As the 2008 presidential election draws to a close, questions have arisen regarding the health of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, and his widely known struggle with melanoma. Speculation heightened in May of this year, when the candidate released around 1,200 pages of medical records to a restricted group of journalists, who were given limited access. Their reports indicated that in August of 2000, McCain underwent surgery to remove a melanoma, and that subsequent tests of his lymph nodes indicated the cancer had not spread.
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STOP CHILD TRAFFICKING
Showing newest 131 of 176 posts from 10/1/08 - 11/1/08. Show older posts
Showing newest 131 of 176 posts from 10/1/08 - 11/1/08. Show older posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Holding Bird Flu Samples Hostage Is Danger for World, U.S. Says
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. should continue to oppose countries that expose the world to ``even more danger'' by demanding payment in return for sharing samples of H5N1 bird flu, said the U.S. government's outgoing top health official.
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2,390 Chinese infants still in hospital over milk scandal
BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Health said Wednesday that 2,390 infants nationwide were still receiving hospital treatment for kidney diseases caused by tainted powdered milk.
One was in a serious condition, the ministry said.
The number of baby patients in hospital dropped by one-third from a week ago when more than 3,600 infants were still hospitalized.
It said 48,514 children had recovered and left hospital since milk powder produced by Sanlu Group was found to contain the banned chemical melamine in mid September.
On Wednesday alone, 90 children were newly hospitalized and 218had recovered, the ministry said.
More than 4,500 medical institutions nationwide had conducted free treatment and examination of children feared to have been poisoned in the scandal.
One was in a serious condition, the ministry said.
The number of baby patients in hospital dropped by one-third from a week ago when more than 3,600 infants were still hospitalized.
It said 48,514 children had recovered and left hospital since milk powder produced by Sanlu Group was found to contain the banned chemical melamine in mid September.
On Wednesday alone, 90 children were newly hospitalized and 218had recovered, the ministry said.
More than 4,500 medical institutions nationwide had conducted free treatment and examination of children feared to have been poisoned in the scandal.
Cholera outbreak worsening in Guinea-Bissau, killing 211
www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-29 10:45:31 -- Suzhou Oct. 30
DAKAR, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 211 people have been killed in Guinea-Bissau which is hard hit by a major outbreak of the disease since May, according to a report released Tuesday by the country's cholera-treatment center.
So far, 12,528 Cholera cases have been reported in the outbreak, the worst since 2005.
The treatment center in the capital city of Dakar admits more than 100 cholera patients daily, and every week around 1,000 people across the country are tested positive of the disease.
Minister of Social Communication Fernando Mendonca confirmed the data in a phone interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, saying that due to the shortage of funds and medical personnel, the health departments now are unable to contain the growingly serious outbreak of the disease which hits the country at every rainy season.
Moreover, many of the local people take the bodies of their families killed by the disease home from hospitals for burial without any disinfection treatment, which has also contributed to the spread of the disease.
Cholera, one of the most deadly diseases, is a highly contagious water-borne disease which causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and even death if not treated promptly.
DAKAR, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 211 people have been killed in Guinea-Bissau which is hard hit by a major outbreak of the disease since May, according to a report released Tuesday by the country's cholera-treatment center.
So far, 12,528 Cholera cases have been reported in the outbreak, the worst since 2005.
The treatment center in the capital city of Dakar admits more than 100 cholera patients daily, and every week around 1,000 people across the country are tested positive of the disease.
Minister of Social Communication Fernando Mendonca confirmed the data in a phone interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, saying that due to the shortage of funds and medical personnel, the health departments now are unable to contain the growingly serious outbreak of the disease which hits the country at every rainy season.
Moreover, many of the local people take the bodies of their families killed by the disease home from hospitals for burial without any disinfection treatment, which has also contributed to the spread of the disease.
Cholera, one of the most deadly diseases, is a highly contagious water-borne disease which causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and even death if not treated promptly.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Media Coverage Affects How People Perceive Threat Of Disease
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 30th
ScienceDaily (Oct. 29, 2008) — Popular media coverage of infectious diseases greatly influences how people perceive those diseases, making them seem more dangerous, according to a new study from McMaster University.
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ScienceDaily (Oct. 29, 2008) — Popular media coverage of infectious diseases greatly influences how people perceive those diseases, making them seem more dangerous, according to a new study from McMaster University.
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Flu Vaccine Could Prevent 357,000 Deaths in Pandemic
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 30th
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Vaccinating infants with what's known as the "7 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine" (PCV7) could save more than 357,000 lives and $7 billion in costs by preventing bacterial infections during a flu pandemic, according to a predictive model developed by U.S. researchers.
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WEDNESDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Vaccinating infants with what's known as the "7 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine" (PCV7) could save more than 357,000 lives and $7 billion in costs by preventing bacterial infections during a flu pandemic, according to a predictive model developed by U.S. researchers.
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Dominant Tamiflu Resistant H1N1 Sub-clade in Europe
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 30th -- Recombinomics Commentary 12:56
Recently released NA sequences from H1N1 isolates in Europe in the 2007/2008 season provide more genetic information on the spread of H274Y, which confers Tamiflu (oseltamivir) resistance.
Most of these isolates mapped to the same Brisbane/59 sub-clade described previously (see list below).More recently, isolates in South Africa and Kenya, had a series of changes in this subclade located near the receptor binding domain at position 190 (H3 numbering), raising concerns that the current vaccine, which targets Brisbane/59 may not be as effective this season.
The sub-clade which dominated last season in the northern hemisphere is evolving, and the evolved versions are associated with an increase in H274Y frequency to 100% in South Africa (225/225 sequenced isolates had H274Y).
The dominance of this sub-clade appears to be extending to the current flu season in the northern hemisphere, where the first H1N1 isolates in Canada and the UK have H274Y.
Recently released NA sequences from H1N1 isolates in Europe in the 2007/2008 season provide more genetic information on the spread of H274Y, which confers Tamiflu (oseltamivir) resistance.
Most of these isolates mapped to the same Brisbane/59 sub-clade described previously (see list below).More recently, isolates in South Africa and Kenya, had a series of changes in this subclade located near the receptor binding domain at position 190 (H3 numbering), raising concerns that the current vaccine, which targets Brisbane/59 may not be as effective this season.
The sub-clade which dominated last season in the northern hemisphere is evolving, and the evolved versions are associated with an increase in H274Y frequency to 100% in South Africa (225/225 sequenced isolates had H274Y).
The dominance of this sub-clade appears to be extending to the current flu season in the northern hemisphere, where the first H1N1 isolates in Canada and the UK have H274Y.
Temperature monitoring by 20,000 immigration inspectors
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 30th -- FROM FLUTRACKERS
Yunnan and Myanmar border to prevent dengue fever epidemic spread to China 2008/10/29/15:32 China news agency, Kunming, Oct 29 (Reporters Liu Ziqian and Yang Yang) - Reporters today from Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in Yunnan Province was informed that the Sino-Burmese border took place in the current dengue fever outbreak has been effectively controlled, the border of Yunnan departments to take effective measures to prevent Deng Leather fever in China to further spread.
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Yunnan and Myanmar border to prevent dengue fever epidemic spread to China 2008/10/29/15:32 China news agency, Kunming, Oct 29 (Reporters Liu Ziqian and Yang Yang) - Reporters today from Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in Yunnan Province was informed that the Sino-Burmese border took place in the current dengue fever outbreak has been effectively controlled, the border of Yunnan departments to take effective measures to prevent Deng Leather fever in China to further spread.
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Global fund to address avian influenza remains in deficit
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 30th
A budget deficit is still hampering the global initiative to contain avian influenza from reaching a pandemic level, an official said."So far, international donors have committed to disburse US$2.7 billion for 2006 to 2008, yet the deficit still amounts to $1.2 billion," said chief executive of the National Commission for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness Bayu Krisnamurti in Jakarta on Wednesday.
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A budget deficit is still hampering the global initiative to contain avian influenza from reaching a pandemic level, an official said."So far, international donors have committed to disburse US$2.7 billion for 2006 to 2008, yet the deficit still amounts to $1.2 billion," said chief executive of the National Commission for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness Bayu Krisnamurti in Jakarta on Wednesday.
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Lack of Hand Washing Costs $1.77 Million Per Hospital Each Year
By Elizabeth Lopatto Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Hospital workers cost their institutions $1.98, on average, each time they fail to wash their hands before seeing a patient, a study found. The expense totals $1.77 million a year at a 200-bed institution and comes from treating methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, one of the most dangerous infections in hospitals, said the lead author, Keith Cummings, a fourth-year student at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, in a report released today. An estimated 94,360 people in the U.S. developed a MRSA infection in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site. About 85 percent of the infections were associated with health care, according to a study cited by the agency. MRSA is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, and can be prevented by hand washing. Of the cases associated with health care, 27 percent were hospital-based. ``My objective was to give some data that would be an incentive for hospitals to undertake more comprehensive hand- hygiene compliance,'' Cummings said in a telephone interview. ``And by increasing consciousness of what it costs when someone doesn't wash their hands, maybe we can change workers' attitudes.'' Hand washing now occurs about 55 percent of the time, and each increase of 1 percentage point would save a hospital $39,000 a year, Cummings said. Cummings made the estimate by using published data on MRSA- transmission, as well as national figures on hand washing. Using the Duke hospital's average length of stay, and the number of visits to a user's room each day, the researchers estimated how often a patient might be infected. Close Encounters A patient who stayed in a hospital for 6.2 days would have eight encounters with a health-care worker who had seen a MRSA- positive patient and hadn't washed his hands, according to the study. ``These are all probabilities,'' Cummings said. ``Given that we're able to calculate the number of incidents, and we know the rate of transmission, we can calculate the possibility of transmitting MRSA in a single episode.'' After finding that probability, the researchers, who included Keith Kaye and Deverick J. Anderson, calculated a cost for the MRSA cases. The expense of treating the MRSA worked out to $1.98 for each instance that a worker hadn't washed his or her hands, according to the research, which was presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, in Washington. Health-care workers are expected to decontaminate their hands before having direct contact with patients and before donning sterile gloves to insert catheters, among other specific situations listed in guidelines, according to the CDC, a federal agency based in Atlanta.
Arena virus outbreak, South Africa
PDF from NICD
Arena virus outbreak, South Africa -- Update -- -- This updates all previous reports and includes available data as of 24 Oct 2008. An outbreak of infection due to an arenavirus was identified in South Africa in early October 2008. A total of 5 cases has been reported for the period 12 Sep to 24 Oct 2008.
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Arena virus outbreak, South Africa -- Update -- -- This updates all previous reports and includes available data as of 24 Oct 2008. An outbreak of infection due to an arenavirus was identified in South Africa in early October 2008. A total of 5 cases has been reported for the period 12 Sep to 24 Oct 2008.
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Avian flu flying into the US - report
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 29th
Washington - Migrating waterfowl may be carrying avian influenza viruses from Asia to the Americas, United States government researchers reported on Tuesday.
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Washington - Migrating waterfowl may be carrying avian influenza viruses from Asia to the Americas, United States government researchers reported on Tuesday.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
High fever kills 130 in Jigawa
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 29th
NO fewer than 130 people are feared dead and many others receiving treatment at different hospitals in Jigawa State as a result of an outbreak of a high fever epidemic.
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NO fewer than 130 people are feared dead and many others receiving treatment at different hospitals in Jigawa State as a result of an outbreak of a high fever epidemic.
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West Africa still at high risk for bird flu virus
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 29th
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt: West Africa, viewed as a potentially vulnerable bird flu hot spot, has moved quickly to reduce the risk of a widespread outbreak, but porous borders remain an obstacle to wiping out the virus.
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SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt: West Africa, viewed as a potentially vulnerable bird flu hot spot, has moved quickly to reduce the risk of a widespread outbreak, but porous borders remain an obstacle to wiping out the virus.
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CHIKUNGUNYA: THAILAND, CONFIRMED
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 29th
The Department of Disease Control of the Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) has released the information on the chikungunya outbreak to the news media during the last 2 weeks. In summary, we confirmed the outbreak of chikungunya in one village of Narathiwat province by HI (hemagglutination inhibition) and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) from [the serum of almost] 40 patients. PCR conducted on a pool of _Aedes albopictus_ caught in the affected village was also positive for chikungunya virus.
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The Department of Disease Control of the Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) has released the information on the chikungunya outbreak to the news media during the last 2 weeks. In summary, we confirmed the outbreak of chikungunya in one village of Narathiwat province by HI (hemagglutination inhibition) and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) from [the serum of almost] 40 patients. PCR conducted on a pool of _Aedes albopictus_ caught in the affected village was also positive for chikungunya virus.
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China county culls 11,000 dogs after six people die from rabies
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 29th
Beijing - Officials in a rural county of south-western China's Yunnan province ordered the culling of more than 11,000 dogs after rabies killed six people, state media said on Sunday. Of the more than 90,000 dogs in Yunnan's Mi'le county, some 84,000 had been vaccinated against rabies and another 11,500 unprotected dogs were culled, the Beijing News quoted local media as saying.
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Beijing - Officials in a rural county of south-western China's Yunnan province ordered the culling of more than 11,000 dogs after rabies killed six people, state media said on Sunday. Of the more than 90,000 dogs in Yunnan's Mi'le county, some 84,000 had been vaccinated against rabies and another 11,500 unprotected dogs were culled, the Beijing News quoted local media as saying.
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ICAAC-IDSA: Fungal Pathogen Invading Northwest
Posted in Suzhou -- -- Oct. 29th
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 -- A fungal pathogen usually found in tropical climes is creeping into the northwestern U.S., bringing with it disease and death, a researcher said here.
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 -- A fungal pathogen usually found in tropical climes is creeping into the northwestern U.S., bringing with it disease and death, a researcher said here.
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Monday, October 27, 2008
Where Will the Next Pandemic Emerge?
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 28th
The next killer germ could burst from the African rain forest—or from your family pet.by Jared Diamond and Nathan Wolfe
published online October 27, 2008
Shortly after one of us (Jared Diamond) boarded a flight from Hong Kong back to Los Angeles, the passenger in the next seat sneezed. She sneezed again—and again—and then she began coughing. Finally she gagged, pulled out the vomit bag from the seat back in front of her, threw up into the bag, stood up, squeezed past, and lurched to the toilet at the front of the plane. The woman was obviously miserable, but sympathy for her pain was not what I felt. Instead I was frightened and asked the flight attendant to move me to a seat as far from her as possible.
All I could think of was another sick person, a man from Guangdong province in southern China, who spent the night of February 21, 2003, at the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong, an upscale establishment with a swimming pool, fitness center, restaurants, a bar, and all kinds of areas where visitors could socialize and connect. The man stayed a single night in room 911. Unfortunately for him and for many other people, he had picked up severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS—perhaps directly from an infected bat or from a small, arboreal mammal called a civet, common in one of Guangdong’s famous “wet markets” that sell wild animals for food, or else from a person or chain of people ultimately infected from one of those animal sources.
In the course of his brief stay, the man initiated a SARS “super spreader” event that led to at least 16 more SARS cases among the hotel’s guests and visitors and then to hundreds of other cases throughout Asia, Europe, and North America as those guests and visitors continued on their travels—just as my neighbor was now traveling to L.A. The infectiousness of room 911’s guest can be gauged from the fact that three months later, the carpet right outside the door and near the hotel elevator yielded genetic evidence of the SARS virus, presumably spewed out in his own sneezing, coughing, or vomiting.
The next killer germ could burst from the African rain forest—or from your family pet.by Jared Diamond and Nathan Wolfe
published online October 27, 2008
Shortly after one of us (Jared Diamond) boarded a flight from Hong Kong back to Los Angeles, the passenger in the next seat sneezed. She sneezed again—and again—and then she began coughing. Finally she gagged, pulled out the vomit bag from the seat back in front of her, threw up into the bag, stood up, squeezed past, and lurched to the toilet at the front of the plane. The woman was obviously miserable, but sympathy for her pain was not what I felt. Instead I was frightened and asked the flight attendant to move me to a seat as far from her as possible.
