture officials in Leyte province in the Visayas region of the Philippines are reporting Africa swine fever (ASF) in several barangays (villages).

    Blood samples taken from hogs in Abuyog tested positive for ASF, the first case reported in the Eastern Visayas.



    “Samples collected were submitted to the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory VIII, which yielded positive results for 4 out of 7 samples tested using ASF antigen detection rapid test,” Agriculture Regional Director Angel Enriquez said in a statement, referring to barangay Canaporong and Bunga in Abuyog town. He said officials will take steps to stop the spread of the virus.

    Abuyog Mayor Lemuel Gin Traya said as part of their containment measures, no hogs would be allowed entry and exit until February 14. Swine culling will be conducted in areas with ASF, and owners will be compensated for the loss.

    Pigs infected with the ASF virus experience high fever, depression, loss of appetite, redness of ears, abdomen, and legs, vomiting, and diarrhea that may lead to death.

    At present, there is no vaccine or treatment for ASF.

    Because ASF can spread easily, hog raisers are advised not to feed raw or undercooked pork products (swill, garbage, or waste) to pigs. Also, to monitor the animals daily for any sign of illness, to isolate those found to be sick, and to contact the veterinarian immediately for medical intervention.

    Preventive measures for pig handlers may include handwashing when they get home from a farm or market; and cleaning of shoes, or tires of vehicles used in the pig farm.

    Although ASF is not a threat to human health, infected animals are unfit for consumption under the Food Safety Act.


  15. #40
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    The Thailand Bureau of Epidemiology reported 71,292 total dengue fever cases in 2020, including 51 51 deaths.


    Image/CDC
    The provinces with the highest incidence include Mae Hong Son, Rayong, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum and Chainat.

    Aedes aegypti mosquito



    Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. There are four closely related but antigenically different serotypes of the virus that can cause dengue (DEN1, DEN 2, DEN 3, DEN 4).

    Dengue Fever (DF) – marked by an onset of sudden high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and pain in muscles and joints. Some may also have a rash and varying degree of bleeding from various parts of the body (including nose, mouth and gums or skin bruising).Dengue has a wide spectrum of infection outcome (asymptomatic to symptomatic). Symptomatic illness can vary from dengue fever (DF) to the more serious dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).



    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/thailan...cases-in-2020/
    https://biologydiscussionsblog.blogs...-cases-in.html

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    https://nypost.com/2021/01/31/deadly...tial-pandemic/

    The next pandemic could be a sometimes deadly, yeast-like fungal infection known as Candida Auris, say experts who describe it as a nearly “perfect pathogen.”

    The fungus can be fatal, particularly if it enters the bloodstream, typically through catheters or other tubes entering the body in healthcare settings, according to the CDC.

    It was first identified in 2009 and is almost impervious to antifungal drugs, according to Johanna Rhodes, an epidemiologist with London’s Imperial College.

    Rhodes, who helped tackle a 2016 outbreak of Candida auris in England, said it’s not just the fungus’ resistance to drugs which makes it impressive.

    “One of the things that makes Candida auris so scary is the fact it can linger on inanimate surfaces for long periods and withstand whatever you throw at it,” she told New Scientist.

    Dr. Tom Chiller, who runs the CDC’s anti-fungal division, said no one truly knows where it came from.

    “It is a creature from the black lagoon. It bubbled up and now it is everywhere,” he said.

    Experts said it’s critical to develop better weapons against enemies like Candida auris now, before they become the next pandemic.

    “We need to invest more in research and development, and prepare our defenses – against all types of infectious pathogens,” said Mahmoud Ghannoum, a fungal disease specialist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

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    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/scotlan...mebirds-19714/

    The Scottish government are reminding bird keepers to maximize biosecurity and keep their flocks housed after avian influenza (H5N1) was confirmed in a flock of approximately 14,000 mixed gamebirds on a gamebird rearing premises in Leven, Glenrothes.


    H5N1 avian influenza
    Image/Cynthia Goldsmith/ Jackie Katz
    Laboratory results of samples taken from the flock have identified the strain as highly pathogenic in poultry. In order to limit the further spread of disease, appropriate restrictions have been imposed on the premises.

    A Protection Zone (PZ) of 3 km and a Surveillance Zone (SZ) of 10 km have now been put in place around the infected premises to limit the risk of spread of the disease. Within these zones a range of controls are in place, including restrictions on the movement of poultry, carcasses, eggs, used poultry litter and manure. Legislation for the H5N1 strain require a Restricted Zone (RZ) to also be declared. However, this RZ will also be 10 km and will have the same extent as the PZ and SZ, with no additional measures.

    Public health advice remains that the risk to human health from the virus is very low and food standards bodies advise that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers, and it does not affect the consumption of poultry products including eggs.

    Producers and bird keepers are reminded to comply with the order to house birds that came in to effect on the 14 December 2020, or ensure they are kept separate from wild birds and follow biosecurity procedures.

    Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment Ben Macpherson said:

    “Following this confirmation I have put in place controls required under domestic and EU legislation that will help control any further spread of the disease in the surrounding area. We ask that the public remain vigilant and report any findings of dead wild birds. People should not handle the birds. ”

    Scotland’s Chief Veterinary Officer Sheila Voas said:

    “This highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza (H5N1) has been confirmed on a farm of approximately 14,000 mixed gamebirds with high mortality in the last few days. All remaining birds are being humanely culled for disease control purposes.

