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outbreak

Study of Liberia Ebola flare-up shows need for longer vigilance

A study of a cluster of Ebola cases that appeared in Liberia last year, months after the country was declared Ebola-free, has found that the virus re-emerged after lying dormant in a female survivor. The results suggest Liberia and the other African countries at the centre of the outbreak should maintain high levels of vigilance for longer than thought to contain any future flare-ups of the deadly haemorrhagic fever. World Health Organization data show West Africa's Ebola epidemic killed more than 11,300 people and infected some 28,600 as it swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2013 in the world's worst outbreak of the disease.

CDC, Brazil start big study to test Zika link to birth defects

U.S. and Brazilian researchers are heading to João Pessoa in the state of Paraíba on Monday to recruit mothers and babies in one of the biggest government-led studies to understand whether the Zika virus is linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect. Brazil has confirmed more than 500 cases of microcephaly, defined by an unusually small head, since the start of the outbreak. The spike in microcephaly prompted the World Health Organization on Feb. 1 to declare Zika an international health emergency.

Rat poison sales boom in Nigeria over Lassa fever fears

Sales of rat poison have taken off in Nigeria following an outbreak of Lassa fever that has left at least 76 people dead and sparked fears of contagion across the country. In the northern city of Kano, the capital of one of 17 states where the haemorrhagic virus has been recorded, there have been “unprecedented” purchases of the pest control product. The head of the city's chemicals traders, Shehu Idris Bichi, said sales have have increased four-fold since the outbreak was first announced earlier this month.

Iowa chicks sent as far away as Brazil to evade deadly bird flu

With the delicate birds just hours old, the president of Murray McMurray Hatchery hit the road around 1 a.m. on a Saturday to drive through the night to a friend's farm in Texas “just to have them in a safe place,” he said. Breeding chickens that are the valuable genetic source for egg-laying hens have gone into hiding as the outbreak of bird flu in poultry has developed into the worst animal-health emergency in U.S. history. Wood's breeding stock includes chickens with genetic lines that date back to the early 1900s.

California has three new measles cases, Arizona says outbreak winding down

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California public health officials have confirmed three more cases of measles in an outbreak that began in late December, bringing to 113 the total number of people believed to have been infected in the state. Health officials in Arizona, where seven cases of measles have been documented, said the outbreak would likely be considered over in that state if no further infections were reported over the weekend. Across the United States, more than 150 people have been diagnosed with measles, many of them linked to an outbreak that authorities believe began when an infected person from out of the country visited Disneyland in late December. The California Department of Public Health said 39 of the 113 people who contracted measles in the state were believed to have been exposed while visiting Disneyland.

Bird flu found in UK, Netherlands but authorities say little risk to humans

By Anthony Deutsch, Costas Pitas and Sybille de La Hamaide AMSTERDAM/LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – Bird flu was found on a duck farm in England on Monday days after it was discovered in Dutch chickens, forcing authorities to destroy poultry and restrict exports, although it was not a strain known to be deadly to humans. Health officials said the outbreak may have been brought to Europe by wild birds migrating from Asia where millions of South Korean farm birds have had to be destroyed. …