All I could think of was another sick person, a man from Guangdong province in southern China, who spent the night of February 21, 2003, at the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong, an upscale establishment with a swimming pool, fitness center, restaurants, a bar, and all kinds of areas where visitors could socialize and connect. The man stayed a single night in room 911. Unfortunately for him and for many other people, he had picked up severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS—perhaps directly from an infected bat or from a small, arboreal mammal called a civet, common in one of Guangdong’s famous “wet markets” that sell wild animals for food, or else from a person or chain of people ultimately infected from one of those animal sources.
In the course of his brief stay, the man initiated a SARS “super spreader” event that led to at least 16 more SARS cases among the hotel’s guests and visitors and then to hundreds of other cases throughout Asia, Europe, and North America as those guests and visitors continued on their travels—just as my neighbor was now traveling to L.A. The infectiousness of room 911’s guest can be gauged from the fact that three months later, the carpet right outside the door and near the hotel elevator yielded genetic evidence of the SARS virus, presumably spewed out in his own sneezing, coughing, or vomiting.
International aviation industry is in serious trouble :IATA
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 28th
28/10/2008 - The international aviation industry is staring at its worst slump since SARS as the global financial crisis shows no sign of easing.
Fresh figures from the International Air Transport Association show the number of people flying has declined for the first time since 2003 when Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) threatened to become a pandemic.
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28/10/2008 - The international aviation industry is staring at its worst slump since SARS as the global financial crisis shows no sign of easing.
Fresh figures from the International Air Transport Association show the number of people flying has declined for the first time since 2003 when Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) threatened to become a pandemic.
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South Sudan vaccinated after polio reappears
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 28th
JUBA, Sudan, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A mass polio vaccination began on Monday across southern Sudan, where at least six cases of the debilitating disease have been reported since March, U.N. health officials said.
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JUBA, Sudan, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A mass polio vaccination began on Monday across southern Sudan, where at least six cases of the debilitating disease have been reported since March, U.N. health officials said.
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Genetic evidence for avian influenza movement from Asia to North America via wild birds
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 28th
Wild migratory birds may be more important carriers of avian influenza viruses from continent to continent than previously thought, according to new scientific research that has important implications for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus surveillance in North America.
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Wild migratory birds may be more important carriers of avian influenza viruses from continent to continent than previously thought, according to new scientific research that has important implications for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus surveillance in North America.
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Old and new viruses spread by air travel, crowding
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 28th
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Tourists traveling by plane and the growth of cities are combining to help new and old infections spread around the world, experts said on Monday.
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WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Tourists traveling by plane and the growth of cities are combining to help new and old infections spread around the world, experts said on Monday.
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First Confirmed H1N1 in United Kingdom is Tamiflu Resistant
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 27th
Recombinomics Commentary 06:21 October 27, 2008
The 1st oseltamivir resistant influenza A(H1N1) for the 2008/09 season has also been identified in the UK through the HPA sentinel GP virological surveillance scheme.Antiviral susceptibility tests on A(H3) isolates showed that they are sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir.
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Recombinomics Commentary 06:21 October 27, 2008
The 1st oseltamivir resistant influenza A(H1N1) for the 2008/09 season has also been identified in the UK through the HPA sentinel GP virological surveillance scheme.Antiviral susceptibility tests on A(H3) isolates showed that they are sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir.
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Dengue Outbreak
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 27th
New Delhi, October 26 -- -- The Dengue management in India leaves much to be desired, with as many as 3,988 cases already reported so far, this year. There have been at least 49-recorded deaths attributed to the outbreak of the viral disease in the country till October 8. All this, despite the government formulating a specific disease-control programme for dengue, for which a separate budget has been allocated in the 11th Five Year Plan.
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New Delhi, October 26 -- -- The Dengue management in India leaves much to be desired, with as many as 3,988 cases already reported so far, this year. There have been at least 49-recorded deaths attributed to the outbreak of the viral disease in the country till October 8. All this, despite the government formulating a specific disease-control programme for dengue, for which a separate budget has been allocated in the 11th Five Year Plan.
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PLAGUE, PNEUMONIC - MADAGASCAR
Posted in Shanghai Oct. 27th
Morarano village, 40 km east of Moramanga, has been hit by the plague; 3 persons of the same family have died in recent days and 4 people died one by one of plague in Ambohidray station, a rural commune of Morarano in the district of Moramanga, according to the declaration of death made to basic health center (CSB) Level II, Morarano A 20-year-old was the 1st victim on 6 Oct 2008.
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Morarano village, 40 km east of Moramanga, has been hit by the plague; 3 persons of the same family have died in recent days and 4 people died one by one of plague in Ambohidray station, a rural commune of Morarano in the district of Moramanga, according to the declaration of death made to basic health center (CSB) Level II, Morarano A 20-year-old was the 1st victim on 6 Oct 2008.
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Sunday, October 26, 2008
29 Oct - 1 Nov, 2008, Suzhou, China
本月26日,我将去参加在苏州举办的一届最重要的医疗展览- 第60届中国国际医疗器械博览会。
我将与我们巴斯特公司的执行总裁阿兰勒路斯先生一同前往中国，会见我们最忠诚的合作伙伴 - 徐火炬先生，并共同宣传促销我们的顶级产品：在苏州的巴斯特灭菌器。在此之后，我们计划拜访我曾经工作和生活过的北京，并参观一些医院。对此，我感到非常兴奋。我们将访问北京第6医院( 我的好朋友在那里工作)和东直门内的小诊所，我曾在那里得到过著名教授和主管王女士的传授(她是我恶梦中的开端和结束时的救世主)，也正是在那里我结识了一个特殊的朋友─范博士。遗憾的是，他目前在美国，我们已经失去了联系。但谁知道我们是否会再次取得联系呢？
我记得非常清楚，当我接受集训时，他们的每月平均工资还不到600元(60欧元左右)。即便如此，正是他们和社会基层的教师一起，在那里自始至终地负责教育和人民的卫生健康。出于对他们的尊重，在学习期间我曾尽己所能地从个方面给予支持，也正是由于他们才使我成为一个能通过特殊技能来诊断病症的、训练有素的针灸师。在中国，我们称为区分本和表。我一直想知道人们如何以这样的低收入来维持生活，但他们非常清楚地向我表明：只要能在依靠微薄的收入来持家的同时能作到尽力帮助同胞，这些牺牲都是值得的。我渐渐开始真心喜欢这些白衣天使，并对他们所做出的牺牲深感敬佩。令人可喜的是，今日的中国突飞猛进，他们现在收入水平也有了很大地提高。尽管如此，他们无私的奉献仍值得我们尊敬。因此，我想借再次拜访第6医院之行来表明我的感激之情，这包括对北京传统医学院、中国传统医学大学以及曾在我工作学习期间给予热情接待的所有医院，并建议向这些医院捐赠我们的灭菌器，使他们受益流动的无菌新鲜空气。众所周知，中国的医学界正在寻求的自由的空气...
我将与我们巴斯特公司的执行总裁阿兰勒路斯先生一同前往中国，会见我们最忠诚的合作伙伴 - 徐火炬先生，并共同宣传促销我们的顶级产品：在苏州的巴斯特灭菌器。在此之后，我们计划拜访我曾经工作和生活过的北京，并参观一些医院。对此，我感到非常兴奋。我们将访问北京第6医院( 我的好朋友在那里工作)和东直门内的小诊所，我曾在那里得到过著名教授和主管王女士的传授(她是我恶梦中的开端和结束时的救世主)，也正是在那里我结识了一个特殊的朋友─范博士。遗憾的是，他目前在美国，我们已经失去了联系。但谁知道我们是否会再次取得联系呢？
我记得非常清楚，当我接受集训时，他们的每月平均工资还不到600元(60欧元左右)。即便如此，正是他们和社会基层的教师一起，在那里自始至终地负责教育和人民的卫生健康。出于对他们的尊重，在学习期间我曾尽己所能地从个方面给予支持，也正是由于他们才使我成为一个能通过特殊技能来诊断病症的、训练有素的针灸师。在中国，我们称为区分本和表。我一直想知道人们如何以这样的低收入来维持生活，但他们非常清楚地向我表明：只要能在依靠微薄的收入来持家的同时能作到尽力帮助同胞，这些牺牲都是值得的。我渐渐开始真心喜欢这些白衣天使，并对他们所做出的牺牲深感敬佩。令人可喜的是，今日的中国突飞猛进，他们现在收入水平也有了很大地提高。尽管如此，他们无私的奉献仍值得我们尊敬。因此，我想借再次拜访第6医院之行来表明我的感激之情，这包括对北京传统医学院、中国传统医学大学以及曾在我工作学习期间给予热情接待的所有医院，并建议向这些医院捐赠我们的灭菌器，使他们受益流动的无菌新鲜空气。众所周知，中国的医学界正在寻求的自由的空气...
INFLUENZA A (H1N1) VIRUS, OSELTAMIVIR RESISTANCE
Since week 34/08, several sporadic, laboratory-confirmed influenza infections have been detected in the United Kingdom (UK): isolates have included influenza A(H3N2), A(H1N1) and influenza B. The first oseltamivir resistant influenza A(H1N1) for the 2008/09 season has also been identified in the UK through the HPA sentinel GP virological surveillance scheme. The virus contains the H274Y mutation but remains sensitive to zanamivir and amantadine, and is antigenically similar to the H1N1 reference strain A/Brisbane/59/2007, which is included in this season's influenza vaccine. Antiviral susceptibility tests on A(H3) isolates showed that they are sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir.
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Strange fever claims 150 lives in Jigawa
Dutse—A member of Jigawa State House of Assembly, representing Birniwa Local Government, Alhaji Musa Hassan Birniwa, drew the attention of the House over the death about 150 persons in Birniwa local government council in Jigawa State following an out break of fever in his area.
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UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE - INDIA (03): (ORISSA),
On 19 Oct 2008 the state government pressed into service epidemiologists from the Regional Medical Research Centre and Science Research Centre to visit [Kendrapara] district in the wake of reports of the outbreak of a mysterious fever. Nearly 1500 patients from thickly populated villages in Garadpur, Marshaghai and Mahakalpada block are hit by the virus disease. The epidemiologists from the research centre are making a symptomatic study of the disease. They have stationed themselves at the worst hit villages at Mahakalpada block and are extending clinical treatment to the people with fever and pain in the joints.
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Saturday, October 25, 2008
US boosts fund to fight bird flu
Shanghai Daily -- THE United States pledged an additional US$320 million to the global fight against bird flu yesterday and warned against complacency in combating the virus. The figure brings to US$949 million Washington's total pledges to fight avian influenza, which has killed 245 people in Asia, Africa and Europe since 2003."The US is pledging an additional US$320 million in international assistance for avian and pandemic influenza," said Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, at a ministerial conference in Egypt. Dobriansky echoed comments from Egyptian ministers and other attendees in warning of public complacency and "flu fatigue" about the deadly virus. "(There is) a growing feeling that the threat of an influenza pandemic has somehow diminished and that scarce resources could be better used elsewhere in the field of public health, in other words flu fatigue," she said.
Fearing Fear Itself
And then there is a man who knows how to put thoughts into words. Feelings which must be within thousands of us latent present, but fear not to be believed or just scared to lead the way out of this fake pandemic.
Well, I believe this crisis is a man made disaster and I am therefore eagerly looking for cheap and promising stocks. The crisis is as a wet skin, it will dry.
The Oct. 23 front-page article "Job Losses Accelerate, Signaling Deeper Distress" used words such as "hemorrhaging" and "long and painful recession." While factual, I suppose, such reports can become self-fulfilling. Americans should take a breath and think about the "crisis" we are in.
There is no world war, no second Sept. 11, no spate of Hurricane Katrinas, no bird flu epidemic, no drought of biblical proportions, no locusts and certainly no massive slayings of firstborns. This economic crisis is man-made and is spread not through spores or other biological means. It persists because of fear itself, spread by our New Age circulatory system -- the media and the Internet. Thus it can be stopped by man. People should be told that it will run its course and that things will then be better.
America is cheap now. It's a good time to buy, not sell, stocks, homes and cars.
Someone asked me when this will be over. I said that it could be over by next Thursday if someone with credibility just said that it would be over and enough people believed it.
ROBERT J. BRUDNO
Well, I believe this crisis is a man made disaster and I am therefore eagerly looking for cheap and promising stocks. The crisis is as a wet skin, it will dry.
The Oct. 23 front-page article "Job Losses Accelerate, Signaling Deeper Distress" used words such as "hemorrhaging" and "long and painful recession." While factual, I suppose, such reports can become self-fulfilling. Americans should take a breath and think about the "crisis" we are in.
There is no world war, no second Sept. 11, no spate of Hurricane Katrinas, no bird flu epidemic, no drought of biblical proportions, no locusts and certainly no massive slayings of firstborns. This economic crisis is man-made and is spread not through spores or other biological means. It persists because of fear itself, spread by our New Age circulatory system -- the media and the Internet. Thus it can be stopped by man. People should be told that it will run its course and that things will then be better.
America is cheap now. It's a good time to buy, not sell, stocks, homes and cars.
Someone asked me when this will be over. I said that it could be over by next Thursday if someone with credibility just said that it would be over and enough people believed it.
ROBERT J. BRUDNO
Dengue fever claims 81 lives in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 81 people died of dengue fever in Malaysia from early this year to Oct. 18, the Health Ministry said, local media reported on Saturday.
A total of 36,991 cases of dengue fever had been reported, the Health Ministry's disease control division director Hassan Abdul Rahman said.
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A total of 36,991 cases of dengue fever had been reported, the Health Ministry's disease control division director Hassan Abdul Rahman said.
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World is not prepared for bird flu pandemic, says UN
CAIRO: While most countries are planning for a flu pandemic, "many plans have not been tested and may well fail once the next influenza pandemic starts," warned the United Nations and the World Bank in a recent report.
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Friday, October 24, 2008
Cholera epidemic spreading quickly in Guinea-Bissau
GENEVA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - A cholera epidemic is spreading quickly in Guinea-Bissau, where campaigning for an upcoming election could put even more people at risk, United Nations agencies said on Friday.
Some 12,225 people in the West African state have caught cholera so far this year and 201 have died, raising fears among aid workers that the water-borne disease could resurge on the devastating scale seen in 2005.
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Some 12,225 people in the West African state have caught cholera so far this year and 201 have died, raising fears among aid workers that the water-borne disease could resurge on the devastating scale seen in 2005.
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Cold Virus Found To Manipulate Genes
ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2008) — Sneezing, runny nose and chills? You might blame the human rhinovirus (HRV), which causes 30 to 50 percent of common colds. But in reality, it's not the virus itself but HRV's ability to manipulate your genes that is the true cause of some of the most annoying cold symptoms.
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Immediate notification report
ANTHRAX - LAOS: (CHAMPASAK) OIE
Information received on 20 Oct 2008 from Dr. BounkhouangKhambounheuang, Director General, Vientiane, Laos --
Report reference: Dr. Bounkhouang Khambounheuang, Ref OIE: 7442, Report Date: 20/10/2008 , Country: Laos
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Information received on 20 Oct 2008 from Dr. BounkhouangKhambounheuang, Director General, Vientiane, Laos --
Report reference: Dr. Bounkhouang Khambounheuang, Ref OIE: 7442, Report Date: 20/10/2008 , Country: Laos
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Salmonella sickens dozens of people in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- A salmonella outbreak has sickened more than two dozen children and adults in the Los Angeles area, health officials said on Thursday.
Among the sick, 15 were sent to hospitals for treatment, according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Department (LACPHD).
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Among the sick, 15 were sent to hospitals for treatment, according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Department (LACPHD).
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Los Angeles sees highest number of infections by West Nile virus
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles area has seen the highest number of human infections by West Nile virus this year in its history, with 131 reported cases and three deaths, health officials said on Thursday.
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Another anthrax case confirmed in Slovenia
BELGRADE, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian veterinary services confirmed on Wednesday another case of anthrax just several days after four cows were found to have died of anthrax on a farm in eastern Slovenia.
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Thursday, October 23, 2008
First Confirmed H1N1 in Canada Tamiflu Resistant
Since 1 September 2008, National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) has antigenically characterized three influenza viruses: one influenza A/Brisbane/59/2007(H1N1)-like and two influenza B/Florida/4/2006 viruses, which are the influenza A(H1N1) and influenza B components recommended for the 2008-09 influenza vaccine.The testing results showed that the influenza A(H1N1) isolate was sensitive to amantadine, however, it was resistant to oseltamivir due to the H274Y mutation.
