H5N1

CIDRAP: Animal study suggests vaccines block in-utero Zika transmission

Via CIDRAP, Lisa Schnirring writes: Animal study suggests vaccines block in-utero Zika transmission. Excerpt:

Researchers today reported the first animal trial results suggesting that Zika vaccines may prevent females immunized before pregnancy from passing the virus to their offspring. 

In other Zika developments, a human rights group said yesterday that the Zika outbreak in Brazil revealed sanitation and public health gaps that pose threats to residents, especially women, and India's government announced a plan to start screening infants for Zika-related microcephaly. 

Two vaccines show promise in mouse experiments 

For the study, a team from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and their partners at the Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical Branch tested two experimental Zika vaccines, immunizing female mice before breeding them, then testing for the virus in the resulting fetuses. Their results appear today in the early online edition of Cell. 

A vaccine that can offer sterilizing immunity—preventing all Zika infection—is crucial for preventing viremia in mothers and resulting birth defects in babies. The US government is supporting the development of several candidate Zika vaccines to improve the chances of having one available by 2018 to protect at-risk populations. In developing a Zika vaccine, researchers are faced with the need for one that can provide fast and durable immunity with a good safety profile—with as few doses as possible to help streamline vaccination campaigns, especially in developing countries.  

The two experimental vaccines assessed were a live-attenuated vaccine developed by UTMB and a novel messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine developed by Moderna. One group of nonpregnant female mice received two doses of mRNA vaccine 28 days apart, with a control group receiving two doses of placebo on the same schedule. Another group got a single dose of live-attenuated vaccine, while a control group received a single dose of placebo.  

Both of the vaccines prompted high levels of neutralizing antibodies against Zika virus in the female mice.

An outbreak of Ebola in the DR Congo has been contained. What went right this time?

Via The Conversation: An outbreak of Ebola in the DRC has been contained. What went right this time? Excerpt:

Following reports that an unknown illness had been identified in a remote community 1400 kilometres from the state capital, a multidisciplinary team of health workers and administrative officers was dispatched. They immediately swung into action conducting field investigations. They traced and collected blood samples from the suspected cases and sent the samples back to the capital for testing. The tests came back positive.  

The response team used an alert system to notify members of the community of the cases. It also collected samples and tested them using a mobile laboratory. 

The team also succeeded in ensuring that health workers were not infected. In previous outbreaks in West Africa this had been a problem. Many health workers who came to help contracted the disease and transmitted it to patients and community members. 

Tracing the source  

Studies show that bats are the reservoir of the Ebola virus. Wild animals get infected when they come in contact with infected faeces or body fluids from the bats. 

The virus is transmitted to people when they come in direct contact with fluids or when they eat meat from infected bush meat. An infected person then spreads the disease to other people. An outbreak ends when the human to human transmission is interrupted. 

The incubation period of the virus ranges from 2 to 21 days which means that an infected person can take up to 21 days to develop symptoms. 

An outbreak of Ebola is declared over when 42 days have passed since the last confirmed case tests negative for the virus. So, the count of the 42 days starts when the last confirmed case is declared free of the virus.  

During these 42 days an elaborate surveillance system is put in place. This includes an alert system that can be activated if a new suspect is identified, as well as testing capability. The surveillance system remains in place for several weeks after the last confirmed case has been declared negative. This is to make that any cases can be identified. An eye is also kept open for possible infections from the wild. 

Lessons learnt 

The DRC experience underscores the fact that there are a number of areas that need special attention in an Ebola outbreak.  

First, governments should have efficient nationwide surveillance systems to monitor priority health conditions, beginning at the community level. This early warning system can detect deviations from the norm, including suspected Ebola cases.  

The surveillance systems should be linked to laboratory diagnostics for rapid confirmation of cases. This is especially possible today with the advent of field ready technologies reducing the turnaround time for diagnosis.  

Secondly, an outbreak response team with regional operation centres should be established and tested before an outbreak begin. It requires coordination among the different stakeholders to enable a rapid response. They should also be in touch with international agencies in case of cross-border emergencies. 

