Vaccine no match against flu bug that popped up near end
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/vaccine-no-match-against-flu-bug-popped-near-end-n1023246

The flu vaccine turned out to be a big disappointment again.

The vaccine didn't work against a flu bug that popped up halfway through the past flu season, dragging down overall effectiveness to 29 percent, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.

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Controlling deadly malaria without chemicals
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-deadly-malaria-chemicals.html

Scientists have finally found malaria's Achilles' heel, a neurotoxin that isn't harmful to any living thing except Anopheles mosquitoes that spread malaria.

Nearly half the world's population lives in areas vulnerable to malaria which kills roughly 450,000 people per year, most of them children and pregnant women. Progress fighting the disease is threatened as Anopheles develop resistance to chemical insecticides used to control them. There is also great concern about toxic side effects of the chemicals.

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https://ktla.com/2019/06/29/62-people-sickened-in-8-states-excluding-ca-due-to-salmonella-outbreak-linked-to-papayas-from-mexico/

62 People Sickened in Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Papayas From Mexico

Sixty-two people in eight US states have fallen ill this year from Salmonella related to fresh papayas imported from Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The illnesses range from mid-January up to June 8, with the highest number occurring in April. Of those who’ve gotten sick, 23 have been hospitalized.

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CDC issues warning on 'crypto' fecal parasite that can live for days in swimming pools
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/30/health/crypto-outbreaks-pools-cdc-warning/index.html

CNN - Health officials are asking Americans to take precautions over reports that "crypto," a fecal parasite that can be transmitted via swimming pools, is on the rise.
The parasite's full name is cryptosporidium. It causes cryptosporidiosis, which can leave healthy adults suffering from "profuse, watery diarrhea" for as long as three weeks. The effects can be worse for children, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2019/07/01/growers-express-recalls-vegetables-trader-joes-other-stores/1621435001/

Growers Express is recalling some fresh vegetable products for possible listeria contamination.

Butternut squash, cauliflower, zucchini and select veggie bowls are included in the voluntary recall and were sold under the Green Giant Fresh, Trader Joe's and the Signature Farms brands, according to a recall notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration website Monday.

The products came from a Growers Express production facility in Biddeford, Maine.

According to the notice, one sample tested positive for Listeria by the Massachusetts Department of Health and there have been no reported illnesses.

Most of the products are labeled with a “Best if Used By” date for June 26 through June 29, the notice said. No Green Giant canned or frozen vegetables are affected.

USAID pledges Ebola support as 15 new cases reported
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2019/07/usaid-pledges-ebola-support-15-new-cases-reported]


Today the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will likely confirmed 15 new cases of Ebola virus in an 11-month-long outbreak that persists despite an effective vaccine and a robust surveillance system.

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Florida Man Contracts Deadly Flesh-Eating Bacteria Despite Never Going in Water
https://www.clickorlando.com/inside-edition/florida-man-contracts-deadly-flesheating-bacteria-despite-never-going-in-water


A Florida man contracted a deadly flesh-eating bacteria without ever directly coming into contact with water where it typically lives, officials said.

Tyler King was at work at his water sports business in Santa Rosa last week when his left bicep began swelling, he told CBS News.

Though he took Benadryl, his left arm swelled to nearly triple its normal size within a few hours, and he rushed to the emergency room.

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Half of babies affected by Zika virus are developing normally by age 2
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2208677-half-of-babies-affected-by-zika-virus-are-developing-normally-by-age-2/

Among a group of about 200 babies born to mothers who had contracted Zika virus, about one third had developmental delays, but not all of them were lasting. About half of the babies with abnormal assessments early in their lives later tested normally on developmental tests around age 2 or 3.

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With a surge in cases of mysterious polio-like condition, CDC appeals to doctors to help crack case
https://www.statnews.com/2019/07/09/acute-flaccid-myelitis-cdc-appeals-doctors/


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday appealed to doctors to rapidly report suspected cases of a mysterious ailment that afflicts young children, saying delays in identifying possible cases of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, are hindering the search for the condition’s cause.

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Merck’s Ebola vaccine helps combat deadly outbreak in the Congo as the virus spreads

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/mercks-ebola-vaccine-helps-combat-deadly-outbreak-in-the-congo.html

The Ebola virus is once again wreaking havoc in the war-torn North Kivu and Ituri provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, claiming an estimated 1,625 lives so far in its second-deadliest outbreak ever.

The ongoing outbreak follows the most devastating Ebola epidemic in history, which killed 11,310 and infected 28,616 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa from 2014 to 2016.