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HFMD: Two Kindergartens Closed For Two Weeks As Precaution
MIRI, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- Two kindergartens here will close for two weeks starting tomorrow after some of the children there were suspected of being infected with hand, foot and mouth Disease (HFMD).
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See also >> HFMD outbreak in Sarawak now under control
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See also >> HFMD outbreak in Sarawak now under control
卫生防护中心提醒市民慎防感染甲型肝炎
卫生署卫生防护中心现正调查一宗涉及一名十岁男童的甲型肝炎感染个案。男童在十月一日开始腹泻，十月七日出现黄疸及深色小便等甲型肝炎的病征。他于十月十四日前往香港仔赛马会诊疗所求医，毋须入院，目前情况稳定。 男童的血液化验结果显示对甲型肝炎呈阳性反应。他并没有外游纪录，家庭成员亦没有病征。卫生防护中心调查显示，中心于十月八日接获一宗涉及一名八岁女童的外地传入的甲型肝炎感染个案，该女童与男童就读同一间小学。女童于七月十一日至八月二十七日到访巴基斯坦，并于九月二十九日开始出现甲型肝炎病征，毋须入院，情况稳定。
基于流行病学分析，包括病发日期及接触史等，显示男童并非在学校被女童感染。卫生防护中心发言人说：「就男童的个案，卫生防护中心正在调查学校以外的感染源头。」 卫生防护中心已到访男童就读的学校，向管理层提供健康资讯，并透过学校向家长派发甲型肝炎的单张。
卫生防护中心正密切监察情况的发展。 发言人说甲型肝炎是一种病毒性肝炎，通常透过进食受粪便污染的食物、饮品及贝类海产传播，或由人传人的途径直接传播。「病毒性肝炎潜伏期通常约为四星期，但亦可能为期十五至五十日不等。」「甲型肝炎的症状为食欲不振、疲倦、恶心、呕吐、腹泻、发烧、上腹不适、黄疸，以及小便呈茶色，但患者亦可能全无症状。」
「这种疾病会持续数星期，甚至多月。大部份患者可完全康复，但在少数病例中，肝脏受损害的时间可能会延长。患者康复后通常会终身免疫，不会成为长期带病毒者。」预防甲型肝炎，市民应 ＊ 保持个人及食物要保持个人及食物卫生；＊ 煮食前、进食前及如厕后均要洗手；＊ 避免饮用不洁的饮品或加入不洁的冰块、避免进食未经彻底煮熟的食物，尤其是贝壳类食物，与及一些已切开或已去皮的水果； ＊ 到高危地区旅游的人士可考虑接受甲型肝炎的预防疫苗；及＊ 照顾病毒性肝炎的人士，在处理被患者粪便弄污的物品时应戴上手套及穿外袍。.
完２００８年１０月２３日（星期四）香港时间２０时１６分
基于流行病学分析，包括病发日期及接触史等，显示男童并非在学校被女童感染。卫生防护中心发言人说：「就男童的个案，卫生防护中心正在调查学校以外的感染源头。」 卫生防护中心已到访男童就读的学校，向管理层提供健康资讯，并透过学校向家长派发甲型肝炎的单张。
卫生防护中心正密切监察情况的发展。 发言人说甲型肝炎是一种病毒性肝炎，通常透过进食受粪便污染的食物、饮品及贝类海产传播，或由人传人的途径直接传播。「病毒性肝炎潜伏期通常约为四星期，但亦可能为期十五至五十日不等。」「甲型肝炎的症状为食欲不振、疲倦、恶心、呕吐、腹泻、发烧、上腹不适、黄疸，以及小便呈茶色，但患者亦可能全无症状。」
「这种疾病会持续数星期，甚至多月。大部份患者可完全康复，但在少数病例中，肝脏受损害的时间可能会延长。患者康复后通常会终身免疫，不会成为长期带病毒者。」预防甲型肝炎，市民应 ＊ 保持个人及食物要保持个人及食物卫生；＊ 煮食前、进食前及如厕后均要洗手；＊ 避免饮用不洁的饮品或加入不洁的冰块、避免进食未经彻底煮熟的食物，尤其是贝壳类食物，与及一些已切开或已去皮的水果； ＊ 到高危地区旅游的人士可考虑接受甲型肝炎的预防疫苗；及＊ 照顾病毒性肝炎的人士，在处理被患者粪便弄污的物品时应戴上手套及穿外袍。.
完２００８年１０月２３日（星期四）香港时间２０时１６分
China to get U.S. training on handling outbreaks
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States is expanding a training program for Chinese health officials to include communications to promote transparency during disease outbreaks, the director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control said on Thursday.
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Zimbabwe declares food shortages national disaster
Sometimes the µ world of micro-organisms is too small and we then overlook the vast problems our fellow people have to cope with. While the little bugs tend to get noticed only by observant spectators but get their attention nevertheless ones an attack gets successful, real people like you and me are dying because of disagreements at government level and nobody knows…
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe's sharply divided parliament Thursday united in declaring food shortages in the country a national disaster, and urged the authorities to engage the international community and non-governmental organisations to reduce suffering, especially among the poor.
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mobilize your wallet>>
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe's sharply divided parliament Thursday united in declaring food shortages in the country a national disaster, and urged the authorities to engage the international community and non-governmental organisations to reduce suffering, especially among the poor.
Please read on >>
mobilize your wallet>>
Bird flu reminder
Posted on: October 23, 2008 7:05 AM, by revere
WHO, CDC and numerous state health departments are warning citizens about seasonal flu, still a major public health problem, and the continuing threat of emergence of a novel flu virus to which the earth's population has little or no immunity.
There is something both plaintive and formulaic about these warnings. Seasonal flu is with us every flu season (hence its name) and the feared pandemic of bird flu has yet to materialize. Meanwhile there are great many "important things" claiming our attention, not the least of which is a global financial system in meltdown.
People have been warning of a potential financial crisis for years, but it didn't happen. Until now.
Please read on - 阅读更多 >>
WHO, CDC and numerous state health departments are warning citizens about seasonal flu, still a major public health problem, and the continuing threat of emergence of a novel flu virus to which the earth's population has little or no immunity.
There is something both plaintive and formulaic about these warnings. Seasonal flu is with us every flu season (hence its name) and the feared pandemic of bird flu has yet to materialize. Meanwhile there are great many "important things" claiming our attention, not the least of which is a global financial system in meltdown.
People have been warning of a potential financial crisis for years, but it didn't happen. Until now.
Please read on - 阅读更多 >>
WHO researchers’ call for action on childhood environmental health
Washington, Oct 23 (IANS) -- Exposure to environmental threats can affect children’s health and development early in life and into adulthood.
World Health Organisation (WHO) and Boston University scientists suggest that it is time for both industrialised and developing countries to assess the environmental burden of childhood diseases.
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World Health Organisation (WHO) and Boston University scientists suggest that it is time for both industrialised and developing countries to assess the environmental burden of childhood diseases.
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Global plan to tackle bird flu threat
London, Oct 23 (IANS) -- Efforts are on to have a global plan to tackle emerging infectious diseases like bird flu at an international ministerial conference on avian and pandemic influenza in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.
The plan called the ‘One World, One Health (OW-OH)’ initiative, aims for an unprecedented integration of animal, human and ecosystem health issues to fight the threat of the avian flu virus H5N1.
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The plan called the ‘One World, One Health (OW-OH)’ initiative, aims for an unprecedented integration of animal, human and ecosystem health issues to fight the threat of the avian flu virus H5N1.
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New approach needed against Avian flu threat
As the first globally co-ordinated plan for the planet's gravest health threats is hatched by government ministers from around the world this weekend, a new report sets out a 10-point plan for this new, globalised approach to infectious diseases such as avian flu.
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Information Session For Owners Of Backyard Poultry Flocks
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador invite owners of small or backyard poultry flocks to attend a free information session on how to help prevent and detect poultry diseases, such as avian influenza. Area bird owners and the general public are welcome to attend the session from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at the Provincial Agriculture Building located at 308 Brookfield Road, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Representatives from the CFIA and the provincial government will be available to answer questions. A series of presentations will be held throughout the evening. Topics include preventing the introduction and spread of disease, how to spot the signs of illness and what to do if a disease is detected.
Deaths of C. diff-infected patients under investigation
Several more patients with Clostridium difficile died at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital recently, but doctors have not identified if the virulent disease caused their deaths.
Health officials claim to have controlled the outbreak even with the number of infected patients rising to 73.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority declared the outbreak in July after identifying a sharp increase of infected patients. Incidents of C. difficile affected 16 patients in July, up from eight in June and three in both April and May.
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Health officials claim to have controlled the outbreak even with the number of infected patients rising to 73.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority declared the outbreak in July after identifying a sharp increase of infected patients. Incidents of C. difficile affected 16 patients in July, up from eight in June and three in both April and May.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
3 more Macau children sick after drinking milk
HONG KONG: Three more children in the southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau have developed kidney stones after drinking milk that may have been be tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, bringing the total number of sick children to seven, the government said.
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Roast beef recalled in eastern Ontario over possible Listeria contamination
The Canadian Press -- October 22, 2008 at 1:11 AM EDT
OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to consume ready-to-eat roast beef sold at certain deli counters in Ontario because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The original roast beef was manufactured by Les Salaisons Desco Inc. (EST 501).
This roast beef had tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
The affected ready-to-eat roast beef was sold in variable weight deli-style plastic bags at the following stores in Ontario during the time periods indicated:
Sharpe's IGA in Campbellford from Oct. 3 to 12, Lamantia's Country Market in Lindsay from Oct. 8 to 21, Fisher Foodland in Cobourg from Oct. 8 to 17, Campbell Metcalfe Variety in Metcalf from Oct. 2 to 21.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled.
Consumption of food contaminated with these bacteria may cause listeriosis.
OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to consume ready-to-eat roast beef sold at certain deli counters in Ontario because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The original roast beef was manufactured by Les Salaisons Desco Inc. (EST 501).
This roast beef had tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
The affected ready-to-eat roast beef was sold in variable weight deli-style plastic bags at the following stores in Ontario during the time periods indicated:
Sharpe's IGA in Campbellford from Oct. 3 to 12, Lamantia's Country Market in Lindsay from Oct. 8 to 21, Fisher Foodland in Cobourg from Oct. 8 to 17, Campbell Metcalfe Variety in Metcalf from Oct. 2 to 21.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled.
Consumption of food contaminated with these bacteria may cause listeriosis.
Niger: MSF France calls upon the President of Niger to lift the ban on its activities immediately
無國界醫生法國分部鄭重要求尼日爾總統立即解除對其救援工作的禁令
無國界醫生法國分部在尼日爾的工作已被當局暫停三個月，該組織要求立即恢復在馬拉迪（Maradi）的營養治療工作。無國界醫生法國分部主席Marie-Pierre ALLIE醫生說︰「現時當地情況非常棘手，儘管各人已盡其所能，但我所到過的醫院和醫療中心的醫護人員，都無法應付大批前來求醫的營養不良兒童。」
Three months after Nigerien authorities suspended the activities of the French section of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the organization is calling for an immediate resumption of its nutritional operations in Maradi. "The situation in the field is very troubling," says Dr. Marie-Pierre ALLIÉ, the president of MSF France. "Despite all their efforts, the health care staff in the hospitals and health centers I visited cannot respond to the influx of malnourished children."
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無國界醫生法國分部在尼日爾的工作已被當局暫停三個月，該組織要求立即恢復在馬拉迪（Maradi）的營養治療工作。無國界醫生法國分部主席Marie-Pierre ALLIE醫生說︰「現時當地情況非常棘手，儘管各人已盡其所能，但我所到過的醫院和醫療中心的醫護人員，都無法應付大批前來求醫的營養不良兒童。」
Three months after Nigerien authorities suspended the activities of the French section of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the organization is calling for an immediate resumption of its nutritional operations in Maradi. "The situation in the field is very troubling," says Dr. Marie-Pierre ALLIÉ, the president of MSF France. "Despite all their efforts, the health care staff in the hospitals and health centers I visited cannot respond to the influx of malnourished children."
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蓝泳铄 宋世斌. 高致病性禽流感发生风险评估模型的建立. 中山大学学报(医学科学版),
2008年10月21日9点42分 --
目的】对高致病性禽流感发生的风险进行评估,为该病制定科学有效的控制策略提供理论依据。【方法】首先,通过对已发生的高致病性禽流感相关资料的分析,结合已有的研究成果,确定高致病性禽流感发生的风险因素;然后通过改进现有对高致病性禽流感发生的风险评估方法——层次分析法,利用改进后的模糊层次分析法确定风险因素的权重;最后应用多指标综合评分法计算出风险概率,建立高致病性禽流感发生风险评估模型。【结果】将该模型对2008年春季我国各省份禽流感疫情发生情况的风险预警评估结果与今春实际情况进行对照检验,发现除了贵州省外,其它三个疫情发生省份在该模型的预警结果中都为高风险省份。【结论】该风险评估模型具有可行性和推广性,为各地在不同季节对高致病性禽流感的免疫预防工作提供一些参考建议。
目的】对高致病性禽流感发生的风险进行评估,为该病制定科学有效的控制策略提供理论依据。【方法】首先,通过对已发生的高致病性禽流感相关资料的分析,结合已有的研究成果,确定高致病性禽流感发生的风险因素;然后通过改进现有对高致病性禽流感发生的风险评估方法——层次分析法,利用改进后的模糊层次分析法确定风险因素的权重;最后应用多指标综合评分法计算出风险概率,建立高致病性禽流感发生风险评估模型。【结果】将该模型对2008年春季我国各省份禽流感疫情发生情况的风险预警评估结果与今春实际情况进行对照检验,发现除了贵州省外,其它三个疫情发生省份在该模型的预警结果中都为高风险省份。【结论】该风险评估模型具有可行性和推广性,为各地在不同季节对高致病性禽流感的免疫预防工作提供一些参考建议。
Snohomish County health officials investigating 14 unconfirmed E. coli cases
Spokeswoman Suzanne Pate said the district's nurses noted two cases last week and on Friday asked Snohomish County physicians to do further testing if any patients came in with bloody diarrhea for at least two days — a symptom of E. coli.
By noon Monday, medical professionals in the county had reported a total 14 cases, none of which have yet been confirmed by additional testing, which can take several days.
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By noon Monday, medical professionals in the county had reported a total 14 cases, none of which have yet been confirmed by additional testing, which can take several days.
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UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE - INDIA: (ORISSA)
Undiagnosed viral disease in Jajpur district of Orissa state
The outbreak of a mysterious fever in Bari, Korei, Rasulpur andDharmasala blocks has led to fear of bird flu here. But districthealth authorities say it is not bird flu but some other virus whichis yet to be diagnosed.
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The outbreak of a mysterious fever in Bari, Korei, Rasulpur andDharmasala blocks has led to fear of bird flu here. But districthealth authorities say it is not bird flu but some other virus whichis yet to be diagnosed.
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Bill not paid, hospital shows encephalitis-hit child the door
Kolkata, October 21 Bystanders, doctors help him get readmitted
It took hours and intervention from bystanders to get eight-year old Shahjehan Sheikh, suffering from encephalitis, readmitted at the NRS Medical College and Hospital after the child’s mother was forced to take him out due to monetary problems
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It took hours and intervention from bystanders to get eight-year old Shahjehan Sheikh, suffering from encephalitis, readmitted at the NRS Medical College and Hospital after the child’s mother was forced to take him out due to monetary problems
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Countries Lack Adequate ‘Bird Flu’ Response Plans
Press Release: United Nations -- New York, Oct 21 2008 7:10PM
Most countries that have strategies in place to deal with a possible avian influenza pandemic have not properly tested those plans, leaving them extremely vulnerable if a major outbreak were to occur, the head of United Nations efforts to prepare such an eventuality said today.
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Most countries that have strategies in place to deal with a possible avian influenza pandemic have not properly tested those plans, leaving them extremely vulnerable if a major outbreak were to occur, the head of United Nations efforts to prepare such an eventuality said today.
