Diseases & Outbreaks News and Discussions

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'Landmark achievement' as Hepatitis C on course to disappear from England by 2025, NHS England says

Wednesday 28 December 2022 00:51, UK

The blood-borne virus Hepatitis C that can cause liver cancer will likely be wiped out in England in just over two years, health chiefs have said, thanks in part to a scheme to treat the homeless.

NHS England said a pioneering drug deal and a campaign to find highly vulnerable people have together cured 70,000 people and dramatically reduced deaths five years ahead of global targets.

A five-year contract worth almost £1bn has brought antiviral drugs to thousands of patients suffering from the potentially fatal disease.

Alongside the drug programme, dedicated "Find And Treat" programmes have tracked down vulnerable people, including the homeless.

Those sleeping rough tend to suffer worse from health problems because they lack regular contact with health services.
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First Death From Brain-Eating Amoeba Infection Reported In South Korea
by Maddy Chapman
December 30, 2022

Introduction:
(IFL Science) South Korea has reported its first ever case of, and subsequent death by, the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri. The patient, who died on December 21, had been suffering from meningitis symptoms, which were caused by the pathogen, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed Monday.

In a statement, the KDCA said the patient had experienced fever, headache, vomiting, neck stiffness, and loss of the ability to speak, having recently returned home from a four-month trip to Thailand.

After running tests, the agency confirmed the presence of N. fowleri, a free-living, highly pathogenic, single-celled organism that can cause fatal primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) in humans.

N. fowleri is typically found in freshwater, including lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is the only species of Naegleria that infects humans, and while infections are rare, they are often fatal – the death rate is over 97 percent. The amoeba enters the body via the nose and travels to the brain, where it can cause PAM, an infection characterized by the destruction of brain tissue, brain swelling, and usually death.

The KDCA did not comment on the route of transmission in this case, but they cautioned that infections most commonly occur when swimming in lakes or rivers and nasal rinsing with contaminated water.
Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/first-death ... rea-66902
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A New Test Could Help Find Hidden Viruses We've Never Seen Before
by David Neld
January 10, 2023

Introduction:
(Science Alert) As the coronavirus pandemic has shown, it's not just known viruses we've got to worry about: scientists and doctors also need to be looking out for new, emerging variants that can evade current treatments and catch us unawares.

There are a number of ways we can suss out new viruses that might be a threat to human health. Monitoring illness in animals, for example, could give us a heads-up on viruses that might yet jump species.

Unfortunately there's a huge amount of ground to cover in the search, and not all animal pathogens are destined to infect humans.

A nasal swab test developed by researchers from the Yale University could rapidly alert experts to the presence of an unknown menace starting to emerge in a population, without needing to detect the virus directly.

Based on initial tests, it could be a quick and effective way of spotting hidden viruses that would otherwise get missed.
Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-tes ... en-before
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Worst Cholera Outbreak in Decades Kills 750 People in Malawi
by Gregory Gondwe
January 12, 2023

Introduction:
BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP via Courthouse News) — The worst cholera outbreak to affect Malawi in two decades has now claimed 750 lives, a government minister said, while the World Health Organization chief described the southeast African country as among the hardest-hit amid ongoing global epidemics that are “more widespread and deadly than normal.”

Malawi’s Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda on Thursday ordered the closure of many businesses that lack safe water, toilets and hygienic refuse disposal facilities, and announced restrictions on the sale of pre-cooked food.

“We continue to record rising number of cases across the country, despite signs of reduced transmission and deaths in a few areas,” Chiponda said in a statement, and urged adherence to sanitation and hygiene measures.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/worst-c ... n-malawi/
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U.S. Has First Cases of Super-Gonorrhea Strain Resistant to Five Antibiotics
by Tm Hale
January 23, 2023

Introduction:
(IFL Science) Two cases of a novel strain of super-gonorrhea have been reported in the US for the first time. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) on January 19, the bacteria had picked up potent anti-drug resistance and showed reduced responses to five different antibiotics.

Fortunately, both cases were eventually treated successfully with an injection of high-dose ceftriaxone, the main antibiotic currently recommended to treat gonorrhea, but health authorities say the pair of cases is certainly worrying.

