In a study that expands on an earlier analysis, screening of blood donations in Puerto Rico last spring and summer found a 13% incidence of Zika virus, according to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) yesterday reported three more locally acquired Zika cases, all involving samples collected a few months ago.
Two involve people who were sampled in October as part of an ongoing investigation, and Florida Health recently received confirmation test results back from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A World Health Organization (WHO) working group recently updated its Zika vaccine target profile, a document used to inform vaccine developers, regulators, and other stakeholders. The group published the first version of the profile in July 2016, and the revision takes into account new data from the past 6 months.
China today reported two more H7N9 avian influenza infections in humans, and the country's top health officials have announced an update to treatment recommendations for patients.
The latest cases are both from Sichuan province in southwestern China, according to a state news agency report translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.
Five more babies have been born in the United States with Zika-related birth defects, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There are now 43 babies in the country with documented defects from the mosquito-borne illness.
China reported two more H7N9 avian influenza cases, including the season's second case detected in Beijing, according to official sources and state media.
Today the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the yellow fever outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is over, based on an announcement from the DRC. The declaration follows Angola's Dec 23 announcement that the outbreak had ended in that country. The DRC reported its last case on Jul 12, 2016.
A worrisome spike of more than 300 yellow fever cases in the past week has boosted Brazil's outbreak to 1,060 cases and 166 deaths, the country's health ministry said in an update yesterday.
A fivefold increase in less than a month—to more than 700 cases—is unusual for sylvatic (jungle) yellow fever, one expert points out.
Yesterday Brazil's health ministry reported 129 new suspected cases of yellow fever this week, with two more states, Goias and Matto Grosso do Sul, reporting infections. The country now has 550 suspected or confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne disease.