21 Hospital Trusts in Britian Fail to Meet Hygiene and Infection Control Standards

New British Health-Care regulatory authority, the CQC (Care Quality Commission) has identified 21 trusts in England which were not doing enough in areas such as cleanliness and decontamination. (BBC)

USA in the Grip of a Salmonella Outbreak?

Various food products containing pistachios, peanuts, white pepper and black pepper have been recalled in the U.S at the orders of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 691 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 46 states.

More than 3000 Dead in Zimbabwe Cholera Outbreak

The death toll from the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has now passed the 3,000 mark (BBC)

A Virus That Makes You Fat?

Indian-American researcher, Dr Nikhil Dhurandhar thinks that a common cold virus Adenovirus-36 causes obesity in some people. (BBC)

Mass Dog Culling on the Indonesian Island of Bali

Around 1000 stray dogs have been culled and canine exports and imports have been banned as a part of Bali provincial government's efforts to combat an outbreak of rabies that has killed several people since last December.

Northern Coast of Australia hit hard by Whooping Cough

Infants and small children are especially vulnerable to whooping cough with a mortality rate of aroung 0.5%. The Australian province of New South Wales has recorded the highest rate of whooping cough cases in 17 years.

Measles Epidemic in Britian?

There is an "unprecedented increase" in measles cases in England and Wales, experts report. (BBC)

Ebola virus outbreak in Congo leaves 11 dead

A somewhat underwhelming development when one considers the over 1,500 people who have died in the ongoing Zimbabwe cholera epidemic, but nonetheless, here's the ebola story, from the International Herald Tribune:

"An Ebola virus outbreak has killed 11 people in western Congo, the health minister said.

A total of 35 people have been infected in Kaluemba, Western Kasai province, where the epidemic began in late November, Health Minister August Mopipi said.

Suspected cases of the highly contagious disease have also been identified in neighboring villages, Mopopi said.

Laboratory tests in both Gabon and Congo's National Institute for Biomedical Research confirmed Ebola in the 11 deaths, he said.

The World Health Organization has confirmed only two Ebola cases, however, and said other diseases were likely involved.

Ebola kills up to 90 percent of the people it infects and is spread through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person or with contaminated objects.

The disease can lie dormant for up to three weeks before flu-like symptoms set in. It then starts attacking internal organs, causing bloody diarrhea and vomiting and death from massive blood loss.

Last year, Ebola killed at least 187 people in the same region of Congo.

Area villagers have recently been reported diarrhea and vomiting of blood, said Olivier Chenebon of the Belgian charity Doctors Without Borders."

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If the past is any indication of how things will turn out in the present, we will likely see the death toll of this outbreak rise considerably.