Thirdly, public health education plays a pivotal role because the quick spread of the disease is often fuelled by community practice like burial rites and acceptance of disease survivors. This means that appropriate communication on the risks of the disease, infection, treatment and management should be delivered to the public in a culturally appropriate way.  

And finally, a resourceful public health system is necessary for a timely response. Governments should improve primary health care facilities by hiring and training more health workers and having efficient infrastructure, logistics, health information, governance and drug supply systems.  

In all, we need to remain vigilant because we’re dealing with “when” rather than “if” the next large outbreak happens.

International risk of yellow fever spread from the ongoing outbreak in Brazil, December 2016 to May 2017

Via Eurosurveillance: International risk of yellow fever spread from the ongoing outbreak in Brazil, December 2016 to May 2017. The abstract:

States in south-eastern Brazil were recently affected by the largest Yellow Fever (YF) outbreak seen in a decade in Latin America. Here we provide a quantitative assessment of the risk of travel-related international spread of YF indicating that the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, Italy and Germany may have received at least one travel-related YF case capable of seeding local transmission. Mitigating the risk of imported YF cases seeding local transmission requires heightened surveillance globally.

Cholera vaccination campaign in Yemen is dropped

Via Science: Cholera vaccination campaign in Yemen is dropped. Excerpt:

The government of Yemen has suspended a request for cholera vaccine to fight the deadly outbreak that since 27 April has infected a reported 320,199 Yemenis and killed 1742. One million doses of the vaccine had been allocated from a global stockpile and immunizations had been set to begin this month; now, the first half-million doses that were en route to the country will be rerouted to other at-risk countries. 

“Plans for a cholera vaccination campaign planned in Yemen have been suspended based on a decision of the government,” Tarik Jašarević, a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson in Geneva, Switzerland, wrote to ScienceInsider in an emailed statement, adding that the decision was made in consultation with Yemeni government partners, including WHO, which advises the Ministry of Health. The news was first disclosed during a press briefing by a United Nations aid committee in Geneva on 11 July.  

Jašarević noted that “in an outbreak setting, the impact of [oral cholera vaccine] is greatest when used to protect communities that are not yet affected. … There are few such areas in Yemen now.” Since the epidemic began last October, there have been cholera cases in 21 of 23 of Yemen’s governorates.

The move to drop the campaign reverses a difficult decision taken last month by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, which agreed to ship out about half of its total supply of cholera vaccine to the war-torn country. The Yemeni government had requested 3.5 million doses from the group. Yemen has roughly 27 million people, half of whom are younger than 20. 

But the Yemeni government, with the help of a Saudi-led coalition, is battling Shiite Houthi rebels backed by Iran and there were concerns over whether the vaccine could be used effectively as battles raged in parts of the country, and whether administering it might distract health workers from treating patients, a cornerstone of epidemic response.  

Saudi Arabia: No new MERS cases, one death on July 13

Via the KSA MOH Command and Control Center: MOH: 'No New Corona Cases Recorded. A 58-year-old man in Riyadh has died, presumably one of the nosocomial cases last month. No recoveries are reported.

In Yemen, 7 million people are on the brink of famine, FAO Director-General warns

Via ReliefWeb, a report from FAO: In Yemen, 7 million people are on the brink of famine, FAO Director-General warns. Excerpt:

The scale of the food crisis in conflict-ridden Yemen is staggering with 17 million people - two thirds of the population - severely food insecure and seven million of these on the verge of famine, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today in a briefing to the UN Security Council. 

In a video link from Geneva, he noted how conflict and violence in Yemen - "the largest humanitarian crisis today" - have disrupted agricultural livelihoods and are intensifying in some of the most food insecure and famine-risk areas.  

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification conducted in March this year, registered a 20 percent increase in the number of people estimated to be severely food insecure (IPC Phase 3 and above). Seven million are in IPC Phase 4 meaning they are a step away from being classified to be in Famine (IPC Phase 5). 

