CDC prepares for potential outbreak of deadly MERS virus

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/21/cdc-prepares-for-potential-outbreak-deadly-mers-virus/

As the deadly MERS virus continues to infect people throughout the Middle East and Europe, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has begun to prepare for the disease’s potential spread to the United States.

Currently, the U.S. has had no confirmed cases of the MERS virus, a respiratory infection that researchers say is similar to SARS – though more deadly.

More than 60 cases of MERS, including 38 deaths, have been recorded by the World Health Organization in the past year. Though most cases have appeared in Saudi Arabia, the virus has also been reported in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Tunisia.

Currently, the CDC says that the risk of the virus appearing in the U.S. is low – but still present.

“We know that the experience in Europe says the risk is not zero,” Dr. Mark Pallansch, director of the CDC’s division of viral diseases, told FoxNews.com. “They’ve had at least four events of importing the virus in a traveler from (the Middle East). Since their travel volume is much higher with that region than ours, that would make sense in terms of us not having had a case, but still tells us the risk is not zero.”

As a result, the CDC is taking a three-pronged approach to prepare for MERS.

According to Pallansch, the CDC has already begun equipping hospitals with tools that will allow them to rapidly detect and report instances of the virus.

“The CDC has prepared diagnostic kits, these are being distributed to the states,” Pallansch said. “There are more than 40 states now that have these kits.”

If MERS were to be detected in a U.S. hospital, the CDC would then confirm the presence of the virus, and the hospital would simultaneously begin to prepare to contain the spread of the disease.

“We would be reinforcing messages about infection control in the hospital setting and setting up surveillance in hospitals for workers but also…family, coworkers, community exposures that might potentially be there,” Pallansch said.

Pallansch noted that current research on MERS indicates an absence of sustained community transmission – meaning the virus isn’t spreading from person to person outside of hospital settings. However, cases of the virus spreading from person to person within hospital settings have been reported.

“We’re highly concerned, as with SARS, that spread within the hospital is a risk, so we’re trying to update advice and guidance for hospitals in case they are in that situation,” Pallansch said.

Additionally, the CDC is preparing a strategy for communicating information about the disease at the hospital, local, state and government levels.

“At the moment, we’re not monitoring travelers, but we are encouraging physicians who have sick patients to ask about a travel history, specifically to the four countries affected so far in the Middle East,” Pallansch said.

The CDC has also posted signs in some airports, warning travelers to watch out for signs of the disease.

“Fourteen days is the interval of time, is the period of concern,” Pallansch said. “Right now (symptoms include) fever, cough, shortness of breath, anything people would be concerned about in terms of ability to breathe.”

So far, illnesses haven’t spread as quickly as SARS did in 2003 when it triggered a global outbreak that killed about 800 people. However, the disease so far appears to be more deadly than SARS, according to researchers.

“The severity for MERS appears to be much higher – 50 to 60 percent of known infections have resulted in death. This is significantly higher than SARS,” Pallansch said.

Pallansch noted that it is hard to say how wide of an impact the MERS virus will have – which is why the CDC continues to work on preparedness.

“The major challenge we have at the moment is inadequate information about a lot of the cases,” Pallansch said.

France’s Fabius ‘confirms sarin use’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22773268

Sarin has been used “several times and in a localised manner” during the two-year Syrian conflict, says France’s foreign minister.

Laurent Fabius said lab tests in Paris confirmed usage of the nerve agent, adding that those who resort to chemical weapons must be punished.

But he did not specify where, when or by whom the agent was used.

Earlier, the UN said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe chemical weapons had been used.

It urged foreign powers not to increase the availability of arms in Syria.

Algeria doctor jailed for child-trafficking to France

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22690822

An Algerian doctor has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for abducting children born to single mothers and selling them in France for adoption.

 

An Algiers court found Khelifa Hanouti guilty of illegally transferring children to the city of Saint-Etienne.

 

A notary received five years for his involvement. Another six people were jailed in absentia to 10 years.

 

The case came to light in 2009 after a woman died during an abortion at an illegal clinic belonging to Hanouti.

 

In total, 13 people had gone on trial for allegedly belonging to a child trafficking ring composed of both French and Algerian nationals.

 

In Tuesday’s ruling, one defendant was acquitted, while the remaining four were given suspended jail sentences. All those sentenced also received fines.

 

The six jailed in absentia are French suspects of Algerian origin currently living in Saint-Etienne.

Falsified documents

Hanouti was arrested in 2009 after Algeria’s security services dismantled the network thought to have been operating since the 1990s.

 

He was accused of impersonating an obstetrician and running an abortion clinic in the Algiers suburb of Ain Taya.

 

Abortion is illegal in Algeria.

 

Prosecutors argued that the doctor illegally transported children abroad with the help of the notary, who falsified “disclaimer” documents signed by single mothers.

 

The investigation has so far been unable to determine the exact number of children involved.

 

The security services reportedly discovered 12 “adoption certificates” at a nursery in the Algiers suburb of El-Biar written between 2005 and 2006, with nine children sent abroad for a sum of money.

 

Hanouti had already been prosecuted in 2002 for performing illegal abortions and served nine months of a two-year jail term.

France Probes 3 Suspected Cases of SARS-Like Virus

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/suspected-cases-sars-related-virus-france-19148703

French health officials said Friday they are investigating three suspected cases of a deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS, in people who had close contact in the hospital with France’s only confirmed case.

Beatrice Degrugillers, a spokeswoman for the regional health agency in France’s Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, said a nurse at the hospital where the man was hospitalized in late April has herself been under watch at the hospital in Douai since Thursday night.

A doctor and a former hospital roommate who had each been in contact with the first patient also remain hospitalized. Test results are expected later Friday.

If confirmed, the additional cases would heighten concerns about the virus’ ability to spread easily between people. Health authorities have previously said the new coronavirus has spread in limited circumstances between people in very close contact, such as relatives taking care of family members.

In 2003, the spread of SARS in hospitals in Asia ultimately sparked a global outbreak. Officials consider any spread of a new virus in hospitals to be the first sign it is gaining the ability to infect humans easily.

On Wednesday authorities announced the 65-year-old Frenchman was France’s first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, which has killed 18 people since being identified last year in the Middle East.

The patient fell ill after returning from a nine-day vacation in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as part of a package tour, the Health Ministry said.

The man, whose identity was not released, returned from Dubai on April 17. He was hospitalized with respiratory problems in the northern French city of Valenciennes on April 23, and transferred to a more advanced facility in Douai on April 29.

Paris’ Pasteur Institute analyzed the man’s virus and confirmed that it is a novel coronavirus.

Since September 2012, the World Health Organization has been informed of 30 confirmed cases of the virus, and 18 of the patients have died. Cases have emerged in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Britain and Germany, and health officials say the virus has likely already spread from person to person in some circumstances.

Since the virus emerged last year, European authorities have put in place monitoring measures. In France, 20 people have already been examined for suspected cases of the virus, but the other 19 turned up negative, Health Minister Marisol Touraine said.

The patient who traveled to Dubai is the only positive case. His family members have been tested and are not infected.