OUTBREAK ALERT: Military Deployed As Norovirus Strikes Winter Olympic Security Guards

South Korea, the home of the 2018 Winter Olympics, has deployed 900 military personnel after 1,200 security guards contracted the highly contagious norovirus. Although the guards were pulled from their duties at the Winter Olympic facilities in Pyeongchang, the virus is still spreading.

“The military personnel … will be responsible for security checks of the 20 venues as they take up jobs such as security searches, previously done by civilian safety personnel until the patients’ condition is normalized,” a statement from the Pyeongchang Olympics committee said.

The norovirus is an infection which causes the sudden and severe onset of diarrhea and vomiting; symptoms which begin within 12-48 of exposure and can be painful. The virus is highly contagious and commonly spread through food or water that is contaminated during preparation or contaminated surfaces. You can also be infected through close contact with an infected person. Most people will cover without treatment in three days, however, hospitalization can occur if victims are infants or elderly.

Organizers said this viral infection is particularly bad. Of the 1,200 guards removed from duty, 41 had suffered a sudden onset of vomiting and diarrhea on Sunday and all had been taken to a hospital. The outbreak comes just days before the opening of South Korea’s 2018 Winter Olympics on Thursday.The Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement Monday that the 41 security guards had been staying at the same building in Pyeongchang. “KCDC dispatched an immediate response team to the Pyeongchang site to check additional people for symptoms, check the origin of the exposure, take measures to control infection, and prevent spread,” the statement said.

It’s still not clear how the security guards become infected with the virus in the first place. Water and food at the accommodations sites are currently being tested. Meanwhile, the Winter Olympics committee said it would strengthen checks on sleeping quarters for staff working at the games to prevent further infections.

Scientists Warn: Brain-Wasting ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ Could Spread To Humans

Deer across North America have been dying from a disease which attacks their nervous system gradually destroying it. And now scientists are concerned that this brain-wasting “zombie disease” could spread to humans.

Chronic wasting disease, or “zombie deer disease,” was first observed in 1967 in Fort Collins, Colorado, and has since infected wild herds in 24 states and Canada, as well as in South Korea and Norway, NPR reported.  “CWD passes from animal to animal through prions, misfolded proteins that cause other proteins to misfold around them,” NPR reported. “Different prion diseases tend to only harm certain species, but can evolve to overcome those limitations.”

In some herds, as many as half of the animals carry prions. But direct contact isn’t the only way prions are transmitted.  According to the New York Times, sick animals and cadavers can spread prions through plants and soil, which could be coated with deformed proteins for years, perhaps even decades.  An animal infected with the disease can live for up to two years before showing any signs of symptoms, such as a vacant stare, thick saliva, exposed ribs, or drooping heads.

There have been no reported human illnesses due to the disease, and scientists don’t have conclusive evidence that the infected meat has ever harmed people, suggesting a “species barrier” between humans and deer.

“While most research shows there’s a robust species barrier, this recent study showed that barrier might not be quite as robust as we once thought,” Matt Dunfee, head of the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance in Fort Collins, Colorado, told NPR. Researchers led by Mark Zabel, associate director at Colorado State University’s Prion Research Center, found that macaque monkeys who ate infected deer contracted the disease. This is the first time the disease was shown to spread to a primate through the ingestion of infected meat.

Zabel and his team also found that the prions involved in the “zombie disease,” which scientists have only known about for 50 years, are probably still evolving, “which leads us to believe it’s only a matter of time before a prion emerges that can spread to humans,” NPR reported.

Mad Cow disease, for example, is a prion disease that rooted from scrapie, a deadly disease that afflicts sheep. Once the prions were passed to cows, the cows developed a prion disease of their own (mad cow disease). And when humans ate the beef from those sick cows, they developed prions in their own brains. As of 2016, according to the Food and Drug Administration, 231 people had died from the condition. -AJC

In an interview with The New York Times, Zabel said he believes the only way to stop CWD is by utilizing controlled burns. “There’s a lot that we still don’t know and don’t understand about the disease,” Zabel also said.

Dunfee told NPR, “if you are hunting in an area where CWD is found, have your animal tested. If it comes back positive, don’t eat the meat.”

