In The News
1. Liberia Confirms 2 New Ebola Cases In Woman, Child Who Recently Visited Guinea
Agence France-Presse: Liberia says latest Ebola fatality traveled to Guinea
"A woman who died of Ebola this week in Liberia, months after it was declared Ebola-free, had traveled to Guinea with her three children, one of whom is also sick, the health ministry said Sunday..." (4/3).
Associated Press: Liberia confirms 2nd new Ebola case, possibly from Guinea
"A second case of Ebola has been confirmed in Liberia months after the country had been declared free from transmissions, health officials said Sunday. The five-year-old son of the 30-year-old woman who died Thursday from Ebola has been taken to a treatment center in Monrovia, said Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah..." (Paye-Layleh, 4/3).
Reuters: Boy tests positive for Ebola in latest Liberia flare-up
"...While the WHO said [last] week that West Africa's Ebola outbreak no longer constitutes an international public health risk, there have been small flare-ups even after countries received the all-clear..." (Giahyue, 4/3).
U.N. News Centre: Ebola: U.N. health agency reports new case in Liberia, as experimental vaccine used in Guinea
"...This latest case marks the third flare-up of the virus since Liberia was officially declared free of Ebola on 9 May 2015..." (4/1).
United Press International: Second Ebola case confirmed in Liberia
"...The initial investigation by health officials has identified at least 46 people who had close contact with the deceased woman. They are currently being monitored for symptoms" (Hays, 4/3).
2. Experts Attending White House Zika Summit Urge State, Local Officials To Take Actions To Prevent Virus’s Spread
CNN: Experts gather at CDC for Zika summit
"...The daylong gathering convened exactly 10 weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sounded the alarm on Zika virus by issuing its first travel advisory. Four-hundred twenty-five local, state, and federal health officials and experts in maternal medicine and mosquito control spent the day at the agency's headquarters getting the latest information and sharing ideas. An additional 2,500 people watched from afar via webcast..." (Goldschmidt/LaMotte, 4/1).
National Geographic: As Zika Advances, Can the U.S. Cope?
"...Scientists, political appointees, and public health experts urged [state, local and tribal officials, members of nonprofits, and representatives of private companies] to find a way to pull together groups who seldom have a reason to communicate: health departments, academic physicians, community well-baby clinics, birth-defect surveillance programs, mosquito-control workers, even garbagemen and gardeners..." (McKenna, 4/1).
New York Times: In Miami, Facing Risk of Zika With Resolve but Limited Resources
"...Scientists do not believe that the United States will have a runaway Zika epidemic, but most agree that mosquitoes here will eventually acquire it and that they could start infecting people, leading to local flare-ups..." (Tavernise, 4/1).
USA TODAY: White House convenes summit on Zika virus
"... 'If we wait until we see widespread transmission in the United States, if we wait until the public is panicking because they're seeing babies born with birth defects, we will have waited too late,' said Amy Pope, the White House deputy homeland security adviser and deputy assistant to President Barack Obama..." (Szabo, 4/1).
Wall Street Journal: CDC Warns Local Health Agencies to Prepare for Zika Virus
"...Zika, which has been linked to severe birth defects in unborn children, is spreading already in U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, but it hasn't been transmitted so far by mosquitoes within the 50 U.S. states..." (McKay, 4/1).
3. Evidence Mounts For Microcephaly-Zika Link; Scientist Raises Concerns Over Potential Adverse Effects Of Zika Vaccine
New York Times: 5 Reasons to Think the Zika Virus Causes Microcephaly
"...[A] surge in microcephaly has been reported only in Brazil; a small increase was reported in French Polynesia, and a cluster of 32 cases is now under investigation in Colombia. For proof of the connection between infection with the virus and birth defects, scientists are waiting for the results of a large study of 5,000 pregnant women, most of them in Colombia. ... Virtually all public health agencies already believe the virus is to blame for these birth defects and are giving medical advice based on that assumption. Here are the lines of evidence they cite..." (McNeil, 4/1).
Scientific American: Zika Vaccine Could Solve One Problem While Stoking Another
"When Thomas Monath, an expert on vaccines combating mosquito-borne diseases, thinks about developing an inoculation against Zika virus, he has a major concern: Guillain-Barré syndrome. ... Mounting evidence suggests exposure to the mosquito-borne Zika is the culprit. Now that boost in Zika-linked Guillain (GBS) is stoking concerns that a vaccine designed to protect patients against Zika could inadvertently provoke more cases of the autoimmune condition..." (Maron, 4/1).
4. Sanofi Program Aims To Provide 1M Filipino Children With Dengue Immunization
Financial Times: Sanofi to launch dengue mass vaccination program
"Sanofi will launch the world's first mass vaccination program for dengue fever in the Philippines on Monday, bringing to fruition a 20-year development process in which the French pharmaceuticals group has invested €1.5bn [$1.7 billion]. One million Filipino schoolchildren are to be inoculated against the virus at a price of €20 [$23] a shot in a scheme that Sanofi hopes will be replicated across the swath of tropical and subtropical countries affected by the mosquito-borne disease..." (Ward, 4/4).
5. Financial Times Special Report Discusses Maternal, Newborn Health In Countries On 3 Continents
Financial Times: Three Births
"The day a baby is born in the developing world will be the most dangerous of its life -- and can be just as perilous for its mother. Amy Kazmin, Jude Webber, and Andrew Jack, FT reporters on three continents, follow the fates of three women and their babies..." (3/31).
6. War-Torn Somalia Needs $105M Additional Aid To Prevent Starvation Among 1M People, U.N. Official Says
Agence France-Presse: Drought-hit Somalia at 'tipping point': U.N.
"The United Nations' aid chief for Somalia begged for cash Thursday to stave off starvation amid intense drought affecting a million people and to pull the war-torn country 'back from the tipping point.' 'Urgent action is required right now. If not, we risk a rapid and deep deterioration of the situation, as drought conditions may worsen in the coming months,' U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Peter de Clercq said, appealing for $105 million (92 million euros) for 'life-saving' aid for more than one million people..." (3/31).
7. Financial Times Profiles Global Fund Executive Director Mark Dybul
Financial Times: The Global Fund's Mark Dybul on the fight against global epidemics
"For a sense of Mark Dybul's cosmopolitan life, one need only consider the dinner guests he recently hosted at his home in Lausanne, Switzerland. 'We had a 30-year-old Iranian, a 28-year-old Moroccan, and people from France, Portugal, Spain,' Dybul recalls. Dybul is executive director of the Global Fund, a private Swiss foundation that works to end epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria worldwide..." (Liu, 4/1).