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T oday's Headlines: February 15, 2019

Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
  
Lassa Fever - Nigeria - 14 February 2019 (WHO) From 1 January through 10 February 2019, 327 cases of Lassa fever (324 confirmed cases and three probable cases) with 72 deaths (case fatality ratio = 22%) have been reported across 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with the majority of cases being reported from Edo (108) and Ondo (103) states. Twelve cases have been reported among healthcare workers in seven states - Edo (4), Ondo (3), Ebonyi (1), Enugu (1), Rivers (1), Bauchi (1) and Benue (1) including one death in Enugu. Go to article

 
Government Affairs & National Security
 
Democrats Seek Cosponsors for New 'Medicare for All' Bill (The Hill) Two progressive lawmakers are circulating a letter to their Democratic colleagues asking for cosponsors for a Medicare for all bill as they prepare to introduce it. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) sent the letter, which was obtained by The Hill, on Tuesday, saying they have been working with experts for months to write an updated version of the single-payer health care legislation. Jayapal says she plans to introduce the measure later this month. Go to article
 
US Science Agencies Set for Budget Boost in Deal to Avert Government Shutdown (Nature) With less than two days to go before the US government runs out of money, lawmakers in Congress are scrambling to pass a budget deal that would give small increases to NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency and many other science agencies. Go to article

 
Global Health Security
 
Taiwan BAPHIQ: ASF Positive Pork Products Brought in by Passengers from Vietnam (Avian Flu Diary) In what may turn out to be an escalation in Asia's African Swine Fever crisis - which began more than six months ago with its arrival in China - we learn today that a pork product carried into Taiwan by a traveler from Vietnam has tested positive for the virus. Go to article

 
Medicine & Public Health
 
Early US Flu Vaccine Analysis Finds Moderate Protection (CIDRAP) In its early estimate of this season's flu vaccine effectiveness in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said VE was modest-at 47%-but the vaccine afforded better protection in children but less in adults age 50 and older. Go to article
 
Decolonization to Reduce Postdischarge Infection Risk among MRSA Carriers (New England Journal of Medicine) Hospitalized patients who are colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are at high risk for infection after discharge. Go to article
 
Molecular Epidemiology of an Enterovirus A71 Outbreak Associated with Severe Neurological Disease, Spain, 2016(Eurosurveillance) Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is an emerging pathogen that causes a wide range of disorders including severe neurological manifestations. In the past 20 years, this virus has been associated with large outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease with neurological complications in the Asia-Pacific region, while in Europe mainly sporadic cases have been reported. In spring 2016, however, an EV-A71 outbreak associated with severe neurological cases was reported in Catalonia and spread further to other Spanish regions. Go to article
 
How Measles Hacks the Body-and Harms Its Victims for Years (Wired) Among airborne respiratory pathogens, measles is an elite virus-the most contagious disease in the world. If you give this virus a lung, it'll take a town. A cough from an infected person on a subway car would spread the disease to 90 out of 100 unprotected people. The virus stays alive, airborne outside the body of its human host, for up to two hours. For years scientists puzzled over how exactly measles achieves its contagion-in-chief status. But advances in microscopy and genetics have finally begun to illuminate what makes the virus so damn catchy. Go to article

 
Science & Technology
 
Whole Genomic Sequencing as a Tool for Diagnosis of Drug and Multidrug-resistance Tuberculosis in an Endemic Region in Mexico (bioRxiv) Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has been proposed as a tool for diagnosing drug resistance in tuberculosis. However, reports of its effectiveness in endemic countries with important numbers of drug resistance are scarce. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure in isolates from a tuberculosis endemic region in Mexico. Go to article
 
Tracing Outbreaks with Machine Learning (Nature Reviews Microbiology) Tracing the source of food-borne disease is challenging. Outbreak investigations require detailed epidemiological analysis to trace infections to a common source. The routine use of whole-genome sequencing for the surveillance of food-borne illness is extending to more organizations, which provides an opportunity to leverage the data to better attribute cases of food poisoning. Go to article



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