Disease outbreak news from the WHO: Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo

The intensity of Ebola virus disease (EVD) transmission in the North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces remains substantial, with 57 new cases reported since the last EVD in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Disease Outbreak News Update on 29 August.

Published on September 06, 2019
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Disease outbreak news from the WHO: Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 – Republic of Ghana

In Nigeria and West Africa, a cVDPV2 outbreak originating from Jigawa state, Nigeria, continues to spread. In Ghana, cVDPV2 was isolated from an acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) case in Ando-Nyamanu, Chereponi district, Northern Region, bordering Togo. The case was a two-year old girl who had experienced onset of paralysis on 27 July 2019. Stool samples were taken on 27 and 28 July 2019, and sent to the National Polio Laboratory at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research for further laboratory investigations. The sample tested positive for cVDPV2 on 17 August 2019. Sequencing of the sample from the AFP case revealed 25 nucleotide differences compared to the reference Sabin 2 and 6 nucleotides, with the closest sequencing match made with an AFP case originating from Jigsaw state, Nigeria from 2018. Earlier, a related cVDPV2 strain had been isolated from an environmental sample, collected on 11 June 2019, from Northern Region in Ghana. Both isolated viruses were linked to an outbreak originating in Jigawa, Nigeria, in 2018. In the past, this same strain had spread within Nigeria, and internationally to the Republic of Niger, Benin, and Cameroon.

The last indigenous wild poliovirus was reported in 2000. This is the first ever reported cVDPV2 outbreak reported in the country.

Published on September 06, 2019
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Clues for Mars in the Australian Outback

Scientists with NASA's Mars 2020 mission and the European-Russian ExoMars mission traveled to the Australian Outback to hone their research techniques. via NASA https://ift.tt/34sZ79G

Satellite Captures Four Tropical Cyclones from Space

On Sept. 4, 2019, a loose chain of tropical cyclones lined up across the Western Hemisphere. via NASA https://ift.tt/32yqDAC

An Infrared View of the M81 Galaxy

Located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major, which also includes the Big Dipper, nearby galaxy Messier 81 is easily visible through binoculars or a small telescope. via NASA https://ift.tt/2ZOK7iS

Jessica Meir Climbs Aboard a Soyuz Trainer

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 61 crewmember Jessica Meir of NASA climbs aboard a Soyuz trainer during final crew qualification exams on Aug. 30. via NASA https://ift.tt/2HFmqDy

Hurricane Dorian Seen From Aboard the Space Station

NASA astronaut Christian Koch snapped this image of Hurricane Dorian as the International Space Station during a flyover on Monday, September 2, 2019. via NASA https://ift.tt/2Uq1OE8