ETIDIOH - NEW

  {Summary} -- During current epidemiological week ( 11– 17 September 2025),  65 new confirmed human cases of infection with West Nile Virus have been reported.  -- The total number of confirmed cases , since the beginning of the epidemic season, has thus risen to 647 (it was 582 last week), of these:  - 300 were West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease (WNND): 15 in Piedmont, 39 Lombardy, 24 Veneto, 2 Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 1 Liguria, 23 Emilia-Romagna, 5 Tuscany, 83 Latium, 2 Molise, 77 Campania, 2 Apulia, 2 Basilicata, 5 Calabria, 1 Sicily, 19 Sardinia,  - 54 were asymptomatic cases detected among blood donors ,  - 284 were West Nile Fever cases (one imported from Kenya),  - 3 asymptomatic cases and  - 6 unspecified casese.  -- Among confirmed cases, there were 47 death cases : 7 in Piedmont, 5 Lombardy, 1 Emilia-Romagna, 16 Latium, 15 Campania, 2 Calabria, 1 Sardinia.  - The Case-Fatality Rate in WNND cases was 15.8% (it was 20% in 2018 and...

  ABSTRACT Cell cultures are widely used to study infectious respiratory diseases and to test therapeutics; however, they do not faithfully recapitulate the architecture and complexity of the human respiratory tract . Lung organoids have emerged as an alternative model that partially overcomes this key disadvantage. Lung organoids can be cultured in various formats that offer potential for studying highly pathogenic viruses . However, the effects of these different formats on virus infection remain unexplored, leaving their relative value unclear. In this study, we generated primary lung organoids from human donor cells and used them to derive monolayers and air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures with the goal of comparing the replication kinetics of two circulating highly pathogenic coronaviruses , severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ( SARS-CoV-2 ) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus ( MERS-CoV ). Infection studies revealed that organoid-derived monolayers di...

  Situation at a glance Between 1 January and 29 August 2025, the International Health Regulations National Focal Point (IHR NFP) for Bangladesh notified WHO of four confirmed fatal Nipah virus (NiV) infection cases , temporally unrelated , reported from four different districts across three separated geographical divisions (Barisal, Dhaka, and Rajshahi) in Bangladesh.  NiV infection is a zoonotic disease transmitted to humans through infected animals (such as bats or pigs ), or food contaminated with saliva, urine , and excreta of infected animals .  It can also be transmitted directly from person to person through close contact with an infected person.  Fruit bats or flying foxes (Pteropus species) are the natural hosts for the virus.  Human NiV infection is an epidemic-prone disease that can cause severe disease in humans and animals, with a high mortality rate , and outbreaks primarily occurring in South and South-East Asia .  Since the first recognized...

  Abstract Global efforts to eradicate smallpox—an Orthopoxvirus infection—began in the mid-20th century, with the last naturally occurring case reported in 1977. This was achieved through global solidarity efforts that expanded the smallpox eradication vaccination program . Approximately 50 years following the cessation of mass smallpox vaccination and in the absence of access to a sustainable boosting program , the population immunologically naïve to Orthopoxviruses has increased significantly. With increasing global movements and travels, we argue that the emergence of two back-to-back yet distinct mpox epidemics in the 21st century is a sign of humanity’s lost herd immunity to Orthopoxviruses. This needs concerted efforts to restore. Source: Viruses,  https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17/9/1257 ____

  ABSTRACT Influenza A viruses continuously circulate among avian and swine species, posing a persistent threat to public health . The development of influenza candidate vaccine viruses (CVVs) plays a pivotal role in the global strategy for influenza pandemic preparedness . Safety-testing of CVVs for attenuation in ferrets represents a critical step that takes place prior to making these viruses available to vaccine manufacturers . Development of pathogenicity standards is needed to establish acceptable thresholds of disease so that CVV safety can be assessed without the need for comparison to the parental virus. To assess the capacity of diverse CVVs to cause pathogenesis in mammalian hosts , clinical and virological parameters were compiled from CVV assessments in ferrets conducted using consistent methods over approximately 20 years to identify disease parameters most reflective of attenuation compared to wild-type strains. These analyses revealed an overall reduction in ferret ...

