Emerging Infections/CJD |
Published on: 13 February 2008 |
Emerging Infections Update: July - December 2008 report
Monthly summaries of notable events and developments of potential public health importance are produced by the Emerging Infections and Zoonoses Department, for circulation to recipients including the Chair and members of the National Expert Panel on New and Emerging Infections (http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/nationalexpertpanel/index.htm). Incidents reported over recent months are shown in the table below. Events are identified through horizon scanning activities and then logged and systematically followed up. Multiple sources are scanned including: ProMED online http://www.promedmail.org; World Health Organization sources (Disease Outbreak News http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/, Weekly Epidemiological Record http://www.who.int/wer/en/, etc), Eurosurveillance http://www.eurosurveillance.org/Default.aspx); CIDRAP online http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/index.html; CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/) Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm), and the wider scientific literature.
Table 1 Summary of notable events/incidents of potential public health significance: July to December 2008
Month reported |
Incident |
Location / Description |
July |
Antimicrobial resistance and prescribing |
England, Wales & NI: HPA 2007 report published |
Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever |
Turkey: 41 fatalities; country's first case of human-human transmission suspected |
|
Henipaviruses
|
Australia: Hendra virus - 7 equine cases;2 human (vets) |
|
Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever |
Netherlands ex-Uganda: woman died after visiting cave where bats were present |
|
Monkeypox |
DR Congo: 470 cases, 22 deaths since Jan 08 |
|
Poliomyelitis |
Pakistan : 2 cases WPV1 in unvaccinated children |
|
Onchyomadesis |
Spain : 213 confirmed cases in young children; possible aetiology coxsackie virus |
|
Q fever |
Netherlands: large outbreak, 677 cases reported so far in 2008 |
|
Report on global frontiers and infectious diseases |
UK: House of Lords Select Committee report on the effectiveness of intergovernmental organisations in controlling the spread of disease |
|
Rift Valley Fever |
Swaziland: first ever outbreak; 22 cases in cattle on farm |
|
Sporadic CJD-like illness |
USA: 16 cases of a new form of prion disease, designated "proteinase-sensitive prionopathy (PSPr)" |
|
Tuberculosis (caprine) |
UK: extensive M. bovis outbreak in goat herd |
|
Undiagnosed haemorrhagic disease |
China: Press reports of 3 fatal cases of an unidentified disease in Shandong with a further 6-7 cases hospitalised |
|
August |
Anthrax guidelines |
Worldwide: Updated WHO guidelines published |
Bluetongue |
UK: First cases reported this summer: 8 bovine, 2 ovine |
|
Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever |
Greece: 2nd case (fatal) in the country |
|
Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm) |
Worldwide: Update on campaign for global eradication |
|
Equine piroplasmosis |
USA: outbreak in horses in Florida |
|
Haemorrhagic Fever |
DR Congo: 5 cases (4 deaths), virus not yet diagnosed |
|
Hendra virus |
Australia: update - of the 2 human cases in July, 1 died |
|
Leprosy |
Worldwide: WHO - Global update |
|
Malaria |
France: 2 cases in couple with no history of travel, possibly "airport malaria" |
|
One Health Initiative |
Worldwide: Launched by American Veterinary Medical Association to improve collaboration between human and animal health |
|
Rabies |
China: Recently published paper describes trends in human rabies cases in China from January 1990 to July 2007 |
|
Salmonella Agona PT39 |
Europe: new strain has caused 148 cases in 9 countries; most cases reported from England (84), Scotland (35) and Ireland (12) |
|
Sputnik virus, viral parasite |
Novel research - first discovery of a parasitic virus that can infect and cause damage to the host virus |
|
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) |
Australia : 4 cases, cheese-borne (made with unpasteurised goats milk) |
|
Yellow Fever |
Côte d'Ivoire: outbreak in Abidjan |
|
September |
Acinetobacter baylyi |
Novel research describing A. baylyi for first time as a possible opportunistic human pathogen |
Avian influenza |
Indonesia: Retrospective report of 2 deaths (July 08) |
|
Cardioviruses |
A number of recent publications suggest some strains may also be pathogenic in humans. |
|
Health is Global Strategy |
UK: Newly published cross-governmental strategy outlining a set of principles and actions which aim to improve the health of people across the world, including the UK |
|
Hepatitis A |
Czech Republic: large increase compared with 2007 figures |
|
Hepatitis E |
Hong Kong: increased incidence and shift in age profile cf 2007 |
|
Gonococcal resistance |
UK: update from the Gonococcal Resistance to Antimicrobials Surveillance Programme |
|
Melamine poisoning |
China: 54000 cases and 3 deaths in young children who consumed dairy products containing melamine |
|
Microsporidial keratoconjunctivitis |
India: Press reports of 7 cases in Madras |
|
MMR vaccine |
England: update on 2007-8 coverage figures |
|
Oseltamivir-resistant H1N1 |
Holland: fatal case, leukaemia patient |
|
Poliomyelitis |
Afghanistan: update on current situation Djibouti: imported case in 24 month old child from Ethiopia |
|
Tuberculosis |
UK: extensive transmission from smear negative child with pulmonary TB |
|
vCJD |
Spain : suspected familial cases (mother and son) |
|
West Nile Virus |
Italy: 6 confirmed and 5 suspected equine cases, also detected in wild birds, no human cases |
|
October |
Anthrax |
UK: Fatal inhalational anthrax in drum maker |
Arenavirus |
