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According to local media in India, medical experts have not determined the cause of death of 14 people in the Badhal village in the border district of Rajouri.
Since early December 2024, fourteen of 38 affected persons have died due to a 'mysterious disease.'
The Star reported on January 15, 2025, that experts from the PGIMER Chandigarh, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, National Institute of Virology, National Centre for Disease Control, Defence Research and Development, and other organizations have so far been unable to detect the cause of the affected persons belonging to three interlinked families.
The Rajouri district is in the remote Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
This is a developing story.
According to media reports, the Republic of Cyprus cruise ship arrivals at the port of Limassol for 2024 were not fully realized due to the current geopolitical situation.
CBN reported last year that the management company of the passenger terminal at the port of Limassol, the principal seaport of the island, emphasized that it remains optimistic about a strong recovery in 2025 and 2026 in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Similar to this optimism, the U.S. Department of State updated its Travel Advisory for Cyprus, remaining at Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions as of January 13, 2025.
However, when visiting Cyprus, do not attempt to enter the United Nations buffer zone at any place other than a designated crossing point. The U.S. Embassy in Nicosia can only assist U.S. citizens in this area to a limited extent.
If you travel to Cyprus, the State Department suggests enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive security messages and to help locate you in an emergency.
Since 1974, the southern part of Cyprus has been controlled by the internationally recognized Government of the Republic of Cyprus. The northern part of Cyprus proclaimed itself the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” in 1983.
From a health perspective, the U.S. CDC says visitors should be aware of current health issues in Cyprus, such as measles.
And speak with a vaccine expert at least one month before departure to discuss travel vaccine options.
Immuron Limited today announced that it had submitted the Clinical Study Report to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the recently completed Phase 2 study with Travelan® (IMM-124E) and will soon request an end-of-Phase 2 meeting, which is a pre-cursor to proceeding to Phase 3.
As of January 14, 2025, the company wrote, 'This study data implies that Travelan® appears to aid in the reduction and clearance over time of pathological ETEC bacteria, by shortening the recovery period after Enterotoxigenic Escherichia Coli (ETEC) challenge.'
In the phase 2 study, statistically significant lower levels of IgA and IgG were observed for the subjects who received Travelan® compared to those who received the placebo, which may also reflect levels of exposure to ETEC antigen.
Travelan antibodies target and bind to ETEC antigen in the gastrointestinal tract, block LPS epitopes and therefore reduce antigen exposure, resulting in lower overall IgA and IgG antibody titers.
Clinical data also demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in colony-forming units in the stools of subjects who received Travelan® (p =0.0121), measured 48 hours post-challenge. This indicates faster clearance of the challenge strain from the GI tract.
Travelan® is an orally administered passive immunotherapy that prophylactically reduces the likelihood of contracting travelers’ diarrhea (TD). This digestive tract disorder is commonly caused by pathogenic bacteria and the toxins they produce.
TD continues to be the most frequent health problem among travelers to destinations in lower—and middle-income regions. Between 8% and 50% of travelers develop diarrhea, and the incidence depends on the country visited. However, travelers can have multiple episodes of diarrhea during one trip.
TD is different from a norovirus infection caused by nonenveloped, single-stranded RNA viruses. Norovirus causes viral gastroenteritis, which is sometimes referred to as stomach flu.
According to the U.S. CDC, norovirus is a commonly reported cause of diarrhea among travelers in confined spaces, such as on cruise ships.
As of January 2025, there are no norovirus vaccines available.
In the U.S., Travelan® is sold as a dietary supplement for digestive tract protection.
Quebec's Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs recently advised the public that a raccoon infected with the rabies virus was found dead in Saint-Armand, in the Estrie region, on December 17, 2024.
As of January 15, 2025, this is the first case of raccoon rabies in Québec since 2015.
The animal was found about 1.4 kilometers from where a case had been discovered near the Québec border, in the municipality of Highgate, Vermont.
In a media release, the government stated that 'it should be noted that over the past year, several cases of raccoon rabies have been identified in northern Vermont.
The evolution of the situation is being closely monitored by the Gouvernement du Québec, which continues its close cooperation with American authorities to optimize control and surveillance efforts on both sides of the border.
Raccoon, skunk, and fox vaccination interventions are planned for 2025. An analysis is underway to determine the best intervention strategy, which will be tailored to the situation.
In the United States, most rabies infections are related to infected bat bites.
In December 2024, the Kentucky and California health departments reported people had died after being infected with the rabies virus.
Furthermore, rabies vaccines for people are offered at various clinics and travel pharmacies in 2025.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently informed its Member States of a suspected Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreak in the Kagera region of the United Republic of Tanzania.
