Norovirus:(
Not nice at all.
For some reason it appears mostly in the winter season here in Scandinavia so we call it "Vinterkräksjuka".
Literally translated to "Winter barf out disease" .
Wash your hands regulary is the only treatment.

Measles outbreak prompts state of emergency declaration by Washington governor

The governor of Washington declared a state public health emergency Friday after more than two dozen measles cases have been reported, primarily affecting small children.

Governor Jay Inslee said in a statement that the Washington State Military Department and State Emergency Operations Center will be working with the Department of Health to combat the overwhelming influx of measles cases, of which there have been 32 as of Saturday, according to the DOH.

moomin, "Vinterkräksjuka". Funny name, not funny if you have it. :(

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https://abc7.com/food/fruit-sold-at-walmart-costco-and-aldi-recalled-due-to-listeria/5109933/

Nectarines, plums and peaches sold at Walmart, Costco and Aldi have been included in a multi-state recall due to possible listeria contamination.

Jac. Vandenberg, Inc. of Yonkers, New York, is recalling 1,727 cartons of fresh peaches, 1,207 of fresh nectarines and 365 cartons of fresh plums.

According to the FDA, the recall was a result of a routine sampling which revealed that products contained the bacteria.

A cure for cancer? Israeli scientists say they think they found one

A small team of Israeli scientists think they might have found the first complete cure for cancer.

“We believe we will offer in a year’s time a complete cure for cancer,” said Dan Aridor, of a new treatment being developed by his company, Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd. (AEBi), which was founded in 2000 in the ITEK incubator in the Weizmann Science Park. AEBi developed the SoAP platform, which provides functional leads to very difficult targets.

Thanks Gary.

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Tyson recalls 18 tons of chicken nuggets because there might be rubber in them

Tyson Foods is recalling more than 36,000 pounds of chicken nuggets that may have been contaminated with rubber, federal officials say.

The products were recalled after the company received complaints of “extraneous material” found in its packaged White Meat Panko Chicken Nuggets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday. Officials classified the recall under the Class I category, meaning there’s “reasonable probability” that consumption of contaminated food will cause serious health consequences or death.

No illnesses have been reported, officials said.

Tyson Foods said consumers contacted the company after they found small pieces of soft, blue rubber in the nuggets. The company said that rubber was found in a “very small number” of packages but that it decided to recall 36,420 pounds of product “out of an abundance of caution.”

AP Explains: Why Congo’s Ebola outbreak still going strong


JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, the second deadliest in history, marks six months on Friday and is moving toward the major border city of Goma, a development that would greatly complicate any hope of stopping the virus’ spread in the unstable region.

This may be the most challenging Ebola outbreak ever. Health workers face the threat of attack from rebel groups and resistance from frightened communities. A highly mobile population produced two scares in the past week alone: The discovery of an infected, wide-ranging young trader led to vaccinations in a new, third province near the South Sudan border. And two contacts of Ebola victims slipped away and were found in the capital of neighboring Uganda — free of the virus.

:-( Number of dead has risen.

Thanks Nick.

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Los Angeles Is Dealing With A Deadly, Flea-Borne Typhus Outbreak


The city of Los Angeles is suffering from an outbreak of a "middle ages" and "pioneer days" disease —typhus — typically found in homeless populations.

The outbreak began in October, according to CNN, with 57 cases of the flea- and flea feces-borne disease in downtown Los Angeles, not typically a hotbed of rare diseases. That was up from around 6 cases over the summer, all found in people "experiencing homelessness."

According to L.A. public health officials, there were more than 120 reported cases of typhus in 2018, and that number is increasing steadily in the first months of 2019.

I hope there is a cure.

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(CNN)So far this year, Washington state is averaging more than one new measles case a day as officials try to help stop the disease's spread.
Since January 1, Clark County Public Health has confirmed 47 cases of measles. In King County, home of Seattle, at least one confirmed case was reported.
A vast majority of those who came down with measles -- 41 -- were not vaccinated against the disease, Clark County officials said. One patient did receive a vaccination against MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), but the health agency declined to provide more details on that case "to protect the patient's privacy."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/04/health/washington-measles-outbreak/index.html

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Ebola Fears Take Monkey Meat Off the Menu

Bush meat and cross-border visits are off the table for Jenti Gabriel Mambuku, a mother of eight living in a South Sudanese market town a short bus-ride from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The reason: Congo’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak that’s claimed 460 lives since August. The last time the deadly hemorrhagic virus went transnational in 2014, it killed more than 11,000

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From across the pond.