In Yemen "crop production last year already fell by 40 percent compared with the pre-conflict average. This year, because of poor rains the harvest will be even lower," he said.  

The virtual collapse of public health and veterinary services has further heightened the risk of disease and death. In addition, there are risks in the use of poor quality water of irrigation and food preparation.  

Livestock disease surveillance and vaccination programmes have come to a halt pushing the risk of disease outbreaks higher. The risk of emerging and endemic zoonoses (animal diseases) exists across the country.

Global outbreak of severe Mycobacterium chimaera disease after cardiac surgery

Via The Lancet Infectious Diseases: Global outbreak of severe Mycobacterium chimaera disease after cardiac surgery: a molecular epidemiological study. The summary:

Background 

Since 2013, over 100 cases of Mycobacterium chimaera prosthetic valve endocarditis and disseminated disease were notified in Europe and the USA, linked to contaminated heater–cooler units (HCUs) used during cardiac surgery. We did a molecular epidemiological investigation to establish the source of these patients' disease. 

Methods 

We included 24 M chimaera isolates from 21 cardiac surgery-related patients in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK, 218 M chimaera isolates from various types of HCUs in hospitals, from LivaNova (formerly Sorin; London, UK) and Maquet (Rastatt, Germany) brand HCU production sites, and unrelated environmental sources and patients, as well as eight Mycobacterium intracellulare isolates. Isolates were analysed by next-generation whole-genome sequencing using Illumina and Pacific Biosciences technologies, and compared with published M chimaera genomes. 

Findings 

Phylogenetic analysis based on whole-genome sequencing of 250 isolates revealed two major M chimaera groups. Cardiac surgery-related patient isolates were all classified into group 1, in which all, except one, formed a distinct subgroup. This subgroup also comprised isolates from 11 cardiac surgery-related patients reported from the USA, most isolates from LivaNova HCUs, and one from their production site. Isolates from other HCUs and unrelated patients were more widely distributed in the phylogenetic tree.  

Interpretation 

HCU contamination with M chimaera at the LivaNova factory seems a likely source for cardiothoracic surgery-related severe M chimaera infections diagnosed in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA, and Australia. Protective measures and heightened clinician awareness are essential to guarantee patient safety.

Branswell: How bird flu finds perfect conditions to spread among humans

Via STAT, Helen Branswell writes: How bird flu finds perfect conditions to spread among humans. Excerpt:

Late last month, a man in northwest China started to feel the telltale symptoms of the flu. Most of us know those signs, which come on suddenly. A sharp headache, a fever, bone-deep fatigue — followed by that sense of dread that something nasty is about to happen. 

But the man didn’t have just garden variety influenza. He’d contracted H7N9, a strain of bird flu that kills roughly 4 out of every 10 people it infects. Within a week, he was dead.  

The unidentified 35-year-old, from the region of Xinjiang, made his living in what is increasingly being seen as a dangerous occupation. He sold and slaughtered chickens.  

China’s ubiquitous live animal markets, where chickens remain alive until a buyer arrives, have been ground zero for transmission of H7N9 flu. And a unique U.S. study, recently presented at a scientific meeting in Hong Kong, helps to explain why.

Slaughtering and defeathering chickens that are infected with bird flu creates invisible viral clouds that can engulf poultry sellers and buyers, and even passers-by. 

Depending on the strain of the virus and the processes used to kill and defeather the poultry, the very air around poultry slaughtering activity can contain both virus-laced droplets of fluids and even viruses that are aerosolized — wafting through the air, waiting to be drawn into nearby lungs. 

“It’s very reasonable to say: Hey, in the process of slaughtering infected animals … you do generate large droplets and you generate aerosol particles,” said David Swayne, who led the research. “And they contain the virus in them.”  

“So if you are a person in that air space and you breathe that in, you could be exposed and you possibly could be infected.”

This reminds me of a 2014 case in which a Canadian nurse, on a winter holiday in Beijing, evidently passed close enough to a wet market to be exposed. She died of H5N1 a few days after returning home.

