disease – Page 8 – The Faithful Watchman

6 Indian states declare Covid-linked ‘black fungus’ an epidemic as death toll rises

RT – May 21, 2021

Multiple Indian states and territories have formally declared mucormycosis – more commonly known as ‘black fungus’ – to be an epidemic as Indians who have recovered from Covid-19 continue to die from the infection.

After the Union Health Ministry called on Indian states to declare an epidemic on Thursday, three states and one territory reportedly did so on the same day. They are Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat, and the Chandigarh union territory.

The states and territories join Telangana and Rajasthan, which had already declared an epidemic before the ministry’s letter, to make a total of six states and territories which officially recognize black fungus as an epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897.

Recognizing the infection as an epidemic makes the reporting of suspected and confirmed cases to the health department mandatory and also gives the Indian government more resources to fight the problem.

The Union Health Ministry warned on Thursday that black fungus was leading to a “prolonged morbidity and mortality amongst Covid-19 patients.”

The infection enters through the bloodstream via a cut or through the respiratory system via the nose, and can then spread to the heart, the brain, and the lungs. Symptoms can include facial swelling and black lesions, and mucormycosis has a fatality rate of around 54%.

Black fungus can have even more of an impact on those who have recovered from Covid-19, however, which is what’s thought to have caused India’s latest problem with the infection.

According to most recent reports, at least 90 people have died from the fungus during the pandemic, with thousands more cases recorded. Health experts argue that steroids used for Covid-19 patients, along with a lack of proper sanitation, could be behind the surge of cases.

https://www.rt.com

Dust storms and valley fever in the American West

Lia Potee – May 07, 2021

Valley fever is a dangerous threat to human health – and cases are on the rise in the arid southwestern United States, as wind from increasing dust storms can transport the fungal spores that cause the disease. Valley fever is caused by the Coccidioides fungus, which grows in dirt and fields and can cause fever, rash and coughing. Using NASA research and satellite data, the World Meteorological Organization is refining its Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System to help forecast where dust risk is greatest.

George Mason University’s Daniel Tong, one of the first scientists to discover the link between dust storms and Valley fever, leads a NASA-funded team to track the airborne spread of Valley fever across the United States for the first time.

There are about 15 thousand cases of Valley fever in the U.S. each year, and approximately 200 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Funded by NASA’s Earth Science Division, Tong’s team is helping track disease risk for epidemiologists, health care providers and public health decision makers.

“Our paper was the first one to reveal the positive relationship between dust storms and Valley fever,” said Tong. “So now we’re asking the question: How can we detect that dust in the air?”

https://www.terradaily.com

Doctors investigate mystery brain disease in Canada

Jessica Murphy – May 5, 2021

Doctors in Canada have been coming across patients showing symptoms similar to that of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare fatal condition that attacks the brain. But when they took a closer look, what they found left them stumped.

Almost two years ago, Roger Ellis collapsed at home with a seizure on his 40th wedding anniversary.

In his early 60s, Mr Ellis, who was born and raised around New Brunswick’s bucolic Acadian peninsula, had been healthy until that June, and was enjoying his retirement after decades working as an industrial mechanic.

His son, Steve Ellis, says after that fateful day his father’s health rapidly declined.

“He had delusions, hallucinations, weight loss, aggression, repetitive speech,” he says.

“At one point he couldn’t even walk. So in the span of three months we were being brought to a hospital to tell us they believed he was dying – but no one knew why.”

Roger Ellis’ doctors first suspected Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease [CJD]. CJD is a human prion disease, a fatal and rare degenerative brain disorder that sees patients present with symptoms like failing memory, behavioural changes and difficulties with co-ordination.

One widely known category is Variant CJD, which is linked to eating contaminated meat infected with mad cow disease. CJD also belongs to a wider category of brain disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS, in which protein in the nervous system become misfolded and aggregated.

But Mr Ellis’ CJD test came back negative, as did the barrage of other tests his doctors put him through as they tried to pinpoint the cause of his illness.

His son says the medical team did their best to alleviate his father’s varying symptoms but were still left with a mystery: what was behind Mr Ellis’s decline?

In March of this year, the younger Mr Ellis came across a possible – if partial – answer.

Radio-Canada, the public broadcaster, obtained a copy of a public health memo that had been sent to the province’s medical professionals warning of a cluster of patients exhibiting an unknown degenerative brain disease.

“The first thing I said was: ‘This is my dad,'” he recalls.

Roger Ellis is now believed to be one of those afflicted with the illness and is under the care of Dr Alier Marrero.

https://www.bbc.com

As mask mandates end, Oregon bucks trend with permanent rule

Sara Cline – April 17, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As states around the country lift COVID-19 restrictions, Oregon is poised to go the opposite direction — and many residents are fuming about it.

A top health official is considering indefinitely extending rules requiring masks and social distancing in all businesses in the state.

The proposal would keep the rules in place until they are “no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace.”

Michael Wood, administrator of the state’s department of Occupational Safety and Health, said the move is necessary to address a technicality in state law that requires a “permanent” rule to keep current restrictions from expiring.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” he said.

But the idea has prompted a flood of angry responses, with everyone from parents to teachers to business owners and employees crying government overreach.

Wood’s agency received a record number of public comments, mostly critical, and nearly 60,000 residents signed a petition against the proposal.

https://apnews.com

Russia reports world’s first case of human infection with H5N8 bird flu

Polina Devitt, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – February 20, 2021

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus named A(H5N8) being passed to humans from birds and has reported the matter to the World Health Organization (WHO), Anna Popova, head of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said on Saturday.

Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months but so far only in poultry. Other strains – H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2 – have been known here) to spread to humans.

Russia reported the case of human infection to the WHO “several days ago, just as we became absolutely certain of our results,” Popova said on Rossiya 24 state TV. There was no sign yet of transmission between humans, she added.

Seven workers at a poultry plant in Russia’s south had been infected with the H5N8 strain in an outbreak at the plant in December, Popova said, adding that the individuals involved felt fine now. “This situation did not develop further,” she said.

In an email WHO’s European arm said it had been notified by Russia about a case of human infection with H5N8 and acknowledged this would if confirmed be the first time the strain had infected people.

https://www.reuters.com

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

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

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