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The mission of the Global Health Working Group is to explore and improve current and emerging states of health and human security worldwide.

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This Working Group is focused on exploring current and emerging states of health and human security worldwide.
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Sierra Leone: 'Water Shortage May Lead to Cholera'

Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation 1, Madina Rahman, has said that the current water crisis in Freetown and its environs might cause a cholera outbreak and other water borne diseases.

"Because of the areas where people go to fetch water, I am worried that we may experience water borne diseases," she noted.

Madam Rahman was updating newsmen last Thursday at a presser held at the Ministry of Information and Communications, Youyi building in Freetown.

She said the country was challenged by acute water shortage and that she was worried there could be a serious disease outbreak because people collect drinking water from unprotected sources without boiling or filtering.

She said about 1.8 million people die from cholera and other water borne diseases annually around the world, adding that it was a concern for the government.

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Mysterious Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak Stumps Disease Detectives in South Sudan

                                             

CLICK HERE - WHO - Disease Outbreak News - Haemorrhagic fever syndrome – South Sudan - 19 May 2016

npr.org - Michaeleen Doucleff - May 31, 2016

The last time, we heard about a "mysterious hemorrhagic fever" in a country, it was February 2014. The outbreak was in Guinea. And by the time doctors had pinpointed the culprit, Ebola was spiraling out of control in West Africa.

The situation in South Sudan today is a far cry from that in West Africa a few years ago. But it's still concerning, the World Health Organization said.

So far, there have been 51 cases — including 10 deaths — from an unknown disease in the northern part of South Sudan. The main symptoms of the disease are similar to those seen with Ebola: unexplained bleeding, fever, fatigue, headache and vomiting.

But the culprit definitely isn't Ebola.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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How Zika Virus Is Passed From Mother To Baby

Zika virus particles (red) under a microscope (Image by NIAID)

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Zika Virus Infects Human Placental Macrophages

forbes.com - by J. V. Chamary - May 30, 2016

While the Zika virus often causes disease without symptoms in adults, it has become notorious for its link to microcephaly — a birth defect where infants have an abnormally small head.

Women infected with Zika can transmit it to their unborn child during pregnancy, but precisely how this happens has remained a mystery. Scientists have now revealed one potential route.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

 

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WHO Experts Say Zika May Cause Birth Defects in Thousands of Babies

                                                  

CLICK HERE - WHO - Defining the syndrome associated with congenital Zika virus infection

who.int - reuters.com - by Bill Berkrot - June 3, 2016

World Health Organization officials on Friday cautioned that "many thousands" of infants infected with Zika virus could suffer neurological abnormalities and said nations dealing with an outbreak need to watch for problems beyond the widely reported cases of microcephaly.

These include spasticity, seizures, irritability, feeding difficulties, eyesight problems and evidence of severe brain abnormalities.

Health officials had previously concluded that Zika infection in pregnant women was a cause of microcephaly in babies, a rare birth defect characterized by unusually small heads and potentially severe developmental problems. They now believe the range of potential neurological problems in infants could be much wider.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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WHO Emergency Panel to Meet in June on Zika and Olympics: Spokeswoman

           

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are displayed at an exhibition on Jan. 28 in Brazil. The mosquitoes can be carriers of the Zika virus.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

reuters.com - by STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and BILL BERKROT - June 3, 2016

With debate growing over the safety of holding the Olympics in Brazil amid the ongoing Zika virus outbreak, the World Health Organization's Emergency Committee on Zika will meet in the coming weeks to evaluate the risks tied to going on with the Games in August, a WHO spokeswoman said on Friday.

"The Emergency Committee meeting will consider the situation in Brazil, including the question of the Olympics," WHO spokeswoman Nyka Alexander told Reuters in response to a query.

WHO makes risk assessments of a public health issue and it would be up to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to decide on holding the event in Rio de Janeiro, due to start on Aug. 5, she said.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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DSHS Announces First Texas-Acquired Chikungunya Case

                          

dshs.state.tx.us - May 31, 2016

Recently reported case contracted in 2015 

The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed the first locally acquired case of chikungunya, a mosquito borne illness. A Cameron County resident got sick with the illness in November 2015 and was diagnosed with a lab test in January 2016. The case, however, was not reported to the local health department until last month. The investigation performed by the Cameron County Department of Health and Human Services determined the patient had not traveled, and the case was confirmed last week by testing at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chikungunya disease is a viral illness spread by mosquitoes and was first detected in travelers returning to Texas from areas with local transmission in 2014. All previous Texas residents who contracted the illness were infected while traveling abroad. Because this case was contracted more than six months ago and mosquito surveillance has not found chikungunya in local mosquitoes, the primary risk of infection remains related to travel. DSHS encourages people to protect themselves from mosquito bites at home and while traveling to stop the spread of chikungunya, Zika and West Nile virus.

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World Health Organization Declares End of Ebola Virus in Guinea

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Republic of Guinea Ebola-free today.

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New Anesthesia Machine Could Improve Surgeries in Sierra Leone

BO, SIERRA LEONE—

Yatta Lahai and Fatama Alieu — two 30-year-old women in Sierra Leone — are waiting to have surgery that will restore their self-respect.

Both women have fistula, a condition caused by prolonged obstructed labor that leaves a woman unable to control her urine, feces or both.

Lahai says she lost her husband and the rest of her family because of the condition. Alieu says she avoids going out in public because of the embarrassment.

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Zika in the U.S.: Can We Manage the Risk?

wilsoncenter.org - May 24, 2016

On May 24, representatives from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Google joined a conversation with NPR Global Health and Development Correspondent Jason Beaubien to give an update on how the United States is managing Zika virus disease.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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4 reasons we're seeing more infectious disease outbreaks around the world

MERS, H1N1, swine flu, chikungunya, Zika: Another virus with a peculiar name always seems to be right around the corner, threatening to become a pandemic.

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