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Senior UN expert urges better preparedness for flu pandemic
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- A senior United Nations expert on Tuesday called for better preparedness for an influenza pandemic despite greater awareness in the aftermath of the outbreaks of avian flu.
Briefing reporters here about a report on responses to avian influenza and state of pandemic readiness, UN System Influenza Coordinator David Nabarro said many countries are planning for an influenza pandemic, but many of the plans have not been adequately tested.
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Briefing reporters here about a report on responses to avian influenza and state of pandemic readiness, UN System Influenza Coordinator David Nabarro said many countries are planning for an influenza pandemic, but many of the plans have not been adequately tested.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
儿童和禽流感
可对儿童健康带来直接威胁
禽流感在受感染地区已经影响了一些家庭和儿童的生命和生活。禽流感已经不同程度地对儿童健康和生存造成了影响。
到目前为止，已报告的人类感染禽流感病例中，大约半数是儿童，1/3死亡病例是儿童。
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禽流感在受感染地区已经影响了一些家庭和儿童的生命和生活。禽流感已经不同程度地对儿童健康和生存造成了影响。
到目前为止，已报告的人类感染禽流感病例中，大约半数是儿童，1/3死亡病例是儿童。
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人类流感和禽流感的区别
流感是发生在人类身上的病毒性呼吸系统感染，病情比普通感冒严重得多。通常被称为“流感”，发病带有季节性，通常发生在冬天。
禽流感是野生鸟类和家禽感染了禽流感病毒（不同于人类流感病毒）之后所患的疾病。2003年之后，H5N1禽流感病毒在鸟类中引起了严重的感染（被称为高致病性禽流感），并从亚洲地区蔓延到欧洲、中东地区和非洲，影响范围涉及30多个国家。H5N1病毒能够在家禽中迅速传播，一旦家禽被感染，在48小时之内的死亡率可达90％至100％。
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禽流感是野生鸟类和家禽感染了禽流感病毒（不同于人类流感病毒）之后所患的疾病。2003年之后，H5N1禽流感病毒在鸟类中引起了严重的感染（被称为高致病性禽流感），并从亚洲地区蔓延到欧洲、中东地区和非洲，影响范围涉及30多个国家。H5N1病毒能够在家禽中迅速传播，一旦家禽被感染，在48小时之内的死亡率可达90％至100％。
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Emergence and control of infectious diseases in China
The Lancet Early Online Publication, -- Infectious diseases remain the major causes of morbidity and mortality in China despite substantial progress in their control. China is a major contributor to the worldwide infectious disease burden because of its population size. The association of China with the rest of the world through travel and trade means that events in the country can affect distant populations.
In the event you are asked a password at The Lancet, please, let me know and I am happy to share the article with you!
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In the event you are asked a password at The Lancet, please, let me know and I am happy to share the article with you!
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Nurse battles arena virus
Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:56 -- The nursing sister being treated for an arena virus is still in a serious condition while her colleagues at the Morningside Medi-Clinic are hoping she will make a turn for the better soon.
"We are hopeful that the turning point will come at the end of the week. We have hope," said spokeswoman Melinda Pelser.
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"We are hopeful that the turning point will come at the end of the week. We have hope," said spokeswoman Melinda Pelser.
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Egypt to host international bird flu conference
CAIRO, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Egypt is to host an international conference on the bird flu virus in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh on October 25, the country's health minister said on Tuesday.
The two-day conference, which will gather 500 participants from 116 countries, including 50 health and agriculture ministers, is being co-organized by the European Union as part of global efforts to combat the disease.
"The conference in Sharm el Sheikh will provide the opportunity to talk about what Africa needs in financial terms to continue the fight against bird flu, as well as the early diagnosis and prevention of the virus," Hatem El-Gabali said.
Bird flu first appeared in Egypt in 2006. Since then, 50 people have been infected, with 22 fatalities. The country is the worst-hit outside Asia by avian flu.
Previous conferences on avian flu were held in Washington, Beijing, Vienna, Bamako and New Delhi.
According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza has so far killed 245 people out of a total 387 confirmed cases worldwide. Although there have been no incidences of human to human infection, experts fear that it may mutate into a form that could easily be transmitted from person to person, causing a global pandemic.
The two-day conference, which will gather 500 participants from 116 countries, including 50 health and agriculture ministers, is being co-organized by the European Union as part of global efforts to combat the disease.
"The conference in Sharm el Sheikh will provide the opportunity to talk about what Africa needs in financial terms to continue the fight against bird flu, as well as the early diagnosis and prevention of the virus," Hatem El-Gabali said.
Bird flu first appeared in Egypt in 2006. Since then, 50 people have been infected, with 22 fatalities. The country is the worst-hit outside Asia by avian flu.
Previous conferences on avian flu were held in Washington, Beijing, Vienna, Bamako and New Delhi.
According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza has so far killed 245 people out of a total 387 confirmed cases worldwide. Although there have been no incidences of human to human infection, experts fear that it may mutate into a form that could easily be transmitted from person to person, causing a global pandemic.
Boy, 8, ill with enteroviral infection
The Centre for Health Protection today confirmed an Enterovirus-71 case involving an eight-year-old boy, bringing the year's total to 86.
The boy came down with fever, headache and rash over his hands and feet on October 15. He was admitted to United Christian Hospital two days later and is stable.
He had no travel history and his primary school had no report of a hand-foot-mouth disease outbreak. However, his three-year-old brother had symptoms of the disease earlier and had recovered.
There were 12 EV-71 cases last year, 35 in 2004, eight in 2005 and 16 in 2006.
The boy came down with fever, headache and rash over his hands and feet on October 15. He was admitted to United Christian Hospital two days later and is stable.
He had no travel history and his primary school had no report of a hand-foot-mouth disease outbreak. However, his three-year-old brother had symptoms of the disease earlier and had recovered.
There were 12 EV-71 cases last year, 35 in 2004, eight in 2005 and 16 in 2006.
Worries over test for mad cow disease
A new test to screen blood for the incurable human form of mad cow disease could be available within 18 months, but it has raised concerns.
The breakthrough blood test which will be able to diagnose variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases (vCJD), is currently undergoing clinical trials but experts are worried it will reduce the number of people prepared to donate blood - research suggests 1 in every 4,000 people might harbour vCJD in their blood, though 95% of them may never actually develop the full blown disease.
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The breakthrough blood test which will be able to diagnose variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases (vCJD), is currently undergoing clinical trials but experts are worried it will reduce the number of people prepared to donate blood - research suggests 1 in every 4,000 people might harbour vCJD in their blood, though 95% of them may never actually develop the full blown disease.
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Google grants more than $14 million to support partners working in Southeast Asia and Africa to prevent the next pandemic
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has announced grants of more than $14 million to support partners working in Southeast Asia and Africa to prevent the next pandemic
Google.org's Predict and Prevent initiative is supporting efforts to identify hot spots where diseases may emerge, detect new pathogens circulating in animal and human populations, and respond to outbreaks before they become global crises.
Several new lethal infectious diseases crop up every year. Examples include the well-known killers, HIV/AIDS, bird flu, and SARS, as well as drug-resistant strains of ancient scourges malaria and tuberculosis. Three-quarters of new diseases are zoonoses, meaning they've jumped from animals to humans.
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Google.org's Predict and Prevent initiative is supporting efforts to identify hot spots where diseases may emerge, detect new pathogens circulating in animal and human populations, and respond to outbreaks before they become global crises.
Several new lethal infectious diseases crop up every year. Examples include the well-known killers, HIV/AIDS, bird flu, and SARS, as well as drug-resistant strains of ancient scourges malaria and tuberculosis. Three-quarters of new diseases are zoonoses, meaning they've jumped from animals to humans.
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Кыргызстан: На юге страны продолжают выявляться больные сибирской язвой
Фергана.Ру Kyrgyzstan -- Anthrax infected patients are being identified in south of country
New patients with anthrax are being registered in Kyrgyzstan. Recently, a 36-year-old habitant of Aksiskiy [Aksy district] region of the Jalal-Abad oblast has been hospitalized on suspicion of skin anthrax. He is the 45th patient with anthrax in the south of the country and 47th in all Kyrgyzstan this year [2008]. One patient has died and dozens are under medical supervision.
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New patients with anthrax are being registered in Kyrgyzstan. Recently, a 36-year-old habitant of Aksiskiy [Aksy district] region of the Jalal-Abad oblast has been hospitalized on suspicion of skin anthrax. He is the 45th patient with anthrax in the south of the country and 47th in all Kyrgyzstan this year [2008]. One patient has died and dozens are under medical supervision.
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Beating the flu, then and now
Steve Moore for the Times-Standard 10/21/2008 01:32:43 AM PDT -- --
I was heartened to see that Mr. Driscoll took up the call of addressing the much discussed but little understood influenza pandemic of 1918.
Experts will tell us that we are most frightened by events that we have little control over, even though we put ourselves at statistically significant greater risk for injury and death every day by such simple actions as hopping in our car to go to work.
I too have read “The Great Influenza” and was curious to see what was going on in Humboldt County when this global scourge was wreaking its havoc. I looked through our local newspapers of the time and discovered that our predecessors were affected by this virus, but managed to persevere by using good old common sense.
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I was heartened to see that Mr. Driscoll took up the call of addressing the much discussed but little understood influenza pandemic of 1918.
Experts will tell us that we are most frightened by events that we have little control over, even though we put ourselves at statistically significant greater risk for injury and death every day by such simple actions as hopping in our car to go to work.
I too have read “The Great Influenza” and was curious to see what was going on in Humboldt County when this global scourge was wreaking its havoc. I looked through our local newspapers of the time and discovered that our predecessors were affected by this virus, but managed to persevere by using good old common sense.
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Tainted feed kills 1,500 Chinese dogs bred for fur
BEIJING (AP) — Some 1,500 dogs bred for their raccoon-like fur have died after eating feed tainted with the same chemical that contaminated dairy products and sickened tens of thousands of babies nationwide, a veterinarian said Monday.
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Toddler virus flares up again in China, kills three
BEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Three children have died in eastern China from hand, foot and mouth disease in the country's second outbreak of the potent toddler virus this year, state media reported on Monday.
Health officials warned that the disease was epidemic in some parts of the coastal Fujian province, with 113 cases reported since the start of October, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The three victims were all less than one year old and from the same place, Jian'ou City, it added.
A flare-up of the virus in southern China killed at least 42 people in April and May, and 27,500 further cases, largely affecting toddlers, were reported.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common childhood illness, but the outbreaks in China have been linked with enterovirus 71 (EV71), which can cause a severe form of the disease characterised by high fever, paralysis and meningitis.
There is no vaccine for the disease and normally, patients recover within a week to 10 days. Enteroviruses spread mostly through contact with infected blisters or faeces (Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Valerie Lee) news ## for search indexer, do not remove -->
Health officials warned that the disease was epidemic in some parts of the coastal Fujian province, with 113 cases reported since the start of October, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The three victims were all less than one year old and from the same place, Jian'ou City, it added.
A flare-up of the virus in southern China killed at least 42 people in April and May, and 27,500 further cases, largely affecting toddlers, were reported.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common childhood illness, but the outbreaks in China have been linked with enterovirus 71 (EV71), which can cause a severe form of the disease characterised by high fever, paralysis and meningitis.
There is no vaccine for the disease and normally, patients recover within a week to 10 days. Enteroviruses spread mostly through contact with infected blisters or faeces (Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Valerie Lee) news ## for search indexer, do not remove -->
Monday, October 20, 2008
Confirmed case of dengue fever -- 一宗確診的登革熱個案
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (October 20) urged people to guard against dengue fever following the confirmation of a case by laboratory test. The case involved a 53-year-old man living in Central and Western District. He developed fever, headache, muscle pain and skin rash on October 10 and consulted a private doctor on October 15. No hospitalisation was required.
生署生防護中心今日（十月二十日）確診一宗登革熱個案，並且呼籲市民提高警覺。 個案涉及一名五十三歲居於中西區的男子，他於十月十日出現發燒、頭痛、肌肉痛和紅疹的徵狀，十月十五日向私家醫生求診，不用留院。
生防護中心的調查顯示，他曾於九月二十七日至十月十二日到訪印度，同行者並沒有出現病徵。
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生署生防護中心今日（十月二十日）確診一宗登革熱個案，並且呼籲市民提高警覺。 個案涉及一名五十三歲居於中西區的男子，他於十月十日出現發燒、頭痛、肌肉痛和紅疹的徵狀，十月十五日向私家醫生求診，不用留院。
生防護中心的調查顯示，他曾於九月二十七日至十月十二日到訪印度，同行者並沒有出現病徵。
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Herbal injection recall list expanded
The Chinese producer of the deadly "ciwujia" herbal injection decided on Friday to recall all its injection products, expanding its previous recall list, the national drug safety watchdog said Saturday.
The Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said in a statement issued on Saturday the Wandashan Pharmaceutical Company, in the northeastern HeilongjiangProvince, initiated the move "voluntarily" according to the country's drug recall regulations.
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The Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said in a statement issued on Saturday the Wandashan Pharmaceutical Company, in the northeastern HeilongjiangProvince, initiated the move "voluntarily" according to the country's drug recall regulations.
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N.Korean diplomats abroad told to wait for 'important news'
Of topic and a bit outdated but interesting enough I would say -- -- --
MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Diplomats at all North Korean embassies have been told to wait for an important message from Pyongyang, a Japanese newspaper reported on Saturday.
Yomiuri Shimbun said the diplomats received the instruction several days ago. It quoted unnamed sources as saying they were told to cancel all business trips.
Analysts say the news could be connected with the deteriorating health of North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il, or with relations between the two Koreas.
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MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Diplomats at all North Korean embassies have been told to wait for an important message from Pyongyang, a Japanese newspaper reported on Saturday.
Yomiuri Shimbun said the diplomats received the instruction several days ago. It quoted unnamed sources as saying they were told to cancel all business trips.
Analysts say the news could be connected with the deteriorating health of North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il, or with relations between the two Koreas.
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Dead bird confirmed with avian flu in China's Hong Kong
HONG KONG, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - A dead crow, which was found in one of Hong Kong's central parks, has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, local media said on Monday.
The last confirmed outbreak of bird flu in China was registered in June in the province of Guangdong, close to Hong Kong, when over 17,000 ducks were slaughtered as a preventive measure.
According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza has so far killed 243 people out of a total 387 confirmed cases worldwide. Although there have been no incidences of human to human infection, experts fear that it may mutate into a form that could easily be transmitted from person to person, causing a global pandemic.
The last confirmed outbreak of bird flu in China was registered in June in the province of Guangdong, close to Hong Kong, when over 17,000 ducks were slaughtered as a preventive measure.
According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza has so far killed 243 people out of a total 387 confirmed cases worldwide. Although there have been no incidences of human to human infection, experts fear that it may mutate into a form that could easily be transmitted from person to person, causing a global pandemic.
Virus clinic’s waste ‘has been destroyed’ ............
An update on an article from october 6th -- Mystery illness kills four in South Africa
Oct 20, 2008 The Times South Africa .............But hospital still waiting for proof
THE company responsible for collecting medical waste from some of Johannesburg’s hospitals insisted yesterday the waste it had collected recently from the Morningside Medi-Clinic had been destroyed — but it remains unclear if material, which may include body parts, was linked to the recent arenavirus scare.
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Oct 20, 2008 The Times South Africa .............But hospital still waiting for proof
THE company responsible for collecting medical waste from some of Johannesburg’s hospitals insisted yesterday the waste it had collected recently from the Morningside Medi-Clinic had been destroyed — but it remains unclear if material, which may include body parts, was linked to the recent arenavirus scare.
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Another herbal drug recalled after baby death
China has recalled a herbal remedy after it was blamed for the death of a newborn baby, state media said on Monday, in the latest health scare to hit the country.The nine-day-old baby in the northern province of Shaanxi died after being injected with ''Yinzhihuang,'' a remedy containing herbal extracts and used to treat liver diseases and infantile jaundice, the official Xinhua News Agency said.Three other infants had suffered ''adverse effects'' after being injected and hospitals have been told to stop using the drug, the report said, citing the Ministry of Health. Samples of the drug were being tested, Xinhua added.Earlier this month, the government recalled another herbal injection whose use has been linked to the deaths of three people.
