huffingtonpost.com - August 15th 2016 - Anna Almendrala

Now that Zika virus is spreading locally in Florida, U.S. residents, and especially pregnant women, are growing alarmed at the risk that they may face in their own communities. 

A new map estimating the risk of local Zika spread around the globe shows a relatively small likelihood that most of North America and Northern Asia will be affected. By contrast, all the variables are in place for local spread in most of Africa, South and Southeast Asia. 

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A strong Mw. 6.0 earthquake at a shallow depth of 4 km occurred at 01.36 UTC (03.36 local time) in Italy, in the province of Rieti (Lazio), at the border with Umbria and Abruzzi regions. The earthquake caused extensive damage in the area around the epicentre with a number of fatalities reported and a number of people under rubble or still missing as of 11.00 UTC (13.00 CET). Severe damage has been reported in the villages of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto.

A list of information resources is provided below . . .

CLICK HERE - Humanity Road - Aug 2016 Italy Earthquake (Situation Reports and Information Resources)

CLICK HERE - GDACS - Earthquake Alert - Italy - 24 Aug 2016 01:36 UTC

CLICK HERE - USGS - Earthquake - M6.2 - 10km SE of Norcia, Italy

CLICK HERE - U.S. Embassy Rome, Italy - Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens: Italy Earthquake, August 24, 2016

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen inside Oxitec laboratory in Campinas, Brazil, February 2, 2016.
REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Radiology - Congenital Brain Abnormalities and Zika Virus: What the Radiologist Can Expect to See Prenatally and Postnatally

reuters.com - Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Dan Grebler - August 23, 2016

A report released on Tuesday shows in graphic detail the kind of damage Zika infections can do to the developing brain - damage that goes well beyond the devastating birth defect known as microcephaly, in which the baby's head is smaller than normal.

The current Zika outbreak was first detected last year in Brazil, where the virus has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, which can cause severe developmental problems.

Prior research has shown the Zika virus attacks neural progenitor cells - a type of stem cell that develops into different types of nerve or brain cells.

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Zika Virus Infects Neural Progenitors in the Adult Mouse Brain and Alters Proliferation

New research has found evidence the mosquito-borne virus can adversely affect cells necessary for replenishing damaged neurons.

theatlantic.com - by Marina Koren - August 19, 2016

Zika is understood to pose the greatest threat to pregnant women and their fetuses, which can be born with severe brain defects if infected with the mosquito-borne virus. But new research suggests Zika may damage adult brains, too, giving scientists another thread to follow in their attempts to understand the virus as the number of infections continues to rise in South America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

U.S. researchers have found evidence that a certain kind of brain cell present in newborns that remains in some amounts in adulthood can be susceptible to Zika infection, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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Image: A photograph of a baby wearing a diaper. Jerome Scholler / Shutterstock

theatlantic.com - August 18th 2016 - Adrienne LaFrance

Among the many mysteries that have vexed scientists about the ongoing Zika epidemic is the question of how, in pregnant women, the virus manages to cross the maternal-fetal barrier.

A woman’s body is usually quite good at protecting her growing baby. There are biological blockades to prevent the transmission of viruses to a fetus through the bloodstream, by way of the placenta; the same path for the nutrients and oxygen that sustain a developing baby.

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Julener Buisserette sanitizes a tent with cholera patients in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, in November 2010. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

nytimes.com - by Jonathan M. Katz - August 17, 2016

For the first time since a cholera epidemic believed to be imported by United Nations peacekeepers began killing thousands of Haitians nearly six years ago, the office of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has acknowledged that the United Nations played a role in the initial outbreak and that a “significant new set of U.N. actions” will be needed to respond to the crisis.

The deputy spokesman for the secretary general, Farhan Haq, said in an email this week that “over the past year, the U.N. has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera.” He added that a “new response will be presented publicly within the next two months, once it has been fully elaborated, agreed with the Haitian authorities and discussed with member states.”

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Image:  A pregnant rhesus macaque monkey infected with the Zika virus. University researchers released a study that found the Zika virus persisted in the blood of pregnant monkeys for 30 to 70 days but only around seven days in others. Credit Scott Olson/Getty Images

nytimes.com - July 18th 2016 - Donald G. McNeil Jr.

Of the hundreds of monkeys in the University of Wisconsin’s primate center, a few — including rhesus macaque 827577 — are now famous, at least among scientists tracking the Zika virus.