  New human cases {1,2}:  -- From 2 July to 25 August 2025 , based on reporting date, the detection of influenza A( H5N1 ) in five humans and influenza A(H9N2) in two humans were reported officially.   Circulation of influenza viruses with zoonotic potential in animals :  - High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) events in poultry and non-poultry animal species continue to be reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).{3}  - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also provides a global update on avian influenza viruses with pandemic potential.{4}  Risk assessment {5}:  - Sustained human to human transmission has not been reported from these events.  - Based on information available at the time of this risk assessment update , the overall public health risk from currently known influenza A viruses detected at the human-animal interface has not changed and remains low .  - The occurrence of sus...

  Summary Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping infectious disease diagnostics by supporting clinical decision making , optimising laboratory and clinical workflows, and enabling real-time disease surveillance. AI approaches improve pathogen detection, antimicrobial stewardship , and treatment monitoring , enhancing diagnostic accuracy , efficiency, and scalability. The role of AI in combating antimicrobial resistance is particularly significant, enabling rapid pathogen identification and personalised treatment . Despite progress over the past two decades, widespread AI adoption in infectious disease diagnostics faces challenges. In high-income countries, fragmented data ecosystems , incomplete datasets , and algorithmic bias hinder clinical integration. Meanwhile, low-income and middle-income countries contend with limited digital infrastructure, unstandardised data, and financial constraints, exacerbating disparities in diagnostic access. Further barriers include concerns ove...

Overall global risk and confidence * Overall risk :  Global  - Moderate     Confidence in available information : Global - Low   Overall risk statement As of mid-2025, the global public health risk from COVID-19 has changed from high to moderate , with declining deaths and hospitalizations since 2022 due to high population immunity , improved clinical management , and similar virulence .  Most SARSCoV-2 variants now belong to the JN.1 Omicron sublineages , which show immune escape but do not result in increased disease severity.  Nonetheless, surveillance gaps , reduced genomic sequencing and sharing of sequence information, and limited reporting, especially from low- and middle-income countries , undermine accurate risk assessment .  SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate widely , as indicated by sentinel testing and wastewater surveillance , often co-circulating with influenza and RSV .  PostCOVID-19 condition is estimated to affect ...

Ducks for fattening (1800), geese for fattening (100) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Region. Laying hens (150). ducks for fattening (2800), geese for fattening (2900) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Region. Source: WOAH,  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/6780 ____

  F AST FACTS • On September 4, the DRC Ministry of Health officially declared an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Bulape and Mweka health zones in Kasai province. • According the the World Health Organization (WHO), as of September 15 there are 81 suspected cases and 28 deaths , including four nurses . However, data reporting has been challenging, with conflicting statistics reports being circulated by various health authorities. • Kasai is extremely isolated , sometimes requiring multiple days of driving from Kinshasa to Tshikapa, the provincial capital, during the rainy season. Very few air routes reach the province, though an airstrip in Bulape is being established. • Significant gaps exist in the response to EVD , including adequate case management capacity, blood supplies, IPC/WASH support, and more. OUR RESPONSE • International Medical Corps has been responding in the DRC since 1999, and currently has offices in Goma and Kinshasa. • Our Rapid Response Team (RRT) ...

  Abstract Human influenza viruses rapidly acquire mutations in their hemagglutinin (HA) protein that erode neutralization by antibodies from prior exposures. Here, we use a sequencing-based assay to measure neutralization titers for 78 recent H3N2 HA strains against a large set of children and adult sera , measuring ~10,000 total titers . There is substantial person-to-person heterogeneity in the titers against different viral strains, both within and across age cohorts. The growth rates of H3N2 strains in the human population in 2023 are highly correlated with the fraction of sera with low titers against each strain. Notably, strain growth rates are less correlated with neutralization titers against pools of human sera, demonstrating the importance of population heterogeneity in shaping viral evolution . Overall, these results suggest that high-throughput neutralization measurements of human sera against many different viral strains can help explain the evolution of human influen...

  16 September 2025  Senior independent rights investigators appointed by the Human Rights Council alleged on Tuesday that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, a charge flatly rejected by Tel Aviv . In a new report published against the backdrop of intensifying Israeli military operations in Gaza City , the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory , including East Jerusalem, and Israel, urged Israel and all countries to fulfil their obligations under international law “to end the genocide ” and punish those responsible. “The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza ,” insisted Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission . “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.” At a press conference in Geneva, the panel’s members - who are not UN staff but instead appointed by the Human Rights Cou...