MERS virus can be a global threat?

Since last year in middle east appeared a threatening and a lethal coronavirus with the name of MERS. MERS virus is similar to the virus of acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that was known world wide in 2003.Coronavirus I know to be the virus of the common cold.
A mutation to this Coronavirus made the virus to be more dangerous that it used to be and seems like the mutation took place in middle east.The MERS virus as official health report recorded made 77 people to be ill from the virus disease and amongst them for 41 died from the killer Virus. Virus diseases of MERS have been reported in Qatar, Saudi Arabia,Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Also additional cases have been reported in European countries like in France, in Germany, in Italy and Britain.Nevertheless they sick people in the European countries had a positive history directly or indirectly with a trip to the Middle East.
That make the word health organization not to consider the MERS virus like a global threat

flu 2013 symptoms

The new influenza virus that is spreading all across the Europe and USA is in most cases an influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 strain of the virus. That causes a severe flu disease and it begins with a nasty cough. in the second say the affected people of the flu 2013 have fever with 38°- 40 ° grad Celsius , dizziness , chest pains with the cough , and weakness. Muscle Pain and a clogged and runny nose complete the symptoms.

Flu 2013 Europe

Germany and Norway have a big number of flu cases which brings to severely ilness and to big hospitalization need. That why the Hospitals are full and have capacity problems in the time beiing. Robert koch institut in Germany reported that aktuall there is a spread of the  A(H1N1)pdm09 infuenza virus.

Lethal case of flu of birds in Indonesia

According to  Health Ministry of Indonesia, a young man lost his life because the the Bird flu
Indonesia is the country with most cases of virus Η5Ν1.
Ten days afterwards the statement of first lethal case in China, her Health Ministry of China expressed at the same time fears for reappearance of illness epidemic

“The results of examinations confirmed that it is flu of birds” announced T. Yoga, head of service of ministry for the contagious illnesses,and it added that the victim of was 23 years.
It is the first lethal case the last three months in Indonesia. It is reminded that on 10 October2011 was confirmed the death from the virus Η5Ν1of two children, age ten and five years.

chronic hepatitis C boseprevir therapy

The European Commission adopted in July 2011 boseprevir the treatment of chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 in combination with pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin. Combination therapy for adult patients over 18 years of age with compensated liver disease who had not received previous treatment or who were not effective prior treatment with combination pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Chronic hepatitis C is a potentially serious viral infection of the liver, which affects about 4 million people across Europe.

H5N1 bird flu still active

The Hong Kong  authorities have slaughter in recent days  17,000 poultry following the detection of three fatal cases of the virus H5N1.
In parallel, the government has moved to ban any importation or sale of live poultry for the next three days, with the competent departments of the Ministry of Health in alarm.
The "bird flu" caused panic in 2009. About 300 people had been then under close medical supervision.

Concern of botulism from Cows in Nord Germany

After several reports are in a Nord-Germany state “ Schleswig-Holstein” as high as 90 percent of cattle with botulism infected. Up to now officially seen by the authorities this botulism infection only  as pure animal disease. According to experts at the University of Hanover were Clostridium botulinum bacteria, however, also found in humans.
Symptoms of botulism in humans include paralysis, and frequent diarrhea or constipation. An acute illness is possible to provoke  acute Muskelnspasmus of the respiratory muscles, as well as cardiac arrest, and therefore can be fatal.

Australia Winter Flu raises 50% since last year

Flu cases in Australia have increased by more than half since last year, causing concern among doctors about an early on-set of flu season.

The Australian Medical Association Queensland has revealed close to 1600 cases of flu have been reported across the state this year, with as many as 460 cases reported over the last five weeks alone.

As many as 30 per cent of the flu cases reported were the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as swine flu.

Influenza symptoms are quite different to common cold, typically there is very high fever, quite often severe headache, aches and pains in the muscles and joints and quite often a very sore throat as well as a runny nose and cough

Rinderpest cattle plague ( smallpox) eradicated

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) says Rinderpest or the cattle plague has been eradicated, saving millions of people from starvation.

"Today we witness a historical event as rinderpest is the first animal disease ever to be eradicated by humankind," OIE Director General Bernard Vallat said during the organization's annual gathering on Wednesday.

Known before the Roman era, Rinderpest affected humans by killing hundreds of millions of cattle in Europe, Africa and Asia caused by major famines.

One Rinderpest pandemic in Africa in the 19th century is estimated to have been responsible for the starvation of one-third of Ethiopians, Reuters reported.

"These animals are used for work but also for milk and meat,” said OIE Regional Representative for Africa Yacouba Samake. “If the disease hits the herd, all these high-quality proteins, you can forget them, it's a catastrophe."

According to OIE, the 198 countries with rinderpest-susceptible animals are now free of the disease with the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

A global campaign was triggered when imported animals in Belgium caused a Rinderpest outbreak in 1920 leading to the creation of the OIE in 1924.

