Disease

Poliovirus in Israel, West Bank and Gaza Strip

WHO considers the risk of further international spread of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) from Israel to be high. The risk assessment reflects evidence of increasing geographic extent of WPV1 circulation in Israel over a prolonged period of time. Recently, WPV1 has also been isolated from sewage samples collected by the Palestinian Authority , both in West Bank and the Gaza Strip. No cases of paralytic polio have been reported by Israel or the Palestinian Authority.

Antibiotic Use Warning: Drug Resistance Growing

The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called on the health care industry and agriculture to cut back on the use of antibiotics to avoid worsening resistance to the medications. “If we don't act now, our medicine cabinet will be empty and we won't have the antibiotics we need to save lives,” warned CDC director Tom Frieden.

The centre estimates that 23,000 Americans die each year due to bacteria already resistant to even the most potent forms of the medicine.

It warns that patients need to understand that antibiotics are not the solution to every illness, and that half of the prescriptions written for them by doctors are not necessary.

Pressure is also mounting for the FDA to ban feeding antibiotics to livestock simply to fatten them up.

The CDC says such use is not necessary “and the practice should be phased out.”

Some farmers argue that when livestock are crammed into huge feedlots, antibiotics keep them from getting infections from other animals.