Volume: 224, Published: 23 May 2023

Philippines: Hog cholera resulted in the death of 2421 hogs

Date: 21 May 2023; Disease: Hog cholera; Location: Multiple locations, Philippines

Negros Occidental mulls hog cholera outbreak declaration. A hog cholera outbreak may be declared in areas affected by the swine disease in Negros Occidental. A provincial veterinarian office officer-in-charge, said data on hog fatalities and the affected barangays are being consolidated. Reports as of 17 May showed that 2,421 hogs died in 57 barangays in San Enrique, Valladolid, Pulupandan, Pontevedra, EB Magalona, Manapla and Hinigaran towns and the cities of La Carlota, Silay and Bago. Read more at Philstar.

India: Calf dies of rabies in Telangana

Date: 20 May 2023; Disease: Rabies: Location: Asifabad, Telangana, India

The death of a buffalo calf due to suspected rabies in a village in Telangana’s Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district has sent panic among villagers. The health authorities administered anti-rabies vaccines to 300 people in Chintalamanepally mandal headquarters. The vaccine camp was arranged after the death of a calf after drinking the milk of a mother buffalo, which was bitten by a rabid dog. A five-year-old boy had succumbed to rabies in Khammam district in March 2023. He was bitten by stray dogs and later developed symptoms of rabies. Read more at Siasat.

Nepal: 18 thousand cows infected with lumpy skin disease (LSD)

Date: 19 May 2023; Disease: LSD; Location: 13 districts of Bagmati province, Nepal

A total of 18,324 cows have been infected with the viral LSD in 13 districts of Bagmati province. The Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development of Bagmati Province said the highest number of cases was seen in Makwanpur. Altogether 4,835 cows in Makwanpur have been infected and 197 cows have perished. Likewise, 9,634 infections and 47 deaths have occurred in Sindhuli, 1,965 cows in Ramechhap and 1,600 cows in Chitwan have been infected. The official said that so far only cows have been infected and buffaloes have not been infected with the disease. Likewise, 83 cows in Kathmandu, 40 in Lalitpur, 400 in Kavre, 300 in Nuwakot, 6 in Sindhupalchowk and one cow in Bhaktapur have been found suffering from the viral disease. Read more at Nepal News.

India: Two human deaths from rabies in Surat

Date: 19 May 2023; Disease: Rabies; Location: Surat, India

Two deaths due to rabies caused by stray dog bites were reported in Surat within the last 12 hours. The first incident involved an 18-year-old female who was bitten by a stray dog six months ago. She had received an anti-rabies vaccine after the incident but did not complete the full course of treatment. Unfortunately, she developed symptoms rabies six months later and was admitted to the new civil hospital. However, her family members decided to take her back home without consulting a doctor where she passed away. In another case, a 55-year-old man was in a critical condition near Gandhibagh circle. He was immediately admitted to the new civil hospital via a 108 ambulance. Upon examination, it was discovered that he had rabies. Read more at Desh Gujarat.

Rep of Korea: Additional cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) reported, totaling 11 cases.

Date: 19 May 2023; Disease: FMD; Location: Multiple locations, Republic of Korea

One additional case of FMD was confirmed at a local farm, raising the number of cases to 11 this year, the agriculture ministry shared. The latest case was found at a beef cattle farm in Cheongju, a city located some 112 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Of the total 11 cases, nine were confirmed from farms in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, with the remainder being reported from the county of Jeungpyeong in the same province. Authorities sent officials to the farm for quarantine and disinfection work to prevent the spread of the disease, and all the cattle being raised there will be culled, the ministry said. Read more at Yonhap News Agency and see earlier reports at YNA and Chosun. The Rep of Korea government believes the latest cases of foot-and-mouth disease afflicting livestock in the country since May 10 originated from Southeast Asia, reports KBS. In view of the latest situation, the highest level earning alarm has been issued, reports Korea Herald.

Malaysia: Nine human rabies deaths recorded in Sarawak so far this year

Date: 16 May 2023; Disease: Rabies; Location: Sarawak, Malaysia

A total of 11 rabies cases among humans, including nine deaths, were reported in Malaysia’s eastern state of Sarawak from 1 January to 15 May this year, according to a report by the Bernama news agency. The health director-general said that of the 11 cases, four each were from Sibu and Serian divisions, two from Kuching division and one from Bintulu division. Read more at Straits Times. Sarawak’s disaster management committee (SDMC) has reactivated the “disaster” status on the rabies outbreak in the state after a rise in cases recently, reports Free Malaysia Today.

China: A case of epidemic hemorrhagic fever

Date: 15 May 2023; Disease: epidemic hemorrhagic fever; Location: Changsha, Hunan, China

A 29 years old woman from Hunan was tested positive for epidemic hemorrhagic fever (Hantavirus). She had visited a toy store which sold hamsters with her child few days before she started experiencing fever, fatigue, facial redness and edema. The case report gives an excellent clinical description of the presentation and course of classic hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), a disease that has recently been comprehensively reviewed. There are 2 main hantaviruses that cause HFRS in China, the Hantaan and the Seoul orthohantavirus, whose reservoir is the brown or Norway rat. Human infections with hantaviruses have almost entirely been linked to contact with rodent excreta. People become infected when exposed to the virus in excreta (urine, saliva, and feces) of infected rodents. It is not necessary to have contact with liquid urine, because dust particles contaminated with dried urine may be inhaled. Read more at VOC (Chinese).