The Global Rinderpest Eradication Program (GREP) was coordinated by the FAO in collaboration with the OIE and major donors such as the European Commission in the 1980s to ensure the full eradication of the disease.

source press.tv TE/MB

Hepatitis in European Region who stats

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. The five main hepatitis viruses are types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis A and E are typically caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water. Hepatitis B, C and D usually occur as a result of parenteral (blood-to-blood) contact with infected body fluids (e.g. from blood transfusions or invasive medical procedures using contaminated equipment). Hepatitis B and C can also be transmitted through sexual contact.
Symptoms include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), dark urine, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Hepatitis infections can be asymptomatic, however, and hard to detect without proper testing.
Hepatitis B and C affect millions of people in the European Region. Worldwide 500 million people are estimated to be infected with hepatitis B or C. These viruses kill 1.5 million people a year; 1 in every 3 people has been exposed to either or both viruses and most infected people do not know about it.
The number of cases of hepatitis B and C reported in the WHO European Region does not necessarily reflect the full extent of transmission. A synthesis report on effective interventions to reduce hepatitis C infection from WHO/Europe’s Health Evidence Network (HEN) estimates prevalence up to 98% among injecting drug users.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control estimates:

• an overall hepatitis B incidence of 1.49 per 100 000;
• a hepatitis C incidence of 8.7 per 100 000 in the Member States of the European Union (EU); and
• high prevalence in injecting drug users.

source WHO

Pregnant Woman dies by a killer Unknown Virus in Korea

The Korean health authorities confirmed Thursday.that a second  pregnant woman has died of acute pneumonia caused by an unidentified virus, She was the second death among the seven pregnant women who had been hospitalized at a Seoul hospital in April for infection with the unknown virus.

The 36-year-old woman first visited the hospital on April 21 with early flu symptoms and breathing difficulty and was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.
She died less than a month after hospitalization.
Same happened to anotherpregnant woman in the nine-month  who died on May 10.

the Helath departmend and the seoul hospital are still searching to find out the cause of the unidentified virus related pneumonia.

Ebola virus -transmission prevetion

Ebola virus infection  is a highly contagious disease, Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, stool, urine, secretions, organs or  body fluids of infected persons.
Any direct contact with the body of a deceased person especially during burial ceremonies can accelerate the transmission of the virus. A WHO report also indicated that the Ebola-virus could easily be transmitted from dead chimpanzees, gorillas and forest antelopes to  humans.


Against Ebola virus spread, the isolation strategy is key in containing the ebola virus within a limited area (quarantee). In health centers the Patients with  suspected ebola virus infection  should be isolated from other patients. It is also important to trace and follow up any persons the suspected individuals might have come into direct contact with to prevent unknown consequential deaths. The right organization of public Health restrictions in epidemic ebola areas is vital against the spreading of ebola virus.

No cure
It is important to remember that just like AIDS, the medical world has not found a cure for the Ebola virus yet. As such, prevention is not optional  against cure in this case! Rather, it is a necessity for survival!.

Babesiosis in Immunocompetent Patients

Babesiosis in Immunocompetent Patients




We report 2 cases of babesiosis in immunocompetent patients in France. A severe influenza-like disease developed in both patients 2 weeks after they had been bitten by ticks. Diagnosis was obtained from blood smears, and Babesia divergens was identified by PCR in 1 case. Babesiosis in Europe occurs in healthy patients, not only in splenectomized patients.

Babesiosis, a tick-borne infectious disease that occurs worldwide, is caused by species of Babesia, an intraerythrocytic parasite (1). Babesia spp. parasites infect wild and domesticated animals and may cause a malaria-like syndrome.

Multidrug resistant bacteria remain a public health issue in Europe

Multidrug resistant bacteria remain a public health issue in Europe

On the occasion of the European Antibiotic Awareness Day, ECDC is releasing new European-wide surveillance data on antibiotic resistance from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net). With annually up to 400,000 patients reported to suffer from infections resistant to multiple antibiotics, the data show that antibiotic resistance remains a public health problem across the European Union. In Klebsiella pneumoniae, a common cause of infection amongst hospital patients, an emerging trend is the proportion of resistance to powerful last-line antibiotics, such as carbapenems. Proportions of resistance range from less than 1% to more than 25%. Without effective last-line antibiotics, doctors face the dilemma of not having any treatment options left.

Genetically modified fungi kill malaria-causing parasites in mosquitoes

Genetically modified fungi kill malaria-causing parasites in mosquitoes

 Spraying malaria-transmitting mosquitoes with a genetically modified fungus can kill the malaria parasite without harming the mosquito, potentially reducing malaria transmission to humans, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, the study was led by Raymond J. St. Leger, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, College Park.



An estimated 225 million malaria cases occur worldwide annually, resulting in about 781,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. Although the disease is present in 106 countries around the world, most cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Treating bed nets and indoor walls with insecticides is the main prevention strategy in developing countries, but the Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit malaria are slowly becoming resistant to these insecticides, rendering them less effective.