Zoonotic Infections News

Despite a lack of trials demonstrating the efficacy of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, promotion and use of the two treatments has led to shortages, self-treatment and fatal overdoses, according to a perspective published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The perspective suggests that African countries “strongly consider” putting prescription monitoring programs in place to ensure that off-label use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine is appropriate and beneficial for the treatment of COVID-19.

Cytovale Inc. will expand its partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, to examine the use of Cytovale’s Rapid Sepsis Diagnostic System for diagnosing sepsis in patients with potential respiratory infections, including COVID-19, according to a press release.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America has published a set of eight recommendations that provide guidance on the use of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for health care workers treating patients who are suspected, or known, to have COVID-19.

There is currently no evidence to suggest that people who recover from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected against reinfection with the illness, according to a scientific brief from WHO. As a result, although some governments have suggested that the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 may be an “immunity passport” that allows individuals to travel or return to work under the belief that they are protected from reinfection, there is no evidence to support that.

It is not yet clear whether COVID-19 antibodies are protective against reinfection, according to a briefing on antibody testing held by the Infectious Disease Society of America in which physicians also noted that antibodies are not “a license” to halt mitigation efforts that have been put into place in many states.

In mid-March, before schools in the state closed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, more than 400 people gathered for a birthday party in a rural Nebraska town, one with a population of less than 1,000. Many people from neighboring towns and communities attended the party.

An international group of researchers terminated a safety and efficacy phase 2b trial of higher dose chloroquine as a treatment for patients with COVID-19 early after observing increased safety hazards and fatality rates.

As of April 15, nearly 2 million confirmed cases and more than 126,000 deaths in 213 countries and territories worldwide had been reported in the COVID-19 pandemic, according to WHO. However, in spite of these increases that are widely reported, many people are being discharged from hospitals and making a full recovery.

In early April, the African region had less than 6,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a significantly lower count than the more than 112,000 cases reported in the western pacific and the more than 655,000 cases reported in Europe at that time. A study published in The Lancet in late February notes that the African continent “has remained relatively unaffected” by COVID-19 while highlighting a number of factors — including unstable health systems with limited ICUs and ventilators for possible severe cases of COVID-19 and travel to countries with high numbers of COVID-19 cases — that make the region vulnerable to further spread.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed a case of COVID-19 in a tiger at a zoo in New York, according to a statement on their website. The case represents the first instance of a tiger being infected with COVID-19.