Zika Breaking News

When bringing a dog to the United States in 2023, people should continue to check federal regulations and the recently extended rabies vaccination requirements.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that effective August 1, 2023, it extended the temporary suspension of the importation of dogs from countries classified as high risk for dog rabies and countries that are not at high risk if the dogs have been in high-risk countries during the previous six months.

However, dogs vaccinated against rabies in the U.S. by a US-licensed veterinarian may re-enter the U.S. from a high-risk country without a CDC Dog Import Permit if the dog:

• has a current, valid US-issued rabies vaccination certificate;
• has ISO-compatible microchip;
• is at least 6 months old;
• is healthy upon arrival; and
• arrives at one of the 18 airports with a CDC quarantine station.

On July 6, 2023, the CDC published the “Notice of Extension of Temporary Suspension of Dogs Entering the United States from Countries with a High Risk of Rabies” in the Federal Register. 

According to the CDC, most rabies cases in the U.S. follow bites by bats, not dogs.

An estimated 47,000–55,000 people successfully receive post-exposure prophylaxis each year in the U.S.

Unfortunately, a recent article published in Clinical Infectious Diseases presented the first documented failure of rabies-post-exposure prophylaxis in the Western Hemisphere.

This 84-year-old man died in 2021 about six months after a rabid bat bit his hand.

The Republic of Costa Rica's Juan Santamaría International Airport recently reported over 2.8 million passengers passed through its facility during the first half of 2023.

As of June 2023, this activity represents a 4.3% increase in arriving and departing travelers compared to 2019.

The Tico Times reported on August 11, 2023, "The airport now hosts twenty-five airlines serving thirty-five destinations, enhancing global connectivity," said Erick Barboza, AERIS Business Development Director.

Recent AERIS analyses indicate increased Millennial (42%) and Generation X (32%) travelers to Costa Rica.

While in the U.S., the Transportation Security Administration's latest report indicated airport activity has not increased compared to 2019.

From a health perspective, Costa Rica was confronted with dengue, malaria, and Zika cases in 2023.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the current dengue surge in the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh is unusual in terms of seasonality and the early sharp increase compared to previous years.

 On August 11, 2023, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh reported 69,483 laboratory-confirmed dengue cases and 327 related deaths, with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.47% during 2023. The CFR so far this year is relatively high compared to previous years for the full-year period.

About 62% of these deaths were reported in July 2023.

Dhaka City Corporation is the most affected area in the Dhaka division, accounting for 78.9% of deaths. 

The pre-monsoon Aedes survey shows that the density of disease-carrying mosquitoes and the number of potential hotspots is at the highest level in the past five years.

Globally, dengue outbreaks have been confirmed in numerous countries in 2023.

Dengue virus (DENV) has four serotypes, and infection with one serotype provides long-term immunity to the homologous serotype but not to the other serotypes; sequential infections with a different serotype put people at greater risk for severe dengue.

Many DENV infections produce only mild flu-like illness, and over 80% of cases are asymptomatic.

There is no specific treatment for cases and clinical management is based on supportive therapy.

Neither of the two approved dengue vaccines are currently available in Bangladesh.

The WHO says dengue risk at the national level in Bangladesh is assessed as 'High' due to the ongoing rapidly increasing number of cases and deaths with the peak not yet reached, the high CFR compared to the previous years, and the increasing geographical distribution of cases.

Vaxxinity, Inc. today announced The Lancet's eBioMedicine published results of Phase 2a clinical trial stating that UB-311 "was safe and well-tolerated," with early clinical data demonstrating a trend for slowing cognitive decline in mild Alzheimer's disease (AD).

In this 78-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter Phase 2a, Vaxxinity-funded study, UB-311 was reported to elicit a robust, rapid, and titrated antibody response to Aβ.

And UB-311 was generally well-tolerated, with no cases of ARIA-E and limited cases of asymptomatic ARIA-H.

"This publication supports the innovative work that we and our collaborators are conducting to advance UB-311 for the potential treatment, and even prevention, of Alzheimer's disease," said Mei Mei Hu, CEO of Vaxxinity, in a press release on August 10, 2023.

"Imagine expanding the addressable patient population of beta-amyloid immunotherapies by multiple orders of magnitude, potentially over 1,000x, and delivering life-changing medicine at a fraction of the cost. That is our vision for UB-311 and the potential power of active immunotherapies."

