Saudi Arabia reports 5 new MERS cases
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) has reported five new MERS-CoV cases from Oct 25 to today and two deaths on Oct 25, bringing the country's total to 777 cases and 331 deaths since June 2012. One of the deaths occurred in a newly reported case.
The new case on Oct 25 was in a 75-year-old man from Taif, who had contact with suspected or confirmed cases in hospitals or clinics, although he was not a healthcare worker, the MOH said.
New MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases reported on Oct 26 were in a 53-year-old man, which proved fatal, and in a 44-year-old man, both from Riyadh. The 44-year-old man is a healthcare worker and may have had contact with cases in a healthcare setting.
Cases reported on Oct 27 involved a 61-year-old woman and a 90-year-old woman from Riyadh and Jeddah, respectively. Both women are currently being treated in an intensive care unit.
All of the newly reported patients had a preexisting disease, although none had been exposed to animals or suspected or confirmed cases in a community setting.
On Oct 25, the Saudi MOH also reported the recovery of a 35-year-old woman from Taif, and on Oct 26, the death of a 70-year-old man from Taif. Since June 2012, 433 people in Saudi Arabia have recovered from MERS-CoV, the ministry said.
Oct 25 MOH update
Oct 26 MOH update
Oct 27 MOH update
Chikungunya increases in the Caribbean, new cases in France
An Oct 24 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) shows chikungunya cases continuing to climb in the Caribbean and Americas, with 16,347 new suspected cases and 666 new confirmed cases since the Oct 17 PAHO update.
The new cases bring the total outbreak numbers to 776,089 suspected and 12,993 confirmed cases, for 789,082 total cases.
Since Oct 17, Guadeloupe reported 6 deaths, and Martinique reported 7 deaths due to chikungunya. Of the 152 deaths attributed to chikungunya, 93% have occurred on Guadeloupe and Martinique, according to the PAHO report.
Oct 24 PAHO report
Oct 20 CIDRAP news scan on previous PAHO update
In related news, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Oct 21 reported an increase of 100 US chikungunya cases since Oct 10, bringing the total number of US cases to 1,482. (PAHO reported this increase on Oct 17.)
Most US cases have occurred in people who have traveled to places where infection is more prevalent, and 11 locally transmitted cases have been reported in Florida.
Oct 21 CDC update
Outside the Caribbean and Americas outbreak area, the World Health Organization (WHO) received a report of four locally acquired chikungunya cases in France, according to an Oct 23 WHO Global Alert and Response report.
The International Health Regulations focal point for France notified WHO of the cases on Oct 21. All cases occurred in one family, who lived near a case-patient whose disease was imported from Cameroon, according to the WHO report.
An Oct 25 Communicable Disease Threats Report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) identified one additional case of locally acquired chikungunya in France, noting that the new case-patient lived in the neighborhood of the four recently infected patients.
In response to the first cases of locally acquired chikungunya in France since 2010, French authorities are focusing efforts on vector control and disseminating information to healthcare providers and the general public, the WHO said.
Oct 23 WHO report
Oct 25 ECDC update
US EV-D68 cases reach 1,035 in 47 states
With 37 new cases of enterovirus 68 (EV-D68) confirmed today, the US total has reached 1,035, the CDC reported, up from 998 on Oct 24.
Almost all the cases, which involve severe respiratory illness, have been in children, many of whom have asthma, the CDC said. They have occurred in 47 states and Washington, DC, which is the same as on Oct 24.
Cases were first reported in mid-August. The CDC expects numbers to decline by late fall.
Of the more than 2,000 specimens the CDC has assayed, about half have tested positive for EV-D68, and about a third have tested positive for a different enterovirus or a rhinovirus.
CDC EV-D68 outbreak page
CDC EV-D68 activity by state