Amid growing concerns over the detection of human metapneumovirus cases in India, health experts have emphasised the virus is not new, and advised people to stay calm and take basic precautions.
Cricket Australia said on Sunday they are still planning to play the third Test against India in Sydney in early January, despite an outbreak of COVID-19 in the north of the city.
IMD data shows in the 24 hours between September 1 and 2, Haryana received 806 per cent more rainfall than normal, Punjab 759 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 510 per cent, Delhi 740 per cent, Chandigarh a staggering 1,638 per cent, and Rajasthan 193 per cent.
China's National Health Commission said on Wednesday that 93 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 16 new imported cases were reported on Tuesday, the highest in a single day in recent weeks.
'We have to be wary because if an uncontrolled transmission happens, random mutations may lead to something which could be virulent and then that could land us in a problem.'
Manchester United suffered an outbreak of COVID-19 among players and staff on Sunday, jeopardising their next Premier League game against Brentford.
The spread of a new coronavirus could throw "cold water over the growing momentum of the 2020 Games," Tokyo Organising Committee CEO Toshiro Muto said. Japanese government officials including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have said the government would work hard to minimise any impact from the virus outbreak on the Games, which start on July 24.
There has been a nearly 150 per cent rise in patients coming to outpatient departments with such complaints, they said.
The number of cases due to the mosquito-transmitted disease in the southern state went went up to 14 on Friday following confirmation of 13 additional samples by the National Institute of Virology.
In a press briefing, officials said the virus outbreak is under control in the country and credited a robust surveillance network along with implementation of the lockdown and other containment measures for it.
'We still don't know how viruses that we ingest are killed inside our bodies.'
A new analysis of genetic samples collected from a seafood market in central China's Wuhan city shows the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in raccoon dogs sold at the venue, strengthening the case for the natural origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a team of international experts.
The Indian Council of Medical Research was in talks with the Serum Institute of India for local manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies (MABs). However, it did not take off, as the volume was much less in India.
Strict screening protocols are to be implemented for passengers arriving from central African countries affected by the outbreak.
A 38-year-old man undergoing treatment in Kerala's northern Malappuram district has been confirmed to have contracted Mpox infection, the state health department said on Wednesday.
The scare of communicable diseases seems to be gripping the country with Maharashtra reporting 28 Zika cases this year, the highest since 2021.
An outbreak of a pneumonia-like illness that started in the city of Wuhan in China has put health authorities on high alert around the world. The new coronavirus-named 2019-nCoV-is thought to have originated in the food market of the central China metropolis and has since infected more than 4,000 people worldwide.
India is set to play a three-match ODI series against West Indies in Ahmedabad, beginning February 6.
Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has said there is no need to panic over two cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) detected in the state, as the infections are caused by old virus strains and are not life-threatening. The minister said that the two infected infants are doing "normal" and advised people to follow general precautionary measures. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has detected the two cases through routine surveillance for multiple respiratory viral pathogens.
As Kerala reeled under a daily increase of nearly 30,000 cases of COVID-19, the deadly Nipah virus has come as another thorn in its side, prompting the state to further heighten the alertness of its health machinery to prevent an outbreak of a different infection.
It is important to note that neither of the patients have any history of international travel, the ministry underlined.
Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a respiratory virus that causes illnesses ranging from mild respiratory discomfort to severe complications. It spreads through respiratory droplets, similar to other respiratory viruses such as RSV and influenza. This article provides an overview of HMPV including its symptoms, transmission, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and how it differs from COVID-19.
China has firmly denied that its Wuhan Institute of Virology conducted gain-of-function studies on coronavirus, rejecting allegations that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded such research at the lab. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, emphasized that the lab has never engaged in gain-of-function research, designed, made, or leaked COVID-19. China has also reiterated its stance on the origins-tracing of COVID-19, stating that the pandemic was "extremely unlikely" to have originated from a lab leak, as concluded by the WHO-China joint mission.
Even when China's widely-publicised exchange with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in response to the queries over the reports of surging cases of mycoplasma pneumonia and influenza flu triggered the worldwide alert, including in India, China said the spike in respiratory diseases was due to an 'immunity gap'.
In a statement, Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government to increase the number of testing facilities across the country and make public the details of hospitals and medical facilities through a dedicated portal.
Coronavirus outbreak has sparked speculation about whether the Games, scheduled to open July 24, could be postponed or even cancelled.
The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune under the ICMR has isolated the monkeypox virus from the clinical specimen of a patient, which can pave the way for development of diagnostic kits and vaccines against the disease, officials said on Wednesday.
He was the first to report about the virus way back in December last year when it first emerged in Wuhan, the provincial capital of China's central Hubei province.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) will ask two infectious disease experts to advise potential members of their Rio 2016 Olympic Games team who are concerned about the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil.
The Union health ministry has advised states to immediately review public health preparedness in view of recent reports indicating a surge in respiratory illness in children in northern China.
"We raced against time and were the first country to report cases to the world," Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said in interviews to the official media over the weekend.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, various states have announced partial or complete lockdown and also there is increased focus on social distancing to curb the spread of the deadly virus which has infected over 400 people in the country.
The Diamond Princess cruise ship arrived in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on February 3 with 3,711 passengers and crew on board, 621 people were found to be infected with the deadly coronavirus after it was diagnosed in a man who disembarked last month in Hong Kong.
Five wards in two panchayats of Malappuram district were declared as containment zones and directions have been issued not to gather in large numbers.
According to various global media reports, China is creating Covid-like pathogens in Pakistan that have the potential of causing virus contamination on a scale far higher than Covid.
This comes amid a rapid surge in spread of the disease in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and its detection in neighbouring countries as well.
A small Australian maker of bug sprays became an unlikely beneficiary of the mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak this week when the country's Olympic team signed it up as its first official insect repellent sponsor.
Of the fresh cases, two were natives of Anayara in Thiruvananthapuram, where a cluster of the disease had been identified within a three kilometre radius, Health Minister Veena George said.
