T
oday's Headlines: January 14, 2019
Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
African Swine Fever in China: 1st Outbreak in Gansu Province (Outbreak News Today) The China Ministry of Agriculture reported today (computer translated) on an African swine fever outbreak on a farm in Qingcheng County, Gansu Province in northwest China. This is the first outbreak recorded in Gansu and the 24th Chinese province affected by the epidemic. Go to article
American Monitored for Ebola at Medical Center Released (KETV 7 ABC) The patient being monitored for possible exposure to the Ebola virus at Nebraska Medicine has been released, hospital officials say. The unidentified American health care professional was providing medical assistance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when the exposure could have happened. Go to article
Government Affairs & National Security
Global Health Security
Medicine & Public Health
Emergence of Extensively Drug-Resistant Salmonella Typhi Infections Among Travelers to or from Pakistan - United States, 2016-2018 (MMWR) In February 2018, a typhoid fever outbreak caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi, resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, fluoroquinolones, and third-generation cephalosporins, was reported in Pakistan. During November 2016-September 2017, 339 cases of this extensively drug-resistant Typhi strain were reported in Pakistan, mostly in Karachi and Hyderabad; one travel-associated case was also reported from the UK. More cases have been detected in Karachi and Hyderabad as surveillance efforts have been strengthened, with recent reports increasing the number of cases to 5,372. In the US, in response to the reports from Pakistan, enhanced surveillance identified 29 patients with typhoid fever who had traveled to or from Pakistan during 2016-2018, including five with XDR Typhi. Go to article
Science & Technology
New Research Could Allow Fast Diagnosis of Viruses Like Ebola and Zika (Digital Trends) A new development in molecular biology is a step towards enabling mobile and instant diagnosis of viruses like Ebola or Zika in the field. The Oxford Nanopore MinION device can sequence DNA and RNA in real time, and researchers at the French agriculture research center CIRAD have found a way to use the device as a tool for identifying plant viruses and potentially animal and human viruses too. Go to article
Device Update Enables Mobile Testing for Viruses, Bacteria, Active Toxins (ECN) You're sweating and feverish and have no idea why. Fortunately, Sandia National Laboratories scientists have a device that can pinpoint what's wrong in less than an hour. Unlike most medical diagnostic devices which can perform only one type of test - either protein or nucleic acid tests - Sandia's SpinDx can now perform both. This allows it to identify nearly any cause of illness, including viruses, bacteria, toxins or immune system markers of chemical agent exposure. Go to article
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