Bubonic plague reported in Libya The World Health Organization (WHO) is sending an expert to Libya to look into a reported outbreak of bubonic plague not far from the Egyptian border... FLASHBACK: Bubonic plague killing al-Qaeda in Algeria |
UPDATE - More:
Libya records 13 cases of bubonic plague
Thirteen cases of bubonic plague have been recorded in eastern Libya, near the border with Egypt, Health Minister Mohamad Hijazi told AFP on Wednesday, stressing the situation was under control.
"Thirteen cases of the plague have been recorded in a village 30 kilometres (20 miles) away from Tobruk. Eleven people have already (been treated and) left hospital," he said, without reporting any deaths.
Libyan media have spoken of between one and three fatalities.
"The situation is under control. We are leading a massive campaign to clean up and disinfect the place," said Hijazi, explaining that the illness was caused by rising rat numbers attracted by livestock being reared near homes.
He said cowsheds had been destroyed and a foreign pest control firm sent to eradicate the rats, in an operation to be supervised by a World Health Organisation (WHO) representative and a French expert.
Hijazi said the illness had previously hit Libya in the 1970s and 1980s.
The plague is "primarily a disease of rodents and their fleas, which can infect humans. It is transmitted between rodents by rodent fleas, and can be transmitted to people when infected rodent fleas bite them," according to WHO.
"Plague is a very severe disease in people, with case fatality rates of 50-60 percent if left untreated."
5 comments:
Pastorius,
As if we didn't have enough to worry about.
Libya records 13 cases of bubonic plague
Thirteen cases of bubonic plague have been recorded in eastern Libya, near the border with Egypt, Health Minister Mohamad Hijazi told AFP on Wednesday, stressing the situation was under control.
"Thirteen cases of the plague have been recorded in a village 30 kilometres (20 miles) away from Tobruk. Eleven people have already (been treated and) left hospital," he said, without reporting any deaths.
Libyan media have spoken of between one and three fatalities.
"The situation is under control. We are leading a massive campaign to clean up and disinfect the place," said Hijazi, explaining that the illness was caused by rising rat numbers attracted by livestock being reared near homes.
He said cowsheds had been destroyed and a foreign pest control firm sent to eradicate the rats, in an operation to be supervised by a World Health Organisation (WHO) representative and a French expert.
Hijazi said the illness had previously hit Libya in the 1970s and 1980s.
The plague is "primarily a disease of rodents and their fleas, which can infect humans. It is transmitted between rodents by rodent fleas, and can be transmitted to people when infected rodent fleas bite them," according to WHO.
"Plague is a very severe disease in people, with case fatality rates of 50-60 percent if left untreated."
Brazil finds new strain of H1N1 virus
Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo, their institute said Tuesday.
The variant has been called A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute, which compared it with samples of the A(H1N1) swine flu from California.
The genetic sequence of the new sub-type of the H1N1 virus was isolated by a virology team lead by one of its researchers, Terezinha Maria de Paiva, the institute said in a statement.
The mutation comprised of alterations in the Hemagglutinin protein which allows the virus to infect new hosts, it said.
It was not yet known whether the new strain was more aggressive than the current A(H1N1) virus which has been declared pandemic by the World Health Organization.
The genetic make-up of the H1N1 virus and its subvariants are important for scientists.
Pharmaceutical companies are working to mass produce a vaccine against the current A(H1N1) flu.
There are fears though that it could mutate into a deadly strain, much in the same way as the 1918 Spanish flu -- also an A(H1N1) virus type -- did when it killed tens of millions around the planet.
According to the WHO, 36,000 people in 76 countries have been infected with the H1N1 virus, causing 163 deaths.
I'm calling it a night while I still have the chance of actually getting some sleep. H1N1 mutation is about the last thing I want to hear about at this point...
We're always troubling your sleep, aren't we, RRA?
By the way, I've had to take to shutting the computer off an hour and a half before I go to bed, cuz IBA was definitely troubling my sleep.
Post a Comment