Fatal ‘rabies-like disease’ discovered in bats in Australia poses threat to humans

Ricky Scaparo – April 8, 2021

(ETH) – What is being deemed as a deadly “rabies-like” disease has just been discovered by Medics in South Australia where at least two cases of Australian Bat Lyssavirus (ABL) have been identified.

The report reveals that the potentially killer virus can be transmitted from bats to humans through means of bites and scratches. Both ABL and rabies belong to the same group of viruses called Lyssavirus, which attacks the nervous system. One Doctor, Louise Flood from the Department for Health and Wellbeing’s Communicable Disease Control Branch, has warned that if symptoms are left untreated they could be “invariably fatal”.

She said: “ABL is a rabies-like disease that can be transmitted to humans if they are bitten or scratched by an infected bat and if treatment is delayed until after the onset of symptoms, the condition is invariably fatal.” she goes on to warn that although only one percent of bats carry this disease, the rise in these cases is becoming “concerning”.

She went on to say “While only one percent of bats usually carry ABL, these two recent exposures are concerning and is an important reminder that bats should only ever be handled by appropriately trained and vaccinated animal handlers.

“While the development of ABL from bat bites or scratches can be prevented through prompt wound management and post-exposure prophylaxis, it is important to avoid contact in the first place.” Another warning was issued regarding pets by Dr. Mary Carr from the Department of Primary Industries, urging Australians to take them to the vets if they have been attacked by a bat.

She said: “If you suspect your animal has been either bitten or scratched by a bat please contact your local vet or the Emergency Animal Disease hotline.” The report indicates that early signs of this virus in humans include flu-like symptoms, such as headaches, fever, and weakness.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Canadian Doctors Baffled by Mysterious Brain Disease

Lynn Allison – April 1, 2021

There have been dozens of cases of a mysterious, previously unknown brain disease that causes memory loss, hallucinations, and muscle atrophy striking Canadians. It can be deadly and doctors do not have a clue what causes the coniditon.

According to The Guardian, the neurological illness has doctors baffled and politicians demanding answers. In the province of New Brunswick alone, there have been 43 reported cases. Experts say the symptoms of the mystery disease mimic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare, fatal brain disorder, according to a leaked memo from the province’s public health agency. CJD is caused by abnormally folded proteins called prions.

‘We are collaborating with different national groups and experts; however, no clear cause has been identified at this time,” said the memo. While the symptoms detected in these unusual cases are similar to CJD, diagnostic screening showed that the cause was not triggered by human prions.

“We don’t have evidence to suggest it is a prion disease,” said Dr. Alier Marrero, the lead investigator in New Brunswick. According to The Guardian, while researchers do not know the cause of the mysterious illness, they are looking into environmental factors such as water sources, plants, and insects.

“We don’t know what’s causing it,” said Marrero. “At this time, we only have more patients appearing to have this syndrome.” The neurologist said patients begin to experience unexplained pains, spasms, and behavioral changes. But as time progresses, they develop cognitive decline, muscle wasting, and other weird symptoms such as the feeling of insects crawling all over them. While only one such case of the mystery disease was confirmed in 2015, there have been dozens more each year and the numbers are rising. Researchers believe five people have died from the yet unnamed syndrome.

https://www.newsmax.com

Oregon health officials monitoring 4 people for Ebola

KGW Staff – March 25, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) on Thursday announced it is monitoring four people for Ebola after those people recently returned from Guinea and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), two West African countries in the midst of Ebola outbreaks.

OHA said there is low risk for people in Oregon. It did not say where the four individuals are located.

Local public health departments and OHA have been in touch with the four people, who arrived back in Oregon in early March. They are considered “persons under monitoring”, OHA said.

“We want to make sure these individuals have the support they need to monitor their health, stay in contact with public health officials and safely get help with medical services if it comes to that,” said Dr. Richard Leman with the OHA Public Health Division.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued Level 3 travel warnings for the affected regions in both Guinea and DRC. The CDC recommends people avoid nonessential travel there.

Since March 4, the CDC has required all airlines to supply contact information for all U.S.-bound travelers who have been in Guinea or Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 21 days, which is the largest known incubation period for Ebola, OHA said. Those travelers are interviewed upon arriving in the U.S. to determine if they are symptomatic and to confirm their contact information. If they are symptomatic, they will be offered medical evaluation.

https://www.kgw.com

BIRD OF PREY Mutant bird flu more infectious than Covid poses ‘high’ risk of transmission between humans, Russia warns

Will Stewart – March 12, 2021

Russia has warned today that mutating H5N8 Bird Flu has a high risk of human-to-human transmission.

