US Officials Watching International Outbreak; No Illnesses Here ( Food Safety News) Federal officials in the US are investigating the supply chain of frozen vegetables linked to a deadly, international Listeria outbreak. Nine people in Europe and one in Australia who were infected with the outbreak strain have died. Go to article

Mayaro Virus: Florida's Next Mosquito-borne Illness? ( WLRN) There have been no cases of Mayaro virus in Florida yet, but University of Florida's Barry Alto there could be if it continues to spread from South America. Alto says Florida has the right climate and mosquitos for Mayaro. Florida has seen a rise in other mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, dengue, and chikungunya. Go to article

Multidrug-resistant Raw Turkey Salmonella Outbreak: 90 Ill in 26 States ( CIDRAP) Federal and state health officials who are investigating a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella linked to a variety of raw turkey products and based on detection in live birds are warning that the strain might be widespread in the turkey industry. Go to article

First Confirmed Whooping Cough Death in a California Infant Since 2016 ( KMIR) The California Department of Public Health announced Tuesday Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, claimed the life of a San Bernardino County infant. This is the first confirmed infant death from the disease since 2016, when two deaths occurred. Go to article

EEE Case Has Health Officials Posting Concerns of Mosquitoes ( News Channel ABC 12) Mosquitoes carrying a possible life-threatening virus may be buzzing around your neighborhood. Officials said the second case in the state this year of Eastern Equine Encephalitis was found in a horse in Onslow County last week. It was confirmed the horse died of the virus. Go to article

Notes from the Field: Widespread Transmission of Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Identified by Environmental Surveillance and Immunization Response - Horn of Africa, 2017-2018 ( MMWR) After the declaration of eradication of wild poliovirus type 2 in 2015, all countries using oral poliovirus vaccine switched from using trivalent OPV (containing vaccine virus types 1, 2, and 3) to bivalent OPV (containing types 1 and 3) in April 2016. Vaccine-derived polioviruses, strains that have diverged from the live vaccine virus during prolonged circulation, can emerge rarely in areas with inadequate OPV coverage and can cause outbreaks of paralysis. Go to article

Statement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, on the Formation of a New Work Group to Develop Focused Drug Importation Policy Options to Address Access Challenges Related to Certain Sole-source Medicines with Limited Patient Availability, But No Blocking Patents Or Exclusivities ( FDA) As part of our public health mission, the FDA monitors the pharmaceutical supply chain to support patient access to medically necessary drugs. For example, as required by statute, the FDA maintains a publicly available list of drugs that are determined to be in shortage. We work closely with manufacturers and others to support patient access to these drugs while they're in shortage. Go to article

See Also: Biosimilars Action Plan: Balancing Innovation and Competition - July 2018 ( FDA) Congress has given the FDA, as part of the agency's mission to promote and protect the public health, responsibility for implementing laws intended to strike a balance between encouraging and rewarding innovation in drug development and facilitating robust and timely market competition. Go to article

See Also: Trump Administration Forges Ahead with a Proposal to Shake up Drug Rebate System (STAT) The White House is reviewing a proposal that could shake up the system that allows drug makers to offer rebates to pharmacy benefit managers, a shift that some US officials hope could drive down the prices of medicines. Go to article

Global Health Security

The Lancet: Response to HIV/AIDS Epidemic at Risk of 'Dangerous Complacency' as Urgent Change in Approach Is Needed ( EurekAlert!) The Commission will be launched at the AIDS 2018 conference between 6.30-8.30pm Amsterdam time on Thursday 26th July in Hall 10. The HIV pandemic is not on track to end by 2030 and current approaches to HIV control are not enough to control it, according to a new Lancet Commission led by the International AIDS Society. Go to article

See Also: Report Warns of 'Dangerous Complacency' in The Fight Against HIV ( NPR Goats and Soda) In the view of the public health community, reducing the prices on AIDS drugs and setting up the infrastructure to distribute them to people in poor countries in less than two decades is seen as phenomenal and unprecedented. But that's treatment. Prevention efforts are a different story, and if the world doesn't figure out how to prevent new cases of HIV, stubbornly holding steady at about two million infections a year since 2005, according to a 2016 report in Lancet HIV, a resurgence in the epidemic is possible. Go to article

The Past Need Not Be Prologue: Recommendations for Testing and Positioning the Most-promising Medical Countermeasures for the Next Outbreak of Ebola Virus Infection ( Journal of Infectious Diseases) The 2013-2016 outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa led to unprecedented morbidity and mortality. Although different classes of putative antiviral agents with supportive preclinical data were available for testing, and although several attempts to perform meaningful evaluation of these agents were undertaken during the epidemic, different research methods, a lack of appropriate controls in most studies, and formidable logistical challenges to completion of studies under field conditions hampered the success of these efforts. Go to article

