Diseases & Outbreaks News and Discussions

[caltrek]

Monkeypox Symptoms in Patients Attending London Sexual Health Clinics Differ from Previous Outbreaks, Study of May 2022 UK Outbreak Suggests
July 1, 2022

Introduction:

(EurekAlert)
• First study on cases from the ongoing outbreak of monkeypox in the UK looks at the clinical and demographic features of 54 patients with confirmed monkeypox infection who attended sexual health clinics in London.
• Researchers observed differences in the symptoms of these cases compared to previous monkeypox outbreaks, including the location of skin lesions and a lower prevalence of tiredness and fever, and call for a review of the current UKHSA case definitions.
• The analysis finds all 54 cases identified as men who have sex with men. A high proportion of cases had skin lesions in their anus or genital regions, suggesting transmission during close skin-to-skin contact, such as sexual activity.
• Authors call for additional resources to support sexual health and other specialist services in managing the current monkeypox outbreak.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/957527

[Ken_J]

I think we may be in for a repeat of how HIV infections were handled in the 80s. though decidedly less a death sentence than HIV/AIDS, it's going to be reliving a dark chapter in history.

[Lorem Ipsum]

We will now have 2 AIDS

[Vakanai]

Great, just what we didn't need. I'm afraid that much like we experienced an increase in anti-Asian hate crimes with covid, we're going to see a sharp uptick in homophobic hate crimes soon.

[caltrek]

Climate Change is Putting Food Safety at Risk More Often, and Not Just at Picnics and Parties
by Elena N. Naumova
June 29, 2022

Introduction:

(The Conversation) Every year, almost 1 in 6 Americans gets a foodborne illness, and about 3,000 people die from it, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Picnics and parties where food sits out for hours are a common source, but heat waves and power outages are another silently growing threat.

As global temperatures rise, the risk of foods going bad during blackouts in homes or stores or during transit in hot weather rises with them. Elena Naumova, an epidemiologist and data scientist at Tufts University, explains the risk and what you need to know to stay safe.

What does climate change have to do with foodborne illness?

The link between foodborne illness and climate change is quite straightforward: The pathogens that cause many foodborne infections are sensitive to temperature. That’s because warm, wet weather conditions stimulate bacterial growth.

Three main factors govern the spread of foodborne illness: 1) the abundance, growth, range and survival of pathogens in crops, livestock and the environment; 2) the transfer of these pathogens to food; and 3) human exposure to the pathogens.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/climate-ch ... es-185685

[Time_Traveller]

Tue 5 Jul 2022

A dangerous strain of salmonella is becoming more common in meat in the UK, unpublished government records show.

Test results obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) and the Guardian reveal a rise in poultry products contaminated with salmonella infantis, with raw and processed meat found to be affected. Beef, pork and animal feed have also tested positive for the bacteria, which can cause serious illness that sometimes proves fatal.

Some of the tests also revealed antibiotic-resistant infections, meaning treatment options for anyone becoming seriously ill could be reduced. Such “superbug” variants, known as multidrug-resistant salmonella infantis, have been linked to major food poisoning outbreaks including one in the US in which at least one person died.

Although some of the contaminated meat originated from outside the UK, salmonella infantis has also been found on UK poultry farms, suggesting the strain may have taken hold in this country.

Salmonella bacteria are found in the guts of poultry and livestock. Birds and animals can be infected through feed, in hatcheries or through faeces on the way to abattoirs, where slaughter and processing can also spread the infection.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... in-uk-meat

[wjfox]

If it gets above 10,000 cases, which is looking inevitable now, then it deserves its own thread IMO.

[Time_Traveller]

If it gets above 10,000 cases, which is looking inevitable now, then it deserves its own thread IMO.

This could be the new Covid in a matter of meaning but i expect we'll keep an eye on this for sure.

[caltrek]

The U.S. Just Recorded Its First Case of Polio in Almost a Decade
July 21 , 2022

Introduction:

(New York State Department of Health) ALBANY, N.Y. (July 21, 2022) – The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the Rockland County Department of Health today alerted the public to a case of polio in a Rockland County resident. State and County health officials are advising medical practitioners and healthcare providers to be vigilant for additional cases.