Philippines: Second human rabies death reported in Iloilo

Date: 14 May 2023; Disease: Rabies; Location: Barangay Bitaog Gaja, New Lucena town, Iloilo, Philippines

Rabies killed a 37-year-old man from Barangay Bitaog Gaja, New Lucena town, the second rabies-related fatality this year in Iloilo, according to a Panay News report. The head of the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) said the man was bitten by a dog in March and consumed dog meat in February and April. The report states that the victim manifested flu-like symptoms on 2 May and was taken to the hospital; however, he did not tell them he was bitten by a dog, doctors treated him as an out-patient for urinary tract infection. The patient developed other symptoms and was brought back for treatment but died on 5 May. Read more at Panay News and Outbreak News Today.

China: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak

Date: 19 May 2023; Disease: FMD; Location: Heshuoxian disinfection station along highway G314, Xinjiang Uygur, China

Eight domestic cattle were confirmed positive for FMD (serotype O) out of 35 susceptible population of animals. No deaths were reported. Read more at WOAH.

Cambodia chases herd immunity in dogs to stamp out rabies

Date: 22 May 2023

A British charity has launched a “focused blast” to give 100,000 dogs rabies shots in just 10 days in Cambodia’s capital city, in the country’s largest ever animal vaccination drive. The Southeast Asian country is a hotspot for the ancient disease, which is transmitted via the saliva of an infected animal and causes fatal inflammation of the brain if it is not treated immediately. While surveillance is patchy, it is estimated that there are around 800 cases in Cambodia each year, giving the small country one of the world’s highest incidence rates. Read more at Telegraph.

Disease reporting: Notes for private veterinarians in Myanmar

Date: 19 May 2023

To help increase the sensitivity of passive disease reporting, FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in Myanmar developed this publication to support private veterinarians in the country. FAO will soon release a similar publication in Burmese that targets CAHW in Myanmar. This publication equips veterinarians with updated information on notifiable animal diseases and information flow based on Myanmar’s animal health and livestock development law (2020). It will help the authorities to manage a disease problem before it becomes uncontrollable. To ensure better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, FAO will continue to provide assistance to support countries’ resilience and time-critical needs, thus protecting livelihoods and food security despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Read more at FAO.

Viet Nam: 410 human rabies deaths reported in past 5 years

Date: 17 May 2023; Disease: rabies; Location: Multiple locations, Viet Nam

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued an urgent document directing departments and People’s Committees of districts and Thu Duc city to strengthen urgent measures to prevent and control rabies in the area. It said that statistics over the past 5 years across the country show that rabies has killed 410 people, over 2.7 million people have to receive preventive treatment, affecting public health, cause great economic loss. Currently, the risk of rabies continues to occur and cause very high mortality in humans. Read more at Outbreak News Today.

Awareness, knowledge, attitude, and practices (A-KAP) assessment of the One Health approach in health sciences education webinar series participants in select universities in the Philippines

Date: 17 May 2023

A three-day One Health training program for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professionals in One Health-related fields, was conducted by the Philippine One Health University Network (PhilOHUN), in collaboration with the Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN), through a webinar series. To measure the impact of the training on the awareness, knowledge, attitude, and practices (A-KAP) related to the topics covered in the program, this study was conducted. Findings of the study showed that the Awareness of the participants (P<0.001) across the topics discussed significantly increased after taking part in the training program. In the Knowledge aspect, however, there was no significant improvement in the general knowledge items score of the participants (P=0.06) but improvements were observed in all the modules included in the training (P<0.05). As for the Attitude and Practices scores of the participants, no significant improvements were observed (P>0.05) after taking part in the training. The study concluded that significant differences in awareness and knowledge suggest that the training modules contain relevant topics, which were effectively transmitted during the program. For Attitude and Practices, it may be premature to determine the impact of a single activity, although it is expected that these will change over time. Nevertheless, the training program can be used as a springboard for introducing One Health concepts to a wider audience and a continuing initiative to influence the development of appropriate attitudes and practices for current and future One Health practitioners. Read more at Journal of Global Health Reports.

Epidemiology and molecular characterization of avian influenza A viruses H5N1 and H3N8 subtypes in poultry farms and live bird markets in Bangladesh

Date: 16 May 2023

Avian influenza virus (AIV) remains a global threat, with waterfowl serving as the primary reservoir from which viruses spread to other hosts. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 viruses continue to be a devastating threat to the poultry industry and an incipient threat to humans. A cross-sectional study was conducted in seven districts of Bangladesh to estimate the prevalence and subtypes (H3, H5, and H9) of AIV in poultry and identify underlying risk factors and phylogenetic analysis of AIVs subtypes H5N1 and H3N8. Cloacal and oropharyngeal swab samples were collected from 500 birds in live bird markets (LBMs) and poultry farms. The 12 H3N8 viruses in this study formed two genetic groups that had more similarity to influenza viruses from wild birds in Mongolia and China than to previous H3N8 viruses from Bangladesh. The findings of this study may be used to modify guidelines on AIV control and prevention to account for the identified risk factors that impact their spread. Read more at Nature.

Novel Avian Influenza virus (H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b reassortants in migratory birds, China

Date: May 2023

Two novel reassortant highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b.2 were identified in dead migratory birds in China in November 2021. The viruses probably evolved among wild birds through different flyways connecting Europe and Asia. Their low antigenic reaction to vaccine antiserum indicates high risks to poultry and to public health. Get full text at CDC.

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