Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases News

• U.S. Official Optimistic Congo Ebola Outbreak Can Be Controlled The leading Ebola expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday he believed an outbreak in Congo can be brought under control quickly and that the high rate of new cases is due largely to improved detection.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Zika in Africa: Rare Birth Defect on the Rise in Angola Emiliano Cula starts to cry as his tiny fingers, curled into a tight fist, are stretched by a physical therapist to stimulate motor control.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Alert EU Panel Recommends Marketing Authorization for Dengue Vaccine The EMA CHMP has recommended marketing authorization for a dengue tetravalent vaccine against dengue virus serotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4.
  International Approvals, October 2018
• Congo's Ebola Outbreak Bad, but Not Global Emergency, WHO Says The Democratic Republic of Congo's rising number of cases and deaths are concerning, but a committee ruled that the circumstances don't warrant an international emergency declaration.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• International Aid Saves 700 Million Lives but Gains At Risk - Report International aid financing and innovation has helped to save nearly 700 million lives in the past 25 years, but those gains could be lost if momentum and political will wane, global health experts said on Monday.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• A Child Poisoned in Military Housing, a Family Left in the Dark In August 2016, a National Guardsman's year-old daughter tested high for lead exposure while living at the military post here, amid pecan groves near the Mississippi River.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• U.N. Employee in Eastern Congo Tests Positive for Ebola - U.N. Memo A United Nations employee in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the first such incident during the current outbreak, the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) there said on Friday in a letter to staff.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Asymptomatic Visceral Leishmaniasis Common in Operation Iraqi Freedom Soldiers As many as one in five U.S. soldiers deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) have serological evidence of asymptomatic visceral Leishmania infantum infection (AVL), researchers report.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• WHO Sees Congo's Ebola Outbreak Lasting 3-4 Months at Least Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak is expected to last several months and could spread at any time to Uganda or Rwanda, which are well prepared but have not approved use of a vaccine, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Week-Long Metronidazole Course Best for Trichomoniasis in Women A seven-day course of metronidazole provides better cure rates than a single dose in women with trichomoniasis, according to results from an open-label randomized controlled trial.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Ebola Response Tightens in Eastern Congo as Seven New Cases Confirmed - Health Ministry Congolese authorities announced a ban on Wednesday on harboring suspected Ebola patients and promised police protection for health workers at burials, in a bid to fight back against local resistance to efforts to combat the disease.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• New WHO Regional Chief Must Battle Lifestyle Conditions, Tropical Diseases Western Pacific health ministers picked a Japanese doctor as the next regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, spearheading a campaign to rein in lifestyle diseases linked to obesity and eradicate some tropical diseases by 2020.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• India on Alert as Zika Virus Hits Tourism Hotspot of Jaipur India has sent experts to try to contain an outbreak of the zika virus in the popular tourist destination of Jaipur, capital of the northern state of Rajasthan, with a close watch on pregnant women.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Zimbabwe Vaccinates 1.4 Million to Combat Worst Cholera Outbreak in a Decade Zimbabwe has started vaccinating people living in urban areas to contain the worst cholera outbreak to hit the country in a decade which has left 49 people dead and infected thousands more.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Ten Die of MERS in Saudi Arabia Among 32 Cases in Last 3 Months -WHO Ten people have died among 32 infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Saudi Arabia since June in a series of clusters of the viral disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• U.S. Working to Halt Spread of Diseases From Venezuela The United States is working with governments across Latin America to help prevent the spread of diseases like diphtheria and measles from Venezuela as refugees flee the chaotic country, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Physicians Harness Power of Heavy Metal to Fight Bacteria Gallium could be a viable alternative to standard antibiotics, and may play a role in reducing antibiotic resistance, study findings suggest.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Lack of Prep Plagued Trump's Child Separation Border Policy -Watchdog The Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this year was plagued by a lack of preparation, resource shortfalls and communication failures, according to a government audit released on Tuesday.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Bacterial DNA Sequencing Predicts Susceptibility to First-Line TB Drugs Sequencing bacterial DNA can predict drug resistance and susceptibility to first-line TB drugs, including isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol, according to a new study.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• 4 in 10 Health Workers Seropositive for Ebola After Outbreak Many healthcare workers show seroreactivity to Ebola virus (EBOV) after responding to an outbreak, despite never having shown signs of infection, new research shows.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018