MADRID (Reuters) - A 90-year-old Spanish woman died on Tuesday, 56 people have been hospitalized and dozens more taken ill in what is believed to be the biggest outbreak of listeriosis recorded in Spain, the health minister said.

A nationwide alert was sent out after listeria, the bacteria behind the infection, was suspected in a brand of packaged pork manufactured by Seville-based Magrudis, acting Health Minister Maria Luisa Carcedo told Cadena Ser radio.

“We are monitoring this, the alerts have been sent out and we’ve ordered that all products (that have come) from this factory since May be pulled from shelves,” she said.

Most of the 114 cases have occurred in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, but other potential cases have turned up across the country, from Madrid to the island of Tenerife.

Of those affected in Andalusia, 53 remain in hospital, including 18 pregnant women and two newborn babies, regional health authorities said.

The company behind the packaged pork brand linked to the outbreak did not immediately reply to a request for comment. </s> FILE – In this April 30, 2019 file photo, Philippine Health Secretary Dr. Francisco Duque III displays a graph showing the decline of the measles outbreak in the country during a press conference during World Immunization Week 2019 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines’ Department of Health has declared the country’s massive outbreak of dengue to be a national epidemic on Tuesday Aug. 6, 2019. An announcement from the agency says Health Secretary Francisco Duque III made the declaration in order to improve responses to the outbreak by allowing local governments to draw on a special Quick Response Fund. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines’ Department of Health on Tuesday declared the country’s outbreak of dengue to be a national epidemic.

The agency said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III made the declaration to improve the response to the outbreak by allowing local governments to draw on a special Quick Response Fund.

It said the Philippines recorded 146,062 cases of dengue from January through July 20 this year, 98% more than the same period in 2018. It said the outbreak caused 622 deaths.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide. It can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash, and can cause breathing problems, hemorrhaging and organ failure in severe cases. While there is no specific treatment for the illness, medical care to maintain a person’s fluid levels is seen as critical.

The Department of Health said that starting Tuesday, it was conducting a campaign to focus on finding and destroying mosquito breeding sites, which is a primary means of containing dengue. Other government agencies, local government units, schools, offices and communities will join in the effort, it said.

Other Southeast Asian countries have also reported an upsurge in dengue cases this year, according to the U.N.’s World Health Organization. The organization said Malaysia had registered 62,421 cases through June 29, including 93 deaths, compared to 32,425 cases with 53 deaths for the same period last year. Vietnam over the same period had 81,132 cases with four deaths reported, compared to 26,201 cases including six deaths in 2018.

In South Asia, Bangladesh has been facing its worst-ever dengue fever outbreak, putting a severe strain on the country’s already overwhelmed medical system. </s> (CNN) A national dengue epidemic has been declared in the Philippines, where 622 people have died of the mosquito-borne disease since January and millions more are at risk.

From the start of the year to July 20, there have been more than 146,000 cases recorded -- a 98% increase from the same time period last year, according to the country's Department of Health.

The Philippines had declared a national dengue alert just last month after reporting more than 450 deaths -- but officials had said the dengue was "localized," according to CNN affiliate CNN Philippines

With almost two hundred additional deaths in the past month, the crisis has now escalated to a national epidemic.

The epidemic was declared in order to enable government agencies to better identify at risk areas, said a health ministry statement.

"It is important that a national epidemic be declared in these areas to identify where a localized response is needed, and to enable the local government units to use their Quick Response Fund to address the epidemic situation," said Health Secretary Francisco Duque in the statement.

Several other regions like Central Visayas and Ilocos are at high risk with thousands of cases reported, though not yet past the epidemic threshold.

"As part of our data, is 5,100 cases per week average," said Duque at a press conference about the epidemic on Wednesday. "This is really staggering. This is going to be a record number."

Since July, health officials have worked to combat the spread of the viral infection. They deployed hundreds of doctors and nurses to provincial and district hospitals, and provided emergency funding to affected regions, among other measures, according to the Department of Health

The Philippines became the first country in Asia to approve the use of the Dengvaxia vaccine, the world's first and only licensed dengue vaccine made by French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pateur, in 2016.

The drug was distributed to more than 800,000 students as part of school-based government immunization program, but was suspended in 2017 after clinical trial data showed that it could have unintended consequences in non-infected patients.