Outbreak Alert: Hepatitis A Continues To Worsen In Michigan

More than 600 Hepatitis A cases have been reported in Southeast Michigan as the outbreak continues to ravage the communities. Public health officials are continuing to see these numbers elevate, and warn that it will continue to worsen as we approach the holidays.

According to Voice News, more than 80 percent of those who have contracted the highly contagious liver disease have required hospitalization. Another 20 people have died after becoming infected with the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that symptoms can be mild or severe depending on the health of the person who contracts the virus. The elderly and those with existing liver conditions are the most at risk. Those infected can be contagious for up to two weeks before showing any symptoms, which include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal and joint pain, yellowing of the skin, dark urine and light-colored stools.

The virus is spread through direct person-to-person contact, contaminated food and beverages, and illicit drug use. But this outbreak is difficult for health officials to contain since no common source of the outbreak has been identified, health officials said.  Washing your hands after going to the bathroom and before preparing meals for yourself and others, using your own towels, toothbrushes and eating utensils, and not sharing food and drinks with other people are all good ways to prevent the spread of the disease.

An increased number of hepatitis A cases has been seen in recent months. In the fall of 2016, possible hepatitis A exposure related to frozen strawberries that were recalled nationwide was identified at four locations in St. Clair County and one location in Macomb County. In May, a confirmed case was discovered at the St. Clair County Detention and Intervention Center in Port Huron.

In October, an employee at the Algonac Flaming Grill was found to have hepatitis A, leading local health officials to recommend vaccinations to those who ate at the restaurant between Oct. 6 and 20. The St. Clair County Health Department offered the vaccine at several recent walk-in clinics.

Food workers with the disease have the ability to infect a large number of people rapidly and are encouraged to get vaccinated.

The holidays also pose an increased risk of exposure to hepatitis A as families and friends come together to celebrate. –  Voice News

A national shortage of the vaccine has complicated efforts to contain outbreaks, but the St. Clair County Health Department reports an adequate local supply of the adult vaccine. Health officials state that the best way to prevent contraction of the hepatitis A virus is by getting two doses of the vaccine. Protection will begin two to four weeks after the first injection.  The second injection will offer protection for a longer period of time.

Air Travel Could Spread Plague As Health Officials Warn Nine Countries

Face masks are placed on children in Antananarivo, Madagascar (AP Photo/Alexander JOE)

 

The fears that the “black death” would spread from Madagascar have now taken hold.  As nations grapple with the outbreak of the bubonic plague, nine countries are sounding warnings that the disease is spreading rapidly.

The deadly plague outbreak that has struck Madagascar’s major cities has yet to “peak” and that could make the spread of this infection into the surrounding regions more likely. Dr. Ashok Chopra, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas, told The Sun Online the crisis in Madagascar had yet to peak. He also sounded the alarm to neighboring countries.  Since there are regular flights in and out of Madagascar and this outbreak has so far, been impossible to contain, other nations are now at risk.

Speaking from Madagascar, Christine South, head of IFRC’s (International Federation of Red Cross) emergency operations, said: “With anything like this there is a possibility that somebody could be infected and get on a plane. We have done preparedness support to some of the neighboring countries.” Tourists have been warned to stay out of Madagascar until doctors can get the plague under control to prevent its spread.

The outbreak is considered a much bigger threat to the region than in previous years because it has taken on its pneumonic form. That means it is airborne and spread by sneezing and coughing.  Not only that, but the plague has a very short incubation time.  Once exposed, some people will die within 24 hours.

Experts say the epidemic could still worsen as the death tolls hit 124 and more than 1,300 are left infected.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has now issued alarming warnings in nine countries too.  “If they are traveling shorter distances and they’re still in the incubation period, and they have the pneumonic (form) then they could spread it to other places,” said Chopra.  “We don’t want to have a situation where the disease spreads so fast it sort of gets out of control. Most of the cases in the past have been of the bubonic plague but if you look at this particular outbreak, 70 percent of the cases are pneumonic plague, which is the most deadly form of the disease. If the treatment is not given in a very short period of time these people will end up dying.”

Both forms of the plague can be cured with antibiotics, but getting treatment quickly is the key to survival.