US: Fifth person dies of hepatitis A in San Diego

Via KPBS, a report on yet another disease of poverty in the world's richest nation: Fifth Person Dies Of Hepatitis A In San Diego. I'm sure San Diego's homeless drug users will pick up this story on their smartphones and immediately start washing their hands. Excerpt:

A hepatitis A outbreak in the San Diego area has claimed the life of a fifth person, county health officials reported on Wednesday.  

The outbreak now totals 228 cases and required the hospitalization of 161 of those sickened, according to the county Health and Human Services Agency. So far, the disease has mostly affected the homeless population and/or users of illegal drugs, with seven out of every 10 cases affecting those populations. One of every five people sickened with hepatitis A also has hepatitis C.  

The county reported the fifth death exactly one month after the fourth death on June 12. In the month since, the county has learned of 68 new cases, with 41 additional hospitalizations. The third death was reported May 5. 

Public health investigators have not identified any common food, drink or drug source as a contributing cause to this outbreak, officials said. Hepatitis A is most commonly spread via contaminated food or water, sexual contact or sharing drug paraphernalia.  

"It is imperative that anyone at risk for hepatitis A get vaccinated,'' said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer. "We cannot stress this enough -- get vaccinated and make sure you wash your hands after going to the bathroom.'' 

"Lives are at risk,'' Wooten said. "Protect yourself, your family and the community.''

Is North America's opioid epidemic a crisis of masculinity?

Via The Guardian, a report cutting close to the Canadian knuckle: Is North America's opioid epidemic a crisis of masculinity? Excerpt:

The calls began just after midnight and continued relentlessly throughout the day. By the end of Wednesday 26 April, paramedics in the Canadian province of British Columbia had responded to a record 130 suspected overdose calls.  

The day offered a window on the battle playing out in British Columbia as residents grapple with an opioid crisis that has claimed, on average, four lives a day in the province. 

The struggle is playing out across North America, as authorities in Canada and the US grapple with an epidemic that has claimed thousands of lives on both sides of the 49th parallel.  

Against this stark backdrop, a professor at the University of British Columbia has highlighted a different statistic from the crisis: in 2016, of the 935 fatal overdoses in the province, 80% were men.  

Research that shows men are more likely to use illicit drugs, so it is perhaps logical that they are more likely to overdose. But the clinical psychologist Dan Bilsker argues that the figure suggests a relationship between the crisis and masculinity – one that may offer clues as to why the death toll continues to rise, and where the solutions might lie.  

“I think we haven’t really thought deeply or well about who men are, about what the pressures on them are, what we need them to be,” he said. 

Bilsker has spent years studying men’s psychological health, delving into why men live an average of four to six years less than women and are more likely to kill themselves. In some ways, the opioid crisis stems from the same tangled roots, he said. And as with many other health issues, its singular interaction with gender has been largely overlooked.  

Across Canada, at least 2,458 people died last year of an opioid overdose, according to the federal government. “The death toll is worse than any other infectious epidemic in Canada, including the peak of Aids deaths, since the Spanish flu that took the lives of 50,000 people a century ago,” Jane Philpott, Canada’s health minister, told a conference in Montreal earlier this year. (Her government has been criticised for not doing enough to address the crisis – as she spoke, protesters unfurled a banner reading: “They talk, we die.”) 

Bilsker believes the government’s response would be different if those dying were 80% women. “I suspect there would be more groups – more people actively involved in raising public awareness – who would speak up and engender a greater sense of this being an important issue,” he said. 

The gender divide in deaths reflects levels of drug abuse in the province, where 80% of users are men, said Patricia Daly, the chief medical health officer of Vancouver Coastal Health. 

“People here often talk about men’s health,” she said. “We don’t have a focus on things that men are at greater risk for and this is certainly one – dying of an overdose is primarily affecting men, and men in the prime of their life.”

Vietnam reports outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in north: OIE

Via Reuters: Vietnam reports outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in north: OIE. 

