First Human Case of H7N4 Bird Flu Confirmed in China: What You Need to Know ( Newsweek) The first human case of H7N4 bird flu has been confirmed in China. The patient, a 68-year-old woman in the Jiangsu province, is in stable condition and health authorities believe she will make a full recovery. Go to article

Chikungunya Virus Infections Among Infants - WHO Classification Not Applicable ( Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal) Chikungunya virus caused an epidemic on Curaçao in 2014-2015. Infants are highly at risk for clinical syndromes as sepsis-like illness and central nervous system disease. Clinical recognition is important if laboratory test, polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay are not available. The WHO created criteria for identification of probable Chikungunya virus. None of the studied infants met these criteria. We believe the criteria suggested by World Health Organization should be modified for infants. Go to article

South America Records Most Yellow Fever Cases in Decades ( CIDRAP) A new report from the Pan American Health Organization documents yellow fever cases in animals and humans from January 2016 through January 2018 in South America, showing the most cases reported in decades. Go to article

Cholera - Mozambique ( WHO) On 27 October 2017, the Ministry of Health in Mozambique notified WHO of an outbreak of cholera. From 14 August 2017 through 11 February 2018, 1799 cases and one death (case fatality rate = 0.06%) of cholera were reported from the two provinces; Nampula (1580 cases) and Cabo Delgado (219 cases). Underreporting of the number of cases and deaths is likely. This outbreak has been confirmed by Rapid Diagnostic Tests and culture. Go to article

WHO: Measles Rates Soared in Europe in 2017 ( US News & World Report) Measles plagued Europe in 2017 with 21,173 cases and 35 deaths - quadruple the number of cases from the year before, according to the WHO's latest report. "Every new person affected by measles in Europe reminds us that unvaccinated children and adults, regardless of where they live, remain at risk of catching the disease and spreading it to others who may not be able to get vaccinated," said Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in a statement. Go to article

Clinical and Laboratory Profile of Zika and Dengue Infected Patients: Lessons Learned from the Co-circulation of Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya in Brazil ( PLOS Currents Outbreaks) The current triple epidemic caused by dengue, zika and chikungunya constitutes a serious health problem in Brazil. The aim of this study was to investigate acute samples (up to the 7 days of symptoms) from patients presenting acute fever syndrome suspected as arboviral infection and characterize the clinical and laboratorial profile during the co-circulation of dengue, zika and chikungunya in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), midwest region of Brazil. Go to article

A Side Effect of Tuberculosis in India: Crippling Debt ( Thomson Reuters Foundation News) Expenses such as transportation and the cost of food, combined with the loss of income, push families into debt and are disincentives to continuing treatment. Go to article

Global Health Finance: Adapting to a New Reality ( PLOS Blogs - Global Health) The last two decades have been coined the "golden age" of global health financing. However, at $37.6 billion, 2016 marked the third year of relatively little growth in development assistance for health, supporting predictions that external funding is unlikely to continue to grow at the rate seen in the early 2000's. Go to article

Humanitarian Needs in Government Controlled Areas of Syria ( PLOS Currents Disasters) Five years of conflict in Syria have led to 13.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and 6.6 million internally displaced people. Humanitarian needs are ever-increasing as an inability to maintain humanitarian corridors and ceasefires continue. In light of the protracted nature of the conflict, immense needs, and dearth of large-scale data, we undertook this assessment to inform humanitarian response. Go to article

The Virus Hunter: In a Bygone Era, C.J. Peters Learned How to Bend the Rules ( STAT) At 77, Clarence James Peters, known as C.J., is getting on, walking with more deliberate steps than in his earlier years. But he can still recount in sharp detail anecdotes from a career in which he flew through mountain passes to perilous landing strips and trudged to remote villages. By the time he returned home, he had stolen from Mother Nature some of the secrets of diseases including Bolivian hemorrhagic fever and Rift Valley fever. Go to article

Senate Bill Would Jump-start Universal Flu Vaccine Efforts ( CIDRAP) As the nation grapples with a long and unrelenting flu season rivaling by some measures the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, a group of US senators last week unveiled a proposal to invest $1 billion in research over the next 5 years to create a universal flu vaccine that would provide lifetime protection against a range of influenza strains.) Go to article

The Flu Epidemic is Affecting Blood Supplies for NC Hospitals ( Emergency Management) Triangle blood donation centers that supply area hospitals are experiencing a drop in donors as a national flu epidemic is keeping people home. The Blood Connection announced an urgent need for all blood types this week, saying the flu outbreak has cut blood inventories by at least 10 percent. The organization lost two days worth of blood from cancelled blood drives. Go to article

Trump Officials Move to Expand non-ObamaCare Insurance Plans ( The Hill) The Trump administration on Tuesday made a controversial move to expand access to health insurance that does not meet ObamaCare requirements. The proposed rules would expand access to short-term health insurance to a duration of up to 12 months, lifting the Obama administration's restrictions that limited the plans to a maximum of three months. Go to article

Florida Shooting Reopens CDC Gun Research Debate ( The Hill) A mass shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead has reopened a debate in Congress about loosening long-standing restrictions on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's research into gun violence. Go to article

See also: Why Can't the US Treat Gun Violence as a Public-Health Problem? ( The Atlantic) After a deadly shooting, the debate always, it seems, breaks down like this: One side argues for gun control, and the other argues there is no research proving those measures work. There is, in fact, little research into gun violence at all--especially compared to other causes of death in the US. Go to article

Process of Elimination ( Wired) Poison. Traps. Rifles. The methods for eradicating island predators like rats are brutal. Some conservationists want to use Crispr to do the same job. This method isn't brutal, but it could fundamentally transform our power over nature. Go to article