More Wild Birds Found Dead in Seoul, Incheon
Monday, October 20, 2008 14:31:50 -- More than 100 wild birds have been found dead in Seoul and Incheon. Public health authorities are investigating whether the birds were infected with the bird flu. An office on the management of the Han River said that it found four dead wild ducks in a region where a stream joins the river. Twenty-seven wild birds have been found dead at the confluence. Some 80 wild ducks were found dead near Songdo Island, Incheon, on Sunday and Monday.The Research Institute of Public Health and Environment is looking into the cause of the birds’ death to determine whether they were killed from toxic substances or avian influenza.
Research identifies type of vaccine that holds promise in protecting against TB
03:38 EST, October 20, 2008 PhysOrg -- Researchers are one step closer to finding a vaccine that better protects against tuberculosis. An investigational vaccine for TB tested at Saint Louis University appears likely to offer significantly better protection against the potentially fatal disease than the one in current use.
"Not only was it as safe as the standard vaccine, it induced a better immune response, which suggests it will be more effective at protecting against tuberculosis," said Daniel Hoft, M.D., Ph.D., director of the division of immunobiology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
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"Not only was it as safe as the standard vaccine, it induced a better immune response, which suggests it will be more effective at protecting against tuberculosis," said Daniel Hoft, M.D., Ph.D., director of the division of immunobiology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
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Tripura sounds bird flu alert along Indo-Bangla border
20 Oct 2008, 1323 hrs IST,PTI -- AGARTALA -- The Times of India --
An alert has been sounded along the porous Indo-Bangla international border in Tripura following reports of bird flu in the neighbouring country, official sources said here on Monday.
Sylhet, Srimanagal and Habigunj districts of Bangladesh, bordering Khowai subdivision of West Tripura district and Kamalpur subdivision of Dhalai district, have recently been affected by avian influenza, the sources said. Border Security Force (BSF) was keeping a close vigil along the 856 km-long border to prevent the entry of chicken and poultry in the border markets, the sources said.
The state government also alerted all the district administrations and was organising workshops with the employees on disease control, the sources said. An assistant director of animal resource department, posted at Khowai subdivision, Samarendra Das, told reporters that a coordinated effort was needed to stop the spreading of disease.
An alert has been sounded along the porous Indo-Bangla international border in Tripura following reports of bird flu in the neighbouring country, official sources said here on Monday.
Sylhet, Srimanagal and Habigunj districts of Bangladesh, bordering Khowai subdivision of West Tripura district and Kamalpur subdivision of Dhalai district, have recently been affected by avian influenza, the sources said. Border Security Force (BSF) was keeping a close vigil along the 856 km-long border to prevent the entry of chicken and poultry in the border markets, the sources said.
The state government also alerted all the district administrations and was organising workshops with the employees on disease control, the sources said. An assistant director of animal resource department, posted at Khowai subdivision, Samarendra Das, told reporters that a coordinated effort was needed to stop the spreading of disease.
Bird Flu Vaccine Protects People And Pets
ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2008) — A single vaccine could be used to protect chickens, cats and humans against deadly flu pandemics, according to an article published in the November issue of the Journal of General Virology. The vaccine protects birds and mammals against different flu strains and can even be given to birds while they are still in their eggs, allowing the mass vaccination of wild birds.
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Sunday, October 19, 2008
Seoul City Tests Dead Birds
Seoul's public health authority is investigating whether some 20 wild birds found dead in the Han River were infected with the bird flu. The city’s Hangang Project Headquarters said it collected about a dozen dead ducks in the river on Saturday morning. The authority found four dead birds on Tuesday and seven more Friday in the same area. The Research Institute of Public Health and Environment is looking into the cause of the birds’ death to determine whether they were killed from toxic substances, accidents or avian influenza. The institute said results will come out in about two weeks.
Three kids die of intestinal disease in east China
FUZHOU -- East China's Fujian Province reported 113 cases of infectious intestinal disease this month and three children were confirmed to have died of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD).
All the cases were reported in Jian'ou City from October 1 to 17, said a provincial health bureau spokesman on Sunday.
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All the cases were reported in Jian'ou City from October 1 to 17, said a provincial health bureau spokesman on Sunday.
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Additional Worldwide Fixing of H1N1 Tamiflu
In South Africa, a total of 306 A(H1N1) viruses have been isolated during the 2008 influenza season as of 6 October. Of those, 225 isolates have been tested for oseltamivir resistance by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and 100% were found to be resistant to oseltamivir by genotypic analysis
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滇确诊68例登革热疫情已基本控制
本报云南专讯 都市时报记者昨天从相关部门获悉，截至10月14日，云南各州市累计报告登革热病例68例，其中48例为境外输入，主要集中在中缅边境的德宏、临沧和西双版纳，目前无病例死亡。云南省疾病控制中心工作人员表示，虽然全省的防疫形势非常严峻，但由于卫生防疫部门采取了有效的措施，且发病的大多数是输入性病例，疫情已经得到基本控制。
Yunnan confirmed 68 cases of dengue fever; epidemic has been brought under control
A reporter from City Times learned from the relevant departments yesterday [15 Oct 2008] that Yunnan Province has reported 68 cases of dengue fever, of which 48 cases were imported cases, mainly from Dehong, Lincang, and Xishuangbanna located near the China Myanmar border. Currently, no deaths because of dengue fever have been reported. The staff from Yunnan Center for Disease Control said that although the province's epidemic situation is very severe, the epidemic has been brought under control because the departments of health and epidemic prevention have taken effective control measures and most of the cases were imported.
Yunnan confirmed 68 cases of dengue fever; epidemic has been brought under control
A reporter from City Times learned from the relevant departments yesterday [15 Oct 2008] that Yunnan Province has reported 68 cases of dengue fever, of which 48 cases were imported cases, mainly from Dehong, Lincang, and Xishuangbanna located near the China Myanmar border. Currently, no deaths because of dengue fever have been reported. The staff from Yunnan Center for Disease Control said that although the province's epidemic situation is very severe, the epidemic has been brought under control because the departments of health and epidemic prevention have taken effective control measures and most of the cases were imported.
Slovenia confirms four cases of anthrax
BELGRADE, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian veterinary services confirmed on Friday reports about the death of four cows caused by anthrax, but insisted that there were no reasons for panic after having taken necessary measures.
The four cows belong to a farmer from the village of Zice near Slovenske Konjice in northeastern Slovenia, the Slovenian news agency STA reported.
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The four cows belong to a farmer from the village of Zice near Slovenske Konjice in northeastern Slovenia, the Slovenian news agency STA reported.
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Commentary on H5N1 Returns to Bangladesh
Recombinomics Commentary 15:20 October 19 -- 2008
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Avian virus new to Thailand found on chicken farms
An avian virus that is new to Thailand has been found in chicken farms in the central, western, and eastern regions, raising serious concerns about its impact on the country's poultry industry. The discovery of the virus, Avian Adenovirus Group 1, was revealed yesterday by a team of veterinarians from Kasetsart University's veterinary medicine's diagnostic unit in Nakhon Pathom province.
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Bangladesh finds more bird flu
DHAKA - BANGLADESH authorities said on Sunday they have detected fresh bird flu at a poultry farm four months after the deadly virus was last reported in the country.
Livestock department spokesman Salahuddin Khan said at least 300 birds were destroyed in a farm in the northern Naogaon district last week after the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was detected.
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Livestock department spokesman Salahuddin Khan said at least 300 birds were destroyed in a farm in the northern Naogaon district last week after the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was detected.
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Saturday, October 18, 2008
Studies Of How SARS And Bird Flu Evade Antiviral Responses Funded By NIAID
Article Date: 18 Oct 2008 -- The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAID), one of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a contract to the University of Washington (UW) to use systems biology approaches to comprehensively analyze and model the virus-host interactions and cellular response networks that are induced or altered during the course of acute respiratory virus infection.
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Acute diarrhoea, petechial fever hits Nghe An Province
NGHE AN — More than 50 people in Quynh Luu District, central Nghe An Province, have been hospitalised with acute diarrhoea, according to the provincial health department.
Quynh Phuong Commune had the largest number of patients, amounting to 39.
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Quynh Phuong Commune had the largest number of patients, amounting to 39.
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家鴉對Ｈ５病毒測試呈陽性反應
漁農自然護理署（漁護署）發言人今日（十月十七日）表示，根據初步測試，一隻在深水撿獲的家鴉懷疑帶有H5禽流感病毒，當局正繼續作進一步確定測試。
該頭家鴉的屍體於十月十五日在深水公園垃圾房被發現及撿走。
發言人說：「因應這個個案，漁護署已致電家禽農戶，提醒他們加強預防禽流感及生物安全措施。除家禽農戶外，我們亦已發信雀鳥店主、持牌飼養寵物家禽和賽鴿人士，提醒他們採取適當預防措施。」
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In English >>House Crow tested for H5 virus
該頭家鴉的屍體於十月十五日在深水公園垃圾房被發現及撿走。
發言人說：「因應這個個案，漁護署已致電家禽農戶，提醒他們加強預防禽流感及生物安全措施。除家禽農戶外，我們亦已發信雀鳥店主、持牌飼養寵物家禽和賽鴿人士，提醒他們採取適當預防措施。」
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In English >>House Crow tested for H5 virus
烏干達卡拉莫賈的營養不良問題︰我們擔心情況仍會惡化
卡拉莫賈（Karamoja）的居民一直受到營養不良問題的困擾，但今年烏干達東北部偏遠地區，受到近五年來最嚴重的旱災影響，引發人道危機。過去兩年，不正常的暴雨過後都緊隨著一段乾旱的日子。當地居民未能負擔日益上漲的糧食價格。去年不足的降雨量及今年遲來的雨季，均對花生及高粱的種植造成影響。
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Malnutrition in Karamoja, Uganda: "We fear the worst is still to come"
In Karamoja malnutrition is chronic, however this year the remote region of northeastern Uganda is suffering its worst drought in five years, creating a humanitarian crisis. The last two years saw back-to-back dry spells followed by unusually heavy rains. Rising food prices make what food is available in the market simply unaffordable. The poor rains last year and late rains this year have led to late and insufficient planting of peanuts and sorghum and there is also a rising number of animal losses.
Please read on>>
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Malnutrition in Karamoja, Uganda: "We fear the worst is still to come"
In Karamoja malnutrition is chronic, however this year the remote region of northeastern Uganda is suffering its worst drought in five years, creating a humanitarian crisis. The last two years saw back-to-back dry spells followed by unusually heavy rains. Rising food prices make what food is available in the market simply unaffordable. The poor rains last year and late rains this year have led to late and insufficient planting of peanuts and sorghum and there is also a rising number of animal losses.
Please read on>>
亚太地区护士共同探讨提升灾难管理技能
2008年10月16日
中国 山东– 来自中国和其他亚太国家的170多位护理界领导、临床医师、学术专家和政府代表今天在山东济南召开会议，加强护理人员在发生紧急情况和灾难时，在心理社会学卫生管理、传染病预防、疾病暴发、环境卫生、通信、信息管理和全球网络方面的知识和技能。
世界卫生组织负责危机卫生行动的助理总干事Eric Laroche博士指出：“灾难发生后，护士常常是第一批到达现场的医护人员。在资源缺乏的情形下，护士需要第一个做出反应、直接提供救治、现场协调救治、提供信息或教育指导、提供精神卫生咨询，并且对伤病员进行鉴别分类。今天这样的会议提供了增强技能和分享经验的宝贵机会。”
仅2005年一年，全球超过1.57亿人受到自然灾害的影响，其中许多灾害发生在亚洲和太平洋地区。
根据做出最大协调响应的紧迫性，世界卫生组织东南亚区域和西太平洋区域办公室联合组织了“2008年亚太紧急情况和灾难护理网络和卫生紧急情况合作伙伴会议”。本次会议得到中华人民共和国卫生部和山东大学护理学院的支持。
会议于2008年10月16—20日在山东大学护理学院召开，主题是“创新的紧急情况和灾难护理教育培训：联合起来共同行动”。会议旨在通过通信技术和跨国合作伙伴关系，加强和延续紧急情况和灾难护理网络的会员体系。会议还将评估2007年开始的紧急情况和灾难护理网络取得的进展。
会议的前两天讨论战略网络，后三天研讨技术培训和行动规划。会议使用英文和中文进行，由世卫组织区域办公室和国家办公室及与会国的紧急情况和灾难专家主持。
全球紧急情况和灾难反应网络必须进一步提升，推动在可持续性、能力建设、经验共享和资源动员方面的合作。护理部门是加强灾难准备和响应的多国和多部门伙伴机制的重要利益相关者。
中国 山东– 来自中国和其他亚太国家的170多位护理界领导、临床医师、学术专家和政府代表今天在山东济南召开会议，加强护理人员在发生紧急情况和灾难时，在心理社会学卫生管理、传染病预防、疾病暴发、环境卫生、通信、信息管理和全球网络方面的知识和技能。
世界卫生组织负责危机卫生行动的助理总干事Eric Laroche博士指出：“灾难发生后，护士常常是第一批到达现场的医护人员。在资源缺乏的情形下，护士需要第一个做出反应、直接提供救治、现场协调救治、提供信息或教育指导、提供精神卫生咨询，并且对伤病员进行鉴别分类。今天这样的会议提供了增强技能和分享经验的宝贵机会。”
仅2005年一年，全球超过1.57亿人受到自然灾害的影响，其中许多灾害发生在亚洲和太平洋地区。
根据做出最大协调响应的紧迫性，世界卫生组织东南亚区域和西太平洋区域办公室联合组织了“2008年亚太紧急情况和灾难护理网络和卫生紧急情况合作伙伴会议”。本次会议得到中华人民共和国卫生部和山东大学护理学院的支持。
会议于2008年10月16—20日在山东大学护理学院召开，主题是“创新的紧急情况和灾难护理教育培训：联合起来共同行动”。会议旨在通过通信技术和跨国合作伙伴关系，加强和延续紧急情况和灾难护理网络的会员体系。会议还将评估2007年开始的紧急情况和灾难护理网络取得的进展。
会议的前两天讨论战略网络，后三天研讨技术培训和行动规划。会议使用英文和中文进行，由世卫组织区域办公室和国家办公室及与会国的紧急情况和灾难专家主持。
全球紧急情况和灾难反应网络必须进一步提升，推动在可持续性、能力建设、经验共享和资源动员方面的合作。护理部门是加强灾难准备和响应的多国和多部门伙伴机制的重要利益相关者。
Pacific hit by dengue pandemic
APIA, SAMOA AAP - A tiny mosquito lands on its human prey in a small Pacific nation and begins to feast on their blood.
If lucky, they will suffer just an itchy bite but there's the danger they could be struck down with debilitating dengue fever - and this year's outbreak could be the worst ever.
Please read on >>
If lucky, they will suffer just an itchy bite but there's the danger they could be struck down with debilitating dengue fever - and this year's outbreak could be the worst ever.
Please read on >>
中国：发展清洁能源满足需求增长
为40万农村用户提供离网光伏发电系统
中国的目标是到2020年生产3000万千瓦风电
平潭岛上10万千瓦的风电场是承诺的体现
中国福州：在福建省福州市，比比皆是的新建住宅楼群是中国快速发展的体现。建筑工地吊车林立，房地产广告令人眼花缭乱，这是中国各地城市繁荣的典型景观。经济飞速增长，生活水平不断提高，也推高了对电力的需求。
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中国的目标是到2020年生产3000万千瓦风电
平潭岛上10万千瓦的风电场是承诺的体现
中国福州：在福建省福州市，比比皆是的新建住宅楼群是中国快速发展的体现。建筑工地吊车林立，房地产广告令人眼花缭乱，这是中国各地城市繁荣的典型景观。经济飞速增长，生活水平不断提高，也推高了对电力的需求。
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ECONOMY: Threat of 'Major Global Recession' Tied to Bird Flu
WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (IPS) - A severe outbreak of flu could kill tens of millions of people and spur a "major global recession", the World Bank is warning world leaders preoccupied with financial, food, and fuel crises.
The bank has drawn up a worst-case scenario in which a flu pandemic could kill as many as 71 million people, cost some three trillion dollars, and cut global gross domestic product (GDP) by "almost 5 percent, constituting a major global recession." Some experts have said the death toll could exceed 180 million people.