Despite the epidemic, the government has no immediate plans to reintroduce the vaccine to the public, Mark Timbal, spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council told CNN Wednesday.

Timbal said the adverse effects of Dengvaxia were still being investigated by the government and in the meantime, efforts would focus on the removal or destruction of mosquito breeding sites, in collaboration with schools, communities, and local governments.

Dengue cases in the Philippines have historically surged every three to four years, and the sharp increase this year is in line with expectations after a 2016 spike, Duque said last month. These spikes aren't isolated to just the Philippines, either -- last week , more than 1,000 people in Bangladesh were diagnosed with dengue in a 24-hour period, and hospitals are now overflowing with patients. </s> – The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) has declared the country’s outbreak of dengue to be a national epidemic in the wake of 146,062 cases recorded from January to July 20 this year.The declaration was made by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on August 6, shortly after a plenary meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).Duque said the reported cases are 98 percent higher than the same period last year. Of the cases, 622 were confirmed death.Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, as NDRRMC chair, issued a memorandum to all disaster response units across the country for the strict implementation of the national dengue epidemic declaration.According to a DOH report, Western Visayas has the biggest number of cases at 23,330. Seven out of the 17 regions have exceeded the epidemic threshold of dengue for the past three consecutive weeks.Duque said the total number of cases nationwide for a week alone, from July 14 to 20, is at 10,502, or 71 percent higher compared to the same period in 2018.The Philippines has stood firm on its ban on the world’s first and only licensed dengue vaccine Dengvaxia made by French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur, following the deaths of dozens of children who were among the more than 700,000 people given shots in 2016 and 2017 in a government immunisation campaign.In 2016, the country became the first in Asia to approve the use of Dengvaxia, but a year later, the vaccine was banned after Sanofi Pasteur announced that in rare cases, vaccinating people with no prior history of dengue infection could lead them to develop a more severe form of the disease.–VNA </s> ABUJA: Nearly 270 people, most of them children, have died in the past five months during the latest meningitis outbreak to hit Nigeria, public health officials said on Wednesday.

“Presently we have 1,828 suspected cases… and we have 269 deaths in about 15 states,” Olubunmi Ojo of the National Centre for Disease Control told local television.

At least five northern states—Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger—and the Federal Capital Territory have been hit hard and have crossed the threshold for an epidemic, she added.

Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, director of disease control at the federal ministry of health in Abuja, said those six states accounted for 1,090 infected people and 154 deaths.

“Zamfara State alone recorded 590 cases, out of which 29 people have died,” he told Agence France-Presse.

Laboratory tests have confirmed that the disease was of a new Type C strain, he added.

The World Health Organization said on March 24 that children aged five to 14 were the most affected age group in this latest epidemic, accounting for about half of all reported cases.

Nigeria lies in the so-called “meningitis belt” of sub-Saharan Africa, stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east, where outbreaks of the disease are a regular occurrence.

The country and neighboring Niger were both badly hit by meningitis outbreaks in 2015, when over 13,700 people were infected in six months, with more than 1,100 deaths.

Meningitis is caused by different types of bacteria, six of which can cause epidemics. It is transmitted between people through coughs and sneezes, and facilitated by cramped living conditions and close contact.

The illness causes acute inflammation of the outer layers of the brain and spinal cord, with the most common symptoms being fever, headache and neck stiffness. AFP </s> Holidaymakers heading to Spain are advised to be careful after a listeriosis outbreak in various parts of the country. The number of confirmed people affected by the outbreak has already reached 150, while there are still more than 500 suspects waiting for the results of tests. Andalusia is the most affected are with 132 patients, but there are cases in four other regions of Spain. On top of reported cases in capital Madrid and Extremadura, three more were added on Tuesday in Aragon and three in Catalonia, as reported by the Minister of Health, María Luisa Carcedo.

The figure is expected to rise because in addition to the 523 that remain suspects in Andalusia, there are at least six possible cases in Madrid, including a baby; one in Castilla y León, and three more in Castilla-La Mancha. The FCO have not updated their advice despite the ongoing situation. Information from Andalusia has been updated today by the Minister of Health and Families, Jesús Aguirre. He said in statements to Cope radio that the number of confirmed cases means that these people have tested positive. At the same time, he stressed that the treatment to stop listeriosis is "very effective" and said that the "health system is working very well." He expressed regret at the the death of a 90-year-old woman during this outbreak of listeriosis due to contaminated shredded meat.

