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Infected people described as having flu-like symptoms including high fever and severe headaches An unknown disease killed 143 people in a south-west province of Democratic Republic of the Congo in November, local authorities told Reuters. Infected people had flu-like symptoms including high fever and severe headaches, Remy Saki, the deputy governor of Kwango province, and Apollinaire Yumba, the provincial minister of health, said on Monday. A medical team has been sent to the Panzi health zone to collect samples and carry out an analysis to identify the disease. The situation was extremely worrying as the number of infected people continued to rise, said Cephorien Manzanza, a civil society leader. “Panzi is a rural health zone, so there is a problem with the supply of medicines,” Manzanza said. Sick people died in their own homes for lack of treatment, Saki and Yumba said. A local epidemiologist said women and children were the most seriously affected by the disease. A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Tuesday the UN health agency had been alerted to the presence of the disease last week, and it was working alongside DRC’s public health ministry to make further investigations. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/03/unknown-disease-kills-people-south-west-drc-democratic-republic-of-the-congo

Any bro or sis knows anyone with the above mentioned disease? How is the disease affecting the sufferer? How is it affecting the family financially? How are they coping now?

I think this really deserves a thread on it's own. Poor guy really look emotional towards the end and I can understand that pain.

The Nigerian government has warned of a “strange epidemic” which has left 15 people dead and infected dozens more in less than a week. The outbreak of the mysterious disease, which causes vomiting, swelling and diarrhoea, was first recorded late last month in Benue State, southeast of the capital Abuja. By 3 February, “the number of persons affected with the strange endemic has risen to 104”, said Nigerian senator Abba Moro, according to newspaper the Daily Post. In a Senate resolution, Mr Moro, who represents a district in Benue State, named a number of victims of the disease, who all allegedly died within 48 hours of contracting the illness. The resolution urged the country’s health ministry to dispatch experts to the centre of the outbreak to find out more about the disease. It also called for the Nigeria Centres for Disease Control (NCDC) to establish surveillance measures to contain its spread, the Post reported. Osagie Ehanire, the health minister, said in a briefing on Friday the illness did not appear to be Ebola or Lassa fever – two potentially fatal viruses which occur in West Africa. Nor did it appear to be the 2019 novel coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan China and has so far killed more than 700 people. Mr Ehanire said the NCDC had now activated an emergency response operation in the affected area – with government officials suspecting chemicals used in fishing may be responsible for the sickness, according to the BBC. He advised Nigerians who may have witnessed cases of the illness to contact the agency for free using the number 0800-970000-10. The NCDC has been contacted for comment. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-disease-mystery-virus-deaths-benue-state-abba-moro-a9325806.html

Catch it on news last night. This rare diseases fund is a very good initiative started by MOH, to help families cope with high medical and treatment cost for rare diseases. One of the family interviewed face a monthly medical bill of up to $24K, which is beyond imagination for even a typical middle income family. I hope more can be aware of this RDF, and help to spread the news, so that families in need can benefit from the scheme. It would be good if we could contribute to the fund to help the needy. More information on the RDF is available on www.kkh.com.sg/rarediseasefund New hope for patients with rare diseases with the launching of a new fund https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-hope-for-patients-with-rare-diseases-with-the-launching-of-a-new-fund SINGAPORE - Singaporeans with three forms of rare diseases now have access to financial aid to help with medical expenses which can run into thousands of dollars each month. Launched on Tuesday (July 2) by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and SingHealth Fund, the Rare Disease Fund (RDF) will, for a start, fund five medicines used to treat the three conditions - primary bile acid synthesis disorder, Gaucher disease and Hyperphenylalaninaemia due to tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) deficiency. New charity fund to provide financial support for Singaporeans with rare diseases https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/charity-fund-health-rare-disease-treatment-cost-11682554 SINGAPORE: A new charity fund has been set up to help Singaporeans with rare diseases who cannot afford treatment costs. Jointly established by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the SingHealth Fund, the Rare Disease Fund will combine community donations and Government-matched contributions to financially support Singapore citizens with specific rare diseases, MOH announced in a press release on Tuesday (Jul 2). Singaporeans with 3 rare diseases will get funding help for treatment https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/singaporeans-3-rare-diseases-will-get-funding-help-treatment Launched yesterday by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and SingHealth Fund, the Rare Disease Fund (RDF) will, for a start, support the use of five medicines to treat the three conditions - Primary bile acid synthesis disorder, Gaucher disease and hyperphenylalaninaemia due to tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) deficiency. The hope is that over time, more rare diseases and medications will be added to the list, an MOH statement said yesterday.

