Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/05/news-scan-may-07-2014
News Scan for May 07, 2014
MERS antibodies in Kenyan camels; Chikungunya in Haiti; C diff guidance; USDA outbreak probes
Filed Under:
MERS-CoV; Chikungunya; Clostridium difficile; Foodborne Disease
Researchers find MERS antibodies in Kenyan camels
Camel populations in Kenya have had antibodies to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) as far back as 1992, according to an international research team that tested stored samples, according to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The report is the second recent study to find MERS antibodies in African camels. On Apr 21, another international group found MERS-CoV?like antibodies in camels from widely separated parts of Africa: Nigeria, Tunisia, and Ethiopia. In the latest study, researchers said gauging possible MERS exposure in African camels is important, because most livestock camels slaughtered in the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt are imported from the Greater Horn of Africa, especially Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and Kenya.
In yesterday's study, researchers tested samples from 774 dromedary camels from three of Kenya's regions?Northeastern, Eastern, and Rift Valley?that were collected from 1992 to 2013. Tests included a recombinant MERS-CoV spike protein subunit 1?based ELISA and a highly specific MERS-CoV microneutralization assay.
Samples that tested positive for antibodies reflected all sampling periods and the span of the 20-year period. Seroprevalence was higher in the Northeastern and Eastern regions; however, animals that were isolated at a research center tested negative. The scientists also found a positive correlation between MERS-CoV seropositivity and greater herd density.
The team said their findings might help guide the search for more ancestral MERS-CoV variants that could yield clues to how camels are acquiring the virus and transmitting it to humans. They also said seroprevalence studies in camel handlers could help shed more light on whether silent or unrecognized infections are occurring in humans.
May 6 Emerg Infect Dis study
Apr 22 CIDRAP News story "Antibody study hints at MERS-CoV in African camels"
Haiti confirms 14 chikungunya cases
The 40,000-case chikungunya outbreak afflicting the Caribbean has now spread to Haiti, as officials there have confirmed 14 cases, the Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday.
Haitian Health Minister Florence Guillaume Duperval said in a radio interview that the government would soon air public health advisories on the radio to alert people to symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, which can include fever, headache, and joint pain.
The story said that the arrival of the disease in Haiti was expected, as the Dominican Republic began reporting cases in March. European health officials said this week that Haiti's neighbor has more than 3,000 suspected or confirmed cases.
The outbreak began on the island of St. Martin in December and is the first chikungunya epidemic to strike the Americas.
May 6 AP story
SHEA, IDSA, others publish guidance for C diff in hospitals
Leading infectious disease organizations have published in the latest issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology new guidance for preventing Clostridium difficile infections in hospitals.
The guidance document is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and was produced by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and other groups.
Hospitalizations for C difficile doubled from 2000 to 2009, the guidance states, and the pathogen now rivals methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as the most common source of healthcare-associated infections. The infection typically doubles the length of hospital stays and costs the US healthcare system from $1 billion to $4.9 billion a year.
Recommended prevent-control steps include appropriate drug use; contact precautions; cleaning and disinfecting equipment and the environment; employing a lab-based alert system; conducting surveillance and report data; educating healthcare personnel, patients, and families, and measuring compliance with federal or international hand hygiene and contact precaution recommendations, among other approaches. The guidance also lists steps to avoid.
The organizations also published similar guidance for preventing surgical-site infections.
SHEA/IDSA C difficile guidance
USDA agencies reach cooperative plan to address food outbreaks
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)?both US Department of Agriculture agencies?recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that lays out the cooperative roles of each agency during root-cause assessments of foodborne disease outbreaks associated with meat and poultry.
The MOU provides "a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach" to address such outbreaks, the FSIS said in a May 2 constituent update.
"This MOU will document the procedures and responsibilities under the collaborative effort between APHIS and FSIS in assessing root cause in outbreaks of foodborne illness in humans," the FSIS said in the update. "It will facilitate the sharing of information between agencies and assist in making science-based decisions on mitigation or intervention strategies."
The MOU outlines roles and responsibilities for training personnel and planning interagency assessments. It does not change any existing collaborative work between the two agencies, the MOU states.