Please read on >>
The bank has drawn up a worst-case scenario in which a flu pandemic could kill as many as 71 million people, cost some three trillion dollars, and cut global gross domestic product (GDP) by "almost 5 percent, constituting a major global recession." Some experts have said the death toll could exceed 180 million people.
Please read on >>
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Be a germ fighter
Did you know that if your child doesn’t wash his or her hands with soap after they have been to the toilet, their hands will be covered with macrobiotic pieces of faeces that are too small to see? Imagine if you could see those germs...nobody would ever want to hold their hand again! A mere hand wash with soap can save a thousand innocent children from death.
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Hong Kong: Case of EV71 confirmed
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health has confirmed a case of Enterovirus-71 (EV71) infection and urged the public to be vigilant against the disease. A spokesman for the CHP said today (October 16) the case involved an 11-year-old girl, who developed fever, oral ulcers and rash over hands and feet on October 6. She consulted private doctors and was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital on October 9. She was discharged on October 14. Laboratory results of her specimens yielded positive results for EV71.CHP's investigation revealed that she had no recent travel history and her home contacts are asymptomatic.The primary school she attends has no Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease outbreak.A total of 85 EV71 infection cases have been reported to CHP so far this year. There were 35, eight, 16 and 12 cases in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively.For more information, people may visit the CHP's website (www.chp.gov.hk) or call the Central Health Education Hotline 2833 0111.
KZN woman cleared of Arenavirus
Preliminary results appear to rule out the arenavirus in a woman admitted for observation in Durban last weekend, the KwaZulu-Natal health department said on Thursday."Preliminary results suggest that the patient suspected to have the arenavirus at Durban's St Augustine's Hospital patient may be cleared," the department said, adding that final results would be known on Friday.
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
全世界地自由访问
今天，我怀着感激和喜悦的心情注意到，祖国的同胞终于可以访问我的博客了。在此，我非常感谢中国政府有关机构的许可。正如我曾经提到的，我唯一的目标是希望能够跨越国界，保持每一个人对危险病毒的意识和警惕性。我们应该全力合作，使所有国家都和这些隐形的敌人进行抗争。通过保持相互的信息交流，我们至少可以争取一定的时间优势，以此尽可能地挽救更多的生命。在我们拥有如此尖端科技知识和无国界工具的全球网络的今天，我们是应该能够避免类似于1918年的有史以来最大的医学大毁灭的历史灾难。
希望全世界人民有可能即时得到通知，并且对这些杀手即时进行抗争。
让我们永远不要忘记人类历史上最致命的事件：距今90多年的1918年流感大流行，导致了全球20到100万的死亡人数。
希望全世界人民有可能即时得到通知，并且对这些杀手即时进行抗争。
让我们永远不要忘记人类历史上最致命的事件：距今90多年的1918年流感大流行，导致了全球20到100万的死亡人数。
Free Access Across the World
With joy, gratitude and pleasure I noticed today that my fellow country people can access my weblog. This is very much appreciated and I would like to thank Government bodies in China responsible for granting this. As said before, my only goal is to be able to help across boundaries by keeping anyone aware of the danger of underestimating viruses. We are in need of full cooperation from all countries to be able to battle these unseen enemies. By keeping each other informed we hold at least a certain time advantage which might turn out to be a lifesaver. While holding a tremendous knowledgeable and borderless tool like the World Wide Web, we should be able to avoid a disaster like the greatest medical holocaust in history in 1918.
Let’s hope people from across the world may have the liberty to be informed in time to act adequately against these nasty killers.
Let us never forget the deadliest event of mankind, the Great Pandemic of 1918, now 90 years ago. It is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed worldwide.
Let’s hope people from across the world may have the liberty to be informed in time to act adequately against these nasty killers.
Let us never forget the deadliest event of mankind, the Great Pandemic of 1918, now 90 years ago. It is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed worldwide.
南非和赞比亚不明疾病由砂粒病毒科病毒引起
This will bring you to a factsheet from the CDC with a more clear explanation about arenavirus and another page about its family
中新网10月14日电世界卫生组织13日表示，南非国家传染病研究所和美国疾病防治中心的两个实验室进行的初步检测结果显示，近来在南非和赞比亚导致三人患病死亡的罪魁祸首可能是来自砂粒病毒科的病毒。这一科病毒可导致出血热等病症。据联合国网站报道，世卫组织表示，目前南非国家传染病研究所和美国疾病防治中心仍在继续进行分析，以便更为清楚地确定病毒的特征。
同时，南非又发现了一起新的病例。一名曾经接触过此前发现的患者的护士也已染病并被送往医院治疗。世卫组织及合作伙伴将继续帮助南非和赞比亚卫生部门对致病原因进行调查，并采取相应控制措施。
9月12日，在赞比亚居住和工作的一名旅行社职员染上未知疾病，被送往南非急救。
两天后，这名病人在约翰内斯堡的医院身亡。9月底和10月初，曾经护理过这名病人的两名医护人员也先后出现同样的病症并迅速死亡。病人的初期临床症状包括发热、头痛、腹泻和肌肉疼痛，进而出现皮疹和肝功能失调，此后病情迅速恶化并导致死亡。南非卫生部门和美国疾病防治中心此后对三名病人的样本进行了一系列检验，以确定病因。
New virus from Arenaviridae family in South Africa and Zambia - Update
The results of tests conducted at the Special Pathogens Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg, and at the Special Pathogens and Infectious Disease Pathology branches of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA, provide preliminary evidence that the causative agent of the disease which has resulted in the recent deaths of 3 people from Zambia and South Africa, is a virus from the Arenaviridae family.
Analysis continues at the NICD and CDC in order to characterize this virus more fully. CDC and NICD are technical partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN).
Meanwhile, a new case has been confirmed by PCR in South Africa. A nurse who had close contact with an earlier case has become ill, and has been admitted to hospital. Contacts have been identified and are being followed-up.
WHO and its GOARN partners continue to support the Ministries of Health of the two countries in various facets of the outbreak investigation, including laboratory diagnosis, investigations, active case finding and follow-up of contacts.
中新网10月14日电世界卫生组织13日表示，南非国家传染病研究所和美国疾病防治中心的两个实验室进行的初步检测结果显示，近来在南非和赞比亚导致三人患病死亡的罪魁祸首可能是来自砂粒病毒科的病毒。这一科病毒可导致出血热等病症。据联合国网站报道，世卫组织表示，目前南非国家传染病研究所和美国疾病防治中心仍在继续进行分析，以便更为清楚地确定病毒的特征。
同时，南非又发现了一起新的病例。一名曾经接触过此前发现的患者的护士也已染病并被送往医院治疗。世卫组织及合作伙伴将继续帮助南非和赞比亚卫生部门对致病原因进行调查，并采取相应控制措施。
9月12日，在赞比亚居住和工作的一名旅行社职员染上未知疾病，被送往南非急救。
两天后，这名病人在约翰内斯堡的医院身亡。9月底和10月初，曾经护理过这名病人的两名医护人员也先后出现同样的病症并迅速死亡。病人的初期临床症状包括发热、头痛、腹泻和肌肉疼痛，进而出现皮疹和肝功能失调，此后病情迅速恶化并导致死亡。南非卫生部门和美国疾病防治中心此后对三名病人的样本进行了一系列检验，以确定病因。
New virus from Arenaviridae family in South Africa and Zambia - Update
The results of tests conducted at the Special Pathogens Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg, and at the Special Pathogens and Infectious Disease Pathology branches of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA, provide preliminary evidence that the causative agent of the disease which has resulted in the recent deaths of 3 people from Zambia and South Africa, is a virus from the Arenaviridae family.
Analysis continues at the NICD and CDC in order to characterize this virus more fully. CDC and NICD are technical partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN).
Meanwhile, a new case has been confirmed by PCR in South Africa. A nurse who had close contact with an earlier case has become ill, and has been admitted to hospital. Contacts have been identified and are being followed-up.
WHO and its GOARN partners continue to support the Ministries of Health of the two countries in various facets of the outbreak investigation, including laboratory diagnosis, investigations, active case finding and follow-up of contacts.
South Africa signals a dramatic change on AIDS
CAPE TOWN - South Africa's new health minister broke dramatically yesterday from a decade of discredited government policies on AIDS, declaring that the disease was unquestionably caused by HIV and must be treated with conventional medicine.
Health Minister Barbara Hogan's pronouncement marked the official end to 10 years of denial about the link between HIV and AIDS by former president Thabo Mbeki and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
Please read on >>
Health Minister Barbara Hogan's pronouncement marked the official end to 10 years of denial about the link between HIV and AIDS by former president Thabo Mbeki and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
Please read on >>
Cholera hits Vietnam's central province
HANOI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 people in Quynh Luu district of Vietnam's central Nghe An Province have recently been hospitalized with acute diarrhea, with 23 patients tested positive for cholera, the Vietnam News reported on Tuesday, citing source from the provincial health department.
The department said the Mai Giang River, which runs through the district, is the main cause of the epidemic, as vibrio cholera bacteria was discovered in the river.
Many of the seafood sourced from the river, including fish and oysters, have been found to be infected with the bacteria, according to the department.
The department has warned local citizens to ensure food hygiene and safety to prevent the spread of the disease. It has also told citizens to use safe water, separate uncooked and cooked food and preserve food at safe temperature.
Vietnam, which has been stricken by cholera since late last year, reported more than seven hundred cholera cases in the first eight months this year.
The department said the Mai Giang River, which runs through the district, is the main cause of the epidemic, as vibrio cholera bacteria was discovered in the river.
Many of the seafood sourced from the river, including fish and oysters, have been found to be infected with the bacteria, according to the department.
The department has warned local citizens to ensure food hygiene and safety to prevent the spread of the disease. It has also told citizens to use safe water, separate uncooked and cooked food and preserve food at safe temperature.
Vietnam, which has been stricken by cholera since late last year, reported more than seven hundred cholera cases in the first eight months this year.
'I am very scared. What if I die?'
14 October 2008, 06:40 By Kanina Foss and Solly Maphumulo Pretoria News
Another nursing sister has contracted the haemorrhagic fever that has killed at least three other people.
She was admitted to Sandton's Morningside Medi-Clinic last week for closer observation and has now been diagnosed with the virus.
Please read on >>
Another nursing sister has contracted the haemorrhagic fever that has killed at least three other people.
She was admitted to Sandton's Morningside Medi-Clinic last week for closer observation and has now been diagnosed with the virus.
Please read on >>
French firm to launch first non-Japanese Hib vaccine in Japan
HONK KONG (Kyodo) A meningitis vaccine manufactured by a France-based company will be delivered to Japan's private health-care market by December, the company's top official said in Hong Kong on Monday.
"It will be the first vaccine licensed by a multinational firm (that is being used) in Japan," Wayne Pisano, president of Sanofi Pasteur, said in reference to the vaccine for Hib — Haemophilus influenzae type b infection.
Please read on >>
"It will be the first vaccine licensed by a multinational firm (that is being used) in Japan," Wayne Pisano, president of Sanofi Pasteur, said in reference to the vaccine for Hib — Haemophilus influenzae type b infection.
Please read on >>
Monday, October 13, 2008
Off to confession and beg my forgiveness
Phillip Adams October 14, 2008
FLU. A very nasty virus. Killed more millions at the end of World War I than World War I. These days epidemiologists await an even greater catastrophe. We're long overdue for a major epidemic.
In a sort of blame game, we often give flu an ethnicity or specific source, as in Asian flu or bird flu. But it began - the word, not the virus - in Italy. Flu comes from influenza, which comes from the Italian word for influence and was applied to the illness because of a medieval superstition.
It seems the medical profession wanted someone or something to blame for the outbreaks, and Asians and birds didn't suggest themselves. But comets did. It was argued that flu epidemics began after sightings of comets, under the influenza of comets. In the past century increasing credence was given to the idea that comets were the origin of life on Earth, that these agglomerations of ice and rock buzzed around the cosmos like bees, pollinating planets.
There's a NASA project focusing on the theory first proposed by the well credentialled if eccentric English astronomer Fred Hoyle. So perhaps those superstitious Italians were on to something.
Please read on >>
FLU. A very nasty virus. Killed more millions at the end of World War I than World War I. These days epidemiologists await an even greater catastrophe. We're long overdue for a major epidemic.
In a sort of blame game, we often give flu an ethnicity or specific source, as in Asian flu or bird flu. But it began - the word, not the virus - in Italy. Flu comes from influenza, which comes from the Italian word for influence and was applied to the illness because of a medieval superstition.
It seems the medical profession wanted someone or something to blame for the outbreaks, and Asians and birds didn't suggest themselves. But comets did. It was argued that flu epidemics began after sightings of comets, under the influenza of comets. In the past century increasing credence was given to the idea that comets were the origin of life on Earth, that these agglomerations of ice and rock buzzed around the cosmos like bees, pollinating planets.
There's a NASA project focusing on the theory first proposed by the well credentialled if eccentric English astronomer Fred Hoyle. So perhaps those superstitious Italians were on to something.
Please read on >>
E-waste 'endangers health' in Chinese town
ZHENGZHOU AND SHANGHAI 13 October 2008 EN
The processing of electronic waste (e-waste) in a southern Chinese town has caused serious health problems to local residents, say scientists.
E-waste consists of end-of-life electronic products such as computers, printers, mobile phones and toys that comprise sophisticated blends of plastics, metals, and other materials.
Please read on >>
The processing of electronic waste (e-waste) in a southern Chinese town has caused serious health problems to local residents, say scientists.
E-waste consists of end-of-life electronic products such as computers, printers, mobile phones and toys that comprise sophisticated blends of plastics, metals, and other materials.
Please read on >>
Pandemic Flu Models Improve Food, Quarantine Strategies
medilexicon Article Date: 13 Oct 2008
The 1918 flu pandemic killed more than 40 million people worldwide and affected persons of all age groups. While it is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed models to help organizations like the American Red Cross and Georgia Department of Education prepare emergency response plans.
Please read on >>
The 1918 flu pandemic killed more than 40 million people worldwide and affected persons of all age groups. While it is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed models to help organizations like the American Red Cross and Georgia Department of Education prepare emergency response plans.
Please read on >>
ASIA: Countries lagging in flu pandemic plans, UN warns
BANGKOK, 13 October 2008 (IRIN) - Most Asia-Pacific nations are making progress on avian flu control, but are lagging in plans to tackle the social and economic fallout of a human flu pandemic, a senior UN influenza specialist has warned.
"In general, the situation is that countries are getting much more on top of the bird flu," senior UN System Influenza Coordinator (UNSIC), David Nabarro, told IRIN in Bangkok. "I'm impressed with progress, but I am saying a lot more needs to be done, particularly on multi-sectoral pandemic preparedness."
Please read on >>
"In general, the situation is that countries are getting much more on top of the bird flu," senior UN System Influenza Coordinator (UNSIC), David Nabarro, told IRIN in Bangkok. "I'm impressed with progress, but I am saying a lot more needs to be done, particularly on multi-sectoral pandemic preparedness."
Please read on >>
Mystery virus identified as Lassa fever
Isolated nurse in ‘suspect’ condition being treated
THE virus that has claimed three lives has been identified as a rodent-borne arenavirus, a type of the Lassa fever virus endemic to West Africa.
This was announced yesterday after the eagerly awaited results of tests conducted at the US Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta, and at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg.
Please read on >>
THE virus that has claimed three lives has been identified as a rodent-borne arenavirus, a type of the Lassa fever virus endemic to West Africa.
This was announced yesterday after the eagerly awaited results of tests conducted at the US Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta, and at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg.
Please read on >>
Export bans keep bird flu vaccines from those in need
JAKARTA, Indonesia - When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it "the nuttiest thing" he'd ever heard.Yet deep inside an 86-page supplement to United States export regulations is a single sentence that bars U.S. exports of vaccines for avian bird flu and dozens of other viruses to five countries designated "state sponsors of terrorism."
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Indonesia's bird flu warrior takes on the world
Sliding with short steps onto the stage in front of a crowd of students, academics and supporters, Indonesia's Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is in her element.