Health experts are warning that a fatal infectious disease that is spreading across the country among deer, elk and moose may be transmittable to humans. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), which is described as a progressive, fatal disease that affects the brain, spinal cord and other tissues of animals, has been documented in at least 24 states as of January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The disease, which can take years for symptoms to appear after infection, is believed to spread through bodily fluids like feces, saliva, blood, or urine, by both direct and indirect contact in the environment. There are no treatments or vaccines. The symptoms, which have been compared to those of zombies, may include drastic weight loss, stumbling, lack of coordination, listlessness, drooling, excessive thirst or urination, drooping ears, lack of fear of people, and aggression. Though there have been no confirmed animal to human transmissions, some health officials, pointing to laboratory tests, say it may be only a matter of time. “It is probable that human cases of CWD associated with the consumption of contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead,” Michael Osterholm, the director for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease and Research Prevention, told Minnesota lawmakers on Thursday, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. “It is possible that (the) number of human cases will be substantial and will not be isolated events.” Laboratory studies have shown that the CWD’s mutated protein, which is called a prion, is capable of infecting animals that carry human genes like squirrel monkeys, macaques, and lab mice, according to the CDC. It is possible that (the) number of human cases will be substantial and will not be isolated events. One study performed by German and Canadian scientists has also found that macaques could be infected by eating meat from infected deer or elk, as well as deer that had CWD but had yet to show symptoms. An earlier study did not confirm this transmission, however, the CDC said. “To date, there is no strong evidence for the occurrence of CWD in people, and it is not known if people can get infected with CWD prions,” the CDC’s website states. “Nevertheless, these experimental studies raise the concern that CWD may pose a risk to people and suggest that it is important to prevent human exposures to CWD https://sg.news.yahoo.com/experts-warn-fatal-zombie-deer-193709907.html

Man diagnosed with world's first human case of rat disease hepatitis E.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-diagnosed-first-human-case-of-rat-disease-hepatitis-e/ A 56-year-old man from Hong Kong has developed the world's first human case of rat hepatitis E, Chinese scientists announced Friday. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong discovered the case after testing showed abnormal liver function following a liver transplant. Doctors later found that he had a strain of hepatitis that was "highly divergent" from other strains found in humans, the BBC reports. It's unclear how the man was infected with the virus, but contamination of food by infected rat droppings in the food supply is possible," the researchers said in a report. The patient has been cured of the disease, his doctors said. While rats are known to transmit a number of other diseases to humans, includingplague, Lassa fever and leptospirosis, this is the first reported case in humans of the rat variation of hepatitis E. The human strain of hepatitis E is typically spread through contaminated water or food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a microbiologist at Hong Kong University, told reporters at a press conference that the discovery was a "wake-up call" to improve environmental hygiene, according to the South China Morning Post. "We don't know if in future there will be a serious outbreak of the rat hepatitis E virus in Hong Kong," he said. "We need to closely monitor this issue." Dr. Siddharth Sridhar, a clinical assistant professor also in the university's department of microbiology, said controlling the rat population is key. "Infections that jump from animals to humans must be taken very seriously," Sridhar told The New York Times. "For these kinds of rare infections, unusual infections, even one case is enough to make public health authorities and researchers very alert about the implications of the disease. One is all it takes." Symptoms of hepatitis E in humans include fever, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, jaundice, abdominal pain, joint pain and dark-colored urine. There is no specific antiviral therapy for the disease and it typically goes away on its own without treatment. Doctors will advise infected patients to rest, get adequate nutrition and fluids, avoid alcohol and check with their physician before taking any medications that can damage the liver. The rat variation of hepatitis E was first discovered in Germany, according to a paper published in 2010. The New York Times reports that it has been found in rats all over the world, including the United States.