The alert appears to contradict the low threat position of the World Health Organisation.

This comes almost a month after scientists detected the first case of H5N8 transmission to humans at a poultry farm in southern Russia.

The Kremlin’s health watchdog chief Anna Popova said there was “a rather high probability” of transmission between humans.

“It is likely to happen,” she told TASS.

“Colleagues say that the mutation is continuing very actively.”

But she said that scientists had spotted the threat “before a disaster happened”.

Popova spoke after a report from popular Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) warning of the threat of a “second Wuhan – or even worse”.

Scientists at Russia’s Porton Down – Vector State Research Centre of Virology  and Biotechnology, once a Cold War biological warfare research plant in Siberia – are working on a vaccine, she said.

https://www.thesun.co.uk

Diphtheria becomes major global threat again as it evolves antimicrobial resistance

Strange Sounds – Mar 10, 2021

Diphtheria – a relatively easily-preventable infection – is evolving to become resistant to a number of classes of antibiotics and in future could lead to vaccine escape, warn an international team of researchers from the UK and India.

The researchers, led by scientists at the University of Cambridge, say that the impact of COVID-19 on diphtheria vaccination schedules, coupled with a rise in the number of infections, risk the disease once more becoming a major global threat.

Diphtheria is a highly contagious infection that can affect the nose and throat, and sometimes the skin. If left untreated it can prove fatal. In the UK and other high-income countries, babies are vaccinated against infection. However, in low- and middle-income countries, the disease can still cause sporadic infections or outbreaks in unvaccinated and partially-vaccinated communities.

The number of diphtheria cases reported globally has being increasing gradually. In 2018, there were 16,651 reported cases, more than double the yearly average for 1996-2017 (8,105 cases).

Diphtheria is primarily caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae and is mainly spread by coughs and sneezes, or through close contact with someone who is infected. In most cases, the bacteria cause acute infections, driven by the diphtheria toxin – the key target of the vaccine. However, non-toxigenic C. diphtheria can also cause disease, often in the form of systemic infections.

https://strangesounds.org

Guinea’s neighbors ‘not ready’ for resurgent Ebola, says WHO, as risk of cross-border transmission ‘very high’ in West Africa

RT – March 5, 2021

The World Health Organization has warned that the deadly Ebola virus is highly likely to spread across West Africa, but said some of Guinea’s neighbors are not prepared for a new Ebola outbreak.

“There are six neighboring countries to Guinea, and we conducted an assessment of readiness. Two of the countries are not ready and one is borderline and there are three countries more or less ready,” WHO Regional Emergency Director Abdou Salam Gueye said on Friday, by video conference from Guinea.

Guinea, which is bordered by Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, has registered 18 cases of the virus, and four of those people have died, the WHO’s Guinea representative, Georges Alfred Ki-Zerbo, said.

Gueye noted that none of the neighboring countries were prepared to start inoculating against the virus, adding that, regardless, there aren’t enough jabs available to vaccinate preventively.

“But those neighboring countries agreed on cross-border cooperation and coordination to control the outbreak,” he said.

Ki-Zerbo said that 1,604 people had been given the Ebola vaccine in Guinea, which is experiencing the first major outbreak of the virus since 2013-16 epidemic.

The 2013-16 outbreak in West Africa was larger than all previous outbreaks combined, with 28,646 reported cases and 11,323 registered deaths. Ebola is a highly infectious and deadly disease that causes hemorrhagic fever and internal bleeding. The virus is spread through contact with infected body fluids.

Ebola has also seen a resurgence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a number of cases confirmed in early February and two deaths.

https://www.rt.com

Brain-swelling Nipah virus 75 times more deadly than coronavirus may be next pandemic, scientists warn of ‘The Big One’

Jamie Micklethwaite  – February 21, 2021

A brain-swelling disease 75 times more deadly than coronavirus could mutate to become the next pandemic killing millions, scientists have warned.

Experts told the Sun Online how a number of emerging diseases could trigger another global outbreak – and this time it could be “The Big One”.

The fruit bat-borne virus Nipah is a prime candidate for serious concern, they fear.

Severe brain swelling, seizures and vomiting are just some of the symptoms of this highly potent disease — which was first discovered in 1999 in Malaysia.

Outbreaks in south and southeast Asia show the virus to be extremely deadly, with a death rate of between 40 to 75 per cent.

