Zoonotic Infections News

WHO officials announced another outbreak of plague in Madagascar.

Currently, there are no approved vaccines or therapies to prevent dengue infection. The disease, which primarily affects children, is associated with approximately 22,000 deaths annually worldwide, according to the CDC.

Cases of West Nile virus were responsible for 95% of all U.S. arboviral disease reports during 2014, with neuroinvasive cases of the infection comprising more than half of these reports, according to recent data published in MMWR.

A recent report in MMWR, detailing the 12 cases of human plague reported this year, noted that the reason behind the surge remains unclear.

Benznidazole yielded a high cutaneous reaction rate in patients with Chagas’ disease, according to Spanish researchers.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $7 million to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine to aid efforts eliminating river blindness and elephantiasis in Africa and in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a press release.

The Entomological Society of America has released a statement advocating national policies that focus on managing tick populations and training new professionals to reduce the impact of tick-borne diseases.

Cases of influenza A(H7N9) may be more susceptible to sporadic transmission than cases of influenza A(H5N1), indicating a greater potential pandemic risk, according to recent data.

The prevalence of chloroquine resistance decreased to less than 30% since the 2002 emergence of C350R allele within the Plasmodium falciparum population in French Guiana, according to a recent study.

Live animal markets where people and swine were in proximity represented a potential source of novel influenza A viruses and interspecies transmission, according to recently published data.