Brucellosis

Episode Nine This week’s Africa Science Focus is on malaria, one of the biggest killers on the continent. “Malaria is so common you can get it anywhere, anyhow, any time,” Jessica, a malaria sufferer in Liberia, tells the programme.   This is because Africa’s mosquitoes are “supremely efficient vectors of malaria disease”, says the World Health Organization’s David Schellenberg.  And from Malawi, Catherine Tasankha Chaima was named a finalist in the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation for her affordable antibacterial soap made from agricultural waste and other plant-based extracts.   If you want to know anything about developments in science and health in Africa, send us your science questions for the experts — message WhatsApp +254799042513 .   Africa Science Focus , with Selly Amutabi. Listen, subscribe and leave a review: This programme was funded by the European Journalism Centre, through the European Development Journalism Grants programme, with support from the

Timothy Ray Brown, who made history as “the Berlin patient”, the first person known to be cured of HIV infection, has died. He was 54. Brown died on Tuesday at his home in Palm Springs, California, according to a social media post by his partner, Tim Hoeffgen. The cause was a return of the cancer that originally prompted the unusual bone marrow and stem cell transplants Brown received in 2007 and 2008, which for years seemed to have eliminated both his leukemia and HIV, the virus that causes Aids. “Timothy symbolized that it is possible, under special circumstances,” to rid a patient of HIV – something that many scientists had doubted could be done, said Gero Huetter, the Berlin physician who led Brown’s historic treatment. “It’s a very sad situation” that cancer returned and took his life, because he still seemed free of HIV, said Huetter, who is now medical director of a stem cell company in Dresden. The International Aids Society, which had Brown speak at an Aids conference af

In response to residents staying home more for school and work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) shares ways for customers to reduce energy usage by 15 to 20 percent. This amount is proportional to the recent increase in California customers’ residential electric usage due to sheltering at home, compared to the same period last year, according to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). “The ongoing impacts from the pandemic may continue to change, but our unwavering commitment to our customers during this uncertain time will not. We are here to ensure customers know they are not alone, and PG&E offers various resources to help those financially impacted by COVID-19,” said Laurie Giammona, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer for PG&E. As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) received an additional $900 million in funding nati

SAN FRANCISCO , Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to the effects of the raging California wildfires, many residential and commercial properties are requiring extensive smoke odor removal and cleanup. Dry Kings Restoration is providing 24/7 smoke removal and fire damage repair services to help buildings get back to their pre-loss condition. Once firefighters extinguish the wildfire flames, the Dry Kings Restoration experts are often dispatched to recover the buildings from fire and smoke damage. Upon arrival, the company's team performs smoke damage cleanup and provides the necessary fire remediation services. Dry Kings Restoration's smoke and odor removal consists of getting the structure back to its original state, as if the smoke damage never occurred in the first place. The team will provide damage mitigation, neutralization of toxic smoke and assess contents inside the affected structure for salvageability. Their smoke restoration services include emergency board-up, d

Land managers with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly referred to as Swiftmud, announced a series of hog hunts throughout the rest of the year and into 2021. Non-native feral hogs can cause damage to area lands, leaving foraging sites “looking like a plowed field,” according to a district press release. They also prey on native wildlife, compete with native species for food and transmit diseases to other wildlife, livestock and humans. Feral hogs may also facilitate the spread of exotic plant species by transporting seeds and/or providing germination sites through rooting. According to the Swiftmud website, wild hogs may be infected with pseudorabies, leptospirosis or swine brucellosis. Participating hunters are advised to check with their veterinarian about the transmission of pseudorabies to their hunting dogs. Leptospirosis and swine brucellosis are transmissible to humans, though the incidence is not likely. The series is split into three phases, with

Rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea are increasing among women ages 18 to 30 in the United States, a recent study by Quest Diagnostics suggests. The study, recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, analyzed more than 17 million laboratory samples taken between 2010 and 2017 from females ages 12 to 30. Researchers found that while there was a decline in cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea among adolescents ages 12 to 17, women of ages 25 to 30 experienced a 50% increase in positive test results. Women 18 to 24 had a 21% increase in positive test results over the period of the study. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends annual screenings for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among sexually active women under 25, said Harvey Kaufman, director of Quest’s Health Trends Research Program. For women 25 and older, the CDC recommends screenings only for those with specific risk factors, such as reporting that their sex partner may have a

Rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea are increasing among women ages 18 to 30 in the United States, a recent study by Quest Diagnostics suggests. The study, recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, analyzed more than 17 million laboratory samples taken between 2010 and 2017 from females ages 12 to 30. Researchers found that while there was a decline in cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea among adolescents ages 12 to 17, women of ages 25 to 30 experienced a 50% increase in positive test results. Women 18 to 24 had a 21% increase in positive test results over the period of the study. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends annual screenings for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among sexually active women under 25, said Harvey Kaufman, director of Quest’s Health Trends Research Program. For women 25 and older, the CDC recommends screenings only for those with specific risk factors, such as reporting that their sex partner may have a

September 28, 2020 3 min read Source/Disclosures Source: Ruberg FL. Amyloid-Best Practices. Presented at: Scientific Session and Exhibition of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology; Sept. 25-26, 2020 (virtual meeting). Disclosures: Ruberg reports he received research support from Akcea Therapeutics, Eidos Therapeutics, NIH/NHLBI and Pfizer. ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . Subscribe ADDED TO EMAIL ALERTS We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Utilization of pyrophosphate imaging to identify patients with cardiac amyloidosis has increased, although questions remain regarding its use for screening and to assess responses to therapy, according to a presentation. Although pyrophosphate imaging has

The vessel with Islander Sportfishing was returning from a fishing trip when it came across 18 people, including three children, on a broken down panga boat. SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The captain and crew of a San Diego charter boat company came to the aid of 18 people stranded on a panga boat on Monday, according to social media posts by the company.   The vessel with Islander Sportfishing in Point Loma was returning from a one-and-a-half-day fishing trip when it came across a small vessel in Mexican waters, the company said Friday. They discovered 18 people, including three children, who had apparently been abandoned by a migrant smuggler five days earlier.  The people on the panga boat had no food, water, life vests, beds, bathroom access, or paddles, according to the charter boat company. The crew of the fishing boat was told there had originally been two panga boats traveling together but one broke down and the person smuggling the group said he would be back in 10 – 12

Covid-19 pandemic has affected all the key strategic interventions of tuberculosis programmes resulting in almost 35% decline in TB case notification in 2020 as compared to the previous year in Karnataka. The decline in TB notification may lead to significant morbidity and mortality, and an increased likelihood of active transmission in the household and close contacts in the state. Recent evidence has also shown that TB is an important risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, it may also lead to rapid and severe Covid-19 disease with poor outcomes. In order to address this dual morbidity of both the infections, all newly diagnosed TB patients or those currently on treatment will be tested for Covid-19 by RT-PCR/Truenat/CBNAAT, acoording to an order passed by the Karnataka government on September 24. All Covid-19 cases should also be screened for TB symptoms if symptoms persist for more than ten days. TB screening has to be done for SARI cases if symptoms persist for more than 10 day

EUGENE, Oregon — When COVID-19 struck communities around the world earlier this year, religious leaders who had responded to the HIV pandemic for decades were uniquely situated to confront the challenges the new virus presented, said international health officials who participated in a three-day virtual conference on the interfaith response to HIV and AIDS. “The World Health Organization recognizes that religious leaders and faith-based organizations and faith communities have a very significant and unique role to play during the COVID-19 response, not just by supporting local health systems, by delivering health care, and by adapting their faith practices to reduce infections, but faith leaders are also a trusted source of accurate and trusted information that allows people to make decisions to protect their health,” Sarah Hess, a technical officer with the WHO Information Network for Epidemics, told the conference Sept. 22. Sponsored by several religious groups and supported by the

