Biology Digest

Here is an update on SARS-COV-2 project on folding at home.   

 

  The opening testimony Wednesday in support of a legislative effort to allow lawmakers to vote down public health orders went far enough off the rails for YouTube to remove footage of the speaker. Tom Renz, an attorney for Ohio Stands Up, filed a lawsuit in federal court in September  seeking to overturn any and all health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic . A federal judge last week  deemed the arguments nearly “incomprehensible”  and ordered Renz to show cause for why he shouldn’t dismiss the suit for procedural errors. The Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, an  anti-vaccine activism group aligned with Renz , posted to YouTube footage of Renz’s 35-minute, oftentimes rambling testimony to the House State and Local Government Committee. The video was soon taken down for violating YouTube’s terms of service. “We have clear Community Guidelines that govern what videos may stay on YouTube, which we enforce consistently, regardless of speaker,” said Ivy Choi...

Texas-based anti-vaccine organization Informed Consent Action Network was among five anti-vaccine groups that collectively received more than $850,000 in federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program,  the Washington Post reported Monday . The organization received $166,000 in May 2020, according to founder Del Bigtree. “Vaccine hesitancy” or “vaccine skepticism”  poses a significant and ongoing challenge for health authorities trying to overcome mistrust within communities of color, by the anti-vaccine crowd and general uncertainty nationwide. Doctors and scientists say the coronavirus vaccines currently available in the United States are  safe and effective . “At a minimum, it’s a mixed message from the government,” said Timothy Callaghan, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health. “Those individuals who are hesitant are going to be looking to various pieces of information to hel...

Five prominent anti-vaccine organizations that have been known to spread misleading information about the  coronavirus  received more than $850,000 in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, raising questions about why the government is giving money to groups actively opposing its agenda and seeking to undermine public health during a critical period. The groups that received the loans are the National Vaccine Information Center, Mercola Health Resources, the Informed Consent Action Network, the Children’s Health Defense and the Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom that fights misinformation and conducted the research using public documents. The group relied on data released in early December by the Small Business Administration in response to a lawsuit from The Washington Post and other news organizations. Several of the Facebook pages of these organizations have bee...

  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday announced a three-day lockdown in the country’s biggest city Auckland, after three COVID-19 cases emerged, the first local infections since late January. Level 3 restrictions will require everyone to stay home except for essential shopping and essential work, Ardern said, repeating the strict approach the country has taken over the past year in virtually eliminating the pandemic. “We have stamped out the virus before and we will do it again,” Ardern told a news conference in the capital, Wellington. New Zealand, which had gone more than two months without local infections before the January case, is to start inoculating its 5 million people against the new coronavirus on Feb. 20, receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier than anticipated. Restrictions were raised to level 3 through Wednesday, shutting public venues and prohibiting gatherings outside homes, except for weddings and funerals of up to 10...

  The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) reported this week on a case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in Tajikistan. The case was reported in Khatlon province making it the first cVDPV2 case in the country. The case is linked to an outbreak originating in Pakistan. Elsewhere, cases of wild poliovirus-1 (WPV-1) and cVDPV were reported: Afghanistan: 34 cVDPV2 cases Pakistan: four WPV1 and three cVDPV2 positive environmental samples Chad: one cVDPV2 case Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo): one cVDPV2 case Kenya: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample South Sudan: two cVDPV2 cases Yemen: one cVDPV1 case

  Since the declaration by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of a new outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) on 7 February 2021 in Butembo Area of North Kivu Province, two additional cases have been reported. A second case and death was reported Thursday in a 60-year-old woman from Ngubi village, three kilometres from the Health centre of Masoya in Butembo. On Friday, a third  confirmed case of virus disease  Ebola  was detected in Katwa near  Butembo, according to health officials. On Friday, 1200 doses of Ebola vaccine and cold chain equipment arrived in Butembo, the health ministry and the World Health Organization said in a statement. “An outbreak of such a highly contagious disease, in a region already experiencing mass people movements due to violent spikes of conflict that have recently affected nearly 26,000 families, is worrisome,” says World Vision’s National Director Anne-Marie Connor. http://outbreaknewstoday.com/ebola-outbreak-3rd-confirmed-...