    “It is vital that keepers take steps to improve their biosecurity and protect their birds from disease. Keepers who are concerned about the health or welfare of their flock should seek veterinary advice immediately. Your private vet, or your local Animal and Plant Health Agency office, will also be able to practical provide advice on keeping your birds safe from infection.”

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    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/salmone...-scotia-12734/

    The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reports investigating an outbreak of Salmonella infections infections involving Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia.


    Image/CDC
    As of February 18, 2021, there have been 57 laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella Enteritidis illness investigated in the following provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (25), and Nova Scotia (32). Individuals became sick between late October 2020 and late January 2021. Nineteen individuals have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

    Based on the investigation findings to date, exposure to eggs has been identified as a likely source of the outbreak. Many of the individuals who became sick reported consuming, preparing, cooking and baking at home with eggs. Some individuals reported exposure to eggs at an institution (including nursing homes and hospitals) where they resided or worked before becoming ill.

    Between October and December 2020, CFIA issued food recall warnings for a variety of eggs distributed in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The recalled eggs are now past their shelf-life and are no longer available for purchase.

    Eggs can sometimes be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria on the shell and inside the egg. The bacteria are most often transmitted to people when they improperly handle, eat or cook contaminated foods.

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    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/spain-q...-bilbao-83683/

    At least three cases of Q fever have been confirmed among workers at the Biological Mechanical Treatment (TMB) plant located in the Bilbao area of ​​Artigas, as this newspaper has learned. Two of the three affected have been hospitalized for several days at Galdakao and Cruces Hospitals and a fourth employee is waiting for their infection to be confirmed, according to worker sources.


    Image/CIA
    The Occupational Health and Safety committee met yesterday with the company to explain the situation without any decision being made at the moment. Union sources have assured this afternoon that they expect a visit from Osalan inspectors to the TMB plant shortly in light of the cases detected.

    The new presence of Q fever among TMB employees follows a severe outbreak in 2014 which affected dozens of workers, forcing the plant to close until its complete disinfection.

    Q fever is caused by the obligate intracellular pathogen, Coxiella burnetii. The disease is usually transmitted to people through either infected milk or through aerosols.

    This disease is found on most continents with the reported incidence probably much lower than the actual because so many cases are so mild.

    Animal reservoirs of C. burnetii include sheep, cattle, goats, dogs and cats. In areas where these animals are present, Q fever affects veterinarians, meatpacking workers, and farmers.

    Q fever is also considered a potential agent of bioterrorism.

    The symptoms of Q fever according to the CDC are an unexplained febrile illness, sometimes accompanied bypneumonia and/or hepatitis is the most common clinical presentation. Illness onset typically occurs within 2–3 weeks after exposure.



    The mortality rate for acute Q fever is low (1–2%), and the majority of persons with mild illness recover spontaneously within a few weeks although antibiotic treatment will shorten the duration of illness and lessen the risk of complications. Chronic Q fever is uncommon (<1% of acutely infected patients) but may cause life-threatening heart valve disease (endocarditis).

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    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/taiwan-...he-year-84576/

    Taiwan’s Department of Disease Control (CDC) announced the first confirmed, imported case of chikungunya of 2021.


    Aedes aegypti/CDC
    The patient is a Indonesian male in his 20s. He came to work in Taiwan on March 16.

    When he arrived in Taiwan, he was found to be suffering from a fever. Quarantine officers then tested him for dengue fever, but the results came back negative.

    After receiving the negative results, he was tested for COVID-19 and transported to a hospital to undergo medical treatment. Blood tests taken at the airport revealed he was positive for chikungunya fever.

    Since chikungunya was first designated a notifiable communicable disease in 2007, Taiwan has recorded a total of 232 confirmed cases, including 21 locally acquired cases.

    Aedes aegypti mosquito

    Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. It causes fever and severe joint pain, which is often debilitating. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue, and rash.

    The disease shares some clinical signs with dengue and Zika, and can be misdiagnosed in areas where they are common. As there is no cure, treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms.

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    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/equine-...-europe-32161/

    On March 1, 2021, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced that it would cancel international sporting events in ten countries in continental Europe due to an EHV outbreak during an international tournament in Valencia, Spain.


    Returning horses caused secondary outbreaks in nine countries.

    As of Mar. 16, a total of seventeen horses in Europe had to be euthanized due to the outbreak.

    EHV-1 infection in horses can cause respiratory disease, abortion in mares, neonatal foal death and neurological disease. The neurological form of the disease is known as Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) and may be caused by damage to blood vessels of the brain and spinal cord associated with EHV-1 infection. EHM is most often due to the neuropathogenic strain of EHV-1, but may occasionally be caused by the non-neuropathogenic strain of the virus.

    EHV-1 is easily spread and typically has an incubation period between 2-10 days. Respiratory shedding of the virus generally occurs for 7-10 days, but may persist longer in infected horses. For this reason, a twenty-one day isolation period of confirmed positive EHM cases is recommended along with stringent biosecurity protocols. Similar to herpes viruses in other species, the latent form of EHV-1 can reactivate at a later date, but generally with a low viral load posing a low risk of infecting other horses. Humans are not at risk of contracting the virus, however humans can act as an indirect mode of transmission.

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