Travel Vaccine Breaking News

An outbreak of an undefined disease that has killed several people in Equatorial Guinea was reported on February 8, 2023, according to a Health Alert issued by the U.S. Embassy in Malabo.

The Government of Equatorial Guinea (EG) announced that over the past month, there had been an epidemiological outbreak of an unidentified disease in the Nsok Nsomo district of the Kie-Ntem province in the mainland region.

In a statement, EG said that travel restrictions had been imposed in "view of the high risk of importation of this disease.

According to preliminary investigations, these fatalities were linked to a funeral ceremony.

In reaction, the neighboring country of Cameroon has restricted movement along its border with Equatorial Guinea.

This area of Africa has been involved with numerous Ebolavirus outbreaks over the past decade.

The Republic of EG is located on Africa's west coast, consisting of Río Muni and five islands.

The local U.S. Embassy website has not posted an alert regarding this situation as of February 11, 2023, but does say in case of emergency, American citizens have access to an after-hours help line: (+240) 555-516 008.

Through the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), the Peruvian government recently presented a national "Safe Tourism" strategy to ensure a good travel experience for tourists visiting Peru.

The Safe Tourism program has three components: Security, Formalization, and Strengthening applied in Peru's 25 regions.

For example, Minister Luis Fernando Helguero announced on February 9, 2023, that critical tourist infrastructure works would be inaugurated in the San Martín region in the coming weeks for more than S/ 50 million (~$13 million).

Peru has also established safe tourist corridors from the airports to historic centers in cities like Cusco, Arequipa, Puno, and Tacna.

These actions are essential since protests continue across Southern Peru, including in Cusco, Arequipa, Puno, and Lima, as of mid-February 2023.

Unfortunately, Machu Picchu remains closed to visitors until further notice.

The U.K. says the following States of Emergency and curfews have been announced:

• A 60-day State of Emergency occurred on February 4, 2023, in Madre de Dios, Puno, Cusco, Apurimac, Arequipa, Moquegua, and Tacna regions.
• A 10-day curfew in the Puno region came into force from 8 pm to 4 am on February 4, 2023.
• A 30-day State of Emergency occurred on January 19, 2023, in Amazonas and La Libertad regions.
• A 30-day State of Emergency occurred on January 15 on the roads: the Carretera Panamericana Sur, the Carretera Panamericana Norte, the Carretera Central, the Corredor Vial Sur Apurimac-Cusco-Arequipa and the Corredor Vial Interoceanica Sur.

The U.K. confirmed on February 11, 2023, that travelers arriving in Peru should be aware that traveling to some parts of the country or returning to Lima may not be possible and should be prepared for delays or disruption.

And the U.S. Embassy in Peru website says visitors should avoid demonstrations, and should they encounter any, remain in a safe location. For emergencies involving American citizens in Peru, please email [email protected] or call +51-1-618-2000.

The U.S. Embassy Nairobi, Kenya, recently published a security alert for high-traffic areas frequented by foreigners and tourists.

On February 9, 2023, the Embassy wrote, Locations frequented by U.S. citizens and other foreigners and tourists in Nairobi and elsewhere in Kenya continue to be attractive targets for civil unrest.

And groups could create chaos at hotels, embassies, restaurants, malls and markets, schools, police stations, places of worship, and other places frequented by foreigners and tourists.

As a precaution, the government of the Republic of Kenya has increased its patrols.

Kenya is a prime destination for international travelers, welcoming over 800,000 guests in 2021.

Previously, the U.S. Department of State issued a Kenya - Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution advisory in December 2022.

This advisory suggests the following:

Do Not Travel to:

• Kenya-Somalia border counties and some coastal areas, and areas of Turkana County

Reconsider Travel to:

• Nairobi neighborhoods of Eastleigh and Kibera and specific areas of Laikipia County, and through Nyahururu, Laikipia West, and Laikipia North Sub-counties.

The State Department also suggests citizens in Kenya enroll in Smart Traveler Program to receive related alerts.

From a health perspective, the U.S. CDC issued advisories in 2022 for yellow fever and measles outbreaks in Kenya.

These are vaccine-preventable diseases available at travel clinics and pharmacies in the U.S.

A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company today announced the publication of a paper entitled "Single Dose of Recombinant Chimeric Horsepox Virus (TNX‐801) Vaccination Protects Macaques from Lethal Monkeypox Challenge" in the journal peer-review journal Viruses.

