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BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) today confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in an adult male with recent travel to Canada. Initial testing was completed late Tuesday at the State Public Health Laboratory in Jamaica Plain and confirmatory testing was completed today at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). DPH is working closely with the CDC, relevant local boards of health, and the patient’s health care providers to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient while he was infectious. This contact tracing approach is the most appropriate...

Washington (AFP) - The United States on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of putting politics first by ignoring Taiwanese warnings over China's coronavirus outbreak, laying out its case against the UN body. The State Department said the WHO was too late in sounding the alarm over COVID-19, showed too much deference to China and questioned why it did not pursue a lead from Taiwan. Taiwan, which has succeeded in preventing a major outbreak despite its proximity and ties to China, warned the WHO on December 31 of human-to-human transmission, Vice President Chen Chien-Jen has said. Chen, an epidemiologist, told...

AFP - Experts on infectious diseases Thursday warned people to stay away from bats worldwide after the recent death of an eight-year-old boy bitten in Australia. The boy last month became the third person in the country to die of Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV), for which there is no effective treatment. Doctors Joshua Francis and Clare Nourse of Brisbane's Mater Children's Hospital warned an infectious diseases conference that human-to-human transmission of the virus may be possible.

Chinese son likely gave bird flu to father: report By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Mon Apr 7, 6:34 PM ET A 24-year-old Chinese man who died of bird flu in December passed the virus directly to his father in a rare case of human-to-human transmission of the virus, doctors reported on Monday. Chinese officials had already said they believed the younger man infected his 52-year-old father, who survived, but genetic sequencing and other checks confirmed this was likely, the researchers said. "In this family cluster of confirmed cases of infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus...

May 17, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – World Health Organization officials have confirmed five cases of H5N1 avian influenza in an Indonesian family in North Sumatra, plus a fatal case in a woman from East Java, news services reported today. Additionally, Indonesia's health ministry said local tests revealed the H5N1 strain in a 12-year-old Jakarta boy who died 4 days ago, according to a Reuters report. This case, however, has yet to be confirmed by the WHO. The North Sumatra case cluster was first reported by Indonesian officials several days ago, sparking concern about the possibility of person-to-person transmission. In today's...