'Unprecedented' Outbreak of Dengue Fever Plagues Sri Lanka ( CNN) Sri Lanka is facing an "unprecedented" outbreak of deadly dengue fever, with 296 deaths recorded and over 100,000 cases reported in 2017 alone, according to the Red Cross. Go to article

It's High Time for Ticks, Which Are Spreading Diseases Farther ( New York Times) Like many towns across the country, Southampton is seeing a tick population that is growing both in numbers and variety - at a time when ticks are emerging as a significant public health danger. "Tick-borne diseases are a very serious problem, and they're on the rise," said Rebecca Eisen, a research biologist at the CDC. Go to article

Notes from the Field: Cluster of Acute Flaccid Myelitis in Five Pediatric Patients - Maricopa County, Arizona, 2016 ( MMWR) In 2016, CDC saw an increase in cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM); 144 persons in 37 states and the District of Columbia were confirmed to have AFM. Go to article

Turkish Media Reporting Large Die Offs of Poultry - Facilities Quarantined ( Avian Flu Diary) With the dual caveats that a decade ago Turkey had quite a bad time with hundreds of outbreaks of H5N1 (including a dozen human infections and four deaths) - and that their press can be a bit hyperbolic on the subject of bird flu - overnight numerous Turkish media outlets are reporting on large poultry die offs in the eastern part of the country. Go to article

Yemen Cholera Epidemic Slowing After Infecting 400,000 ( Reuters) Yemen's cholera outbreak is set to hit 400,000 cases on Tuesday but there are signs the three-month-old epidemic is slowing, according to World Health Organization data analyzed by Reuters. Go to article

Reported Doubling in Child Mortality in Iraq Following UN Sanctions Untrue ( EurekAlert!) The reported almost doubling in child mortality in Iraq following the imposition of economic sanctions in 1990 was a 'remarkable fiction' cooked up by Saddam Hussein's government to stir up international condemnation and get the sanctions lifted, say experts in the online journal BMJ Global Health. Go to article

Study: Small Drop in Vaccine Uptake Can Trigger Measles Outbreak ( CIDRAP) A modeling study today in JAMA Pediatrics shows that even a 5% reduction in vaccine coverage could trigger a significant measles outbreak. "It doesn't take much to ignite a measles epidemic," said Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, in an interview. Hotez is the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and a study author. "When you have a virus with a high reproductive number, you can see an outbreak as soon as vaccine coverage drops." Go to article

Update: Interim Guidance for Health Care Providers Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Exposure - United States (Including U.S. Territories), July 2017 ( MMWR) CDC has updated the interim guidance for US health care providers caring for pregnant women with possible Zika virus exposure in response to 1) declining prevalence of Zika virus disease in the WHO's Region of the Americas (Americas) and 2) emerging evidence indicating prolonged detection of Zika virus immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies. Zika virus cases were first reported in the Americas during 2015-2016; however, the incidence of Zika virus disease has since declined. Go to article

Flu Vaccine Production Could Provide Better Protection Against Infection ( Outbreak News Today) A new way of producing the seasonal flu vaccine could speed up the process and provide better protection against infection. Go to article

Beyond the Nasty Needle: Trying to Make Vaccines More Comfy and Convenient ( KRCU) News this summer of a flu vaccine patch sparked a lot of chatter. Could getting vaccinated be as easy as putting on a bandage? Could there be fewer, or at least smaller, needles in our future? Some companies and academic labs are working to make those things happen. Go to article

Researchers Develop New Method to Generate Human Antibodies ( Science Magazine) An international team of scientists has developed a method to rapidly produce specific human antibodies in the laboratory. The technique, which will be described in a paper to be published July 24 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, could speed the production of antibodies to treat a wide range of diseases and facilitate the development of new vaccines. Go to article

Ebola Virus RNA Detection in Semen More than Two Years After Resolution of Acute Ebola Virus Infection ( Open Forum Infectious Diseases) Among 149 men who survived Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) donating semen 260-1016 days after EVD onset, Ebola virus (EBOV) RNA was detected in 13 (9%). Of 137 men donating semen 2 years after EVD onset, 11 (8%) had an EBOV RNA-positive specimen. The mechanism underlying the persistence of EBOV RNA in semen is unclear, as is whether the detection of viral RNA represents the presence of infectious virus. Go to article

Abundance and Co-occurrence of Extracellular Capsules Increases Environmental Breadth: Implications for the Emergence of Pathogens ( PLOS: Pathogens) Extracellular capsules constitute the outermost layer of many bacteria, are major virulence factors, and affect antimicrobial therapies. They have been used as epidemiological markers and recently became vaccination targets. Despite the efforts to biochemically serotype capsules in a few model pathogens, little is known of their taxonomic and environmental distribution. Go to article

A DNA App Store Is Here, but Proceed with Caution ( MIT Technology Review) A Silicon Valley startup called Helix is betting on the notion that not only do people want to learn more about their DNA, but they'll also pay to keep interacting with it. Today the company, which was founded in 2015 with $100 million from genomics giant Illumina, is launching its much-anticipated online hub where people can digitally explore their genetic code by downloading different applications on their computers or mobile devices. Go to article

SNP-mediated Disruption of CTCF Binding at the IFITM3 Promoter Is Associated with Risk of Severe Influenza in Humans ( Nature: Medicine) Previous studies have reported associations of IFITM3 SNP rs12252 with severe influenza, but evidence of association and the mechanism by which risk is conferred remain controversial. Go to article

Mission Impossible? Investigating the Khan Sheikhoun Nerve Gas Attack in Syria ( The Century Foundation) The results are in: nerve gas has again been used in Syria. On June 29, international inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons officially concluded that the nerve agent known as sarin was used on April 4 in the city of Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern Syria. This was a war crime, a breach of international laws banning chemical weapons, and a direct challenge to the OPCW and the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined under American pressure in September 2013. Go to article

Update: WHISTL Labs Will Be Cyber Range for Medical Devices ( Security Ledger) Amid increasing concerns about cyber threats to healthcare environments, a global network of labs will test the security of medical devices, according to an announcement on Monday by a consortium of healthcare industry firms, universities and technology firms. The facilities, dubbed WHISTL, will adopt a model akin to the Underwriters Laboratory, which tests electrical devices, but will focus on issues related to cyber security and privacy, helping medical device makers "address the public health challenges" created by connected health devices and complex, connected healthcare environments, according to a statement by The Medical Device Innovation, Safety and Security Consortium. Go to article