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. confirmed the publication demonstrates that a single dose vaccination with TNX‐801 was effective at protecting non-human primates from infection with the mpox virus.

David Evans, Ph.D., FCAHS, Professor and former Vice-Dean (Research) Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta and an investigator in the study and author of the publication, stated in a press release on February 9, 2023, "It is often forgotten that vaccines don't always produce sterilizing immunity and so it's very exciting to be able to report that a horsebox-based vaccine works so well in such a challenging infection model."

The publication describes data from animals in which eight of eight vaccinated with TNX-801 were fully protected with sterilizing immunity from a challenge with intra-tracheal monkeypox (central African, Congo Basin, clade).

These data show that the immunity generated by TNX‐801 was able to protect against a lethal challenge with the mpox virus and is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of TNX‐801 vaccination against the mpox virus challenge in a non‐human primate model.

Synthetic horsepox virus is the basis for the Company's TNX-801 vaccine in development to protect against mpox and smallpox and for the Company's Recombinant Pox Virus platform to protect against other pathogens.

Additional mpox vaccine development news is posted at PrecisionVaccinations. And MpoxToday.com publishes updated research.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced, 'Over the past few weeks, several reports of mammals including minks, otters, foxes, and sea lions have been infected with H5N1 avian influenza. 

H5N1 has spread widely in wild birds and poultry for 25 years, but the recent spillover to mammals needs to be monitored closely. 

Since H5N1 first emerged in 1996, we have only seen rare and non-sustained transmission of H5N1 to and between humans. 

For the moment, WHO assesses the risk to humans as low. 

But we cannot assume that will remain the case, and we must prepare for any change in the status quo. 

The WHO is also continuing to engage with manufacturers to ensure if needed, supplies of vaccines and antivirals would be available for global use.'

The WHO previously confirmed the annual flu shot for 2023 would not be effective against this type of influenza virus.

The U.S. government has already approved a vaccine for this type of avian influenza (bird flu) and has invested in newer vaccinate candidates. And related bird flu vaccine information is posted at this link.

As of February 8, 2023, avian influenza (bird flu) outbreak news was updated.

The UK Foreign Travel Advice confirmed today the Republic of Türkiye had announced a national emergency in the ten provinces affected by earthquakes and announced that only vehicles which carry aid teams and materials would be allowed to enter cities deemed to be inside the area of the disaster.

A 7.8 earthquake hit Gaziantep and neighboring provinces in the southeast of Turkey on February 6, 2023.

On the same day, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the neighboring province of Kahramanmaras.

The provinces affected by the earthquake include Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Kilis, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adana.

If you are in Turkey or planning to travel there, you should follow the information and advice from local authorities/your tour operator, wrote the UK on February 7, 2023.

A biotechnology company developing immunotherapies and vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases announced today that its clinical trial of Gedeptin® for patients with recurrent head and neck cancers is now actively enrolling patients at three major research centers in the U.S.

GeoVax Labs, Inc.'s phase 1/2 trial (NCT03754933) is evaluating the safety and efficacy of repeat cycles of Gedeptin therapy in patients with recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), with tumor(s) accessible for injection and no curable treatment options.

A recent phase 1 dose-ranging study evaluating the safety of a single cycle of Gedeptin therapy found the therapy well-tolerated, with evidence of a reduction in tumor size in patients with solid tumors.

David Dodd, GeoVax President and CEO, commented in a press release on February 7, 2023, "The support of the U.S. FDA and collaborations with Stanford, Emory, and Jefferson enable us to evaluate Gedeptin rapidly in 10 patients, with the potential to expand the trial to 25 patients subsequently."

"A successful outcome may lead to labeling discussions with the FDA and initiation of further Gedeptin investigations, including in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors, for additional cancerous and non-cancerous tumor indications."

Most patients are diagnosed with locally advanced disease and treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. About 50% of these patients will experience a recurrence of the disease.

The GeoVax study is partially funded by the FDA under its Orphan Products Clinical Trials Grants Program. 

The FDA has also granted Gedeptin orphan drug status for the intra-tumoral treatment of anatomically accessible oral and pharyngeal cancers, including cancers of the lip, tongue, gum, floor of the mouth, salivary gland, and other oral cavities.