Disease

Newly emerged superbug discovered

The Partner State Key Laboratory of Chirosciences at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) discovered a newly emerged superbug, hyper-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae, which may cause untreatable and fatal infections in relatively healthy individuals and will pose enormous threat to human health.

Vaccine-derived polio: More cases reported in Syria, DRC

The number of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) cases reported in 2017 is now 47 as additional cases have been reported in Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

In Syria, six new cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were officially reported in the past week from Deir-Ez-Zour governorate, bringing the total number of cases in this outbreak to 39. Onset of paralysis of these cases is between 3 March and 10 July. The bulk of all cases are from Deir-Ez-Zour, the epicentre of this outbreak.

In the DRC, one new case of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) was reported in the past week from Haut Lomami province, with onset of paralysis on 20 June.