COVID-19’s fatality rate is around one per cent, according to Imperial College, so a Nipah pandemic would kill many more people.

It has also been named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of 16 priority pathogens for research and development due to its potential to trigger an epidemic.

And chillingly, Nipah is just one of 260 known viruses with epidemic potential.

https://www.news.com.au

Ebola outbreak: WHO puts six countries on urgent alert as deaths spread

Simon Osborne – February 16, 2021

HEALTH chiefs have warned of a looming Ebola crisis after fresh outbreaks were reported in Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has put six neighbouring African countries on alert after a resurgence of the deadly virus. WHO’s Margaret Harris said: “We have already alerted the six countries around, including of course Sierra Leone and Liberia, and they are moving very fast to prepare and be ready and to look for any potential infection.”

Guinea has recorded up to 10 suspected cases of Ebola and five people have died since the start of a new outbreak of the deadly virus in the southeast of the West African nation.

Guinea’s ministry of health said it had identified 115 contacts of the known cases in the city of Nzerekore in the country’s south east and 10 in the capital Conakry since the outbreak was confirmed on Sunday.

Unlike the deadliest known outbreak, which tore through West Africa between 2013 and 2016, Guinean authorities have said they are better prepared to stop the spread of the virus.

https://www.express.co.uk

Dangerous New Pestilences Are Breaking Out All Over The Globe

– February 8, 2021

Did you hear about the outbreak of the new “mystery disease” in Tanzania?  What about the alarming new outbreak in Congo?  New developments in South Africa are making headlines all over the globe as well.  Despite all of our advanced technology, humanity remains extremely vulnerable to outbreaks of disease, and many believe that the COVID pandemic is just the beginning.  Fearsome new bugs are constantly being cooked up in labs all over the planet, and it is inevitable that there will be more “accidents” that result in more of these bugs getting released in the future.  As we have seen, a single virus can rapidly spread throughout the entire world, and it is just a matter of time before a pandemic comes along that will wipe out tens of millions of people.

This is a hot button topic for me, and so I am constantly monitoring news sources for new pestilences that may be emerging.  Needless to say, when news stories about a new “mystery illness” in Tanzania started coming out, that definitely got my attention…

A MYSTERY illness which causes patients to vomit blood has killed at least 15 in Tanzania, officials said.

More than 50 people have been hospitalised in the south of the country due to the unidentified condition which also causes nausea in sufferers.

Authorities in Tanzania do not know what is causing people to vomit blood and drop dead.

But they did suspend the doctor that first reported this outbreak for “causing panic”…

Tanzania has suspended a medical officer who reported that a mystery disease had killed 15 people in the country and caused people to throw up blood.

Felista Kisandu, the chief medical officer for the Chunya district, had described how patients ‘vomit blood and die when they get to the hospital late’ in an unexplained bout of sickness which was said to have affected more than 50 people.

At this point, officials are insisting that there will not be a wider outbreak, but of course Tanzania would also have us believe that COVID does not exist in their country when there is a tremendous amount of evidence to the contrary.

So far, this new mystery disease does not appear to match the type of killer pandemic that I described in my latest book, but we will continue to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, a new Ebola outbreak in Congo is creating a tremendous amount of concern

http://endoftheamericandream.com

UK Professor Who Warned WHO About COVID-19 Says ‘Disease X’ Pandemic is Around Corner

Sputnik News – January 28, 2021

The development comes a day after Bill Gates said that the world is not ready for the next pandemic. The Microsoft co-founder, who is at the forefront of the campaign to eradicate COVID-19, said the next outbreak could be ten times worse than the current one and called on the international community to prepare for future challenges.

A leading British scientist has warned that a pandemic of “Disease X” is around the corner, noting that it is not a matter of if, but when the world will face another daunting challenge. Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the Usher Institute at the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, said he and his colleagues in 2017 approached the World Health Organisation, asking the agency to place something called Disease X on its list of priorities.

“We thought that the next emerging pandemic might be a virus that we don’t even know about yet – quite frankly we thought it was the most likely scenario”, Woolhouse said.

At a meeting with WHO officials a year later, Woolhouse and his colleagues thought about what Disease X could wind up being. One of their hypotheses suggested that it would be a novel coronavirus related to MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) or SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

Asked whether the next Disease X could potentially be around the corner, the scientist responded “absolutely”. Woolhouse noted, however, that the mechanism by which the disease will break out is always unpredictable.

https://sputniknews.com