Vietnam has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu among backyard birds in the northern province of Ha Nam, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday, citing a report from the Vietnamese farm ministry. 

The virus was detected at a backyard location with 1,135 birds. It directly killed 300 birds, with the rest of the flock slaughtered, the report said. 

The types of birds were not indicated and source of the disease not known.  

Vietnam is one of a number of countries in Asia, Europe and Africa to have seen bird flu viruses spread in recent months. Many strains only infect birds, but the H7N9 strain has notably led to human cases, including fatalities, in China.

According to WHO's running tally of H5N1 cases, Vietnam's last reported human H5N1 cases in 2014 (two, both fatal). This is striking because between 2003 and 2009 the country had 112 cases and 57 fatalities. I have no idea why one of the original H5N1 hot zones has cooled off so sharply.

US: East Liverpool officer responds to article calling his fentanyl overdose ‘nonsense’

Via NBC41.com: East Liverpool officer responds to article calling his overdose ‘nonsense.' Excerpt:

EAST LIVERPOOL, OH (WKBN) – A doctor recently wrote in Slate magazine that it’s impossible East Liverpool Officer Chris Green overdosed in May just by touching fentanyl. The article — shared over 12,000 times — is causing a buzz among medical professionals and law enforcement.  

Green said Dr. Jeremy Faust, who wrote the article, “has no clue what happened.” 

“No clue the feelings I felt, the aches and the pains, the total loss of control of my body.”  

Green said his accidental contact with fentanyl was one of the worst experiences of his life.  

After searching a car where the drug was found all over, he accidentally brushed a small amount off his shirt and overdosed. 

“My head felt like it was in a vise for two weeks,” Green said. “I would be standing here talking to you like this and I would become very dizzy and disoriented to where I’d have to sit down and take a 20- to 30-minute break.” 

But not everyone believes his story. In fact, the Slate article calls it “nonsense.” 

Dr. Faust says fentanyl nor carfentanil can cause effects from skin exposure. He argues that skin can’t absorb even the strongest of opioids fast enough to have that effect.  

Another toxicologist, Dr. David Juurlink from the University of Toronto, also said it was impossible in a recent interview with CBC. 

But Green said Tuesday that he followed up with his doctors, who said it was a drug overdose. 

“This toxicologist also mentioned that it’s just so far out there, maybe it was a pre-existing injury,” Green said. “I’m pretty fit, physical, and healthy. Everything checked out.”  

Pharmacist Cassandra Slipski stands by Green’s story.  

“You don’t need to come into contact with hardly any of it for it to have an overdose effect,” she said.  

Slipski argued, how else would topical patches or gel rubs work without the skin absorbing them?  

“The patches that we use here in the store for chronic pain, these people have had to already been on other opioids in the past,” she said. “You can’t go from not taking anything to going to fentanyl.”

Trump's 'war on the open internet': tech firms join day of action for #NetNeutrality

Via The Guardian: Trump's 'war on the open internet': tech firms join day of action for net neutrality. Excerpt:

Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and a host of other tech giants will join with online activists, librarians, minority rights and free speech groups today in a day of protest against the Trump administration’s plans to roll back rules in what critics charge is a “war on the open internet”.  

The “day of action” – which supporters claim will be the largest online protest in history – comes as the new head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US telecoms and media watchdog, prepares to defang tough rules protecting internet access in the US following pressure from cable companies and other internet service providers (ISPs).

Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight For the Future, the not-for-profit group organizing the day of action, said the protest came at a critical moment for the internet. “The internet has had a profoundly democratizing impact on our society. If we lose these protections, then we will lose all that diversity,” she said. 

The FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, is a longtime critic of the 2015 “open internet” rules which he has called politically motivated and “heavy handed” and has claimed stifle innovation by imposing unnecessary burdens on cable companies. Those rules have been unsuccessfully challenged in the US courts but could now be overturned by the Republican-controlled FCC. 

In May, the FCC voted two to one to start the formal process of dismantling “net neutrality” rules that prevent ISPs from creating fast lanes (or slow lanes) that could favor one service over another and potentially allow them to choose winners and losers online.