Her hair swept up into the voluminous bouffant favoured by Indonesia's wealthy ladies, the bespectacled 57-year-old delivers her scalding critique of global injustice in soft, rounded Javanese vowels that frequently trail into a whisper.
Please read on >>
Her hair swept up into the voluminous bouffant favoured by Indonesia's wealthy ladies, the bespectacled 57-year-old delivers her scalding critique of global injustice in soft, rounded Javanese vowels that frequently trail into a whisper.
Please read on >>
Sunday, October 12, 2008
男童染霍亂情況穩定
生防護中心今天（10月12日）正跟進1宗懷疑霍亂個案，患者是名居於灣仔的6歲男童，正在東區尤德夫人那打素醫院接受治療，情況穩定。
他10月5日出現腹瀉的病徵，10月7日入住東區尤德夫人那打素醫院。
調查顯示，他10月3日從尼泊爾抵港，其同伴及家居接觸者均沒有出現霍亂的病徵。
今年至今共4宗霍亂個案，去年及2006則有3宗及1宗。
他10月5日出現腹瀉的病徵，10月7日入住東區尤德夫人那打素醫院。
調查顯示，他10月3日從尼泊爾抵港，其同伴及家居接觸者均沒有出現霍亂的病徵。
今年至今共4宗霍亂個案，去年及2006則有3宗及1宗。
INDONESIA: Handwashing with soap saves lives
JAKARTA, 12 October 2008 (IRIN) - Many of the deaths caused by diarrhoea and respiratory infections in Indonesia could have been prevented had people washed their hands more often with soap, the Health Ministry has said.
Please read on >>
The practice of handwashing with soap tops the international hygiene agenda this year with the first-ever Global Handwashing Day, slated for Wednesday 15 October 2008. With 2008 as the UN International Year of Sanitation, the Global Handwashing Day will echo and reinforce its call for improved hygiene practices.
Global Handwashing Day October 15th>>
Please read on >>
The practice of handwashing with soap tops the international hygiene agenda this year with the first-ever Global Handwashing Day, slated for Wednesday 15 October 2008. With 2008 as the UN International Year of Sanitation, the Global Handwashing Day will echo and reinforce its call for improved hygiene practices.
Global Handwashing Day October 15th>>
生防護中心調查一宗懷疑霍亂個案
生署生防護中心今日（十月十二日）調查一宗懷疑霍亂個案，並且提醒市民無論在本港或外遊時，必須採取預防措施，注重保持個人、食物及環境生。 個案涉及一名六歲男童，他於十月五日出現腹瀉的病徵，並於十月七日入住東區尤德夫人那打素醫院，現時情況穩定。 生防護中心的調查顯示他於十月三日從尼泊爾抵達香港，同遊人士並沒有霍亂的病徵。 他居於灣仔，其家居接觸者沒有出現霍亂的病徵。 二○○八年香港共有四宗確診霍亂個案，二○○七年有三宗，二○○六年有一宗，二○○五年五宗，二○○四年五宗及二○○三年七宗。 生署發言人稱：「市民無論身在香港或外地，必須注意個人生及採取預防措施，避免感染霍亂及經食物傳播的疾病。」 預防霍亂及經食物傳播的疾病，市民應採取下列預防措施：＊ 海產要徹底洗淨和煮熟方可進食，尤其是甲殼類及雙殼貝類海產如蝦、蟹、蠔及蜆等；＊ 進食前和如廁後要洗手；＊ 生和熟的食物要用不同的食具來處理；＊ 生和熟的食物要分開貯存；＊ 食物要貯存在冰箱中（攝氏四度或以下），進食隔夜前要將之徹底翻熱；及＊ 保持環境清潔。 市民外遊時應注意下列要點：＊ 進食前及如廁後要洗手；＊ 只進食已徹底煮熟的食物及密封式包裝的食品；＊ 避免進食如沙律及雪糕之類的冷點；＊ 只飲用煮沸的水，罐裝或樽裝飲品，及經消毒的奶類製品；＊ 切勿飲用事先預備的果汁或將冰加進飲品中；＊ 不要光顧無牌食物小販；及＊ 徹底洗淨水果方可進食，及不要吃已經去皮、切開的水果。
In English>>
In English>>
Cholera outbreak kills 20 in northern Nigeria
A cholera outbreak has claimed 20 lives in northern Nigeria's Kano state in the last week, officials and residents said Saturday.
"We have received reports of a cholera outbreak in Rikadawa village in the last week where 20 lives have been lost with about 70 others hospitalised", Ibrahim Muazu, Madobi local government chairman, told AFP. Residents of the 3,000-strong village, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Kano, said the oubreak started when they started drinking water from a river outside the village because three of the four boreholes in the village were spoilt. "With the breakdown of three of the four boreholes in the village, we turned to the Kunza river as our source of water and since then we started noticing people falling sick with cholera," said 70-year-old Malam Alhaji Dauda, who lost five grandchildren in the last two days. Muazu said he had sent personnel to assess the situation and fix the broken boreholes. Last month about 100 people died of cholera in four northen states. Cholera is an intestinal bacteria that causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting leading to dehydration. With a short incubation period, it can be fatal if not treated in time.
"We have received reports of a cholera outbreak in Rikadawa village in the last week where 20 lives have been lost with about 70 others hospitalised", Ibrahim Muazu, Madobi local government chairman, told AFP. Residents of the 3,000-strong village, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Kano, said the oubreak started when they started drinking water from a river outside the village because three of the four boreholes in the village were spoilt. "With the breakdown of three of the four boreholes in the village, we turned to the Kunza river as our source of water and since then we started noticing people falling sick with cholera," said 70-year-old Malam Alhaji Dauda, who lost five grandchildren in the last two days. Muazu said he had sent personnel to assess the situation and fix the broken boreholes. Last month about 100 people died of cholera in four northen states. Cholera is an intestinal bacteria that causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting leading to dehydration. With a short incubation period, it can be fatal if not treated in time.
UPDATE -- -- Mystery virus spreads in two countries
The Independent on Saturday -- -- The number of people being observed for traces of the deadly mystery viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) has climbed to 144 and has spread across two countries.On Friday, Zambian authorities admitted they were trying to trace any people who had contact with South African tour operator Cecelia van Deventer and paramedic Hannes Els before they came back to South Africa to die.
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Saturday, October 11, 2008
US controls bird flu vaccines over bioweapon fears
JAKARTA, Indonesia—When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it "the nuttiest thing" he'd ever heard.
Yet deep inside an 86-page supplement to United States export regulations is a single sentence that bars U.S. exports of vaccines for avian bird flu and dozens of other viruses to five countries designated "state sponsors of terrorism."
The reason: Fear that they will be used for biological warfare.
Under this little-known policy, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria and Sudan may not get the vaccines unless they apply for special export licenses, which would be given or refused according to the discretion and timing of the U.S. Three of those nations—Iran, Cuba and Sudan—also are subject to a ban on all human pandemic influenza vaccines as part of a general U.S. embargo.
The regulations, which cover vaccines for everything from Dengue fever to the Ebola virus, have raised concern within the medical and scientific communities. Although they were quietly put in place more than a decade ago, they could now be more relevant because of recent concerns about bird flu. Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were not even aware of the policies until contacted by The Associated Press last month and privately expressed alarm.
They make "no scientific sense," said Peter Palese, chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He said the bird flu vaccine, for example, can be used to contain outbreaks in poultry before they mutate to a form spread more easily between people.
"The more vaccines out there, the better," he said. "It's a matter of protecting ourselves, really, so the bird flu virus doesn't take hold in these countries and spread."
U.S. Commerce Assistant Secretary Christopher Wall declined to elaborate on the precise threat posed by vaccines for chickens infected with avian influenza, except to say there are "valid security concerns" that they "do not fall into the wrong hands."
"Legitimate public health and scientific research is not adversely affected by these controls," he said.
But some experts say the idea of using vaccines for bioweapons is far-fetched, and that in a health emergency, it is unclear how quickly authorities could cut through the current red tape to get the vaccines distributed.
Under normal circumstances it would take at least six weeks to approve export licenses for any vaccine on the list, said Thomas Monath, who formerly headed a CIA advisory group on ways to counter biological attacks. All such decisions would follow negotiations at a "very high level" of government.
That could makes it harder to contain an outbreak of bird flu among chickens in, say, North Korea, which is in the region hardest hit by the virus. Sudan and Iran already have recorded cases of the virus in poultry and Syria is surrounded by affected countries. Cuba, like all nations, is vulnerable because the disease is delivered by migratory birds.
Kumanan Wilson, whose research at the University of Toronto focuses on policymaking in areas of health protection, said it would be ironic if the bird flu virus morphed into a more dangerous form in one of those countries.
"That would pose a much graver threat to the public than the theoretical risk that the vaccine could be used for biological warfare," he said.
The danger of biological warfare use depends on the specific virus or bacteria. But most experts agree that bird flu vaccines cannot be genetically altered to create weapons because they contain an inactivated virus that cannot be resuscitated.
It's also unlikely they would be used to create a resistant strain of the virus as part of efforts to wreak havoc within global poultry stocks. If enemy states wanted to do that, they could make their own vaccines or turn to a less hostile country like China, said Ian Ramshaw, an expert on vaccine immunology and biosecurity at The Australian National University in Canberra.
"I can think of no scientific reason how a terrorist organization could use such a vaccine for malicious intent," he said. "I personally think it's a rather silly attitude and the U.S. is probably going overboard as it has in the past with many of its bioterrorism initiatives."
Meanwhile, bioethicists say limiting vaccines could also raise moral questions of whether some countries should be denied because of decisions based on foreign policy. They said the export controls appear inconsistent, as Libya, Iraq and two dozen other countries suspected by the U.S. of having biological weapons programs do not face restrictions on the export of poultry vaccines.
"If there really is a serious threat, to be consistent we'd have to more heavily regulate who has access to the vaccine," said Michael Selgelid, who co-authored the book "Ethical and Philosophical Consideration of the Dual Use Dilemma in the Biological Sciences."
"There are malevolent actors in the U.S. just like there might be in all these other countries," he said.
The policies were initially put in place amid biosecurity fears in the mid-1990s and then bolstered after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and subsequent anthrax letter mailings. The vaccines are among a long list of other items barred to rogue states over fears they could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, from technology and chemicals to dangerous pathogens.
Bird flu has killed more than 240 people across the world since 2003, nearly half of them in Indonesia.
Indonesia's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari first drew widespread attention when she boycotted the World Health Organization's 50-year-old virus sharing system last year, saying pharmaceutical companies were using viruses from developing nations without their knowledge to make expensive vaccines. She has since called for the creation of a global stockpile of drugs or other forms of benefit-sharing.
Yet deep inside an 86-page supplement to United States export regulations is a single sentence that bars U.S. exports of vaccines for avian bird flu and dozens of other viruses to five countries designated "state sponsors of terrorism."
The reason: Fear that they will be used for biological warfare.
Under this little-known policy, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria and Sudan may not get the vaccines unless they apply for special export licenses, which would be given or refused according to the discretion and timing of the U.S. Three of those nations—Iran, Cuba and Sudan—also are subject to a ban on all human pandemic influenza vaccines as part of a general U.S. embargo.
The regulations, which cover vaccines for everything from Dengue fever to the Ebola virus, have raised concern within the medical and scientific communities. Although they were quietly put in place more than a decade ago, they could now be more relevant because of recent concerns about bird flu. Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were not even aware of the policies until contacted by The Associated Press last month and privately expressed alarm.
They make "no scientific sense," said Peter Palese, chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He said the bird flu vaccine, for example, can be used to contain outbreaks in poultry before they mutate to a form spread more easily between people.
"The more vaccines out there, the better," he said. "It's a matter of protecting ourselves, really, so the bird flu virus doesn't take hold in these countries and spread."
U.S. Commerce Assistant Secretary Christopher Wall declined to elaborate on the precise threat posed by vaccines for chickens infected with avian influenza, except to say there are "valid security concerns" that they "do not fall into the wrong hands."
"Legitimate public health and scientific research is not adversely affected by these controls," he said.
But some experts say the idea of using vaccines for bioweapons is far-fetched, and that in a health emergency, it is unclear how quickly authorities could cut through the current red tape to get the vaccines distributed.
Under normal circumstances it would take at least six weeks to approve export licenses for any vaccine on the list, said Thomas Monath, who formerly headed a CIA advisory group on ways to counter biological attacks. All such decisions would follow negotiations at a "very high level" of government.
That could makes it harder to contain an outbreak of bird flu among chickens in, say, North Korea, which is in the region hardest hit by the virus. Sudan and Iran already have recorded cases of the virus in poultry and Syria is surrounded by affected countries. Cuba, like all nations, is vulnerable because the disease is delivered by migratory birds.
Kumanan Wilson, whose research at the University of Toronto focuses on policymaking in areas of health protection, said it would be ironic if the bird flu virus morphed into a more dangerous form in one of those countries.
"That would pose a much graver threat to the public than the theoretical risk that the vaccine could be used for biological warfare," he said.
The danger of biological warfare use depends on the specific virus or bacteria. But most experts agree that bird flu vaccines cannot be genetically altered to create weapons because they contain an inactivated virus that cannot be resuscitated.
It's also unlikely they would be used to create a resistant strain of the virus as part of efforts to wreak havoc within global poultry stocks. If enemy states wanted to do that, they could make their own vaccines or turn to a less hostile country like China, said Ian Ramshaw, an expert on vaccine immunology and biosecurity at The Australian National University in Canberra.
"I can think of no scientific reason how a terrorist organization could use such a vaccine for malicious intent," he said. "I personally think it's a rather silly attitude and the U.S. is probably going overboard as it has in the past with many of its bioterrorism initiatives."
Meanwhile, bioethicists say limiting vaccines could also raise moral questions of whether some countries should be denied because of decisions based on foreign policy. They said the export controls appear inconsistent, as Libya, Iraq and two dozen other countries suspected by the U.S. of having biological weapons programs do not face restrictions on the export of poultry vaccines.
"If there really is a serious threat, to be consistent we'd have to more heavily regulate who has access to the vaccine," said Michael Selgelid, who co-authored the book "Ethical and Philosophical Consideration of the Dual Use Dilemma in the Biological Sciences."
"There are malevolent actors in the U.S. just like there might be in all these other countries," he said.
The policies were initially put in place amid biosecurity fears in the mid-1990s and then bolstered after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and subsequent anthrax letter mailings. The vaccines are among a long list of other items barred to rogue states over fears they could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, from technology and chemicals to dangerous pathogens.
Bird flu has killed more than 240 people across the world since 2003, nearly half of them in Indonesia.
Indonesia's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari first drew widespread attention when she boycotted the World Health Organization's 50-year-old virus sharing system last year, saying pharmaceutical companies were using viruses from developing nations without their knowledge to make expensive vaccines. She has since called for the creation of a global stockpile of drugs or other forms of benefit-sharing.
Unknown disease kills three in South Africa
GENEVA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- An unknown disease has killed three persons in the South African capital of Johannesburg, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
The first person who caught the disease was a woman living and working in Zambia. She was evacuated to South Africa and died in a Johannesburg hospital on Sept. 14, the UN agency said in a statement.
A paramedic and a nurse who cared for the patient also got infected and died in Johannesburg on Oct. 2 and Oct. 5 respectively.
Up to now there have been no further known symptomatic cases, either in Zambia or in South Africa. But 121 known contacts of the fatal cases are being traced in South Africa and 23 in Zambia.
Clinical features common to the three patients initially include fever, headache, diarrhea and myalgia developing into rash and hepatic dysfunction, followed by rapid deterioration and death, WHO said.
Laboratory analysis has been conducted in South Africa, and samples have, so far, tested negative for a series of viral haemorrhagic fevers and other common infectious disease pathogens.
Tests to identify the pathogen are now continuing in South Africa and further testing will be performed in the United States.
There is no indication at this point of the need for any restriction of travel to or from Zambia or South Africa and no special measures are required for passengers arriving from these countries, WHO said.
The first person who caught the disease was a woman living and working in Zambia. She was evacuated to South Africa and died in a Johannesburg hospital on Sept. 14, the UN agency said in a statement.
A paramedic and a nurse who cared for the patient also got infected and died in Johannesburg on Oct. 2 and Oct. 5 respectively.