As the polio vaccine continues to be included on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) standard child immunization schedule, those already vaccinated are considered to be at lower risk. Notably, the polio vaccine is part of the required school immunization schedule for all children, and therefore school-age children are vaccinated before they start school. However, individuals who are unvaccinated, including those who are pregnant, those who have not completed their polio vaccine series previously, or community members who are concerned they have might have been exposed, should get vaccinated by Rockland County – who will be hosting local vaccine clinics – or partnering health agencies and providers in the area. Individuals who are already vaccinated but are at risk of exposure should receive a booster.

"Based on what we know about this case, and polio in general, the Department of Health strongly recommends that unvaccinated individuals get vaccinated or boosted with the FDA-approved IPV polio vaccine as soon as possible," State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said. "The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protecting against this potentially debilitating disease, and it has been part of the backbone of required, routine childhood immunizations recommended by health officials and public health agencies nationwide."

A viral disease that can affect the nervous system and cause muscle weakness, the polio virus typically enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with fecal matter of an infected person. Respiratory and oral-to-oral transmission through saliva may also occur.

Further Extract:

In this case, sequencing performed by the Wadsworth Center – NYSDOH's public health laboratory – and confirmed by CDC showed revertant polio Sabin type 2 virus. This is indicative of a transmission chain from an individual who received the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which is no longer authorized or administered in the U.S., where only the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) has been given since 2000. This suggests that the virus may have originated in a location outside of the U.S. where OPV is administered, since revertant strains cannot emerge from inactivated vaccines.

Read more here: https://health.ny.gov/press/releases/2 ... nty.htm

(Science Alert) America last recorded a polio case in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

A massive global effort has in recent decades come close to wiping out polio, a crippling and potentially fatal viral disease that mainly affects children under the age of five.

Cases have decreased by 99 percent since 1988, when polio was endemic in 125 countries and 350,000 cases were recorded worldwide.
…
While weaker than wild poliovirus, which now exists only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the variant (reported by the New York State Department of Health) can cause serious illness and paralysis in people not vaccinated against the disease.

Last month, the World Health Organization and British health officials said that a type of poliovirus derived from vaccines had been detected in London sewage samples.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/us-record ... -a-decade

[caltrek]

Scientists Have Built a Mathematical Model of the Spread of Infections
August 3, 2022

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) Scientists at the Ural Federal University (UFU) have built a mathematical model describing the process of development and spread of epidemics. This model is versatile and would be suitable for studying any mass disease, including coronavirus infection or the new monkeypox. The model includes such basic factors as, for example, the rate of recovery or infection. If all parameters are taken into account, scientists say, it is possible to draw up scenarios of the spread of the epidemic and identify possible ways to influence the disease in order to prevent or suppress it. A description of the model is published in The European Physical Journal Special Topics https://link.springer.com/article/10.11 ... 2-00618-2

"The point of our study is to show the variability, the complexity of the consequences of fluctuations depending on the ratio of parameters. For example, we found that limiting the number of contacts, that is, quarantine, is indeed effective in reducing the incidence of disease and suppressing the virus. Moreover, according to the mathematical calculation, in a proportional ratio it gives a better result in the fight against the spread of infection than the use of drugs that reduce mortality or increase the intensity of recovery," says Lev Ryashko, professor of the Department of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics at Ural Federal University, head of the study.

Thus, the model takes into account the rate of infection, which depends on the intensity of contact of healthy people with infected people, mortality caused by the disease, the rate of recovery, etc. Scientists pay attention to the fact that all factors are random and any even small quantitative change has a significant impact on the outcome of the spread of the epidemic.

"We built a mathematical model of the dynamic interaction between healthy and infected elements of the overall population system. For example, the number of human contacts is random: today you meet 10 people, and tomorrow you meet 20. And any such fluctuation can have a significant impact on changing the scenario of disease spread. In some situations, these changes may lead to complete recovery of the infected part of the population, while in others, on the contrary, to its extinction," explains Lev Ryashko.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/960692

[caltrek]

Lyme Disease Is Having a Huge Surge in Rural Parts of the U.S.
by Dr. Beccy Corkill
August 3, 2022

Introduction:

(IFL Science) A stroll through a rural area can be tranquil and wonderous, however, what you may not expect is the risk of Lyme disease. This tickborne disease has seen notable growth in the United States over the last 15 years. A newly released private insurance claims report is the latest to show diagnoses are on the rise, particularly in rural areas.

