The four health care workers became infected after carrying for patients without gloves, gowns or respirators. Officials have reported that such equipment has been made available to all hospitals.

It has now been determined that Uganda is dealing with a new strain of Ebola. Normally Ebola takes it’s victims through massive bleeding. However, this new strain causes a measles-like rash and high fever. It also seems to be less deadly.

Officials have recommended that people refrain from hand shakes, kissing and have closed down venues were a lot of people could easily become infected at once.

International aid is present in the country at this point in time. Fact sheets and radio public service announcements are being used to spread awareness.

Ebola killed 170 people in Northern Uganda seven years ago. Experts are attempting to find the source of this outbreak, so they can prevent such an outbreak from happening again.

This brings China’s total to 27 human infections. The, higher then average number, is in-part credited to China’s very high bird population. So far the only way to be infected is by close contact with infected poultry. It is feared that the bird flu may changed into a version that can be easily transfered from human to human. It’s predicted that if this happen it could spark a global flu pandemic.

Early reports say, that neither man had known contact with infected poultry. Obviously, this only elevates the investigation into how the pair became infected. As usual it’s not time to panic. Most likely both were infected by birds.

As more information is made available, I’ll get it up.

It has been given to 36 volunteers. I can’t imagine how it must feel to be one of those volunteers. In one hand, your helping solve a global problem. But the consequences of testing a new drug can be serve. All I have to say is, my hats off to those 36. Tests on mice and small animals have shown that the drug is safe for humans.

This vaccine is different then any other vaccine that has ever been tested. It replicates itself to fight HIV infection. To this date there have been around 120 tests of HIV vaccines on humans.

The vaccine seems promising. However, if it were found to work, years of work still lies ahead. It’s not time to declare victory, this test is just one of many that will add to our knowledge of the disease.

China’s first vaccine passed phase one. Meaning the vaccine was found to be safe for human use. This vaccine is still waiting to be moved into phase two. Officials have said, that we would have to wait for future announcements before we know the fate of this first vaccine. Most likely it will eventually be moved to phase two. This will test the vaccine’s ability to fight an HIV infection. The third phase will test the HIV vaccine’s ability to protect high risk groups.

China has around 700,000 people infected with Aids or HIV. China is being some-what closed-mouthed about both vaccines. But, I guess you can’t expect them to tell us everything.

It will be at least a few months before we know the results of the test currently be conducted in China. I guess we will just have to wait…

The team looked at three different scenarios. One situation, dealt with a very large scale intentional outbreak. If foot-and-mouth disease was to be intentionally released on five large feed lots the regional economic damage would total $685 million. Large feed lots consist of over 40,000 heads of cattle. Researches predict that 1.7 million heads of cattle would have to be destroyed to prevent the spread of Foot-and-mouth disease. It’s predicted that this large scale type of intentional infection could last up to three months.

As a rule of thumb, the more cattle infected at once, the better chance of foot-and-mouth spreading to other cattle which is directly related to the economic loss. The smallest scenario, with just one cow and calf initially infected, would cost 23 Million and 123,000 cattle would have to be destroyed. The outbreak could last as long as 29 days. In the last scenario, a feedlot with between 10,000-20,000 cattle becomes infected. It would lead to the destruction of 407,000, cause 140 million in damages and last about 39 days.

I think the numbers speak for themselves. It’s very important that we do as much as possible to prevent such an outbreak. The report also details how vulnerable Kansas is. Over 100,000 cattle are brought in contact with eachother on a weekly basis. The disease defiantly has the potentially to spread quickly and cause massive economic damage to the region. Lets hope we never get to know how accurate these predictions are…

It’s been reported that some people are refusing to come out of their houses for treatment. This is often the case with third-world countries. Negotiators are doing their best to get these people to treatment centers.

Ebola has no cure and is spread mostly by blood contact. Not much is known about the disease itself and even little is known about the strain of Ebola in Uganda. It was discovered in 1976 and has remained relativity rare from then on. The disease is so deadly that Ebola usually doesn’t have a chance to spread before the patient is killed. This is what prevents outbreaks of this disease from becoming common.

More info is defiantly on the way…

Around 200 people have died from the bird flu sense it became prevalent in 2003.

It is feared that the H5N1 strain of bird flu may mutate into something that can easily be transfered from human to human. This could spark a global pandemic.

Most people have absolutely nothing to worry about. It’s a very uncommon infection.

It may be known by to some as the “boot camp flu”. Earlier this year it was responsible for infecting hundreds at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. It lead to the death of one 19 year old and sent five to ICU.

It’s alarming that healthy young-adults easily became infected. As with most infections, those with weak immune systems are at more risk.

If anything comes up in the news about this strain all be sure to get it posted…

The majority of these infections are in sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly 68% of HIV infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa. Even more shocking is 76% of all HIV deaths occurred there.

The announcement made by the UNAIDS is good news. It however doesn’t mean we can stop carrying. It’s good to know that 6 million less people are infected with AIDS then we thought. I think it also shows that preventative measures are working around the world.

The bad news is that the disease is concentrated in the mostly black and impoverished countries. It’s easy to think that HIV doesn’t affect you. The statistics of this region really show the problem. Only 10% of men and 12% of women have been tested for HIV. Only 1 out of 10 people is receiving the antiretroviral medication needed to survive with Aids.

It’s obvious that outreach programs aimed at the region are not working. No, doubt these programs are doing good they just aren’t doing enough good. This is mainly due to a lack of interest and funding in the area. More money is needed in the region for education. The locals are still afraid to be tested. I would only have to guess that this is related to their lack of information about the disease.

It’s going to require millions of dollars to launch a full-fledged attack on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The people need to be educated, tested and then treated. Hopefully the education part will help prevent farther spread of the disease in the area.

Aids has killed an estimated 25 million people and another 40 million are currently infected. The disease infests countries that don’t have the funding and education for prevention and treatment. That to me, is what makes the fight against Aids so important. Most of these people have no options. Aids is a death sentence unless antiretroviral medication is made available. A weeks supply of antiretroviral pills costs about five dollars a week. The pills are taken twice daily and can put life back into someone who isn’t far from death. People around the world are dieing because they can’t afford the medication.

Another very important medication is nevirapine. This medication can prevent the spread of Aids from mother to child during birth. How many more children have to be born into this world with a potential death sentence? It’s huge if we can prevent a child from entering this world with the devastating disease.

My World Aids Day promise is to post more Aids related content on this site.

Romania is lucky number seven. The outbreak killed 31 bird and lead to 49 birds being killed to control the outbreak. The last outbreak of bird flu in Romania ended in July 2006.

The bird flu has lead to the death of 300 million birds in 60 countries. Some of the poultry died directly as an effect of outbreak and the others were killed to prevent the spread.

So far only 335 people have been infected with the virus, 3/5 cases were deadly. All the cases are a result of direct contact with infected birds. It’s feared that the virus may transform into something that can be more easily transfered from human to human.

Adding to the concerns, is the fact that the virus is now being carried by healthy birds. The healthy birds, although infected, show no signs. This allows the virus to move even more effectively.

Defiantly something I’ll be keeping an eye on, updates to come.