Saudi Arabia: No new MERS cases, one recovery on July 12

It's been another quiet day in the Kingdom. Via the KSA MOH Command and Control Center: MOH: 'No New Corona Cases Recorded. A 67-year-old expatriate man in Riyadh has recovered, and no deaths are reported. Just six cases remain hospitalized.

WHO: Cholera – Nigeria

WHO has published Cholera – Nigeria. Excerpt:

On 7 June 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of a cholera outbreak in Kwara State, Nigeria, where the event currently remains localized. The first cases of acute watery diarrhoea were reported during the last week of April 2017 and a sharp increase in the number of cases and deaths has been observed since 1 May 2017. However, the number of new cases reported has shown a decline over the last four reporting weeks. 

As of 30 June 2017, a total of 1558 suspected cases of cholera have been reported including 11 deaths (case fatality rate: 0.7%). Thirteen of these cases were confirmed by culture in laboratory. 50% of the suspected cases reported are male and 49% are female (information for gender is missing for 1% of the suspected cases). The disease is affecting all age groups. 

Between 1 May and 30 June 2017, suspected cholera cases in Kwara State were reported from five local government areas; Asa (18), Ilorin East (450), Ilorin South (215), Ilorin West (780), and Moro (50) (information for local government areas is missing for 45 of the suspected cases). 

Poor sanitation conditions observed in the affected communities is one of the predisposing factors for this cholera outbreak. An important risk factor is the lack of access to clean drinking water and poor hygiene conditions.

WHO: Acute hepatitis E – Nigeria

WHO has published Acute hepatitis E – Nigeria. Excerpt:

On 18 June 2017, the Nigerian Ministry of Health notified World Health Organization (WHO) of an outbreak of hepatitis E located in the north-east region of the country. The first case was detected on 3 May 2017 in Damasak, a locality at the border with the Republic of the Niger. Samples were collected from the case and sent to laboratory for confirmation. Cases were later reported in Ngala, one of the local government areas in Borno State that borders Cameroon. 

As of 2 July 2017, 146 confirmed and suspected cases were reported including 21 confirmed cases.  

In Ngala, 25 infected pregnant women (21%) were reported, including two deaths (case fatality rate = 8%). Cases were reported from three local government areas: Ngala (112), Mobbar (19), and Monguno (14). The number of hepatitis E cases is highest in Ngala with 29 cases reported from 19 June to 2 July 2017. Twenty-seven samples were shipped to the virology laboratory in Lagos for further diagnosis. Among the samples collected and tested, 21 tested positive (10 in Ngala, seven in Mobbar, four in Monguno) and six tested negative. Twenty-three samples have been collected and are pending laboratory tests.  

This hepatitis E outbreak can propagate rapidly due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region which arises from the volatile security situation in north-eastern Nigeria and continues to persist. This crisis in Nigeria has been ongoing for eight years and as a result 1.9 million people are internally displaced. The region has been facing intense movements of population coming from refugee camps or displaced populations in the areas bordering Chad and Niger. 

In addition, the fresh wave of returnees from neighbouring countries is overwhelming the current humanitarian capacity. Returnees began entering the town in January 2017 and so far the town has an estimated population of 90 000, according to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and immigration officials. 

The town has one unofficial camp hosting returnees considered as strangers or people not affiliated to any of the indigenous communities who have settled in the town. As a result there is overcrowding which is overwhelming the already weak systems in place. Lack of access to essential water, sanitation, hygiene, and health services may lead to propagation of this disease at a very rapid rate.

Join the battle for net neutrality

This is serious, and not just for the Americans: the Federal Communications Commission is considering giving permission to a few cable corporations that want to control what content gets to be in the "fast lane." If the Trump administration allows it, other governments will take the cue; we'll all pay more for much less (and less reliable) content.