“The discovery of this strain of gonorrhea is a serious public health concern which DPH, the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], and other health departments have been vigilant about detecting in the US,” Margret Cooke, Public Health Commissioner of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

“We urge all sexually active people to be regularly tested for sexually transmitted infections and to consider reducing the number of their sexual partners and increasing their use of condoms when having sex. Clinicians are advised to review the clinical alert and assist with our expanded surveillance efforts,” added Cooke.

Conclusion:
Considering the world's reliance on these drugs, antibiotic resistance is without doubt one of the biggest threats to global health.
Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/us-has-firs ... cs-67208

For a January 2021 article on the problem of antibiotic resistance, read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/the-other-p ... ics-58502
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Bird flu 'spills over' to otters and foxes in UK

12 hours ago

The largest ever outbreak of bird flu is spilling over into mammals, including otters and foxes in the UK.

Figures released to the BBC show the virus has led to the death of about 208 million birds around the world and at least 200 recorded cases in mammals.

Public health bosses warn the mutation in mammals could see a jump to humans but the risk to the public is very low.

There will now be more targeted surveillance and testing of animals and humans exposed to the virus in the UK.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) still advises that avian flu is primarily a disease of birds, but experts across the globe are looking at the risks of it spilling over into other species.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64474594


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Eye drops recalled after US drug-resistant bacteria outbreak
Source: AP

By MIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials said Thursday a company is recalling its over-the-counter eye drops that have been linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week sent a health alert to doctors, saying the outbreak included at least 55 people in 12 states. One died and at least five others had permanent vision loss.

The infections, including some found in blood, urine and lungs, were linked to EzriCare Artificial Tears. Many said they had used the product, which is a lubricant used to treat irritation and dryness.

The eye drops are sold under the name EzriCare and is made in India by Global Pharma Healthcare. The Food and Drug Administration said the company recalled unexpired lots of EzriCare Artificial Tears and another product, Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-cit ... 1f5e37e3ed
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An Even Deadlier Pandemic Could Soon Be Here

Feb. 3, 2023

As the world is just beginning to recover from the devastation of Covid-19, it is facing the possibility of a pandemic of a far more deadly pathogen.

Bird flu — known more formally as avian influenza — has long hovered on the horizons of scientists’ fears. This pathogen, especially the H5N1 strain, hasn’t often infected humans, but when it has, 56 percent of those known to have contracted it have died. Its inability to spread easily, if at all, from one person to another has kept it from causing a pandemic.

But things are changing. The virus, which has long caused outbreaks among poultry, is infecting more and more migratory birds, allowing it to spread more widely, even to various mammals, raising the risk that a new variant could spread to and among people.

Alarmingly, it was recently reported that a mutant H5N1 strain was not only infecting minks at a fur farm in Spain but also most likely spreading among them, unprecedented among mammals. Even worse, the mink’s upper respiratory tract is exceptionally well suited to act as a conduit to humans, Thomas Peacock, a virologist who has studied avian influenza, told me.

The world needs to act now, before H5N1 has any chance of becoming a devastating pandemic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/opin ... demic.html
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The media keeps reporting about how action must be taken to prevent a bird flu pandemic yet world governments aren't taking substantive action beyond surveillance. Surveillance is important but it's not the solution. Factory farming of vulnerable species needs to be cordoned away from bird populations to prevent spread. This would involve greater government regulation and enforcement and it needs to happen quickly.

Things like building inspections that prevent birds from entering the farms and clear enforceable protocols factory farms are required to follow or be shut down. Moreover every countries health service needs a proper track and trace center and law enforcement should be trained on how to enforce a quarantine on any individuals that contract the virus. (With the caveat that a supporting family member should still be able to visit in protective gear and also be required to quarantine.) Anyone who is quarantined should also have their expenses covered by the government until exiting quarantine. In a pandemic scenario that isn't affordable but for a few hundred people of various diseases every year globally, not just bird flu, there's no reason public budgets can't afford measures like this.

I'd also add that factory farms should be transitioned out in general and fur farms like with minks could be shut down entirely without much negative effect. But at bear minimum more things need to be done to make these processes safe. And many things a laymen like myself am probably entirely unaware of.
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