Measles cases in Europe tripled between 2017 and 2018 to 82,596 - the highest number recorded this decade, data from the World Health Organization shows.

While vaccination rates are improving, the WHO says coverage is not high enough to prevent circulation of the virus in many countries.

Ukraine reported the highest number of measles cases last year - more than 10 times that of the next highest, Serbia.

Over 90% of cases were in 10 countries, including France, Italy and Greece.

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness that can sometimes lead to serious health complications, including infections of the lungs and brain.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-47157020

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Chinese Researchers May Have Used Organs Stolen From Prisoners, Study Claims

The scientific community has strict standards for organ transplant research.

Researchers can't use organs from executed prisoners or ones obtained without the consent of the donor, and an international ethics committee must green light every study prior to publication in a research journal.

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Nearly 100 children dead as world's 2nd-largest Ebola outbreak surpasses 800 cases :-( :-(

Health officials have raised alarm over the high number of children infected.

The second-largest, second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history has claimed the lives of nearly 100 children.

At least 97 children, 65 of whom were younger than 5 years old, have died from Ebola virus disease in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo since the outbreak was declared there Aug. 1, according to a press release from Save the Children, a charity supporting the fight against the current epidemic.

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https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/02/11/Mislabeling-prompts-recall-of-100000-pounds-of-frozen-chicken/8231549914448/

Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Nearly 100,000 pounds of chicken was recalled because of mislabeling and the undeclared presence of eggs, an allergen, the USDA announced.

VICS Acquisition, a Harlingen, Texas, food processor, is recalling 99,975 pounds of frozen chicken sold under the happi foodi and Southeast Grocers brands. The products contain eggs, an allergen known to cause immune problems in some consumers. The presence of eggs is not mentioned on the label.

Measles cases in Europe tripled between 2017 and 2018 to 82,596 - the highest number recorded this decade, data from the World Health Organization shows.

There is a drop of people getting vaccinated. Some won't for religous beliefs and there are even the anti-vaccin movement. Despite vaccines prevent 2 million to 3 million deaths a year globally.

A new list of top global health threats from the World Health Organization (WHO) reads like a "who's who" of public health hazards: Pandemic flu. Ebola. Drug resistance. But tucked in this list of much-talked-about threats is one perhaps-surprising inclusion: the anti-vaccine movement.
https://www.livescience.com/64523-anti-vaccine-movement-top-global-threats-who.html

More doctors like this one please.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has had to issue yet another warning against drinking raw milk last week.

The reason – 19 states are now on high alert for the Brucella strain RB51, a potentially deadly bacteria linked to unpasteurized dairy. The strain is resistant to first-line drugs and its similarity (symptom-wise) to the common cold or flu can make it hard to diagnose.

https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/cdc-warning-people-again-not-to-drink-raw-milk-after-19-states-on-high-alert-for-deadly-bacteria-/

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Scientists said Monday they had discovered immune cells that can fight all known flu viruses in what was hailed as an "extraordinary breakthrough" that could lead to a universal, one-shot vaccine against the killer disease.

Influenza epidemics, largely seasonal, kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, according to the World Health Organization.

Due to its mutating strains, vaccine formulas must be regularly updated and only offer limited protection currently.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/killer-cells-raise-hope-universal-flu-vaccine-160314396.html

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The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning that states might “force the hand of the federal health agencies” if they continue to allow vaccine exemptions amid an ongoing measles outbreak.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNN on Tuesday that the federal government might intervene if “certain states continue down the path that they're on.”

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/state-issues/430736-fda-chief-says-feds-might-intervene-if-states-continue-to

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The World Health Organization says that an epidemic of measles in Madagascar has caused more than 900 deaths.

According to WHO figures, there have been more than 68,000 cases of the disease, in which 553 deaths were confirmed and 373 suspected from measles since the outbreak began in September.

:-(


Measles kills 900 in Madagascar, according to WHO report

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Attackers torch Ebola treatment center in Congo, patients evacuated

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Attackers set fire to an Ebola treatment center run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo late on Sunday, forcing staff to evacuate patients, the charity said.

There were no immediate details on the identity or motive of the people who torched the center in the district of Katwa, at the heart of the country’s worst outbreak of the deadly disease.

:(

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Measles outbreaks lead states to reconsider vaccine exemptions

Measles outbreaks across the nation are prompting state lawmakers to consider eliminating vaccination exemptions for religious and personal beliefs that have been claimed by the parents of some children.

Public health experts and officials blame the exemptions as one reason why states are seeing an increased number of cases of measles.

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