In a  follow-up on the Rift Valley Fever (RVF)  outbreak in Kenya, the  World Health Organization  (WHO) reports as of Feb. 4, 2021, there are a 32 total cases reported, of which 14 are confirmed and 11 deaths. RVF in humans has been reported in Isiolo and Mandera counties and in animals in Isiolo, Mandera, Murang’a and Garissa counties. The first case of suspected RVF was reported in late November 2020 following a sudden death of an adult male who was a herder. This was a case from Sericho ward in Garbatulla subcounty, Isiolo county. Other deaths with symptoms such as fevers, joint pains, headache and general malaise were also reported in Gafarsa and Erisaboru locations within Garbatulla subcounty as well as Korbesa in Merti subcounty. A confirmed case of RVF in Madera county reported end of December has since died; he was involved in the slaughter of four sick camels. All the affected cases were males age ranging from 13 to 70 years.

  Of the total accumulated positive cases of COVID-19 in Metropolitan Lima (480,438), the jurisdiction of South Lima represents 46.6% (223,972) so far in the pandemic, reported the Directorate of Integrated Health Networks (Diris) South Lima of the Ministry of Health (Minsa). The executive director of Health Monitoring and Management of the Diris Lima Sur, Oscar Manuel Espejo Fernández, explained that, according to what was reported in the COVID-19 Situation Room of the Diris Lima Sur, as of February 3 of this year, 86.1% of active cases are found in 5 of the 13 districts of this jurisdiction, being Santiago de Surco (994), Villa El Salvador (818), San Juan de Miraflores (744), Villa María del Triunfo (713) and Chorrillos (688) the districts where the increase has been observed since the beginning of January. Additionally, the specialist pointed out that the number of confirmed cases of this disease compared to the total population shows infections in younger people and adults, whi...

  In a   follow-up on epizootic yellow fever situation   in Paraná state, Brazil, the   State Department of Health   reported three more deaths of infected monkeys (epizootics) that occurred in the municipality of Palmas, in the area of ​​the 7th Regional Health, in Pato Branco, in the southwest part of the state. Image/CIA The epidemiological monitoring period for yellow fever in Paraná began in July 2020 and continues until June this year. The State has so far registered 104 reports of animal diseases in 23 municipalities. There were 14 monkey deaths confirmed due to the yellow fever virus; 7 are under investigation, 41 were discarded and 42 occurred for undetermined causes. Regarding yellow fever in humans, the period has no confirmed cases. There were 15 notifications; 11 already discarded and 4 are still under investigation. “Paraná is considered an area of ​​viral circulation and that is why we monitor the presence of this virus daily, alway...

  Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) are investigating a cluster of two typhoid fever cases who were reported to have symptoms including fever, headache, diarrhea and cough, after consuming food prepared by Hooi Kee Eating House (located at 190 Clemenceau Avenue, #01-19/20, Singapore Shopping Centre) on several occasions from 2 January to 18 January 2021 .  Both cases were hospitalized. One has since been discharged and the other is in stable condition in hospital. In view of the suspected ongoing transmission, SFA has issued a direction to suspend Hooi Kee Eating House’s food business operations with effect from 11 February 2021 until further notice.   Members of the public who have consumed food from Hooi Kee Eating House and subsequently develop prolonged fever, should consult their general practitioner immediately and inform the doctor of their food history. All food handlers working in the premises are required to re-attend ...

  On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a  health advisory  over extensively drug-resistant (XDR)  Salmonella  Typhi (Typhi) infections among U.S. residents without international travel. In 2016, a large outbreak of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Typhi infections began in Sindh province, Pakistan. XDR Typhi strains are resistant to antibiotics generally recommended to treat typhoid fever, including ampicillin, ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Isolates from patients linked to the outbreak in Pakistan are susceptible to carbapenems and azithromycin. Infections among travelers to or from Pakistan have been reported globally, including in the United States. As of January 14, 2021, CDC has received 71 reports of XDR Typhi infection in the United States, with specimens obtained from February 9, 2018, through November 16, 2020. Among 67 patients with known travel history, 58 (87%) had tra...