Japan/United States
A new strain of cholera has been on the rampage along the coasts of the US and Japan. Identified by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta with the help of India鈥檚 National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, the strain spreads in inadequately cooked seafood.
Russia
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A man in the Kalmykia region has become the country鈥檚 first anthrax victim this year. He contracted the skin form of the disease from an infected cow. Around a dozen people in Russia get anthrax each year.
United States
A 20-year-old woman in Cheyenne last week became Wyoming鈥檚 third known victim of hantavirus, a flu-like disease spread in food or dust contaminated with infected urine, faeces or saliva from rodents. First identified in the US in 1993, the disease has been found in 31 states.
Republic of Congo, Brazzaville
Five new cases of Ebola haemorrhagic fever have emerged on the border with Gabon. An earlier outbreak between December and April claimed 42 victims and has been traced to hunters infected by diseased primates. At least one gorilla has been found with the virus in its bone marrow.
United States
West Nile virus, which causes potentially fatal brain swelling or meningitis, has been identified in mosquitoes in Ohio. The disease is spreading west. So far, it鈥檚 been confirmed in 23 states this year.
Austria
Reports this month confirm that some blackbirds, owls and swallows that died last year in Austria were infected with Usutu virus, previously confined to Africa. 鈥淲hether the virus can cause human disease is unknown,鈥� say the researchers who identified it.
Madagascar
Four children in the Tolagnaro district have developed polio. None had been fully vaccinated. Investigators think the outbreak was caused by a vaccine strain that swapped genes with other viruses.