On January 13, 2025, the WHO wrote that the risk of this suspected MVD outbreak is assessed as high at the national level due to several concerning factors.
The regional risk is also considered high due to the Kagera region's strategic location as a transit hub, with significant cross-border movement of the population to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
As of early January 2025, nine suspected cases were reported, including eight deaths (case fatality ratio of 89%) across two districts – Biharamulo and Muleba.
Close contacts, including healthcare workers, are reported to have been identified and under follow-up in both districts. Human-to-human transmission of Marburg virus is primarily associated with direct contact with the blood and/or other bodily fluids of infected people.
The Bukoba district in the Kagera region experienced its first MVD outbreak in March 2023, and zoonotic reservoirs, such as fruit bats, remain endemic to the area. The outbreak in 2023 lasted for nearly two months, with nine cases and six deaths.
Since 1967, MVD outbreaks have been confirmed in various countries.
The WHO advises against travel and trade restrictions with Tanzania based on the current risk assessment.
As of January 15, 2025, the U.S. CDC issued a Level 1 - Practice Usual Precautions, Travel Health Advisory for visiting Tanzania. Previously, the CDC included Tanzania in its current global polio Travel Health Advisory.
Furthermore, no U.S. FDA-approved Marburg vaccines exist, but candidates are conducting clinical trials.
Today, Micron Biomedical announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded the company $2 million to continue its work on broadly protecting avian and seasonal flu vaccines.
The company won the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Patch Forward competition. The $2 million award will advance Micron’s work to co-develop needle-free versions of broadly protecting influenza vaccines with Zipcode Bio, a biotechnology company focusing on next-generation RNA medicines.
“Making all vaccines, including influenza vaccines, more broadly protecting and more accessible has the potential to save lives globally, and we are thrilled to be recognized by the HHS, BARDA, as one of the most important vaccine innovations rethinking how vaccines will be administered,” said Steven Damon, CEO of Micron Biomedical, in a press release on January 14, 2025.
“We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Zipcode Bio and accelerate efforts to make the dream of needle-free, broadly protecting influenza vaccines a reality.”
Micron’s technology uses a dissolvable microarray “button” applied to the skin. The button painlessly delivers a vaccine or therapeutic directly into the uppermost dermal layers when pushed. The button can be self-administered or administered by a caregiver or parent.
Micron previously announced that it had received a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for a total of $43 million in support from the organization.
Over the past decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Academy of Sciences have written, A future influenza pandemic is inevitable.... are we ready?
From January 2003 to November 2023, the WHO reported 246 cases of human infection with the avian influenza A(H5N1) virus from four WHO Western Pacific Region countries. Of these, 138 were fatal, resulting in a case fatality rate (CFR) of 56%.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture, mammalian infections with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus will be a global concern in 2025.
As of early 2025, the U.S. government has invested in developing avian influenza vaccine candidates.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) executed a contract modification for the second option period, valued at approximately $16.7 million.
This option is part of Emergent's existing 10-year contract with BARDA for the advanced development and procurement of Ebanga™, which has a maximum value of $704 million.
This modification will validate the drug product process and analytical testing and ensure long-term stability for Ebanga, which is indicated for treating infection caused by the Zaire Ebola virus.
Ebanga (ansuvimab-zykl) is a Zaire ebolavirus glycoprotein-directed human monoclonal antibody indicated for treating infection caused by Zaire ebolavirus in adult and pediatric patients.
As of 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has determined that Ebolavirus disease (EVD) threatens national health security. To augment the government's response capability, BARDA is pursuing the advanced development, licensure, and procurement of therapeutics that can be deployed in EVD outbreaks.
"We are delighted our continued collaboration with BARDA is advancing Ebanga development toward supplying treatment and ensuring communities are prepared against Ebola (outbreaks)," said Simon Lowry, M.D., chief medical officer, head of research and development, Emergent, in a press release on January 13, 2025.
"Ebola is a devastating infectious illness with limited treatment options."
Ebanga is not a preventive vaccine.
As of early 2025, Merck's U.S. FDA-approved Ervebo® (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine was licensed in the U.S., the U.K., the European Union, Canada, and various countries. Recently, Sierra Leone became the first country in Africa to launch a preventive Ebola vaccination campaign targeting health workers.
Ervebo is not commercially available in the U.S.
Orthoebolavirus zairense (EVD) is severe and often fatal, with case fatality rates ranging from 25% to 90%, and is transmitted via bodily fluids, zoonotic transmission, or contact with contaminated surfaces.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 30 EVD outbreaks have been reported. The initial Zaire Ebolavirus case was confirmed in 1976 in a village near the Ebola River.
As of 2025, no active U.S. CDC Travel Health Notice is focused on Ebola outbreaks in Africa.
