Snapdate: MERS-CoV by date 20-Apr:08-May [UPDATED]

With the addition of a new country, Lebanon, the 18th to host an imported or locally acquired laboratory confirmed MERS-CoV-positive, I've updated the world map below. Click on map to enlarge. It needs it!I've also had a quick look at cases per day for some (but not all) recent detections of the...

Read More

Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus found in more than half of wet markets in Guangdong...

It comes as no surprise to me, but is still a very welcome piece of data, that Guangzhou's ongoing live bird markets and concurrent continued cases of H7N9 in people, are also happening in a an environment of 60% of market stalls tested positive for the virus in April.A report in the South China Morning...

Read More

Pressure testing...

Comments in the recent ScienceInsider article (a great read by the way [1]) interview with Prof Christian Drosten got me to thinking.What follows is a stream of consciousness around the need, or not, to expand laboratory testing capacity during times of an acute rise in cases such as during a viral...

Read More

Just the right height for a kiss....

..lick, slobber, spit....At least working out transmission routes isn't a big issue here!??? ?? ??? ??? ?????? !! pic.twitter.com/4tlE8SX7ob� ???? ????? (@Turkialbakr1) April 22, 2014 From minujbe: http://www.minube.com/fotos/rincon/2174724/7509277�@Saad3alosh: ????? ??????? ????? ???? ????? ?? ????...

Read More

MERS-CoV in Australian camels? The search is underway...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xikita/48647105/in/photostream/CC BY 2.0I have been asked a few times about whether Australia is testing its large feral camel population (approx 300,000 animals [3,6,7]; Australia also exports camels [5]) for the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus...

Read More

Snapdate; MERS-CoV and the thickening age/sex pyramid..

Click on image to enlarge.No, it's not the title for an epidemiologist's detective novel. It's a comparison of my previsou and my latest age/sex pyramids.And it really looks like MERS needs to go on a diet. Its "waist" has broadened quite a bit as a sign of younger cases becoming part of the rogue's...

Read More

Healthcare for All at Hospital San Carlos, Altamirano, Chiapas, Mexico

With the incredible nuns of Hospital San Carlos.The evening prior to my departure from Altamirano, the Hospital San Carlos nuns invited me to join them for dinner in their community.  As I mentioned in my prior entry, they are a truly incredible group of women.  Each has unique and important...

Read More

MERS-CoV by sex, week and age...

Two quick charts on the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV; which I verbalize as "murrs coronavirus" just fyi )data. The first chart shows a rise in the proportion of females (pinked dashed line; right-hand axis) during the Jeddah outbreak over recent weeks. But this does...

Read More

Snapdate: MERS-CoV detections near 500...

MERS-CoV detection by day; Jeddah outbreak.Click on image to enlarge.Welcome to the beginning of MERS-CoV's 112th week (2.15 years). We sit at 497 cases (probably over 500 if the United Arab Emirates would confirm their cases with some extra data that made them more identifiable and "real". For...

Read More

Ebola virus disease (EVD) West Africa update for 02-May, WHO-AFRO update...

Click on image to enlarge.Thankfully the latest World Health Organisation update includes figures for Liberia. The last West Africa update did not, so I didn't post a chart.Summary..Total suspected/probable/confirmed cases: 244Total suspected/probable/confirmed deaths: 162 (66.4%)Total lab confirmations:...

Read More

MERS-CoV by month, now with added camels and hospital outbreaks...

Weekly case tallies for 20012-4 (blue-surviving and fatal cases; red-fatal cases). Also indicated are the season in which camels give birth (I've noted "birthdays" because it seems to be 1-year old or older camels that are usually positive forMERS-CoV. Past and future Hajj pilgrimage dates...

Read More