Spatiotemporal evolution and transmission dynamics of Alpha and Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants contributing to sequential outbreaks in Cambodia during 2021.

Background: Tracking the emergence, introduction and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern are essential for informing public health strategies. In 2021, Cambodia faced two major epidemic waves of SARS-CoV-2 triggered by the successive rise of the Alpha and Delta variants.

Methods: Phylodynamic analysis of 1,163 complete SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Cambodia, along with global sequences, were conducted between February and September 2021 to infer viral introductions, molecular epidemiology and population dynamics.

An epidemiological overview of human infections with HxNy avian influenza in the Western Pacific Region, 2003-2022.

Avian influenza subtype A(HxNy) viruses are zoonotic and may occasionally infect humans through direct or indirect contact, resulting in mild to severe illness and death. Member States in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) communicate and notify the World Health Organization of any human cases of A(HxNy) through the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) mechanism. This report includes all notifications in the WPR with illness onset dates from 1 November 2003 to 31 July 2022.

Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Cambodia, January 2020 to February 2021.

The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Cambodia was confirmed on 27 January 2020 in a traveller from Wuhan. Cambodia subsequently implemented strict travel restrictions, and although intermittent cases were reported during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, no apparent widespread community transmission was detected. Investigating the routes of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) introduction into the country was critical for evaluating the implementation of public health interventions and assessing the effectiveness of social control measures.

Genetic and Antigenic Characterization of an Influenza A(H3N2) Outbreak in Cambodia and the Greater Mekong Subregion during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020.

Introduction of non-pharmaceutical interventions to control COVID-19 in early 2020 coincided with a global decrease in active influenza circulation. However, between July and November 2020, an influenza A(H3N2) epidemic occurred in Cambodia and in other neighboring countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion in Southeast Asia. We characterized the genetic and antigenic evolution of A(H3N2) in Cambodia and found that the 2020 epidemic comprised genetically and antigenically similar viruses of Clade3C2a1b/131K/94N, but they were distinct from the WHO recommended influenza A(H3N2) vaccine virus components for 2020-2021 Northern Hemisphere season.

Human Infection with Avian Influenza A(H9N2) Virus, Cambodia, February 2021.

In February 2021, routine sentinel surveillance for influenza-like illness in Cambodia detected a human avian influenza A(H9N2) virus infection. Investigations identified no recent H9N2 virus infections in 43 close contacts. One chicken sample from the infected child's house was positive for H9N2 virus and genetically similar to the human virus.

Systems thinking for health emergencies: use of process mapping during outbreak response.

Process mapping is a systems thinking approach used to understand, analyse and optimise processes within complex systems. We aim to demonstrate how this methodology can be applied during disease outbreaks to strengthen response and health systems. Process mapping exercises were conducted during three unique emerging disease outbreak contexts with different: mode of transmission, size, and health system infrastructure.

Outbreak of human monkeypox in Nigeria in 2017-18: a clinical and epidemiological report.

Background: In September, 2017, human monkeypox re-emerged in Nigeria, 39 years after the last reported case. We aimed to describe the clinical and epidemiological features of the 2017-18 human monkeypox outbreak in Nigeria.

Methods: We reviewed the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cases of human monkeypox that occurred between Sept 22, 2017, and Sept 16, 2018.

Emergence of Monkeypox - West and Central Africa, 1970-2017.

The recent apparent increase in human monkeypox cases across a wide geographic area, the potential for further spread, and the lack of reliable surveillance have raised the level of concern for this emerging zoonosis. In November 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with CDC, hosted an informal consultation on monkeypox with researchers, global health partners, ministries of health, and orthopoxvirus experts to review and discuss human monkeypox in African countries where cases have been recently detected and also identify components of surveillance and response that need improvement. Endemic human monkeypox has been reported from more countries in the past decade than during the previous 40 years.

Field evaluation of commercial immunoglobulin M antibody capture ELISA diagnostic tests for the detection of Japanese encephalitis virus infection among encephalitis patients in Nepal.

Objectives: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a devastating disease with high rates of death and disability that occurs particularly in resource-limited, rural regions of Asia. Simple, accurate and inexpensive diagnostics tests are vital for quantifying the burden of illness. This field study evaluated two commercial JE immunoglobulin M antibody capture (MAC) ELISA kits using samples from routine JE surveillance.