Global Access to Antibiotics Without Prescription in Community Pharmacies: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis ( Journal of Infection) We estimated the extent of non-prescription supply of antibiotics in community pharmacies. The pooled proportion of non-prescription supply of antibiotics was 62%. Non-prescription supply of antibiotics was highest in South America. Antibiotics were commonly supplied for acute and self-limiting conditions. Go to article

See Also: Overuse of Antibiotics Not What the Doctor Ordered ( Science Daily) With increased use of antibiotics worldwide linked to growing antibiotic resistance, a new study has highlighted the growing impact of non-prescription supply of antibiotics in community pharmacies, and the urgent need for better enforcement of laws. South America has the highest incidence of non-prescription supply of antibiotics in community pharmacies. Go to article

Scientists Identify Most Pressing Issues Posed by Chemicals in the Environment ( EurekAlert!) Scientists have identified 22 key research questions surrounding the risks associated with chemicals in the environment in Europe. Chemicals released into the environment by human activity are resulting in biodiversity loss; increased natural hazards; threats to food, water and energy security; negative impacts on human health and degradation of environmental quality. Go to article

Deadly Rift Valley Fever: New Insight, and Hope for the Future ( Science Daily) Health control measures alone could be ineffective in the long term fight against the deadly Rift Valley fever which affects both humans and animals, a new study reports. Go to article

Flu Vaccine Effectiveness in 2017 to 2018 Season ( Gov.UK) Public Health England has today (Wednesday, 18 July 2018) published data on the effectiveness of the flu vaccine in the 2017 to 2018 season. The data show that overall, flu vaccine was 15% effective in all age groups. Go to article

Molecular Architecture of Fungal Cell Walls Revealed by Solid-state NMR ( Nature Communications) The high mortality of invasive fungal infections, and the limited number and inefficacy of antifungals necessitate the development of new agents with novel mechanisms and targets. The fungal cell wall is a promising target as it contains polysaccharides absent in humans, however, its molecular structure remains elusive. Go to article

See Also: Chemists Characterize the Fatal Fungus Among Us ( Science Daily) Life-threatening fungal infections affect more than two million people worldwide. Effective antifungal medications are limited. A major challenge is that the fungal cell wall is poorly understood, which has impeded drug development. However, chemist have identified for the first time the cell wall structure of one of the most prevalent and deadly fungi, which could usher in a new era of antifungal drug development to help save lives. Go to article

How Plant Breeding Technologies Could Make Fruits and Vegetables More Exciting to Eat (Science Daily) Forget vegetables with dull colors and fuzzy skin or fruits that lack of flavor -- the produce aisle of the future could offer plant products that are designed for creative cooks and fussy eaters. In a new article, food researchers describe how new breeding technologies have the potential to enhance the shape, size, color, and health benefits of produce, as well as to inform conventional breeding programs. Go to article

Phages Work Together to Suppress CRISPR Bacterial Immunity ( Science Daily) CRISPR are an essential part of bacterial immunity designed to defend against foreign DNA. In bacteria, CRISPR acts just like it does in human cells as a pair of scissors, in their case with the goal of cutting strands of infecting DNA. While researchers have known that CRISPR is found in roughly half of all bacteria in the wild, they did not know much about the molecular battle between CRISPRs and invading viruses or phages. Go to article

See Also: Bacteriophage Cooperation Suppresses CRISPR-Cas3 and Cas9 Immunity (Cell) Bacteria utilize CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems for protection from bacteriophages (phages), and some phages produce anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins that inhibit immune function. Despite thorough mechanistic and structural information for some Acr proteins, how they are deployed and utilized by a phage during infection is unknown. Go to article

See Also: Anti-CRISPR Phages Cooperate to Overcome CRISPR-Cas Immunity (Cell) Some phages encode anti-CRISPR (acr) genes, which antagonize bacterial CRISPR-Cas immune systems by binding components of its machinery, but it is less clear how deployment of these acr genes impacts phage replication and epidemiology. Go to article

Researchers Move Closer to Completely Optical Artificial Neural Network ( EurekAlert!) Researchers have shown that it is possible to train artificial neural networks directly on an optical chip. The significant breakthrough demonstrates that an optical circuit can perform a critical function of an electronics-based artificial neural network and could lead to less expensive, faster and more energy efficient ways to perform complex tasks such as speech or image recognition. Go to article