She died last Monday at the Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville, where she entered on the 15th August after five or six days with symptoms. The Ministry of Health and Families issued a health alert on August 15 on the meat product (brand ‘La Mechá’, manufactured by Magrudis, based in Seville), after verifying that it was the cause of listeriosis outbreaks registered in Seville in recent weeks - however this came to late for the elderly woman. The Minister of Health has said this Wednesday the monitoring cabinet will meet again to analyse the situation. After stating that these meetings have been held "every two or three days since the alert was declared", in order to see what new measures can be taken, Aguirre has warned that more cases will emerge in the next few days "because the incubation period is very variable, it goes from a few days from the moment of consumption to 70 days.” He said: “Here we are perfectly controlling adverse effects.”

When asked about whether an excessive time was taken to detect the outbreak, Aguirre said his department knew that something was happening from the beginning of August because there was an "important uptick" in cases of listeriosis compared to the statistical average from other years. However, until the first family outbreak occurred, it was not possible to send two or three suspicious products to analyse. Epidemiologists were sent to a company that was thought to be the cause of the outbreak, but ultimately it was another. "On the 14th the affected meat was detected and on the 15th the alert was declared," he said. He continued: ”Could it have been done faster? Well, I don't know, but I do know that when the positive result came to us on the 14th, the alert was automatically decreed, the protocols for primary and hospital care were opened and assistance began. “That's the important thing and also to take care of patients; that's what we focus on." On whether the municipal laboratory of the City of Seville took four days to get the results, the counsellor has indicated that "maybe there could have been a two or three day delay, but the important thing is the coordination from the moment the positive result arrived and the alert being declared.” </s> The Region of the Americas is the first in the world to have eliminated measles, a viral disease that can cause severe health problems, including pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and even death. This achievement culminates a 22-year effort involving mass vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella throughout the Americas.

Measles is the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated from the Americas, after the regional eradication of smallpox in 1971, poliomyelitis in 1994, and rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015.

“This is a historic day for our region and indeed the world,” said PAHO/WHO Director Carissa F. Etienne. “It is proof of the remarkable success that can be achieved when countries work together in solidarity towards a common goal. It is the result of a commitment made more than two decades ago, in 1994, when the countries of the Americas pledged to end measles circulation by the turn of the 21st century.”

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Before mass vaccination was initiated in 1980, measles caused nearly 2.6 million annual deaths worldwide. In the Americas, 101,800 deaths were attributable to measles between 1971 and 1979. A cost-effectiveness study on measles elimination in Latin America and the Caribbean has estimated that with vaccination, 3.2 million measles cases will have been prevented in the Region and 16,000 deaths between 2000 and 2020.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases and affects primarily children. It is transmitted by airborne droplets or via direct contact with secretions from the nose, mouth, and throat of infected individuals. Symptoms include high fever, generalized rash all over the body, stuffy nose, and reddened eyes. It can cause serious complications including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, ear infections and pneumonia, particularly in children with nutritional problems and in immunocompromised patients.

As a result of global measles elimination efforts, only 244,704 measles cases were reported worldwide in 2015, representing a significant decline from earlier years. However, more than a half of these reported cases were notified in Africa and Asia.

“I would like to emphasize that our work on this front is not yet done,” warned Etienne. “We can not become complacent with this achievement but must rather protect it carefully. Measles still circulates widely in other parts of the world, and so we must be prepared to respond to imported cases. It is critical that we continue to maintain high vaccination coverage rates, and it is crucial that any suspected measles cases be immediately reported to the authorities for rapid follow-up.”

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In the 1990s, a decline in cases was recorded, but the most notable decrease was observed after the Region had launched its initiative to eliminate measles in 1994. That year, the countries of the Americas established the goal to eliminate indigenous transmission of measles by the year 2000, through the implementation of surveillance and vaccination strategies recommended by PAHO/WHO.

PAHO/WHO’s elimination strategy had recommended three lines of action for countries: 1) conduct a one-time national campaign to bring children between 1 and 14 years of age up to date with measles vaccination; 2) strengthen routine vaccination to reach a minimum of 95% of children every year; and 3) undertake massive follow-up campaigns every four years, to reach a minimum of 95% of children aged 1 to 4 with a second dose of vaccine.

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Following this strategy, the last indigenous measles outbreak was registered in Venezuela in 2002. However, some countries in the Region still notified imported cases. Between 2003 and 2014, 5,077 imported measles cases were registered in the Americas.

After declaring the elimination of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015, the International Expert Committee waited for evidence of the interruption of a measles outbreak in Brazil, which had begun in 2013 and lasted for more than a year. After a year of targeted actions and enhanced surveillance, the last case of measles in Brazil was registered in July 2015.

This Story Isn’t Contagious, But You Can Still Spread It To Your Friends: Click To Share – Photo by Rod Waddington, CC </s> The Philippine government has declared the country’s outbreak of dengue to be a national epidemic, following the deaths of at least 622 patients since January.

The country’s health department announced late on Tuesday that Francisco Duque III, the health secretary, made the declaration to improve the response to the outbreak by allowing local governments to draw on a special Quick Response Fund.

It said the Philippines recorded 146,062 cases of dengue from January through July 20 this year, 98% more than the same period in 2018. That is roughly 5,036 cases every week.

Among the worst-hit areas are central Philippines as well as some regions in the northern island of Luzon and the southern island of Mindanao.

Duque said a campaign is being launched focusing on the destruction of mosquito breeding sites.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide. It can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash, and can cause breathing problems, haemorrhaging and organ failure in severe cases.

While there is no specific treatment for the illness, medical care to maintain a person’s fluid levels is seen as critical.

The department of health said that starting on Tuesday, it was conducting a campaign to focus on finding and destroying mosquito breeding sites, which is a primary means of containing dengue.

Other government agencies, local government units, schools, offices and communities will join in the effort, it said.

In 2017, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte banned the dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, after its French manufacturer reported that it could cause severe effects on patients not previously exposed to the virus.

Some critics have blamed the decision for the current outbreak, but Duque, the health secretary, said that the World Health Organization did not recommend the use of the vaccine as an outbreak response.

Other Southeast Asian countries have also reported an upsurge in dengue cases this year, according to the UN’s WHO.

The organisation said Malaysia had registered 62,421 cases through June 29, including 93 deaths, compared to 32,425 cases with 53 deaths for the same period last year.

Vietnam over the same period had 81,132 cases with four deaths reported, compared to 26,201 cases including six deaths in 2018.

In South Asia, Bangladesh has been facing its worst-ever dengue fever outbreak, putting a severe strain on the country’s already overwhelmed medical system.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android. </s> The milestone was confirmed after no cases of the highly contagious disease originating in the Americas were recorded in at least three years, the PAHO said.

"This is truly a historic deed," said Carissa Etienne, director of the PAHO, which serves as the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office for the Americas.

Globally, measles remains a leading cause of death among young children in the developing world.

About 250,000 people were infected with measles last year, most in Africa and Asia, the PAHO said.

According to the WHO, the virus that can lead to deadly complications like diarrhea, dehydration, respiratory infection and encephalitis kills an estimated 314 people every day.

The last outbreak of measles that originated in the Americas occurred in Venezuela in 2002, PAHO said.

But the region was only declared free of measles this year.

Factors such as conflicts that made it difficult to access some communities slowed down the verification process, said Merceline Dahl-Regis, chair of a committee of experts responsible for verifying the elimination of measles and other diseases in the Americas.

Justin Lessler, an epidemiology expert at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said imported cases of measles - which remains widespread in other parts of the world - could still lead to small outbreaks in the Americas.

"People still need to be vaccinated to maintain elimination," he said.

Before a separate, worldwide vaccination drive against measles began in the 1980s, the disease caused 2.6 million deaths a year worldwide - 12,000 of them in the Americas, according to PAHO.

Measles is the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated in the Americas - after smallpox in 1971, poliomyelitis in 1994, and rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015, the PAHO said. (Reporting by Sebastien Malo, Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
The Ministry of Health of Peru reports that so far this year, 548 people have contracted Guillain–Barré syndrome in an outbreak in the country. It also clarified that in the five cases in which patients died, death was caused by complications with other serious diseases.