Via the World Wide Web Foundation: Join the Battle for Net Neutrality. Click through for the whole page and crucial links. Excerpt:

Comcast, Verizon and AT&T want to end net neutrality so they can charge extra fees to control what we see & do online. On July 12, we take the first step to stop them. This is a battle for the Internet's future. Before you do anything else, send a letter to the FCC & Congress now!

WHO: 2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water at home, more than twice as many lack safe sanitation

A news release from WHO: 2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water at home, more than twice as many lack safe sanitation. Excerpt:

Some 3 in 10 people worldwide, or 2.1 billion, lack access to safe, readily available water at home, and 6 in 10, or 4.5 billion, lack safely managed sanitation, according to a new report by WHO and UNICEF. 

The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report, Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and Sustainable Development Goal baselines, presents the first global assessment of “safely managed” drinking water and sanitation services. The overriding conclusion is that too many people still lack access, particularly in rural areas.  

“Safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home should not be a privilege of only those who are rich or live in urban centres,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “These are some of the most basic requirements for human health, and all countries have a responsibility to ensure that everyone can access them.”  

Billions of people have gained access to basic drinking water and sanitation services since 2000, but these services do not necessarily provide safe water and sanitation. Many homes, healthcare facilities and schools also still lack soap and water for handwashing. This puts the health of all people – but especially young children – at risk for diseases, such as diarrhoea. 

As a result, every year, 361 000 children under 5 years of age die due to diarrhoea. Poor sanitation and contaminated water are also linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, and typhoid. 

“Safe water, effective sanitation and hygiene are critical to the health of every child and every community – and thus are essential to building stronger, healthier, and more equitable societies,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “As we improve these services in the most disadvantaged communities and for the most disadvantaged children today, we give them a fairer chance at a better tomorrow.” 

Significant inequalities persist 

In order to decrease global inequalities, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for ending open defecation and achieving universal access to basic services by 2030. 

Of the 2.1 billion people who do not have safely managed water, 844 million do not have even a basic drinking water service. This includes 263 million people who have to spend over 30 minutes per trip collecting water from sources outside the home, and 159 million who still drink untreated water from surface water sources, such as streams or lakes.  

In 90 countries, progress towards basic sanitation is too slow, meaning they will not reach universal coverage by 2030.

China records 13 human deaths from H7N9 bird flu in June, 35 new human infections - health authority

Via Reuters: BRIEF-China records 13 human deaths from H7N9 bird flu in June, 35 new human infections - health authority.

China recorded 13 human deaths from H7N9 bird flu in June and 35 new human infections, according to a statement posted on the website of the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Wednesday.  

* The figures were down from the previous month; China reported 37 human deaths from H7N9 bird flu and 72 cases of human infection in May 

* The new fatalities takes the death toll from H7N9 bird flu since October to at least 281 

* The H7N9 virus is likely to strike in winter and spring, and farmers have in the recent years ramped up measures such as cleaning regimes to prevent the disease.  

* China has confirmed five bird flu outbreaks among poultry this winter, which has led to the culling of more than 175,000 birds.

Bangladesh capital reeling from major outbreak of mosquito-borne disease chikungunya

Via Xinhua: Bangladesh capital reeling from major outbreak of mosquito-borne disease chikungunya. Excerpt:

DHAKA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's capital Dhaka is reeling from a "major outbreak of chikungunya", a viral disease spread by the Aedes mosquito, which is also responsible for Zika virus, with the hospitals reporting nearly 3,000 cases of the disease since May. 

"We're currently facing a major outbreak of chikungunya," Professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora, head of the country's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) under the Health Ministry, told Xinhua on Wednesday. 

She said, "A total of 2,700 chikungunya cases have so far been reported to the IEDCR from hospitals and clinics in Dhaka since May." 

A few cases of chikungunya that is a viral disease transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes have also been reported to the IEDCR from Bangladesh's eastern Narsingdi and southwestern Gopalganj district, she added. 

IEDCR chief said the disease virtually swept through over capital Dhaka areas in June and it's continuing. 

She said they are currently getting up to 100 calls from chikungunya patients or their relatives every day through a hotline they opened recently at their office in capital Dhaka.