There is currently “no justification” for asking Mexican women to postpone getting pregnant because of an outbreak of the mosquito-born virus Zika, a senior Mexican Health Ministry official said during an interview with Reuters on Tuesday (January 26). Zika, which has spread across the Americas, has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, leading health authorities in Colombia and El Salvador to advise women against getting pregnant for anywhere up to […]
Tag: WHO
WHO: processed meat can cause cancer, red meat probably can
World Health Organization (WHO) experts said, eating processed meat can lead to bowel cancer in humans while red meat is a likely cause of the disease. The France-based International Agency For Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the who, put processed meat such as hot dogs and ham in its group 1 list, which already includes tobacco, asbestos and diesel fumes, for which there is “sufficient evidence” of cancer links. Red meat, under which the […]
New Ebola vaccine tested in Guinea, proven to be effective — WHO
(Eagle News) — Researchers recently found a promising vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus which was tested in Guinea where it was found to be 100 percent effective, according to the World Health Organization. The vaccine called VSV-EBOV was found to be “highly effective against Ebola” based on the results from an interim analysis of the Guinea Phase II efficacy vaccine trial. The independent body of international experts – the Data and Safety Monitoring Board […]
NAIA, other airports still on heightened alert for MERS-CoV and Ebola
(Eagle News) — The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and other airports in the country continue to be on heightened alert because of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Sydrome-Corona Virus or MERS-CoV and other deadly diseases such as Ebola, following guidelines from the Bureau of Quarantine. Currently, MERS-CoV has more than 180 reported cases in South Korea, where at least 27 have already died. It is the only country outside of Saudi Arabia where there […]
Cholera feared in Syria due to dirty water, WHO warns
A cholera outbreak is feared in coming months in Syria, where other water-borne diseases such as hepatitis A and typhoid are on the rise due to poor sanitation, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned yesterday. Safe drinking water is available at about one-third of the level it was before the conflict erupted nearly five years ago, and supplies are cut-off to punish civilians at times, it said. Some 31,460 cases of hepatitis A were reported […]
Gov’t intensifies efforts to prevent spread of MERS-CoV
MANILA, PIA- The government intensifies the monitoring of airports, seaports and other points of entry to prevent the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the country, the Palace said on Sunday. In a radio interview, Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said that based on the latest reports of the Department of Health (DOH) there is only one confirmed case of MERS-CoV in the country–the Filipino nurse who […]
Madagascar PM confirms plague outbreak
(Reuters) — Madagascar Prime Minister Kolo Christophe Laurent Roger confirmed on Monday (November 24) that the country is witnessing an outbreak of plague after a previous announcement made by the World Health Organization (WHO). The World Health Organization said on Friday (November 21) that the outbreak has killed 40 people out of 119 confirmed cases in Madagascar since late August and the disease could spread rapidly in the capital of Madagascar, where after two cases and one death had been recorded. Roger reiterated the information […]
DOH declares RITM ready for Ebola, sets training for healthcare professionals
MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News Service) — The Department of Health (DOH) has declared that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the country’s National Reference Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, is now more prepared to respond to the threat of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) but still needed upgrading to better handle a possible Ebola entry in the country. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that the existing facilities of RITM still need to be upgraded […]
WHO declares end of Ebola outbreak in Nigeria
(Editor’s note: This is the statement of the World Health Organization declaring Nigeria Ebola-free.) The Ebola virus was introduced into Nigeria on 20 July when an infected Liberian man arrived by aeroplane into Lagos, Africa’s most populous city. The man, who died in hospital 5 days later, set off a chain of transmission that infected a total of 19 people, of whom 7 died. According to WHO recommendations, the end of an Ebola virus disease […]
Ebola patient in Germany died of “severe case of disease,” doctor says
(Reuters) — A U.N. medical official who caught Ebola while working in Liberia and died in a German hospital suffered from a “severe cases of the disease,” a chief physician said in Leipzig on Tuesday (October 14). Bernhard Ruf of the department of infectious and tropical diseases and nephrology at St.Georg clinic said in a video message released by the hospital that “the patient who was hospitalised … and was treated with a severe case of Ebola died yesterday due to a very severe case of the disease […]
New UN data show drop in child mortality rate
The United Nations recently released new data that showed that there had been fewer deaths of children under the age of five since 1990, but this still fell short of meeting global child death reduction targets for 2015. The data released by the UN showed that “under-five mortality rates have dropped by 49% between 1990 and 2013.” “The average annual reduction has accelerated – in some countries it has even tripled – but overall progress […]
U.N. says $600 million needed to tackle Ebola as deaths top 1,900
(Reuters) – The United Nations said $600 million in supplies would be needed to fight West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, as the death toll from the worst ever epidemic of the virus topped 1,900 and Guinea warned it had penetrated a new part of the country. The pace of the infection has accelerated, and there were close to 400 deaths in the past week, officials said on Wednesday. It was first detected deep in the forests […]