Between 2007 and 2021, private insurance claim lines with Lyme disease diagnoses increased dramatically by 357 percent in rural areas and 65 percent in urban areas. It should be noted that the claim lines are not the same as individual cases, where one patient with Lyme disease may have multiple claim lines.

Lyme disease is transmitted by a tick that is infected with the corkscrew-shaped bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi or less frequently Borrelia mayonii. When the outside-dwelling tick is feasting on its scrumptious host, the bacteria can be transferred from the tick’s salivary glands into host’s body. In humans, the bacteria multiply and evade the host’s immune system leading to Lyme disease.

The most distinctive sign of infection is the Erythema migrans (EM) rash, that occurs in 70 to 80 percent of infected people, and has a "bull’s eye" appearance.

In this study, FAIR Health – a national, independent organization that was formed in 2009 and has one of the largest private insurance claims databases in the United States – conducted the analyses. This company used its database to analyze over 36 billion healthcare claims and analyzed 15 years of data for Lyme disease. The data from the study has been presented in an infographic: https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhe ... Final.pdf . This study built on a previous analysis conducted between 2007 to 2016, which is also showcased in an infographic: https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhe ... sease.pdf

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/lyme-diseas ... -us-64746

[weatheriscool]

New York polio case is the 'tip of the iceberg,' hundreds of others could be infected
Source: CNBC

Hundreds could have polio after an adult in the New York City metro area caught the virus and suffered paralysis last month, the state’s top health official said this week. New York state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett warned that the confirmed polio case in an unvaccinated adult, coupled with the detection of the virus in sewage outside the nation’s largest city, could indicate a bigger outbreak is underway.

“Based on earlier polio outbreaks, New Yorkers should know that for every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of other people infected,” Bassett said. “Coupled with the latest wastewater findings, the department is treating the single case of polio as just the tip of the iceberg of much greater potential spread.”

Bassett said it is crucial that children are vaccinated by the time they are 2 months old, and all adults — including pregnant women —who have not received their shots should do so immediately. “As we learn more, what we do know is clear: The danger of polio is present in New York today,” Bassett said.

New York state health officials confirmed last month that an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County had caught polio and was hospitalized with paralysis. Health officials subsequently found three positive polio samples in Rockland County wastewater and four positive samples in the sewage of adjacent Orange County. The sewage samples that tested positive for polio are genetically linked to the strain which the unvaccinated adult caught. The findings do not indicate that the individual who caught polio was the source of transmission, but local spread could be underway, health officials said.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/05/new-yor ... ected.html

[caltrek]

How Polio Returned to the United States
by Robin Fields
August 2, 2022

Extract:

(Undark) Only after the case was identified did New York health officials start the sort of surveillance the British did, testing wastewater samples from Rockland County and beyond to help determine if the virus is spreading and where. Like many parts of the U.S., New York already was collecting sewage and analyzing it to track the spread of COVID-19. Health officials say they’re now testing stored samples for signs of polio. They say they’ve detected polio in a few Rockland County samples but need to analyze more to understand what the initial results represent.
For decades, the cost of doing wastewater surveillance for diseases like polio pretty clearly outweighed the benefit.

High U.S. vaccination rates, topping 90 percent, made the risk of such diseases incredibly low, though there have long been pockets of population in which rates are far lower. Rockland County, a suburban area northwest of New York City, is one such place. It suffered an extended outbreak of measles, another vaccine-preventable disease, in 2018 and 2019 that was largely concentrated in its Orthodox Jewish community, where many opt out of vaccines. Several news organizations have reported that the polio patient is a member of that community.

