Global Health

An Aedes Aegypti mosquito photographed on human skin. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Cell Host & Microbe - Wolbachia Blocks Currently Circulating Zika Virus Isolates in Brazilian Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes

Presence of Wolbachia bacterium in the insects seen limiting their ability to transmit the rapidly spreading virus

wsj.com - by REED JOHNSON, ROGERIO JELMAYER, and BETSY MCKAY - May 4, 2016

Introducing a common bacterium into a species of mosquitoes drastically limits the insects’ ability to transmit the dangerous Zika virus that has been spreading rapidly, according to researchers at Brazil’s leading medical-research institute.

In a new study published on Wednesday in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, researchers at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in Rio de Janeiro, said their experiments have shown that injecting Aedes aegypti mosquito eggs with the Wolbachia bacterium makes the eventual adult mosquitoes highly resistant to the Zika virus, thereby limiting their ability to spread it.

By Finbarr O'Reilly May. 2, 2016

When she went into labor last November, 18-year-old Kema James climbed onto the back of a motorbike taxi in her village in eastern Sierra Leone and rode half an hour to the main government hospital in the nearby city of Kenema.

When her baby was delivered, he was sickly yellow and stricken with sepsis, an ailment caused by bacteria in the blood, and he hung limply in the hands of the hospital staff. He died five days later before he could be named.

CLICK HERE - Quest Diagnostics - Zika Virus Infection - Important Testing Information and Helpful Resources

nbcnews.com - by Maggie Fox - April 28, 2016

The first commercial U.S. test to diagnose Zika virus won emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration Thursday.

It's a rare piece of good news as states and the federal government struggle to get out ahead of the Zika virus epidemic as it makes its way north to the U.S.

Quest Diagnostics says it should be able to handle any demand for the test, which uses the same method that government labs use to look for Zika virus in a patient's blood.

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ambafrance-gn.org

Translation to English via Google Translate . . .

New cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever have been reported in the prefecture of N'Zérékoré in Forest Guinea.

Any movement in this area is not recommended except for participation in pre-approved medical missions.

epidemiological situation in the April 16, 2016

- No new confirmed case to April 16.

- Since February 29 (1st suspected case): 10 probable and confirmed cases (seven confirmed and 3 probable).

- 8 deaths (probable and confirmed cases). No health staff is concerned

1. Health monitoring of the Embassy of France

- Continuous Embassy of France to follow in real time the evolution of the situation in conjunction with the Guinean Ministry of Health, WHO and NGOs on the ground, its European partners, and in Paris with the Crisis Centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. Tips and Recommendations

- To limit the minimum necessary traveling in areas where the epidemic is active.

- Do not eat bushmeat.

- Wash hands frequently.

- Do not touch prolonged sick with a high fever or gastroenteritis.

- When a person has on the temperature, how to deal remains: malaria research, medical and surveillance to monitor the disease.