Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases News

• Ebola Preparedness Much Better Now Than for 2014 Outbreak - WHO The spread of Ebola to a major city in Democratic Republic of Congo is worrying but the outlook is much more optimistic than when a major outbreak was reported in West Africa in 2014, the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• First Ebola Vaccines Given as WHO Seeks to Beat Congo Outbreak A vaccination campaign aimed at beating an outbreak of Ebola in Congo began on Monday in the port city of Mbandaka, where four cases of the deadly disease have been confirmed.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Bone Marrow Hidden Home for P. Vivax Malaria
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• In Congo Outbreak, Ebola Vaccine Faces Reality Tests An experimental Ebola vaccine to be deployed in an outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has conquered some major scientific hurdles in giving high protection, but it now faces extreme real-world tests including heat, humidity, language barriers and lack of roads.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• WHO Says Congo Faces 'Very High' Risk From Ebola Outbreak Democratic Republic of Congo faces a "very high" public health risk from Ebola because the disease has been confirmed in a patient in a big city, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, raising its assessment from "high" previously.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Congo Receives First Doses of Ebola Vaccine Amid Outbreak The first batch of 4,000 experimental Ebola vaccines to combat an outbreak suspected to have killed 20 people arrived in Congo's capital Kinshasa on Wednesday, said a Reuters witness at the airport.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• WHO Issues Its First List of Essential Diagnostic Tests The Essential Diagnostics List is a catalogue of the tests needed to diagnose the most common conditions as well as a number of global "priority" diseases.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• WHO Gets Approval to Use Ebola Vaccine in Democratic Republic of Congo The World Health Organization has been given the go-ahead by officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo to import and use an experimental Ebola vaccine in the country, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Ebola Virus Wreaks Widespread Damage to Retina In Ebola virus survivors, high-resolution imaging of the retina suggests that damage extends beyond scarring and may involve neuronal pathways, researchers say.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• WHO Hopes to Use Ebola Vaccine for Outbreak in Congo The World Health Organization said on Friday it hopes to deploy an experimental Ebola vaccine to tackle an outbreak in a remote area of Congo to prevent it spreading, particularly to the provincial capital of 1 million people.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Health Charity Wellcome Pledges Funds for Ebola in Congo Britain's Wellcome Trust global health charity called for a rapid response to an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and has pledged 2 million pounds ($2.7 mln)to support Kinshasa's efforts to fight it.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Nigeria Increases Airport Screenings After Ebola Outbreak in Congo Nigeria has increased screening tests at airports and other points of entry as a precautionary measure following an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the immigration service said on Thursday.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• First Reported Deaths in Congo Ebola Outbreak Came in January -WHO Cases of hemorrhagic fever were reported in an area of Congo that is facing an Ebola epidemic as far back as December and the first deaths were reported in January, a spokesman for the World Health Organization said in the capital Kinshasa on Thursday.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Peru Declares Alert Over Suspected Guillain-Barre Outbreak Peru has declared a national epidemiological alert to contain what appears to be an outbreak of the rare Guillain-Barre syndrome, which is associated with the Zika virus, the country's health ministry said on Wednesday.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Victims of Japan's Forced Sterilizations Demand Justice After Decades of Silence One day when Saburo Kita was 14, he was taken from an institution for troubled children to see a doctor. Despite protesting that his health was fine, he was ordered to strip, lie down on a table, and was given a local anesthetic.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Democratic Republic of Congo Confirms Two Ebola Cases, 10 More Cases Suspected Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed two cases of Ebola in the northwestern town of Bikoro and at least 10 more cases are suspected, the head of the national institute for biological research, Jean Jack Muyembe, said on Tuesday.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Cholera Vaccination Campaign Starts in Yemen - WHO
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Interferon-gamma Assay Beats Tuberculosis Skin Test in Kids Over 5
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Discovery of Malaria Parasite Survival Genes Offers New Targets Scientists have identified the core genes that are essential for the deadliest malaria parasite to survive, revealing new targets for drugs or vaccines to fight the potentially deadly disease they cause in people.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• CRISPR-Cas13-based Platform Detects Tiny Quantities of Zika Virus and Dengue Virus
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018