May 2 FSIS/APHIS MOU
May 2 FSIS constituent update
News Scan for May 07, 2014
MERS antibodies in Kenyan camels; Chikungunya in Haiti; C diff guidance; USDA outbreak probes
Filed Under:
MERS-CoV; Chikungunya; Clostridium difficile; Foodborne Disease
Researchers find MERS antibodies in Kenyan camels
Camel populations in Kenya have had antibodies to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) as far back as 1992, according to an international research team that tested stored samples, according to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The report is the second recent study to find MERS antibodies in African camels. On Apr 21, another international group found MERS-CoV?like antibodies in camels from widely separated parts of Africa: Nigeria, Tunisia, and Ethiopia. In the latest study, researchers said gauging possible MERS exposure in African camels is important, because most livestock camels slaughtered in the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt are imported from the Greater Horn of Africa, especially Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and Kenya.
In yesterday's study, researchers tested samples from 774 dromedary camels from three of Kenya's regions?Northeastern, Eastern, and Rift Valley?that were collected from 1992 to 2013. Tests included a recombinant MERS-CoV spike protein subunit 1?based ELISA and a highly specific MERS-CoV microneutralization assay.
Samples that tested positive for antibodies reflected all sampling periods and the span of the 20-year period. Seroprevalence was higher in the Northeastern and Eastern regions; however, animals that were isolated at a research center tested negative. The scientists also found a positive correlation between MERS-CoV seropositivity and greater herd density.
The team said their findings might help guide the search for more ancestral MERS-CoV variants that could yield clues to how camels are acquiring the virus and transmitting it to humans. They also said seroprevalence studies in camel handlers could help shed more light on whether silent or unrecognized infections are occurring in humans.
May 6 Emerg Infect Dis study
Apr 22 CIDRAP News story "Antibody study hints at MERS-CoV in African camels"
Haiti confirms 14 chikungunya cases
The 40,000-case chikungunya outbreak afflicting the Caribbean has now spread to Haiti, as officials there have confirmed 14 cases, the Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday.
Haitian Health Minister Florence Guillaume Duperval said in a radio interview that the government would soon air public health advisories on the radio to alert people to symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, which can include fever, headache, and joint pain.
The story said that the arrival of the disease in Haiti was expected, as the Dominican Republic began reporting cases in March. European health officials said this week that Haiti's neighbor has more than 3,000 suspected or confirmed cases.
The outbreak began on the island of St. Martin in December and is the first chikungunya epidemic to strike the Americas.
May 6 AP story
SHEA, IDSA, others publish guidance for C diff in hospitals
Leading infectious disease organizations have published in the latest issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology new guidance for preventing Clostridium difficile infections in hospitals.
The guidance document is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and was produced by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and other groups.
Hospitalizations for C difficile doubled from 2000 to 2009, the guidance states, and the pathogen now rivals methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as the most common source of healthcare-associated infections. The infection typically doubles the length of hospital stays and costs the US healthcare system from $1 billion to $4.9 billion a year.
Recommended prevent-control steps include appropriate drug use; contact precautions; cleaning and disinfecting equipment and the environment; employing a lab-based alert system; conducting surveillance and report data; educating healthcare personnel, patients, and families, and measuring compliance with federal or international hand hygiene and contact precaution recommendations, among other approaches. The guidance also lists steps to avoid.
The organizations also published similar guidance for preventing surgical-site infections.
SHEA/IDSA C difficile guidance
USDA agencies reach cooperative plan to address food outbreaks
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)?both US Department of Agriculture agencies?recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that lays out the cooperative roles of each agency during root-cause assessments of foodborne disease outbreaks associated with meat and poultry.
The MOU provides "a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach" to address such outbreaks, the FSIS said in a May 2 constituent update.
"This MOU will document the procedures and responsibilities under the collaborative effort between APHIS and FSIS in assessing root cause in outbreaks of foodborne illness in humans," the FSIS said in the update. "It will facilitate the sharing of information between agencies and assist in making science-based decisions on mitigation or intervention strategies."
The MOU outlines roles and responsibilities for training personnel and planning interagency assessments. It does not change any existing collaborative work between the two agencies, the MOU states.
May 2 FSIS/APHIS MOU
May 2 FSIS constituent update