Shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidance on Zika virus infection and pregnancy yesterday, Illinois officials reported two imported cases in pregnant women, a potential risk for birth defects.
PAHO, meanwhile, said the virus has expanded its reach and cautioned about Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The CDC is weighing a warning specifically for pregnant travelers, and federal experts say other mosquito-borne diseases can complicate diagnoses.
For the second day in a row, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new MERS-CoV case, and like yesterday the patient is a man who had contact with camels before he got sick.
The 50-year-old man is a Saudi citizen from Medina, located in the western part of the country. The man is hospitalized in stable condition for his MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection.
Provincial officials in China have reported two new cases of H7N9 avian flu, according to reports yesterday and today.
The first case is in Ningbo city in Zhejiang province in east central China, according to a China News story yesterday translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board. The patient—whose age and sex were not specified—had contact with live poultry and is hospitalized.
The case prompts a travel advisory and adds to the list of affected countries.
Nearly 200 new suspected cases of microcephaly potentially related to the spread of Zika virus were reported in Brazil over the past week, raising the total of suspected cases to 2,975, according to a translated bulletin from Brazil's Ministry of Health (MOH) posted yesterday by infectious disease blog Avian Flu Diary.
After going 9 days without reporting a MERS-CoV infection, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed a case yesterday.
Cape Verde reported its first Zika illnesses, while Panama and Honduras confirmed additional cases.
Also, the WHO provided more details about recent cases in Mexico, Paraguay, and Venezuela.