Infectious disease

Oct. 8, 2007 -- Maricopa County Public Health reported today its first death related to the 2007 West Nile virus season, an elderly man from Phoenix.

“It seems our West Nile cases peak later in the season and this year looks to be no exception,” said Dr. Bob England, director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

“And even though it seems that our first death is coming late in the season, we are on track to not only see more cases this year, but more cases with the worst types of West Nile – West Nile encephalitis or meningitis.”    » read more »

Two new counties reporting West Nile virus in birds

September 26, 2007 -- SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting today 14 additional human cases of West Nile virus including a Gallatin County woman in her 80’s who died on September 12. The woman is reported to have become ill in early September. This newly reported case in addition to the 13 cases listed below brings the total this year to 48. Additional cases include:

• McHenry County man in his 30’s became ill in mid-September    » read more »

20 September 2007 -- The World Health Organization says it has found typhoid in an area of the Democratic Republic of Congo where health experts are working to fight an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

Last week, DRC officials ordered a quarantine in central Kasai Occidental province, after the U.N. health agency said five people there tested positive for the Ebola virus. Now, WHO officials say they have discovered five cases of typhoid in the same area.

WHO spokesman, Greg Hartl tells Reuters news agency that one of the typhoid cases also tested positive for Ebola.    » read more »

09/10/2007 -- California Governor Schwarzenegger today issued an executive order calling for additional actions to fight the West Nile Virus. The Governor’s executive order broadens the purposes for which previously allocated funding of $10 million can be used to mitigate the West Nile Virus in at-risk counties.    » read more »

02 September 2007 -- Medical experts with the U.N. World Health Organization are investigating an outbreak of an unknown illness with a high mortality rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

WHO has issued a statement saying it is unclear exactly how many cases or deaths are involved. But it says more than half the people affected are under the age of 10.

The statement listed symptoms that include fever, headache, diarrhea or abdominal pain and vomiting.    » read more »

August 31, 2007 -- PIERRE, S.D. – Summer may be winding down but West Nile virus is still a threat. South Dakotans who plan to head outdoors for the Labor Day weekend and upcoming hunting seasons need to take precautions, says a state health official.    » read more »

30 August 2007 -- More than 100 people have died in the central Democratic Republic of Congo, in what health officials suspect is an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever.

The chief health official for Kasai Occidental Province, Jean-Constatin Kanow, says a total of 217 people in four villages have come down with the illness.

Kanow says the outbreak appears related to the funerals of two village chiefs in early June. The U.N.-funded IRIN news service quotes him as saying all the people who assisted with those burials have died.    » read more »

23 August 2007 -- The World Health Organization says infectious diseases are spreading around the world at a faster rate than ever before, making them more difficult to treat.

In its annual World Health Report, issued Thursday, the United Nations agency says one or more new diseases have been identified every year since the 1970s, a rate it says is "unprecedented."

The agency also says efforts to control such well-known diseases as tuberculosis have been compromised as they evolve into stronger, more drug-resistant forms.    » read more »

August 22, 2007 -- An elderly Cascade County woman has become the first Montanan to die as a result of West Nile virus since 2003.

State health officials confirmed Wednesday that the woman became ill Aug. 12, was hospitalized, and died several days later from encephalitis, a severe neurological disease that in rare cases can be caused by the West Nile virus.    » read more »

08/20/2007 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed an executive order allocating up to $500,000 for the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) for vegetation management in State managed wetland wildlife areas most at risk for West Nile Virus. Today’s action builds upon Governor Schwarzenegger’s emergency proclamation signed earlier this month and commitment of more than $10 million in emergency funding to fight this mosquito borne disease.    » read more »

18 August 2007 -- The West African country of Togo recently announced more bird flu infections outside its capital, making it the seventh West African country to report finding the deadly H5N1 virus in its poultry. Bird flu experts say sub-Saharan Africa still has a long way to go in its battle against the virus, and any other animal diseases that may develop.

Togo's government officials say they have been working with farmers since early last year to ask them to report any signs of the virus.    » read more »

16 August 2007 -- Indonesia's Health Ministry says a 17-year-old woman has died of bird flu.

Authorities say the woman died Tuesday in Tangerang, west of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. She is the 83rd Indonesian to have died of the virus.

Earlier this week, a 29-year-old woman living on the island of Bali died of the disease, becoming the resort island's first known human fatality from the often-deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.    » read more »

August 16, 2007 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that state environmental protection and public health officials are initiating a series of steps to better safeguard the public from mosquito-borne West Nile (WNV) virus.    » read more »

August 15, 2007 -- PIERRE, S.D. – A Brown County resident is South Dakota’s third West Nile death of the season, the Department of Health reported today. The individual was in the 80 to 89 year old age group, as were the two earlier deaths in Hand and Pennington Counties.

Thirty-three of South Dakota's 66 counties have now had WNV detections. A total of 62 human cases have been reported to date.    » read more »

Jackson and St. Clair counties reporting West Nile virus

August 15, 2007 -- SPRINGFIELD – Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, Illinois state public health director, announced today three more confirmed human cases of West Nile virus, bringing the total to eleven in Illinois for 2007. The latest cases involve a 56 year old Chicago man who became ill in mid-July, an 88 year old Chicago man who became ill in late-July, and a 59 year old Pike County woman who became ill in early July. The first human case of West Nile virus for 2007 was reported in DuPage County on June 15.    » read more »