Jun 10, 2010
Illinois reports 11 more Salmonella cases
The number of confirmed Salmonella serotype Hvittingfoss illnesses linked to Subway restaurants in Illinois jumped to 71 today, according to an update from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The total is 11 more than the IDPH's Jun 8 report, and the number of affected counties remained at 22. The IDPH said it is still investigating the outbreak and will update case totals again tomorrow if it receives more reports.
Jun 10 IDPH outbreak update
Tiger mosquito finding in France prompts warnings
Health officials on France's southeastern coast are warning residents to take mosquito-control measures such as eliminating standing water after Asian tiger mosquitoes, Ades albopictus, were found in traps set this spring in Marseille, The Connexion, an English-language newspaper in France, reported today. Researchers were trapping mosquitoes to gauge health risks posed by the insects. A albopictus can spread dengue fever and chikungunya. In 2007 chikungunya, a debilitating but nonfatal tropical illness, gained a foothold in Europe for the first time after tiger mosquitoes proliferated near Ravenna, Italy, according to previous reports. The outbreak sickened166 people.
Jun 10 Connexion story
Sep 10, 2007, CIDRAP News story
H5N1 hits wild birds in Tibet
China's agriculture ministry announced yesterday that the H5N1 avian influenza virus has been detected in samples from wild birds found dead in Tibet's Nagqu prefecture, China Tibet Online reported today. About 170 dead birds were reported from mid May though May 25. Most were brown-headed gulls, but species also included 27 geese. The ministry sent authorities to the site to monitor wild bird populations and ensure that area farmers take precautions. No infections have been detected in local poultry flocks.
Jun 10 China Tibet Online story
Rotavirus vaccines contraindicated for babies with rare immune disorder
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that reports of vaccine-acquired rotavirus infections in children with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) prompted Merck and GlaxoSmithKline to revise prescribing and labeling information for their rotavirus vaccines. The vaccines are now contraindicated for infants, the CDC said in the Jun 11 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). SCID is a rare condition caused by a gene defect and is typically diagnosed in infants at about the time they receive the rotavirus vaccine. Babies with SCID can suffer chronic diarrhea, failure to thrive, and early onset of infections. Since 2006 the CDC has received eight reports of vaccine-acquired rotavirus infection in children with SCID.
Jun 11 MMWR report
