NEWS SCAN: More chick-linked Salmonella cases, malaria in Greece

Foodborne Disease
Malaria
Salmonella

Aug 24, 2011

Salmonella cases tied to chicks, ducks climb to 92
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday that it has linked 21 more cases to a two-strain Salmonella outbreak connected to chicks and ducklings sourced from the same national chain store and mail-order supplier. Since the CDC's last update on Jun 29, it has received reports of 16 more Salmonella Altona illnesses from four more states and 5 more Salmonella Johannesburg infections from three more states. No deaths have been reported. The latest reported onset for the Altona infections was Jul 30, and the latest onset for the Johannesburg infections was Jun 28.
Aug 23 CDC outbreak update

Greece reports locally acquired malaria
Greece's public health system has detected six local acquired Plasmodium vivax malaria infections since June, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said yesterday in a risk assessment. Four of the infections were reported from Evrotas, an area in the southeastern part of the country that has reported sporadic cases of locally acquired malaria infections in the past 3 years. Two cases detected in July, however, occurred in the Evoia area northeast of there, where autochthonous cases haven't been reported. The ECDC said the risk of transmission to other EU countries is low and that more research is needed to determine if the source of local transmission is an imported case that involved onward spread by local mosquito vectors or if an established human reservoir of P vivax in the area is contributing to annual clusters.
Aug 23 ECDC risk assessment
In a related development, the CDC announced on Aug 19 that it has received a report of a P vivax malaria infection in a person who traveled to southern Greece at the end of July. Because of the limited number of cases in Greece and because the country has instituted control measures, the CDC said it is not recommending that travelers to Greece take an antimalarial drug. However, it is urging them to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites.
Aug 19 CDC announcement

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