Disease

Japanese encephalitis – Taiwan

In a follow-up on the Japanese encephalitis situation in Taiwan, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced 7 new Japanese encephalitis cases confirmed in Taiwan last week bringing the total to 12.

Bird Flu - China

Coined ‘Disease X’, a new strain of bird flu - H7N9 - has sparked fears of a major outbreak among scientists, having already infected more than 1600 people. Symptoms of infection include fever, coughing, shortness of breath, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, and organ failure. The virus has already killed 623 people within China.

At this time, the H7N9 can’t be spread between humans - and can only be contracted from contact with birds. However, experts suspect as few as three mutations could result in a human-to-human contagion - and potentially a worldwide pandemic.