Nationally and globally, there are signs that the pandemic has opened up new vulnerabilities to diseases long in retreat. Routine immunizations have been hindered by a host of obstacles, including COVID-19-related lockdowns and growing vaccine resistance stoked by misinformation and politicization. A recent analysis by UNICEF and the World Health Organization showed that the percentage of children worldwide who received all three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis — a measure of overall immunization — dropped 5 points between 2019 and 2021 and that measles and polio vaccinations fell, too. The organizations say that’s the largest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in the roughly 30 years they’ve been collecting data.

That could create greater risk of polio, a scourge of the first half of the 20th century in the U.S. Highly contagious and potentially life-threatening, polio historically has victimized mostly young children, attacking their spinal cords, brain stems, or both.

Read more here: https://undark.org/2022/08/02/polio-in-america/

Also, on the same topic: https://www.propublica.org/article/pol ... -new-york

[caltrek]

Study Finds that Spread of Illnesses Can be Exacerbated by Climate Change
by Candace Cheung
August 8, 2022

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) — Amid a seemingly never-ending global pandemic, many people have searched for an answer as to how diseases can persist in our communities for so long. In a study published Monday, scientists at the University of Hawaii link disease to the similarly never-ending effects of climate change.

The study, led by Camilo Mora of the University of Hawaii, quantified that 58% of all infectious diseases, including influenza and Covid-19, have at some point been aggravated by climate change. The study does qualify that the spread of disease is obviously complex and can depend upon the relationship between biological and environmental factors, but shows that climate change does have an undeniable connection to the spread and severity of pathogenic disease.

Authors of the study analyzed a matrix of tens of thousands scholarly records and identified 286 unique pathogenic diseases that were associated with climate hazards, over half of which had been affected by the hazards.

“We would parse those articles that would come up and make sure that they weren’t just predicting something that might occur but that they were solid evidence of ‘this disease increased due to a flood that occurred in a certain place at a certain time’. Just making sure we had solid evidence and solid cases of the increased diseases,” explained Renee Setter, a PhD student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with the Department of Geology and Environment and a co-author of the study.

Authors mapped climate hazards like global warming, storms, or floods and droughts against disease triggers including viruses and bacteria, as well as even plants and animals. Over 1,000 permutations of the interplay between these various climate hazards and disease vectors were documented in a Sankey plot published with the study itself.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/spread- ... dy-finds/

caltrek’s comment: I recall at least one other earlier study that came to a similar conclusion. Each such study gives us more detail and/or reinforces the initial conclusions of earlier research. Something often needed in this time of great skepticism and denialism. Sadly, there are those who will never be convinced, or will simply be indifferent to the documented negative consequences

[Xyls]

China's Shandong and Henan detect new zoonotic virus, 35 people reportedly infected

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202208/1272556.shtml

A new type of animal-derived Henipavirus (also named Langya henipavirus, LayV) that can infect humans has been found in East China's Shandong Province and Central China's Henan Province, and has so far infected 35 people in the two provinces, according to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) by scientists from China and Singapore.

The new type of Henipavirus was found in throat swab samples from febrile patients in eastern China with a history of contact with animals in recent times, according to media reports.

[weatheriscool]

Dozens in China infected with Langya virus found in shrews
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-08- ... virus.html

Dozens of people in China have fallen ill with a new virus that is also found in shrews, a report has said, but there is so far no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

The infections were found in China's eastern Shandong and central Henan provinces, affecting 35 people, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine this month.

The virus is called Langya henipavirus or LayV, and patients reported symptoms that include fever, fatigue, cough, nausea and headaches.

Some people also developed blood cell abnormalities and impaired liver and kidney functions, the report said.

Research findings suggested shrews may be a natural reservoir for the pathogen.

"There was no close contact or common exposure history among the patients, which suggests that the infection in the human population may be sporadic," according to the report.

But it also cautioned that its sample size "was too small to determine the status of human-to-human transmission for LayV".

