This 57-page report summarizes a request to capture critical lessons from the Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016 and review the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)'s international and domestic responses. It summarizes an Independent Panel's assessment of HHS's challenges, and, where appropriate, challenges facing the broader U.S. government. It describes notable opportunities for improvement in leadership and organization, communication, management, and logistics, as well as in development and use of vaccines and treatments. It also presents recommendations for addressing future urgent public health threats.
The inoculation of viruses into mosquito bite sites is an important and common stage of virus infections. Inflammation helps the virus replicate and spread. on Pingen et al./Immunity 2016 / Immunity
Mosquito saliva might be even more important for spreading infection than anyone thought.
Two studies published in the past week show that mosquito saliva lures immune cells to the site of a bite, and tricks them into spreading any viruses, such as Zika virus, throughout the body.
Tests in mice show that mosquito spit is such an important factor that it could sometimes turn a normally benign viral infection deadly.
Image: People shopping at a market in Lagos, Nigeria. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP
theguardian.com - June 28th 2016 - Kweifio-Okai and Josh Holder
Global population hit 7.3 billion midway through 2015, an increase of 2 billion since 1990. It will continue to climb steadily, according to forecasters, reaching 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100.
But there is more to the population story than unprecedented numbers. (VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)
Summary: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received reports from international healthcare facilities that Candida auris, an emerging multidrug-resistant (MDR) yeast, is causing invasive healthcare-associated infections with high mortality. Some strains of C. auris have elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to the three major classes of antifungals, severely limiting treatment options. C. auris requires specialized methods for identification and could be misidentified as another yeast when relying on traditional biochemical methods. CDC is aware of one isolate of C. auris that was detected in the United States in 2013 as part of ongoing surveillance. Experience outside the United States suggests that C. auris has high potential to cause outbreaks in healthcare facilities. Given the occurrence of C. auris in nine countries on four continents since 2009, CDC is alerting U.S. healthcare facilities to be on the lookout for C. auris in patients.
A strain of Aedes aegypti mosquitos feed from a membrane of blood in a research lab insectary in the Hanson Biomedical Sciences Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on May 17, 2016. Jeff Miller / University of Wisconsin-Madison
A batch of new studies show the Zika virus is trickier than it appeared at first glance, lurking for months in pregnant females and interfering with the immune system's response.
The findings help explain why the virus seems so mild in some people, yet causes devastating birth defects. And while the data suggests it is not going to be so easy to fight the epidemic, at least two studies offer some hope for a good, protective vaccine.
Brazil's microcephaly epidemic continues to pose a mystery -- if Zika is the culprit, why are there no similar epidemics in other countries also hit hard by the virus? In Brazil, the microcephaly rate soared with more than 1,500 confirmed cases. But in Colombia, a recent study of nearly 12,000 pregnant women infected with Zika found zero microcephaly cases. If Zika is to blame for microcephaly, where are the missing cases?
necsi.edu - Dan Evans, Fred Nijhout, Raphael Parens, Alfredo J. Morales, Yaneer Bar-Yam, A possible link between pyriproxyfen and microcephaly, New England Complex Systems Institute (2016).
Image: Ukip's Suzanne Evans eased 'apocalypse' fears over Brexit as France told UK to hurry up and leave.
express.co.uk - June 26th 2016 - Rob Virtue and Greg Heffer
Ukip's parliamentary spokesperson Suzanne Evans has listed an abundance of reasons why Britain’s post-Brexit future is looking bright after a predicted uncertain first day of independence.
In a Facebook post lauded by Leave voters, Ms Evans noted how both the pound and FTSE 100 both recovered from Friday's early falls, while pro-EU campaigners had now backtracked on pre-referendum 'Project Fear' scare stories.
The S&P 500 turned negative for the year-to-date on Friday as Wall Street suffered its largest selloff in 10 months after Britain's decision to leave the European Union caught traders wrong-footed.
In the busiest trading volume for a single session in nearly five years, financial stocks .SPSY led the decline on the S&P 500 with a 5.4 percent drop -the largest for the sector since November 2011.
The S&P 500 lost all the year's gains and suffered its largest decline since late August last year.
Alaskai Moore Johnson, Observer Health Correspondent
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf assuring ECOWAS Commission President Marcel Alain De Souza (2nd from right), she and her colleagues’ support to his Commission on Friday, June 17, 2016
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has disclosed that her Togolese colleague, President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, has been given the task of drawing up a post-Ebola plan for the ECOWAS region.
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