S Africa and Zambia : 5 cases, 4 fatal; nosocomial spread |
|
Avian influenza |
Germany: H5N1 in ducks in mixed poultry holding |
|
Crohn's disease, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii |
New research suggests presence of intestinal bacterium F.prausnitzii plays a role in preventing the recurrence of Crohn's disease |
|
Ebola haemorrhagic fever |
DR Congo: Press reports of suspected Ebola cases in Kananga |
|
European Bat Lyssavirus-2 |
UK: Dead bat with EBLV2 found at a heritage site |
|
Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) Group |
UK: First report on the work of the HAIRS group, 2004-2007 |
|
Hepatitis A |
Latvia: Outbreak in 18-29 year olds in Riga |
|
Lymphacytic filariasis |
Worldwide: Update on lymphatic filariasis eradication programme |
|
Rabies |
Italy: Classical rabies virus in a fox |
|
West Nile Virus |
Austria: 3 avian cases of WNV2 |
|
Yellow fever virus |
Central African Republic: 1 confirmed case, 4 suspected |
|
Zoonoses Report |
UK: HPA annual Zoonoses Report published |
|
November |
Anaplasma phagocytophilum |
China: cluster of human granulocytic anaplasmosis; first report of direct human-human transmission |
Bluetongue |
Switzerland: New strain detected in goats |
|
Cholera |
Zimbabwe: national health emergency declared |
|
Drug resistant Gram negative bacteria |
Europe: Eurosurveillance update on AMR |
|
Ebola virus |
Uganda: new species described |
|
Leprosy |
New species identified as the cause of diffuse lepromatous leprosy |
|
Measles |
England & Wales: Update |
|
Melamine contaminated dairy products |
China: 294,000 children now affected |
|
Rabies |
Brazil: boy survived symptomatic infection |
|
Tuberculosis |
South Korea: research published on survival rates for MDR and XDR TB |
|
West Nile Virus |
Hungary: increase in WNV neuroinvasive infection in 2008 |
|
White-nosed syndrome in bats |
USA: Geomyces fungal disease causing bat die-off in North East |
|
Wound botulism |
Ireland: 4 cases in injecting drug users |
|
December |
Influenza |
Worldwide: update on H5N1 and H9N2 |
Communicable diseases in Europe report |
Europe: ECDC Annual Epidemiological Report |
|
Ebola haemorrhagic fever |
DR Congo: outbreak in Mweka District, Kasai Occidental |
|
Hepatitis E |
Germany: case control study published examining risk factors for autochthonous HEV infections |
|
Legionella |
Cyprus: outbreak in neonatal unit |
|
Massilia virus |
France: novel phlebovirus isolated from sandflies, possibly a member of the Sandfly fever Naples virus complex |
|
MDR-TB |
China: paper published on MDR TB prevalence |
|
Plague |
Uganda: Press reports of ongoing outbreaks in Arua and Nebbi districts |
|
Rabies |
Northern Ireland: ex-South Africa : fatal case in returned volunteer worker |
|
vCJD, heterozygote suspected |
UK: Press reports of suspected vCJD in a prion protein methionine/valine heterozygote |
Q fever, Netherlands
A large outbreak of Q fever was reported during 2008 in the south of the Netherlands . The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment had been notified of 1014 cases by the end of the year . Cases are concentrated in Noord-Brabant province, where an outbreak occurred in 2007, and the adjacent Gelderland province. This area has a high density of dairy goats and authorities have implemented a number of measures in response to the outbreak, including mandatory notification of Q fever in ruminants and restrictions on spreading manure. Prior to the 2007 outbreak the mean national annual figure for human Q fever cases was only 15. Increased awareness and testing is thought to have contributed to increased case detection, however rural GPs report an unprecedented increase in Q fever symptoms such as pneumonia among their patients. The increased geographical distribution of cases in 2008 suggests that multiple sources are responsible for the outbreak.
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=18939, http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=18976
Sputnik virophage
Electron microscopy of the mamavirus, a newly discovered giant virus related to the mimivirus ( Acanthamoeba polyphaga) revealed a second, small 21 gene virus, named Sputnik. Sputnik is believed to hijack the replication processes of the mamavirus, resulting in the formation of fewer and deformed mamavirus particles. This is the first discovery of a parasitic virus that can infect and cause damage to the host virus and is being dubbed a 'virophage' due to its similarities to bacteriophages. Nature (454)7 August 2008
Ebola virus, new species
The draft genomic sequence of the newly discovered Bundibugyo ebolavirus, which was responsible for a large Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreak in western Uganda in 2007, has been described for the first time. This new species of ebolavirus is believed to be distantly related to the Côte d'Ivoire ebolavirus, however it is genetically distinct differing at the genome level by more than 30% from all other known species. This new discovery means that there are now five known species of ebolavirus and this will have important implications for the design of future diagnostic assays for Ebola HF disease and ongoing efforts to develop effective antivirals and vaccines.
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000212
Leprosy, new species of Mycobacterium
A new species of bacterium, Mycobacterium lepromatosis, has been identified as a cause of diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL), a condition mainly found in Mexico and the Caribbean. This new species was identified after analysis of the 16srRNA gene in specimens taken from two fatal leprosy cases. Subsequent testing has shown the same organism in 2 fatal cases of DLL in Singapore. It had previously been thought that all forms of leprosy were caused only by M. leprae. http://www.ajcp.com/pdf/featured/Han.pdf.