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The Denpasar City Agriculture Service recently announced villages/sub-districts in Bali Province to form a Rabies Alert Team to suppress cases of rabies transmission in the capital city of Bali Province.

It is estimated that there are 82,195 rabies-transmitting animals in Denpasar City, Indonesia, as of September 2023.

Announced on November 21, 2023, the Head of the Denpasar City Agriculture Service, A.A. Bayu Brahmasta, informed reporters, “The Rabies Alert Team will be tasked with providing education and outreach to the community.”

This news comes from TheBaliSun, which reported two additional residents who live near Keramas Beach were bitten by a dog that has gone on to test positive for rabies.

According to the U.S. CDC, dog rabies outbreaks have been active in Bali since 2008.

Bali is an often-visited destination, hosting over 4.8 million international visitors over the past year.

Each year throughout the world, rabies, a viral disease of mammals, kills approximately 50,000 people, primarily children. It is almost always spread by an animal bite but can also be spread when a rabid animal’s saliva gets directly into the eyes, nose, mouth, or broken skin.

The primary source of human infection worldwide is dogs. However, in the U.S., bats are the source of most rabies infections in 2023.

The CDC says that if your activities bring you into contact with animals, you should consider pre-exposure rabies vaccination, a multi-dose series given before departure overseas.

Even if you receive pre-exposure vaccination, you will still need immediate medical treatment if you are bitten or scratched by an animal.

The good news is human rabies is rare in the U.S., averaging about three cases annually since 2000.

In the U.S., rabies vaccines are available in 2023.

The Walgreens Flu Index® recently coded the top 10 United States cities experiencing the most influenza detections. The Index shows flu activity is 50% higher than last week.

As of November 18, 2023, the updated listing includes cities primarily located in the south-central U.S.:

1. Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen, Texas
2. Lafayette, La.
3. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
4. Houston, Texas
5. New Orleans, La.
6. Baton Rouge, La.
7. Montgomery-Selma, Ala.
8. Bakersfield, Calif.
9. Jackson, Miss.
10. Mobile, Ala.-Pensacola (Ft. Walton Beach), Fla.

While various flu shots are readily available at most clinics and pharmacies in October 2023, about 15% of individuals who received their flu shot at Walgreens were millennials, and only 9% were Gen Z. 

The Walgreens Flu Index® is an online, interactive tool showing the most significant increases in flu activity week-over-week.

SK bioscience today announced it is partnering with Hilleman Laboratories Singapore to develop a low-cost, improved manufacturing process, second-generation Ebola-Zaire vaccine.

Currently, Ebola vaccines have been authorized and used in Africa since 2019.

On November 22, 2023, SK bioscience confirmed it will acquire unique expertise and know-how for the use of recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Vector (rVSV) technology platform in close collaboration with Hilleman Laboratories to potentially jointly develop other vaccines against a variety of viral infectious diseases.

Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience, commented in a press release, "Developing a vaccine to prevent viruses causing diseases with a high fatality rate, such as Ebola-Zaire, is essential for us to protect humanity."

"By cooperating with Hilleman Laboratories for a successful development of the second-generation Zaire Ebolavirus vaccine, we will contribute to overcoming the Ebola Zaire disease burden and expand our cooperation with global companies and institutions."

In 2014, the World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency during the Ebola outbreak and encouraged the development of the vaccine when the virus was spreading rapidly in West Africa.

Ebola Virus Disease is a rapidly progressive, severe, and transmissible hemorrhagic illness caused by infection with one of the Ebola Virus (EBOV) species. While there are six identified EBOV species, the Zaire Ebola virus strain has been the leading cause of outbreaks over the last 20 years.

Ever since the Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976, there have been multiple outbreaks resulting in significant loss of lives (50% mortality rate) and economic impact.

The campaign to eradicate polio could succeed in the next few years. But that's just the beginning of a new challenge, keeping it away forever, wrote Aisling Irwin in an article published by the journal Nature on November 21, 2023.

With the demise of the poliovirus in sight, health authorities are planning what happens next.

In 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a resolution to eradicate polio.

However, a WHO committee announced in August 2023 that although encouraged by the reported progress, the risk of the international spread of poliovirus remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and the extension of Temporary Recommendations for a further three months was recommended.

The WHO committee urged the polio program to strengthen all aspects of surveillance, noting that significant gaps remain in many affected countries.

That conclusion may be because achieving polio eradication is not extinction.

Polio could lurk in testing labs and manufacturing facilities — from which it has previously leaked — and even in some people. Mistakes years after eradication could let polio into an unprotected population where it could "wreak havoc.

The end of polio is only the beginning of another effort: developing the resilience to keep it away, says Liam Donaldson, a public health specialist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and the lead author of a series of independent reports on the campaign's progress.

"People have signed up for polio eradication, but they've not signed up for the longer journey."

The WHO's 6th Report of the Polio Transition Independent Monitoring Board is posted at this link, and current polio outbreaks are listed by Precision Vax.