Global health news briefs
November/December 2024 | Volume 23 Number 6
New mpox variant detected in London
The U.K. Health Security Agency has identified the first cluster outside Africa of illnesses caused by the new, more infectious mpox variant, Clade Ib mpox. Four members of the same London household are being treated in a hospital. The first-infected individual had traveled to countries in Africa that are seeing community spread of the variant. British health officials say the overall risk of infection for the UK population remains low.
TB changes liver metabolism and could promote diabetes
University of Leicester scientists have discovered that tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease that killed 1.25 million people in 2023, disrupts glucose metabolism in the body. This finding is critical to understanding the interplay between TB and metabolic disease and suggests that undiagnosed TB could be pushing patients towards metabolic disease, such as diabetes. The study, published in PLoS Pathogens, adds to the understanding that diabetes worsens the symptoms of TB.
Malaria surges in Ethiopia
Malaria is found in nearly 70% of Ethiopia, with 52% of Ethiopians at risk of infection. Since 2004, with scale-up of control interventions, widespread malaria epidemics have been largely absent in the country of 120 million people located on the Horn of Africa. However, since January 1st of this year, more than 7.3 million malaria cases and 1,157 deaths have been reported, according to WHO. Experts attribute the surge, in part, to mosquitoes’ growing resistance to drugs and insecticides.
Jordan eliminates leprosy, Brazil eliminates elephantiasis
WHO verified Jordan as the first country to eliminate leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease. Leprosy is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that mainly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract and the eyes. It still occurs in more than 120 countries. Jordan has not reported any local cases of leprosy for over two decades.
WHO also congratulated Brazil for eliminating lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, a debilitating parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes that causes pain, severe swelling, serious disability, and social stigmatization. Brazil began a national elimination plan in 1997, which included mass distribution of antiparasitic drugs, and achieved the end of disease transmission in 2017.
Variants linked to kidney disease found in a third of West Africans
A National Human Genome Research Institute study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, revealed that having just one risk variant in the APOL1 gene can increase an individual’s risk of developing kidney disease. Over 8,000 people from Ghana and Nigeria participated in the study, which determined that nearly one-third of individuals in these two nations carry APOL1 variants linked to chronic kidney disease. Though most often found in people of West African descent, people from other regions of the globe may also inherit this variant.
African plant compound may help fight TB
A compound found in African wormwood — a plant used medicinally for thousands of years to treat many types of illness — could be effective against TB, according to a preliminary study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. The chemical compound can kill the mycobacteria that causes tuberculosis in both its active state and its slower, hypoxic state, which the mycobacteria enters when it is stressed. This slower state is what makes TB difficult to clear.
WHO prioritizes pathogens for vaccine development
A WHO study in eBioMedicine names 17 pathogens as priorities for vaccine development. Criteria include regional disease burden, antimicrobial resistance risk and socioeconomic impact. The study reconfirms longstanding concerns—HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis—while highlighting pathogens increasingly resistant to antimicrobials—group A streptococcus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The remaining pathogens on the list are: hepatitis C virus, cytomegalovirus; influenza; Leishmania; non-typhoidal Salmonella; Norovirus; Shigella; Staphylococcus aureus; Dengue; group B streptococcus; E. coli; and respiratory syncytial virus.
US toolkit for suspected viral hemorrhagic fevers
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs), such as Marburg virus disease, may cause significant morbidity and even death. A high potential for person-to-person transmission also exists. To improve readiness in the scenario where a suspected VHF patients seeks help at a U.S. hospital, experts developed a new toolkit which provides guidance on infection prevention and control, waste management, and laboratory test collection and processing. The toolkit is designed to be easily adapted by any frontline U.S. health facility.
Updated November 26, 2024
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