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SPRINGFIELD, Va. – Two people are dead and 20 have been hospitalized following a respiratory outbreak at a Fairfax County assisted living facility.

Over the last 12 days, 55 of 263 residents at Greenspring Retirement Community, a long-term care facility with assisted living, have become ill with respiratory symptoms ranging from upper cough to pneumonia, Health department officials said.


2 dead, 20 hospitalized after outbreak at Virginia assisted living facility
https://wtvr.com/2019/07/12/2-dead-20-hospitalized-after-outbreak-at-virginia-assisted-living-facility/

:-(

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It’s the world’s oldest and most reviled disease. But leprosy hasn’t been eradicated, and in fact, a new leper is diagnosed every two minutes.

Islands of death: life in a leper colony
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/islands-of-death-life-in-a-leper-colony/news-story/40f28a6999ad2edea5e3fc4f34a72256

It is the world’s oldest and most reviled disease with evidence it may have existed in India in 4000BC, more than 6000 years ago.

It has been referred to in ancient texts, such as the sacred Sanskrit work the Arthavaveda in 2000BC.

And a form of leprosy called “tzara’aat” in Hebrew is mentioned in the Old Testament’s Book of Leviticus, written about 500BC.

Leprosy is a dreaded affliction which mutilates and causes horrible disfigurement and was believed to be highly contagious.

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Birds poop out flu viruses that could become deadly global pandemics. These scientists swab their butts to protect us from that threat.
https://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-flu-comes-from-birds-first-2019-7

A dangerous assassin lurks on the Jersey shore — a killer so deadly that it could wipe out 30 million people in one year.

That threat is a pandemic flu virus that scientists are not yet prepared to fight.

"The world needs to prepare for pandemics in the same serious way it prepares for war," Bill Gates said last year, on the 100-year anniversary of the Spanish flu, which wiped out 50 million people in 1918.

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Ebola case confirmed in Congolese city of Goma, home to over 2 million

https://abcnews.go.com/International/ebola-case-confirmed-congolese-city-goma-home-million/story?id=64335777&cid=clicksource_4380645_null_headlines_hed

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to the city of Goma, a major transportation hub along the Rwandan border that's home to more than two million people.

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The number of children who were not vaccinated against life-threatening diseases such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus last year amounted to 20 million.
It states the World Health Organization and Unicef ​​in a joint report on the global vaccination coverage.
Since 2010, the degree of vaccination has remained steady around 86 percent. According to the report, this is problematic as 95% is required to achieve so-called flock immunity - the stage when most are vaccinated so that the diseases cannot spread.

Measles is killing more people in the DRC than Ebola—and faster
"Frankly, I am embarrassed to talk only about Ebola," WHO Director-General says
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/measles-is-killing-more-people-in-the-drc-than-ebola-and-faster/

The number of children who were not vaccinated against life-threatening diseases such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus last year amounted to 20 million.
It states the World Health Organization and Unicef ​​in a joint report on the global vaccination coverage.
Since 2010, the degree of vaccination has remained steady around 86 percent. According to the report, this is problematic as 95% is required to achieve so-called flock immunity - the stage when most are vaccinated so that the diseases cannot spread.

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Apr 3, 1999 - May 3, 2020

Ebola outbreak in Congo declared a global health emergency
https://wtop.com/national/2019/07/ebola-outbreak-in-congo-declared-a-global-health-emergency/

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo is now an international health emergency after the virus spread this week to a city of 2 million people.

A WHO expert committee declined on three previous occasions to advise the United Nations health agency to make the declaration, but other experts say the outbreak has long met the conditions.

More than 1,600 people have died since August in the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, which is unfolding in a region described as a war zone.
rob

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World Health Organization Declares DR Congo Ebola Outbreak an International Emergency
https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2019/07/18/world-health-organization-declares-dr-congo-ebola-outbreak-international-emergency/

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak currently ongoing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a “public health emergency of international concern” on Wednesday, urging more funding to stop the virus but warning against “travel restrictions” to prevent its spread.

:-)

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'Flesh-eating' bacteria: Here's how you can avoid contracting necrotizing fasciitis
https://www.yahoo.com/news/flesh-eating-bacteria-heres-avoid-185105585.html

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Several cases of flesh-eating bacteria, otherwise known as necrotizing fasciitis, have put people in hospitals across the United States and killed some.

A Memphis, Tennessee, man died last week after contracting the flesh-eating bacteria, vibrio vulnificus, while on vacation in Destin, Florida.

So, just how common is this, and should you be worried about swimming in oceans, rivers or lakes?

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