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CIDRAP NEWS SCAN: Ebola outbreak expands; MERS in Oman, Saudi Arabia; Meningitis B on campuses

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  • CIDRAP NEWS SCAN: Ebola outbreak expands; MERS in Oman, Saudi Arabia; Meningitis B on campuses

    Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-persp...an-feb-14-2019


    News Scan for Feb 14, 2019
    Ebola outbreak expands; MERS in Oman, Saudi Arabia; Meningitis B on campuses

    Filed Under:
    Ebola; VHF; MERS-CoV; Meningitis

    New health area, Bunia, reports Ebola in DRC as outbreak hits 829 cases

    Bunia, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the 19th health district to confirm an Ebola case, the DRC's ministry of health said today in its daily update.
    The case in Bunia is in a 6-month-old baby whose mother died from the virus. The mother was from Katwa, and her corpse was intercepted in Komanda, where the baby is currently being treated in an Ebola treatment center.
    The baby is among 6 new cases reported today, which also include 3 in Katwa, and 2 in Butembo. The cases raise the outbreak total to 829, of which 786 cases are confirmed and 61 are probable. A total of 201 cases are still under investigation, which is up from 177 yesterday.
    Four new fatalities recorded today raise the death toll in the outbreak to 521. Among the new deaths are 3 community deaths in Katwa and Butembo, the current disease hot spots.
    The ministry of health said 79,146 people have been vaccinated against the virus with Merck's rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, including 20,547 in Beni, 19,971 in Katwa, and 9,214 in Butembo.
    Feb 14 DRC update

    Oman report 4 new MERS infections, Saudi Arabia 1

    Several Arabic media outlets are reporting that the Omani ministry of health has confirmed 4 more MERS cases in Oman, while Saudi Arabia also noted a new, fatal case.
    The Omani cases are part of an ongoing outbreak and bring the total to 10 recent cases of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) in that country, which had not seen the a MERS case since March 2018.
    According to Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease tracking blog, the Omani ministry of health said the 10 cases have resulted in 4 deaths in different provinces. If confirmed, that would mean the outbreak is no longer contained to a single family farm, as reported by the World Health Organization on Feb 11.
    The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH), meanwhile, today recorded another new MERS-CoV case for epidemiologic week 7 in Wadi ad-Dawasir.
    The infection lifts the country's MERS-CoV cases since the first of the year to 61, which includes 38 from Wadi ad-Dawasir, the site of a possible hospital-based outbreak.
    The patient is a 60-year-old man who died after acquiring MERS in a healthcare setting. He did not have camel contact, a known risk factor, the Saudi MOH said.
    Feb 14 Avian Flu Diary post

    Study: 1 to 4 meningitis B outbreaks on US college campuses annually

    According to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases, from 2013 to 2017 officials confirmed one to four meningococcal serogroup B outbreaks on American college campuses annually, which suggests that wider use of the MenB vaccine could be used in outbreak and non-outbreak settings.
    Since 2005, most American college students have been vaccinated with the quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine covering serogroups A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY), but serotype B has now become the most prevalent on college campuses. In 2013, MenB became available for outbreak response, and, by 2015, MenB vaccines were available for wider use, though not routinely administered.
    From January 2013 to May 2018, there were 10 university-based meningococcal disease outbreaks caused by serogroup B reported in seven states, which resulted in 39 cases and 2 deaths (5% case-fatality rate).
    "Only 1 case occurred in a student who previously received MenB vaccine; this student had been vaccinated with 1 dose of MenB vaccine 6 days before disease onset," the study authors, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said. "The remaining cases occurred in persons believed to be unvaccinated with MenB vaccine."
    In all but two outbreaks, mass vaccination campaigns with MenB were put in place across campus, and the vaccine was also offered at campus health centers, by appointment, and during seasonal flu vaccinations. Still, MenB vaccination coverage in response to university-based outbreaks was highly variable, ranging from an estimated 14% to 98% for the first dose (median, 67%), the study authors said.
    "Coverage with >1 dose of MenB vaccine among persons 17 years of age was estimated to be 14.5% in 2017 (13), and a recent survey demonstrated that only 2% of universities require MenB vaccination for student," the authors concluded. "Achieving high MenB vaccination coverage is necessary to help protect persons during outbreaks of meningococcal disease caused by serogroup B."
    Feb 13 Emerg Infect Dis study



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