Up to now there have been no further known symptomatic cases, either in Zambia or in South Africa. But 121 known contacts of the fatal cases are being traced in South Africa and 23 in Zambia.
Clinical features common to the three patients initially include fever, headache, diarrhea and myalgia developing into rash and hepatic dysfunction, followed by rapid deterioration and death, WHO said.
Laboratory analysis has been conducted in South Africa, and samples have, so far, tested negative for a series of viral haemorrhagic fevers and other common infectious disease pathogens.
Tests to identify the pathogen are now continuing in South Africa and further testing will be performed in the United States.
There is no indication at this point of the need for any restriction of travel to or from Zambia or South Africa and no special measures are required for passengers arriving from these countries, WHO said.
4 die of diarrhea in central Nepal
KATHMANDU, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least four people have died of diarrhea in some villages of Dhading district in central Nepal, where about 60 people are suffering from the ailment in the past days, the national news agency RSS reported on Saturday.
According to the news agency RSS Saturday's report, District Health Office, Dhading has sent a medical team to the villages, some 50 km south of Kathmandu, that could be reached after two-day's walk from the office.
Diarrhea can cause dehydration, which means the body lacks enough fluid to function properly. Dehydration is particularly dangerous in children and older people, and it must be treated promptly to avoid serious health problems.
According to the news agency RSS Saturday's report, District Health Office, Dhading has sent a medical team to the villages, some 50 km south of Kathmandu, that could be reached after two-day's walk from the office.
Diarrhea can cause dehydration, which means the body lacks enough fluid to function properly. Dehydration is particularly dangerous in children and older people, and it must be treated promptly to avoid serious health problems.
Infectious diseases claim 949 lives in China in Sept.
BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Xinhua)-- China's Ministry of Health on Friday reported 949 deaths from infectious diseases nationwide last month, including a Tibetan couple killed by plague.
The figure was slightly down from 1,023 in August, and no serious outbreak was reported in areas hit by the May 12 earthquake, the ministry said.
Please read on >>
The figure was slightly down from 1,023 in August, and no serious outbreak was reported in areas hit by the May 12 earthquake, the ministry said.
Please read on >>
Drug-resistant HIV worries authorities
Hong Kong: Drug-resistant HIV strains are turning up in parts of China as the virus stretches beyond high-risk groups and gains a stronger foothold in the general population, a leading Chinese Aids researcher said.
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Friday, October 10, 2008
CDC reports new case of dengue fever
Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under the Cabinet-level Department of Health announced Thursday an imported case of dengue fever that was reported to the CDC by the patient himself. The man came down with fever and joint and muscle pain soon after his return from a trip to Vietnam on Oct. 3, according to CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ting.
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Congo-Kinshasa: Résurgence de la fièvre Ebola au Kasaï Occidental - Dr. Eugénie Misenga fustige la consommation des primates
Premier facteur jugé dangereux par Madame Docteur Eugénie Misenga, à l'origine de la résurgence de la fièvre hémorragique d'Ebola dans la province du Kasaï Occidental, c'est celui lié à la consommation de quelques espèces animales qui hébergent la forêt tropicale notamment, les singes de la race de primates telle que le Bonobo.
Lire la suite>>
Lire la suite>>
USAID continues to bolster Sri Lanka’s defense against Avian Influenza
Colombo, 10 October, (Asiantribune.com): The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID handed over a real-time Polymerase Chain Reactor machine to the Veterinary Research Institute of the Ministry of Livestock Development, which will dramatically improve the Sri Lanka’s ability to diagnose quickly any possible outbreak of avian influenza.
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Vogelgrippe zurück in Deutschland - Ente in Sachsen infiziert
Die Vogelgrippe ist zurück in Deutschland: Bei einer Ente in einem Nutzgeflügelbestand in Markersdorf bei Görlitz in Sachsen ist das Influenza-Virus vom Typ H5N1 nachgewiesen worden.
Please read on >>in German
Please read on >>in English
Please read on >>in German
Please read on >>in English
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Deadly rare strep strain 'a different animal'
October 9, 2008 at 3:51 PM EDT
Toronto — The invasive Group A streptococcus strain that has killed 10 and infected 75 others in Thunder Bay is a rare one called M-59, according to Dr. Donald Low, medical director of Ontario's public health laboratories.
“This is a different animal, this M59 strain, predominantly causing the problem,” said Dr. Low today. “It's a strain that nobody has had a lot of experience with worldwide.”
Please read on >>
Toronto — The invasive Group A streptococcus strain that has killed 10 and infected 75 others in Thunder Bay is a rare one called M-59, according to Dr. Donald Low, medical director of Ontario's public health laboratories.
“This is a different animal, this M59 strain, predominantly causing the problem,” said Dr. Low today. “It's a strain that nobody has had a lot of experience with worldwide.”
Please read on >>
Fujian H5N1 in Germany?
Authorities say a duck at a farm in eastern Germany has tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.The social affairs ministry in the eastern state of Saxony says the farm near Goerlitz on the Polish border has been sealed off.The ministry said Thursday that the farm has more than 1,000 birds, including turkeys and geese.
Please read on >>
Please read on >>
Tuberculosis: An Ancient Disease Continues to Thrive
With a special thanks to TIME's James Nachtwey for the impressive and touching images
The Church of Scotland Hospital in Tugela Ferry, South Africa, sits in an arid valley among the mountains of KwaZulu-Natal. Occupying a dozen or so tin-roofed, low-slung buildings, the hospital serves its rural patients well: Women come to have babies, H.I.V. patients register to receive their medications, and those infected with tuberculosis check in for a chance to recover from an ancient scourge.
But in 2005 a p
hysician noticed that some of those TB patients, many of whom were H.I.V.-positive, were not getting any better, despite being on anti-TB medications. Nothing he provided them seemed to control the tubercle bacillus flourishing in their bodies. Of the 53 who were sickest, 52 died, most within a month of entering the hospital.
The bacterium responsible for these deaths was nothing the doctors at Church of Scotland had ever seen before. It had found a way to evade not just the first-line antibiotics commonl
y used to treat the disease but several of the drugs of last resort as well. KwaZulu-Natal, and the world, had seen its first outbreak of extensively drug-resistant TB.
Thousands of years after tuberculosis ravaged ancient cultures stretching from Greece to Egypt, more than a century after the bacillus responsible for the disease was first identified and decades after the first antibiotic treatments, TB continues to survive, even thrive, in ever more aggressive forms. In 2006, 9.2 million more people were diagnosed with the diseas
e, almost exclusively in the developing world, and 1.7 million people died from it. More alarming is a growing subset of TB cases, estimated at half a million, that are resistant to more than one of the handful of anti-TB drugs. While they still make up only 5% of the total annual TB burden, these cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB are mushrooming, fueled by both the surge in H.I.V./AIDS and health systems that have ignored the threat of TB for too long.
But it doesn't have to be this way. TB is an entirely preventable and treatable disease. And the drug-resistant strains beginning to emerge in Africa, Russia, China and India, say experts, are epidemics
of our own making. Unlike H.I.V., the tubercle bacillus succumbs to powerful medications. But the drugs are not where they need to be, and when they are, spotty monitoring and poor health infrastructure make it hard to ensure that patients take the daily pills or frequent injections they must receive for six months to eradicate the infection. Stopping treatment too early allows the small population of drug-resistant strains to survive and keep the infection going. "We are still in denial about how bad this problem is and how much worse it's going to get," says 
Dr. Jim Kim, head of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a co-founder of Partners in Health, a global-health aid organization. "We are at the pre-antibiotic era for TB again. We've been afraid of getting there, but guess what? We're there."
The biggest threat, XDR TB, is currently resistant to the most potent classes of first- and second-line anti-TB drugs available — and there is no third line of pharmaceutical defense. While some promising candidates are being tested, even if they prove effective, they will not be available for at least five more years. There is also no easy way to detect drug-resistant strains of TB; current sputum-based screens can take anywhere from two weeks to two months, during which time doctors protectively place infected patients on first-line drugs too weak to battle the aggre
ssive strain effectively rather than risk the overuse of last-resort medications that would only feed drug resistance. And in Africa in particular, tuberculosis is nurtured alongside AIDS in a deadly double hit: The weakened immune systems of H.I.V. patients make them more vulnerable to TB infection, and because their crippled immune systems can no longer mount proper responses, H.I.V. patients infected with TB often don't produce the recognizable symptoms of the disease such as coughing or visible lesions on chest X-rays. Their abnormal immunity also renders the myco-bacterium difficult to detect in blood-based assays.
In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) in June recommended widespread use of a new, faster test that can screen for drug-resistant TB in the blood in one or two days. But it requires sophisticated lab facilities for amplifying genes that are beyond the limited resources of most developing nations. "It will be very difficult to bring expensive technologies, machines and trained technicians on a wider scale," predicts Dr. Arvinder Pal Gill, district TB officer in Moga, in India's Punjab region. In addition, the test can detect only MDR TB, not the emerging XDR strains. But both WHO and the Global Fund for H.I.V., TB and Malaria are betting that investing in such facilities will boost these nations' ability to combat not just TB but other infectious diseases too. UNITAID, the international drug-purchasing organization, has pledged $26.1 million to the effort, while the Global Fund promises to entertain grant proposals from countries eager to build such labs. "We don't have the luxury of having a simple saliva test that tells you in one minute if you have
MDR TB," says Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of WHO's Sto TBprogram. "We have to work with what we have."
To document the ongoing TB epidemic, TIME's James Nachtwey traveled to seven countries over the last five months, photographing the diverse and changing face of the disease. As his images show, controlling the epidemic requires investing not just in new technologies but also in expanding existing programs to control and detect TB before it even becomes resistant. And dots (Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course) is a critical part of that strategy. Developed in the 1990s, the program requires health officials to be present to watch their patients take their complete course of medications, even if it means visiting them in their homes. In many regions, these officials are now recruiting a host of nonmedical personnel, including family members and religious and community leaders, to become DOTS enablers. In Punjab, retired teachers, shopkeepers and cured patients are paid $6 for each patient they observe completing an entire course of treatment.
Officials in Africa's Lesotho, where 10% of the population is infected with MDR and 30% is H.I.V.-positive, are relying on a collaboration between the government and Partners in Health, which provides private funding, to address another challenge in TB care: the need to isolate the sickest patients to prevent them from spreading the disease. Lesotho now boasts its first 10-to-15-room facility equipped with negative airflow, which contains and filters air circulating through TB wards. A single such center is hardly enough, but it is a start. "It shows you it is possible," says Raviglione. And that is the most powerful lesson in TB today. The bug can adapt; if we're smart, so can we. —with reporting by Megan Lindow/Cape Town, Madhur Singh/New Delhi and Yuri Zarakhovich/Moscow
The Church of Scotland Hospital in Tugela Ferry, South Africa, sits in an arid valley among the mountains of KwaZulu-Natal. Occupying a dozen or so tin-roofed, low-slung buildings, the hospital serves its rural patients well: Women come to have babies, H.I.V. patients register to receive their medications, and those infected with tuberculosis check in for a chance to recover from an ancient scourge.
But in 2005 a p
hysician noticed that some of those TB patients, many of whom were H.I.V.-positive, were not getting any better, despite being on anti-TB medications. Nothing he provided them seemed to control the tubercle bacillus flourishing in their bodies. Of the 53 who were sickest, 52 died, most within a month of entering the hospital.The bacterium responsible for these deaths was nothing the doctors at Church of Scotland had ever seen before. It had found a way to evade not just the first-line antibiotics commonl
y used to treat the disease but several of the drugs of last resort as well. KwaZulu-Natal, and the world, had seen its first outbreak of extensively drug-resistant TB.Thousands of years after tuberculosis ravaged ancient cultures stretching from Greece to Egypt, more than a century after the bacillus responsible for the disease was first identified and decades after the first antibiotic treatments, TB continues to survive, even thrive, in ever more aggressive forms. In 2006, 9.2 million more people were diagnosed with the diseas
e, almost exclusively in the developing world, and 1.7 million people died from it. More alarming is a growing subset of TB cases, estimated at half a million, that are resistant to more than one of the handful of anti-TB drugs. While they still make up only 5% of the total annual TB burden, these cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB are mushrooming, fueled by both the surge in H.I.V./AIDS and health systems that have ignored the threat of TB for too long.But it doesn't have to be this way. TB is an entirely preventable and treatable disease. And the drug-resistant strains beginning to emerge in Africa, Russia, China and India, say experts, are epidemics
of our own making. Unlike H.I.V., the tubercle bacillus succumbs to powerful medications. But the drugs are not where they need to be, and when they are, spotty monitoring and poor health infrastructure make it hard to ensure that patients take the daily pills or frequent injections they must receive for six months to eradicate the infection. Stopping treatment too early allows the small population of drug-resistant strains to survive and keep the infection going. "We are still in denial about how bad this problem is and how much worse it's going to get," says 
Dr. Jim Kim, head of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a co-founder of Partners in Health, a global-health aid organization. "We are at the pre-antibiotic era for TB again. We've been afraid of getting there, but guess what? We're there."The biggest threat, XDR TB, is currently resistant to the most potent classes of first- and second-line anti-TB drugs available — and there is no third line of pharmaceutical defense. While some promising candidates are being tested, even if they prove effective, they will not be available for at least five more years. There is also no easy way to detect drug-resistant strains of TB; current sputum-based screens can take anywhere from two weeks to two months, during which time doctors protectively place infected patients on first-line drugs too weak to battle the aggre
ssive strain effectively rather than risk the overuse of last-resort medications that would only feed drug resistance. And in Africa in particular, tuberculosis is nurtured alongside AIDS in a deadly double hit: The weakened immune systems of H.I.V. patients make them more vulnerable to TB infection, and because their crippled immune systems can no longer mount proper responses, H.I.V. patients infected with TB often don't produce the recognizable symptoms of the disease such as coughing or visible lesions on chest X-rays. Their abnormal immunity also renders the myco-bacterium difficult to detect in blood-based assays.In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) in June recommended widespread use of a new, faster test that can screen for drug-resistant TB in the blood in one or two days. But it requires sophisticated lab facilities for amplifying genes that are beyond the limited resources of most developing nations. "It will be very difficult to bring expensive technologies, machines and trained technicians on a wider scale," predicts Dr. Arvinder Pal Gill, district TB officer in Moga, in India's Punjab region. In addition, the test can detect only MDR TB, not the emerging XDR strains. But both WHO and the Global Fund for H.I.V., TB and Malaria are betting that investing in such facilities will boost these nations' ability to combat not just TB but other infectious diseases too. UNITAID, the international drug-purchasing organization, has pledged $26.1 million to the effort, while the Global Fund promises to entertain grant proposals from countries eager to build such labs. "We don't have the luxury of having a simple saliva test that tells you in one minute if you have
MDR TB," says Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of WHO's Sto TBprogram. "We have to work with what we have." To document the ongoing TB epidemic, TIME's James Nachtwey traveled to seven countries over the last five months, photographing the diverse and changing face of the disease. As his images show, controlling the epidemic requires investing not just in new technologies but also in expanding existing programs to control and detect TB before it even becomes resistant. And dots (Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course) is a critical part of that strategy. Developed in the 1990s, the program requires health officials to be present to watch their patients take their complete course of medications, even if it means visiting them in their homes. In many regions, these officials are now recruiting a host of nonmedical personnel, including family members and religious and community leaders, to become DOTS enablers. In Punjab, retired teachers, shopkeepers and cured patients are paid $6 for each patient they observe completing an entire course of treatment.
Officials in Africa's Lesotho, where 10% of the population is infected with MDR and 30% is H.I.V.-positive, are relying on a collaboration between the government and Partners in Health, which provides private funding, to address another challenge in TB care: the need to isolate the sickest patients to prevent them from spreading the disease. Lesotho now boasts its first 10-to-15-room facility equipped with negative airflow, which contains and filters air circulating through TB wards. A single such center is hardly enough, but it is a start. "It shows you it is possible," says Raviglione. And that is the most powerful lesson in TB today. The bug can adapt; if we're smart, so can we. —with reporting by Megan Lindow/Cape Town, Madhur Singh/New Delhi and Yuri Zarakhovich/Moscow
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