Since February, a team led by David H. O’Connor, the chairman of the center’s global infectious diseases department, has been conducting a unique experiment in scientific transparency. The tactic may presage the evolution of new ways to respond to fast-moving epidemics.

hhs.gov - August 12, 2016

HHS declares a public health emergency in Puerto Rico in response to Zika outbreak

Coordinating with the government of Puerto Rico to help combat the virus, which puts thousands of pregnant women at risk

August 12, 2016 – La Fortaleza and Washington D.C. – At the request of Governor Alejandro García Padilla, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today declared a public health emergency for Puerto Rico, signaling that the current spread of Zika virus poses a significant threat to public health in the Commonwealth relating to pregnant women and children born to pregnant women with Zika. The declaration is a tool that provides support to the government of Puerto Rico to address the outbreak on the island and underscores the public health risk of Zika, particularly to pregnant women and women of childbearing age.

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Image: Art of a dog infested with a Guinea worm by Sally Deng for NPR

npr.org - August 9th, 2016 - Michaeleen Doucleff

For the past few years, the world has been on the edge of one of the biggest medical triumphs of modern history: Wiping out a horrific parasite from the face of the Earth.

In the early '80s, there were 3.2 million cases of Guinea worm — a two-feet long worm that emerges slowly — and excruciatingly — from a blister on the skin.

A massive campaign, led by President Jimmy Carter, has eradicated the worm from all but four countries.

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nytimes.com - by Rick Gladstone - August 9, 2016 | reuters - by Stephanie Nebehay - August 9, 2016

The United Nations called on Tuesday for an urgent ceasefire in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo, where it said two million people lacked access to clean running water, with children most at risk of disease.

Access is needed to deliver food and medical supplies and for technicians to repair electricity networks that drive water pumping stations, which were heavily damaged in attacks on civilian infrastructure last week.

"The U.N. is extremely concerned that the consequences will be dire for millions of civilians if the electricity and water networks are not immediately repaired," it said in a statement.

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Zika virus is classified as biological safety level (BSL) 2 pathogen.

Revised diagnostic testing for Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses in US Public Health Laboratories - February 7, 2016
(see page 2, of 6 page .PDF file)
https://www.cdc.gov/zika/pdfs/denvchikvzikv-testing-algorithm.pdf

Associated Press - by Danica Coto - August 5, 2016

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Health officials announced Friday that an elderly person infected with Zika has died in Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory battles what federal authorities call a silent epidemic.

The victim was a 75-year-old man who was hospitalized and died from health ailments unrelated to Zika, according to Health Secretary Ana Rius. . . .

. . . The first Zika-related death was reported in late April and involved a 70-year-old man from the San Juan metro area. He suffered internal bleeding after developing a condition in which antibodies that formed in response to a Zika infection began attacking blood platelet cells. At the time, Rius said there were three other cases of the condition known as severe thrombocytopenia and that those patients recovered.

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(See additional supporting documentation within the links below)

CLICK HERE - Zika virus: first American dies of complications linked to disease

CLICK HERE - VIDEO - NY1 Online: City Health Commissioner, Professor Talk Concerns About Zika Virus, Both at Rio Olympics and in US

ny1.com - by Inside City Hall - August 3, 2016

Errol Louis discussed concerns about the Zika virus, both at the Rio Olympics and here in the United States, with City Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett and Columbia University Professor Stephen Morse.

With the growing Zika outbreak in Florida, it's a dangerous mistake to continue underestimating the virus. 

Complacency is the enemy.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

usnews.com - by Stephen S. Morse - August 1, 2016

We've seen it coming for months. Zika has been moving with hurricane intensity throughout South America and the Caribbean, appearing for the first time in 42 countries in the Western Hemisphere in less than two years. . . .

. . . We cannot afford to keep trying to catch-up every time another infection appears. . . .

. . . Zika is the infectious disease crisis now, but in our increasingly globalized and urban world, we can expect many more to come.

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by Philip K. Stoddard, Ph.D. - Mayor of South Miami & Professor of Biological Sciences - Florida International University

Tactics for keeping out Zika

1. Keep Aedes aegypti from breeding in your house and yard by eliminating all standing water (see checklist on other side).

2. Keep Aedes aegypti out of your house. Window and screens should have no gaps or holes. Move and empty your pet’s water dish every day when they don’t need it.

3. Avoid getting bitten outdoors.

Insect repellants with DEET repel flying mosquitoes and prevent them from biting. Long sleeves and trousers help. Electric fans help – Aedes aegypti is a weak flyer and likes still air.

4. Don’t let your neighbors down.

One person can provide mosquitoes for the whole neighborhood by not taking the precautions listed here.

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION (2 page .PDF file)