US Virgin Islands: Leptospirosis Case Confirmed on St. Thomas ( Outbreak News Today) The US Virgin Islands Department of Health is reporting a confirmed case of leptospirosis in the territory on St. Thomas, according to Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle S. Davis Friday. Dr. Davis said DOH's team of epidemiologists would investigate where the victim lives to determine how the disease was contracted. Go to article

Dengue Update in Pakistan ( Outbreak News Today) In a follow-up to a report less than two weeks ago, the provincial health department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in Pakistan has reported a cumulative total of 74,820 cases of suspected dengue fever since the outbreak was first reported in mid-July. This includes 15,828 laboratory-confirmed cases and 54 deaths. Go to article

Uganda: WHO Provides Details on Marburg Virus Situation ( Outbreak News Today) Yesterday we reported on cases of lethal Marburg virus in Eastern Uganda. Today, the World Health Organization  published the following news release offering additional details: WHO is working to contain an outbreak of Marburg virus disease that has appeared in eastern Uganda on the border with Kenya. Go to article

Providing Care and Restoring Health Services in Puerto Rico ( ASPR Blog) October 20 marks thirty days since Hurricane Maria barreled through Puerto Rico, stripping the lush forests of their leaves, limbs, and even bark and toppling utility poles like fallen dominoes in a line. Pictures can't do justice to the damage. The devastation looked much like a war zone. Federal, territory and private sector partners steadily are making progress in restoring healthcare services to the island after the destruction wrought by the storm. Go to article

Senate Tees up House-passed Disaster Relief Bill ( The Hill) The Senate is turning to a House-passed bill aimed at helping communities impacted by a spate of recent natural disasters. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) brought up the bill late Thursday and set up an initial procedural vote for Monday evening. Absent a deal, the Senate would be poised to pass the legislation early Wednesday. Go to article

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Ebola Virus Disease at the End of a National Epidemic - Guinea, August 2015 ( MMWR) Health communication and social mobilization efforts to improve the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding Ebola virus disease were important in controlling the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in Guinea, which resulted in 3,814 reported Ebola cases and 2,544 deaths. Most Ebola cases in Guinea resulted from the washing and touching of persons and corpses infected with Ebola without adequate infection control precautions at home, at funerals, and in health facilities. As the 18-month epidemic waned in August 2015, Ebola KAP were assessed in a survey among residents of Guinea recruited through multistage cluster sampling procedures in the nation's eight administrative regions (Boke, Conakry, Faranah, Kankan, Kindia, Labe, Mamou, and Nzerekore). Go to article

WHO Supports Containment of Rare Virus on Uganda-Kenya Border ( WHO) WHO is working to contain an outbreak of Marburg virus disease that has appeared in eastern Uganda on the border with Kenya. At least one person is confirmed to have died of MVD and several hundred people may have been exposed to the virus at health facilities and at traditional burial ceremonies in Kween District, a mountainous area 300 kilometres northeast of Kampala. Go to article

Robert Mugabe Is Appointed a WHO Goodwill Ambassador, Stunning Critics ( STAT) The new head of the World Health Organization has named Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe a goodwill ambassador for the agency, a move that has startled public health experts. The WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, made the controversial announcement on Wednesday in a speech at a global conference on noncommunicable diseases in Montevideo, Uruguay. Go to article

Update: Interim Guidance for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Management of Infants with Possible Congenital Zika Virus Infection - United States, October 2017 ( MMWR) CDC has updated its interim guidance for US health care providers caring for infants with possible congenital Zika virus infection in response to recently published updated guidance for health care providers caring for pregnant women with possible Zika virus exposure, unknown sensitivity and specificity of currently available diagnostic tests for congenital Zika virus infection, and recognition of additional clinical findings associated with congenital Zika virus infection. Go to article

Ebola's Legacy: Children with Cataracts ( New York Times) Hoisted onto the operating table by a nurse, Aminata Conteh, a spunky 8-year-old, crossed her skinny ankles jauntily and held stock-still as doctors numbed her eye and then pierced it with a needle to withdraw a sample of fluid. Two years ago, Ebola nearly took Aminata's life. Now, complications from it are threatening her sight. Go to article

Whole-genome Sequencing Can Yield Diagnoses for NICU Cases ( GenomeWeb: Registration Required) Whole-genome sequencing can quickly and cost-effectively provide diagnoses for some babies in neonatal intensive care units. Researchers at Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine conducted whole-genome sequencing and interpretation for 42 infants in the NICU. As Rady's Shimul Chowdhury reported today at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, he and his colleagues were able to obtain genetic diagnoses for slightly more than a third of the infants within a week. For many, that diagnosis led to a change in treatment. Go to article

Seasonality in Risk of Pandemic Influenza Emergence ( PLOS: Computational Biology) Influenza pandemics can emerge unexpectedly and wreak global devastation. However, each of the six pandemics since 1889 emerged in the Northern Hemisphere just after the flu season, suggesting that pandemic timing may be predictable. Go to article

Newly Discovered Viral Marker Could Help Predict Flu Severity in Infected Patients ( Science Daily) Flu viruses contain defective genetic material that may activate the immune system in infected patients, and new research published in PLOS Pathogens suggests that lower levels of these molecules could increase flu severity. Go to article

Influenza Interaction with Cocirculating Pathogens, and Its Impact on Surveillance, Pathogenesis and Epidemic Profile: A Key Role for Mathematical Modeling ( bioRxiv) Evidence is mounting that influenza virus, a major contributor to the global disease burden, interacts with other pathogens infecting the human respiratory tract. Taking into account interactions with other pathogens may be critical to determining the real influenza burden and the full impact of public health policies targeting influenza. That necessity is particularly true for mathematical modeling studies, which have become critical in public health decision-making, despite their usually focusing on lone influenza virus acquisition and infection, thereby making broad oversimplifications regarding pathogen ecology. Go to article

Is North Korea Going Green? The Strategic Potential of Algae Production ( 38 North) It does not usually raise eyebrows when, in less than two years, more than 25 acres of open ponds are dug, irrigated, and cultivated with healthy and well-maintained algae in a very well-managed facility. After all, 25 acres has the potential to only produce the equivalent of 350-600 barrels of oil per year. Nonetheless, a new algal research facility just outside of Wonsan, North Korea, suggests growing interest in developing algae as a strategic resource to diversify sources of energy supplies and improve agricultural production, which could over time reduce the country's vulnerability to sanctions. Go to article