Kiran Sitaras on their mission of ending TB among their local community via door-to-door household ... [+] screenings. Under the Kiran Sitara initiative, school girls are educated and trained to conduct community health screenings for TB in localities of Karachi. Asad Zaidi, Interactive Research & Development, Pakistan Before Covid-19, there was a much older, deadly respiratory killer. It is called tuberculosis. Two years ago, on 26 September 2018, I had the opportunity to attend and speak at the first ever United Nations High Level Meeting (UNHLM) on Tuberculosis. I left the meeting excited and energized. After all, TB, an ancient but neglected epidemic, finally got noticed in a high-profile event, where country leaders acknowledged the enormous burden of TB, and pledged their commitment to ending the epidemic by 2030. The meeting resulted in ambitious targets and a political declaration. This week, two years after the UNHLM, the World Health Organization and partners rele

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 25, 2020-- AIDS Healthcare Foundation ( AHF ) is raising alarm bells over an extreme nationwide shortage of test kits and laboratory supplies for sexually transmitted infections (STIs, often also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases or STDs), most notably, for chlamydia and gonorrhea nucleic amplification tests (CT/GC NAAT). The news came in a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ‘Dear Colleagues’ letter citing shortages that “… affect multiple diagnostic companies, public health and commercial laboratories, and impact several components of the specimen collection and testing process.” The CDC’s letter also offers “Considerations for prioritizing STI testing if test kits are in short supply.” AHF, which operates 24 free STD testing and treatment centers, also known as AHF Wellness Centers, in nine states and Washington, D.C., has experienced the test kit shortages firsthand over the past two weeks. It was compelled to so

In most settings, children and adults are at equal risk of developing multidrug resistant (MDR) or rifampicin resistant (RR) tuberculosis (TB), but there are important gaps in data that limit this understanding, according to a study that was recently published in the European Respiratory Journal. World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 484,000 cases of 10 million incident TB cases were MDR (resistance to both rifampicin and isoniazid) or RR in 2018. MDR/RR-TB have significantly higher rates of treatment failure and mortality compared to TB that are not MDR or RR. As a result, treatment of MDR/RR-TB involves expensive, toxic drugs over extended periods of time. Previous evidence suggests that children are not more or less likely to develop or have MDR/RR-TB when compared to adults. New available data in high MDR/RR-TB countries warrants a further country-specific look. WHO reports annually on aggregated drug resistance surveillance data collected at national or subnational levels

Cross-posted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention September 25, 2020 Dear Colleague: September 27 is National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a time to call attention to the disproportionate impact of HIV on gay and bisexual men in the United States. Of the estimated 36,400 new HIV infections in the United States in 2018, 67% (24,400) were among gay and bisexual men. Among these men, racial and ethnic differences exist, with the highest disparity found among Black and Latino gay and bisexual men. In 2018, 39% (9,400) of new HIV infections were among Black gay and bisexual men; 33% (8,000) among Latino gay and bisexual men; 23% (5,700) among white gay and bisexual men; and 68% (16,600) among gay and bisexual men under the age of 35. Compared to 2014, in 2018, new HIV infections were down 20% among white gay and bisexual men and remained stable among Black and Latino gay and bisexual men. In a recently published article in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, rese

NORTH LAWNDALE — Chicago’s annual AIDS Run & Walk will be broken into several local events in neighborhoods this year, helping to minimize crowds and bringing HIV advocacy into communities most impacted by the disease, like North Lawndale. The event, which usually draws thousands of participants, is typically held at Soldier Field. This year’s route will go through Douglass Park, making it easier for West Side families and caregivers to get involved, raise awareness and raise money to help end the HIV epidemic, advocates say. The AIDS Run & Walk kicks off Monday at Douglass Park, with other events in Uptown, Lakeview, Dunbar Park, Washington Park, Hyde Park and the Loop. For more information, to participate or make a donation, go to aidsrunwalk.org “I think that it’s a lot more accessible to our community to have it in the park,” said Bijou Hunt, director of Mount Sinai Hospital Infectious Disease Center, which houses the HIV programs. Caregivers and participants will also

