Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/08/news-scan-aug-28-2013
News Scan for Aug 28, 2013
Cyclospora cases climb to 655; Two novel coronaviruses in bats; Cholera in Cuba
Filed Under:
Cyclospora; Cholera; Foodborne Disease; MERS-CoV
Cyclospora total rises to 655
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today it has received reports of six more Cyclospora infections, lifting the nation's total to 616 so far (see map below).
Of 591 case-patients with available information, 45 (8%) were hospitalized. The latest illness-onset date was Aug 6.
Texas, the state with the most cases, reported 302 cases in its latest update today, which includes 39 not reported in the CDC update. The addition of those cases would increase the national total to 655 cases.
The number of affected states remained the same, at 22.
So far health officials aren't sure if cases in other states are linked to each other. Iowa and Nebraska have linked restaurant cluster cases to a salad mix from a Mexican facility owned by a US food company, but this week the CDC said cases in Texas don't involve food from that facility.
Aug 28 CDC outbreak update
Aug 28 Texas Department of State Health Services update
Novel coronaviruses found in Mexican, Brazilian bats
Researchers found a novel alphacoronavirus in bats from Brazil and a novel betacoronavirus in a bat from Mexico, both in bats with potential contact with humans, according to a letter yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The US, Mexican, and Brazilian team analyzed samples from 97 bats from Brazil and 75 bats from Mexico. They collected intestinal samples from 10 bat species in southeastern Brazil from 2007 through 2010. From 1 of 17 Molossus rufus bats and 1 of 8 M molossus bats, they identified identical novel alphacoronaviruses.
Likewise, they detected a novel betacoronavirus in a specimen from 1 of 4 Pteronotus davyi bats from Mexico. The cave-dwelling bat was sampled in 2012. They said that one sequence of the new betacoronavirus, called 439-nt, has 71% similarity to the same segment of the recently identified Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that is infecting people.
Both SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS are caused by betacoronaviruses.
"Because the bats we sampled were mostly adult males," the researchers conclude, "the prevalence of CoVs that we identified is probably an underestimation of the true incidence of CoVs in these bat populations."
Aug 27 Emerg Infect Dis letter
Cuba reports 163 new cholera cases
Cuba has confirmed 163 new cholera cases, the Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday. Citing data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the story said cases were in Havana, Santiago, and Camaguey provinces.
Case-patients included 12 visitors from Europe and Latin America, and no deaths were reported.
In Havana, cases were traced to two food outlets where food handlers were found to have asymptomatic cholera infections. "The food outlets have since adopted appropriate sanitary measures," PAHO said.
Cuba reported 417 cholera cases last year and 51 more in January 2013 in Havana, the AP said.
Aug 27 AP story
Aug 23 PAHO update
News Scan for Aug 28, 2013
Cyclospora cases climb to 655; Two novel coronaviruses in bats; Cholera in Cuba
Filed Under:
Cyclospora; Cholera; Foodborne Disease; MERS-CoV
Cyclospora total rises to 655
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today it has received reports of six more Cyclospora infections, lifting the nation's total to 616 so far (see map below).
Of 591 case-patients with available information, 45 (8%) were hospitalized. The latest illness-onset date was Aug 6.
Texas, the state with the most cases, reported 302 cases in its latest update today, which includes 39 not reported in the CDC update. The addition of those cases would increase the national total to 655 cases.
The number of affected states remained the same, at 22.
So far health officials aren't sure if cases in other states are linked to each other. Iowa and Nebraska have linked restaurant cluster cases to a salad mix from a Mexican facility owned by a US food company, but this week the CDC said cases in Texas don't involve food from that facility.
Aug 28 CDC outbreak update
Aug 28 Texas Department of State Health Services update
Novel coronaviruses found in Mexican, Brazilian bats
Researchers found a novel alphacoronavirus in bats from Brazil and a novel betacoronavirus in a bat from Mexico, both in bats with potential contact with humans, according to a letter yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The US, Mexican, and Brazilian team analyzed samples from 97 bats from Brazil and 75 bats from Mexico. They collected intestinal samples from 10 bat species in southeastern Brazil from 2007 through 2010. From 1 of 17 Molossus rufus bats and 1 of 8 M molossus bats, they identified identical novel alphacoronaviruses.
Likewise, they detected a novel betacoronavirus in a specimen from 1 of 4 Pteronotus davyi bats from Mexico. The cave-dwelling bat was sampled in 2012. They said that one sequence of the new betacoronavirus, called 439-nt, has 71% similarity to the same segment of the recently identified Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that is infecting people.
Both SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS are caused by betacoronaviruses.
"Because the bats we sampled were mostly adult males," the researchers conclude, "the prevalence of CoVs that we identified is probably an underestimation of the true incidence of CoVs in these bat populations."
Aug 27 Emerg Infect Dis letter
Cuba reports 163 new cholera cases
Cuba has confirmed 163 new cholera cases, the Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday. Citing data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the story said cases were in Havana, Santiago, and Camaguey provinces.
Case-patients included 12 visitors from Europe and Latin America, and no deaths were reported.
In Havana, cases were traced to two food outlets where food handlers were found to have asymptomatic cholera infections. "The food outlets have since adopted appropriate sanitary measures," PAHO said.
Cuba reported 417 cholera cases last year and 51 more in January 2013 in Havana, the AP said.
Aug 27 AP story
Aug 23 PAHO update