The 2014 World Health Day focuses on Vector-Borne diseases
For World Health Day April 7th 2014, CABI's "Handpicked" features blogs from regions where vector-borne diseases daily kill or debilitate. In “The 2014 World Health Day focuses on Vector-Borne diseases”, Joseph Ana, editor of BMJ West Africa and former Commissioner for Health, Cross River State, Nigeria, makes the case for information dissemination & regional cooperation on vector-borne diseases. Drawing on personal experience, he highlights the need to support low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) where good public health practice has significantly reduced vector borne diseases, & to actively extend their best practice to other regions lagging behind.
Chikungunya conquers the Swiss Alps
Earlier this week, a mosquito (Aedes albopictus) that can carry chikungunya and dengue fever viruses has been spotted north of the Swiss Alps in the canton of Aargau. In response, the Swiss health ministry plans to make chikungunya, which was described for the first time in Tanzania in 1952, a mandatory reportable disease from next…