As reported in CNA : Mass hysteria' closes Bangladeshi schools Posted: 10 July 2008 1415 hrs DHAKA- A mystery illness health experts are describing as a type of "mass hysteria" has struck students at four schools in Bangladesh in the past week, forcing them to close temporarily. The condition appears highly contagious -- as soon as one student becomes ill, others are immediately struck with similar symptoms, usually headaches, acute pain and even fainting, officials say. Most of the victims are teenage girls, said Salahuddin Khan, chief medical officer of Jessore district, where the affected schools are. "It's a peculiar disease. I've never seen anything like it," he told AFP. "It started after a girl fainted at a school. Soon enough dozens of her friends complained of acute headaches, restlessness and body pains. They were all affected within minutes." Speculation among local media about the origin of the baffling illness has been rife, with a top army doctor even telling state-owned broadcaster BTV that it was caused by poisonous gas "sabotage" against the impoverished country. "So far, 81 students at three schools and a madrassa (religious school) have been struck by the ailment," said Khan. "More than half of them fell unconscious and had to be hospitalised. We haveshut down the schools and the madrassa temporarily." He said a team from the country's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) visited the students and took blood samples. The chief medical officer of central Narsingdi district said his region had also been hit. Birendranath Sinha said 11 girls became ill on Monday after hearing one of their fellow students had died suddenly. "There is no proper explanation for the disease. It's something mass psychogenic," he said, adding that hundreds of students also fell ill in schools in the district last year. Work was also temporarily suspended at a garment factory in the southeastern port city of Chittagong last month after 700 workers complained of similar symptoms. "It started after a worker said she saw a ghost-like object and within minutes the whole factory was in the grip of mass hysteria --workers were falling unconscious, complaining of headaches, muscle twisting and breathlessness," said Mostaq Hossain, an expert who is spearheading IEDCR's research into the phenomenon. The phenomenon is not new -- according to IEDCR statistics, about 2,000 pupils in Bangladesh have been affected by "mass hysteria" since it was first reported here in August 2005. Last year, the government called an urgent summit involving all regional health officials to discuss the condition.Health officials are calling for calm, saying there is no reason to be alarmed. "We have identified it as 'mass sociogenic' disease. It is nothing but mass hysteria," Hossain said. "Mostly teenage girls who are physically and mentally vulnerable are being affected by the disease. We've told health officials across the country not to panic. Schools have been told to improve the conditions for girls." Hossain said the phenomenon was not a recognised psychiatric condition and generally affected groups, triggered by an unusual illness or shocking event experienced by one group member. He also said there had been a snowball effect, with many girls who read about cases "feeling that they could be the victims of the same ailment." He ruled out any poisonous gas theory. "It was also common among English girls during the nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution in Britain," he said. - AFP/vm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis Girl Who Can’t Feel Legs Due To MS Pursues Dreams Of Running Track Joseph Milord Source: http://elitedaily.com/sports/kayla-montgomery-champion-track-star-video/864139/ Kayla Montgomery is more than a high school track star. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis four years ago, Montgomery has almost unfathomably defied the odds to become a state champion long distance runner. Her success, however, does not come without a cost. Because of the disease, Kayla cannot run without experiencing the heat triggered symptoms of MS, which include loss of feeling in her legs. Because of these symptoms, she is not able to come to a full, concentrated and calculated stop after she finishes a race, leaving her to resort to falling at the finish line, where her coach is there to catch her each time. Still, she has made her mark as one the top runners in the country. For as good as her résumé is as a competitor, though, her story is even better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_dMrFx1mlE