The rationale for integrated childhood meningoencephalitis surveillance: a case study from Cambodia.

Problem: Recent progress in vaccine availability and affordability has raised prospects for reducing death and disability from neurological infections in children. In many Asian countries, however, the epidemiology and public health burden of neurological diseases such as Japanese encephalitis and bacterial meningitis are poorly understood.

Approach: A sentinel surveillance system for Japanese encephalitis was developed and embedded within the routine meningoencephalitis syndromic surveillance system in Cambodia in 2006.

Risk of tuberculosis from exposure to tobacco smoke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: There is no consensus whether tobacco smoking increases risk of tuberculosis (TB) infection, disease, or mortality. Whether this is so has substantial implications for tobacco and TB control policies.

Objective: To quantify the relationship between active tobacco smoking and TB infection, pulmonary disease, and mortality using meta-analytic methods.

Panel 2.2: surveillance, early warning alert, and response: communicable and vector-borne diseases.

This is a summary of the presentations and discussion of Surveillance, Early Warning Alert and Response at the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04-06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related to the surveillance, early warning alert, and response to communicable and vector-borne diseases as pertaining to the responses to the damage created by the Tsunami. It is presented in the following major sections: (1) key questions; (2) needs assessment; (3) coordination; (4) gap filling; and (5) capacity building.

Case-control study of indoor cooking smoke exposure and cataract in Nepal and India.

Background: The prevalence of cataract is higher in developing countries, and in both developed and developing countries more females than males are blind from cataracts. Three epidemiological studies have associated indoor cooking with solid fuels (e.g.

Risk factors for sporadic cryptosporidiosis among immunocompetent persons in the United States from 1999 to 2001.

Many studies have evaluated the role of Cryptosporidium spp. in outbreaks of enteric illness, but few studies have evaluated sporadic cryptosporidiosis in the United States. To assess the risk factors for sporadic cryptosporidiosis among immunocompetent persons, a matched case-control study was conducted in seven sites of the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) involving 282 persons with laboratory-identified cryptosporidiosis and 490 age-matched and geographically matched controls.

Analysis of the spatial distribution of cryptosporidiosis in AIDS patients in San Francisco using density equalizing map projections (DEMP).

Environmental transmission of cryptosporidiosis has occurred repeatedly in defined spatial areas during outbreaks of disease attributed, for example, to drinking water contamination. Little work has been done to investigate the possibility of cryptosporidiosis infection in defined spatial areas in non-outbreak (i.e.

Is drinking water a risk factor for endemic cryptosporidiosis? A case-control study in the immunocompetent general population of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Background: Cryptosporidiosis, caused by Cryptosporidium, is an enteric illness that has received much attention as an infection of immunocompromised persons as well as in community outbreaks (frequently waterborne). There are, however, no studies of the risk factors for sporadic community-acquired cryptosporidiosis in the immunocompetent US population. We undertook a case-control study in the San Francisco Bay Area as part of a national study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ascertain the major routes of transmission for endemic cryptosporidiosis, with an emphasis on evaluating risk from drinking water.

Endemic cryptosporidiosis and exposure to municipal tap water in persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS): a case-control study.

Background: In persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), Cryptosporidium parvum causes a prolonged, severe diarrheal illness to which there is no effective treatment, and the risk of developing cryptosporidiosis from drinking tap water in non-outbreak settings remains uncertain. To test the hypothesis that drinking tap water was associated with developing cryptosporidiosis, we conducted a matched case-control study among persons with AIDS in San Francisco.

Methods: Among patients reported to the San Francisco AIDS Registry from May 1996 through September 1998, we compared patients who developed cryptosporidiosis to those who did not.

Participant blinding and gastrointestinal illness in a randomized, controlled trial of an in-home drinking water intervention.

We conducted a randomized, triple-blinded home drinking water intervention trial to determine if a large study could be undertaken while successfully blinding participants. Households were randomized 50:50 to use externally identical active or sham treatment devices. We measured the effectiveness of blinding of participants by using a published blinding index in which values >0.