In the effort led by President Trump to create a misleading impression of widespread voter fraud, administration and campaign officials have seized on nine mail-in military ballots in a Pennsylvania county that Mr. Trump won by 20 points in 2016. Federal officials have disclosed that they are investigating whether local elections officials improperly discarded the ballots, at least seven of which were cast for Mr. Trump, they said. A Justice Department official said on Friday that Attorney General William P. Barr briefed Mr. Trump this week on the case. The disclosure of the investigation’s existence was highly unusual and came as Mr. Trump has ramped up his false assertions that widespread mail-in voting is rife with fraud. It prompted elections and legal experts to express fears that political appointees were using the levers of law enforcement to undermine voters’ confidence in the results of the election. “There is a battle here about the narrative in fraud and voting, and it

Many Pennsylvanians are unaware that the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement exists as part of the PA Department of Agriculture. Let alone, what this Bureau does, or even that they have a veterinarian as part of their regulatory team. My role is the veterinarian of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. After 12 years in private veterinary practice, I accepted the role of Dog Law Veterinarian with the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. My position was created to improve the health and welfare of dogs and puppies in Pennsylvania’s licensed kennels, as well as protect public health through controlling the spread of zoonotic diseases, those that spread from animals to humans. I took this position as I believed it would offer me the chance to positively impact the lives of Pennsylvania’s dogs and residents in a way not possible in private practice alone. Now that I have been the Dog Law Veterinarian for almost 12 years, I am confident I was right about its impact. As the Dog Law Veterinarian,

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc all across the world with no end in sight. World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has recently said that there is no guarantee whether any single coronavirus vaccine now in development will work. The organisation has said that currently, 200 COVID-19 vaccines are in clinical and preclinical testing. So far, the pandemic has claimed the lives of 971,000 people, and affected over 31.6 million people in the world. However, compounding the current problems affecting the world, scientists are now worried about another disease called Brucellosis that has infected over 3000 people in north-east China. The outbreak of the bacterial disease is said to have been caused by a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year, authorities said last week. If the disease spreads as quickly as the coronavirus, trouble is not far behind for a country like India. The COVID-19 pandemic on its own has brought the country to its knees with hospit

Recursos en Español El VIH es una amenaza de salud grave para las comunidades latinas, quienes se encuentran en gran desventaja respecto de la incidencia de esta enfermedad en los Estados Unidos. Según los CDC, en el 2014 los hispanos representaron aproximadamente el 17% de la población de Estados Unidos, pero constituyeron cerca del 24% de los nuevos casos de infección (10,887). De ellos, el 86 % (9379) fue en hombres y el 14 % (1490) en mujeres. En esta sección encontraras información sobre recursos federales en español a tu disposición. Además tienes la opción de traducir cualquier página de HIV.gov al español usando el icono . Ver Mas Recursos

When COVID-19 struck communities around the world earlier this year, religious leaders who had responded to the HIV pandemic for decades were uniquely situated to confront the challenges the new virus presented, said international health officials who participated in a three-day virtual conference on the interfaith response to HIV and AIDS. “The World Health Organization recognizes that religious leaders and faith-based organizations and faith communities have a very significant and unique role to play during the COVID-19 response, not just by supporting local health systems, by delivering health care, and by adapting their faith practices to reduce infections, but faith leaders are also a trusted source of accurate and trusted information that allows people to make decisions to protect their health,” Sarah Hess, a technical officer with the WHO Information Network for Epidemics, told the conference Sept. 22. Sponsored by several religious groups and supported by the United Nations