Many of us from the 70's will remember this man ........... I started smoking after seeing you but quit much earlier than you ... R.I.P. yahoo news: Ex-Marlboro man dies from smoking-related disease LOS ANGELES (AP) — When it came to portraying the rugged western outdoorsman who helped transform a pack of filtered cigarettes into the world's most popular brand, Marlboro Man Eric Lawson was the real deal. Ruggedly handsome, the actor could ride a horse through the wide-open spaces of the Southwest, from Texas to Colorado to Arizona or wherever else the Phillip Morris tobacco company sent him to light up while representing a true American icon, the cowboy. And he really did smoke Marlboro cigarettes, as many as three packs a day. Lawson was still smoking in 2006 when he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died of the disease at his home in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 10. He was 72. For three years in the late 1970s and early '80s, Lawson portrayed one of the most iconic figures in both advertising and popular culture. And for the past several years, Lawson had spoken out fiercely about the hazards of smoking, doing a public service announcement for the American Cancer Society in the 1990s, years before he was able to bring himself to quit. "He tried to speak to the kids, telling them don't start smoking," his wife, Susan Lawson, told The Associated Press. "He already knew cigarettes had a hold on him." more on his news, link: http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/ex-marlboro-man-dies-smoking-related-disease-034350253.html

Hi everybody,iam here at home on MC for 5 days and nothing much to do so i would like to share with you all that an adult like me had just kena hand,foot,mouth disease(HFMD) being spread by my daughter. she got infected about 2 weeks ago and i sent her to KK hospital and the doctor confirmed that she had HFMD and doctor said that adult kena HFMD is very rare,so i took it lightly and got close with my daughter.now she is about to recover.normally the first symtom is having fever. last saturday,i woke up feeling unwell with slight fever and sore throat and went to see doctor. after my meal,i followed the prescription to take my medicine and took a nap. after the nap,i felt better with my fever about to subside and sore throat isn't as painful and the following night,iam almost feeling very fine. the next day(sunday),i woke up and felt my right foot got a tikling feeling(as if you step onto a small stone). i took a look at it and it was abit red without any bump so i thought it wasn't anything serious. at noon,our family is about to go out for lunch and i wear my socks and could feel the same thing on my left foot but i did not remove my sock and take a look.then we head down to the carpark. when i placed my right hand on the steering,i could feel the same thing on my palm too. immediately i told my wife about all these things. she said could it be chicken pox. and i asked her could it be HFMD as i had chicken pox before. on that day,the rashes keep poping out. we were almost certain that it could be HFMD as the symtop i had was rashes that turn into blisters on my hand and leg and ulcers on my throat. the next day,i went to see doctor and was confirmed HFMD. he said it is very rare to adult to have HFMD. he ask me to go buy 4D on my IC number.

As deadly as AIDS, there is an outbreak of the disease in Democratic Republic of Congo. So far 166 dead had been recorded. No known cure for such disease. This report came from CNA new as attach: GENEVA : The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed a major outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and said 166 deaths there since April could be linked to the disease. The outbreak of the highly-contagious Ebola haemorrhagic fever, in the Western Kasai province, was confirmed by specialist laboratories in the US and Gabon, the WHO said in a statement on its website. Speaking to journalists in Geneva Tuesday, a WHO spokesman stressed that another illness other than Ebola could yet be responsible for some of the deaths, possibly the Shigella infectious disease. Of five samples sent to one laboratory, all showed signs of Ebola. Ebola causes the patient to bleed under the skin and in severe cases, from the mouth, ears and eyes. The virus, which has no known cure, is highly infectious for those who come into contact with a victim's body fluids. Ebola had previously killed some 450 people in the DRC since 1976, and 1,200 people across the whole of Africa in the same period. - AFP/de If I am not mistaken, AIDS also orginated from Africa.

Read in today New Paper and reported by New York Times that there is serious outbreak of "Blue Ear" disease in pigs in China. "Chinese pork processors had denied that a serious outbreak of disease in pigs was causing a shortage in supply and driving pork prices up in China". Chinese authorities appeared unwilling to cooperate with oversea researchers. So, my breakfast of fried beehoon will be without luncheon meat from now on. Recently, many things had been happening in China with the latest case of Mattel toys incident. those hit & run companies in China for making fast $$ and without due care and consideration for the well being & health of the ppl.