[caltrek]

SMART Advances in the Detection and Quantification of Viral Pathogens in Wastewater
August 22, 2022


Introduction:

• (EurekAlert) SMART’s (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology’s) new assay used in a wastewater surveillance study revealed that Omicron displaced Delta as the dominant variant in an Italian population within just 3 weeks

• This displacement of the previously dominant Delta variant by Omicron in such a short period reinforces other reports that the transmission advantage of Omicron may stem from more efficient immune evasion in the vaccinated population

• Two separate SMART studies reviewed the potential of wastewater surveillance in a COVID-19-endemic future, including its potential use to track dengue and other arboviral diseases, and its invaluable role in preparing the world for future viral pandemics

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/962443

[weatheriscool]

Fauci Says He Will Step Down in December to Pursue His 'Next Chapter'
Source: New York Times

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci in Washington last year. He joined the National Institutes of Health in 1968 and has advised every president since Ronald Reagan.Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York Times


Dr. Anthony S. Fauci said on Monday that he intended to leave government service in December to "pursue the next chapter" of his career, and that he would step down as President Biden's top medical adviser and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he has led for 38 years. The announcement by Dr. Fauci, 81, was not entirely unexpected. He has hinted for some time that he was thinking of retiring.

In an interview Sunday evening, he said he was "not retiring in the classic sense" but would devote himself to traveling, writing and encouraging young people to enter government service. "So long as I'm healthy, which I am, and I'm energetic, which I am, and I'm passionate, which I am, I want to do some things outside of the realm of the federal government," Dr. Fauci said in the interview, adding that he wanted to use his experience and insight into public health and public service to "hopefully inspire the younger generation." In a statement on Monday,

Mr. Biden thanked Dr. Fauci, whom he called a "dedicated public servant and a steady hand with wisdom and insight." The two had worked closely together during a global outbreak of the Zika virus when Mr. Biden was vice president. "Because of Dr. Fauci's many contributions to public health, lives here in the United States and around the world have been saved," the president said. Few scientists have had as large or as long-lasting an impact on public policy. Dr. Fauci joined the National Institutes of Health in 1968, when Lyndon Johnson was president; he was appointed the director of its infectious disease branch in 1984, when the AIDS epidemic demanded attention.

Dr. Fauci has advised every president since Ronald Reagan -- seven in all -- and has been adept at navigating the nexus of science and politics. Among his proudest accomplishments, he said, was his work with President George W. Bush in developing a global program to combat H.I.V./AIDS, known as PEPFAR, which has saved an estimated 21 million lives. Mr. Bush -- whose father, George Bush, called Dr. Fauci "a hero" during a 1988 presidential debate -- awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/22/us/p ... etire.html

[weatheriscool]

Wendy's pulls lettuce from sandwiches amid E. coli outbreak
Source: AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The fast-food chain Wendy’s says it is pulling lettuce from sandwiches in its restaurants in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania after people eating them there reported falling ill.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it is trying to determine whether romaine lettuce is the source of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 37 people and whether romaine used at Wendy’s was also served or sold at other businesses.

The CDC said one person was also sickened in Indiana. A message was left with Wendy’s about lettuce on sandwiches in that state.

The CDC said there is no evidence that romaine sold in grocery stores is linked to the E. coli outbreak. The agency also said it is not advising people to stop eating at Wendy’s or not to eat romaine lettuce.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-ohio- ... a29c54042e

[caltrek]

Watch These Viruses Most for the Potential for Spillover to Humans
by Kat Kerlin
August 30, 2022

Introduction:

(Futurity ) In the past decade, scientists have described hundreds of novel viruses with the potential to pass between wildlife and humans. But how can they know which are riskiest for spillover and therefore which to prioritize for further surveillance in people?

The study, published in the journal Communications Biology, provides further evidence that coronaviruses are riskiest for spillover and should continue to be prioritized for enhanced surveillance and research.

Further Extracts:

…
The models found that novel viruses from the coronavirus family are expected to have a larger number of species as hosts. This is consistent with known viruses, indicating this family of viruses should be most highly prioritized for surveillance.
…
In additional to coronaviruses, the model also ranked several paramyxoviruses as high priorities for future work. Diseases associated with this family of viruses include measles, mumps, and respiratory tract infections.

“Characterizing hundreds of viruses takes a lot of time and requires prioritization,” Pandit says. “Our network-based approach helps identify the early signals in the ecological and evolutionary trajectories of these viruses. It can also help illuminate missing links between viruses and their hosts.”

Read more of the Futurity article here: https://www.futurity.org/zoonotic-tran ... 791892-2/