AD is the most common form of dementia, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that slowly destroys memory and cognitive skills and eventually the ability to carry out simple tasks.

UB-311 is a synthetic, peptide-based active immunotherapy that targets toxic beta-amyloid (Aβ) oligomers and fibrils and oligomers.

Two passive immunotherapies – monoclonal antibodies targeting Aβ – have recently been authorized by the U.S. FDA, validating Aβ as a target for disease-modifying immunotherapies of AD.

However, these passive immunotherapies have been associated with amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), which can present as vasogenic edema or sulcal effusion (ARIA-E) or as hemosiderin deposits such as micro hemorrhages and superficial siderosis (ARIA-H).

Although the trial was not powered to make conclusions about efficacy, secondary efficacy outcomes on cognitive, functional, behavioral, and global assessments such as ADAS-Cog, MMSE, ADCS-ADL, and CDR-SB were evaluated.

Trends of slowing disease progression were observed across key cognitive and functional measures for UB-311-treated versus placebo-treated participants over 78 weeks of observation, including a 48% slowing of decline on CDR-SB in the UB-311 quarterly boosting group.

Furthermore, the U.S. FDA-licensed mAbs require IV infusions every two weeks and are priced at $26,500 annually, not including the cost of administering them or monitoring for ARIA.

In contrast, UB-311 has the potential to offer multiple competitive advantages, including lower rates of ARIA-E, improved convenience through less frequent dosing and ease of administration through intramuscular injection, and overall improved accessibility and cost-effectiveness for patients and health systems.

As of August 10, 2023, the U.S. FDA had not approved an Alzheimer's vaccine candidate.

Meissa Vaccines announced positive safety and immunogenicity data for MV-012-968, the company's intranasal live attenuated Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate.

Meissa is developing MV-012-968 as a needle-free, adjuvant-free vaccine to protect infants and toddlers from the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The company says RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the United States and is considered a "missing" pediatric vaccine.

The clinical study in RSV-naïve (seronegative) participants between the ages of six and 36 months enrolled 79 participants at multiple sites in the U.S. to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of MV-012-968 (NCT04909021).

At the highest dose tested, no serious adverse events related to vaccination were reported with no evidence of any lower respiratory tract symptoms, no Grade 2 or 3 fever observed, and low level, transient vaccine shedding detected.

All RSV-naïve infants and toddlers demonstrated a vaccine response to two doses of 107 PFU.

Serum-neutralizing antibody responses to MV-012-968 were robust and comparable to those seen with previous live attenuated RSV vaccine candidates demonstrating high efficacy against medically-attended RSV disease.

Moreover, MV-012-968 demonstrated significantly greater tolerability to date than these previous candidates.

"With this outstanding safety and robust serum antibody response, we believe Meissa's live attenuated vaccine has the potential to be a best-in-class solution to protect infants and toddlers from RSV, and we are now preparing to advance MV-012-968 into a Phase 2/3 clinical trial next year (2024)," said Martin Moore, Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Meissa Vaccines, in a press release on August 8, 2023.

"These data also demonstrate the power of our AttenBlock platform to generate live attenuated vaccines with outstanding safety and immunogenicity – something that we've not seen with other platforms."

As of August 10, 2023, the U.S. FDA has approved RSV vaccines for seniors and antibody therapies for infants.

SK bioscience recently announced that it secured 6.5 million shares of common stock through a private placement investment in Novavax, a global company advancing protein-based vaccines with its novel Matrix-M™ adjuvant.

Concurrent with the equity investment announcement, SK bioscience and Novavax have extended their current license agreement, adding Novavax's updated COVID-19 vaccine ((Nuvaxovid, CovoVax, NVX-CoV2373)

The agreement serves as a strategic shift of partnership from the pandemic period to the endemic phase, in which SK bioscience will obtain exclusive rights to Novavax's COVID-19 variant vaccine in South Korea and non-exclusive rights in Thailand and Vietnam to supply and commercialize the vaccine.

Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience said in a press release on August 8, 2023, "We believe that the strategic equity investment and the continuous cooperation between SK bioscience and Novavax, which are among the few companies that focused on developing COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, will create a powerful synergy."

Through the enhanced partnership, SK bioscience will explore potential future collaborations with Novavax such as utilizing Novavax's adjuvant, Matrix-M. Novavax also develops COVID-Influenza combination, stand-alone influenza, and high-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidates.