Puerto Rico Zika Case Count Tops 20,000 during First Week of September (Outbreak News Today) Upon recording an additional 2,391 locally acquired, or autochthonous Zika virus cases during the 1st week of September, the case count on the island has surpassed 20,000 cases, according to an update from Secretary of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico, Ana Ríus Armendariz. Go to article

Pool of Mosquitoes Test Positive for Zika, Preliminary Report Shows (ABC Local 10) A pool of mosquitoes outside a Miami Beach home has tested positive for Zika, the Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control Division reports.  The division notes that the results are from a preliminary test that must be confirmed by the CDC. Go to article

After Zika, Critical to Monitor Babies' Health, But For How Long? (CTV Health) More federal money finally is available to fight Zika even as the news worsens. Babies who at 1st seem to have escaped the virus' devastating hallmark defect--an abnormally small head at birth--might not be out of the woods after all. Go to article

Research Contributing to Improvements in Controlling Florida's Mosquitoes and Mosquito-borne Diseases (H5N1) Research on mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases has contributed to improvements in providing effective, efficient, and environmentally proper mosquito control. Florida has benefitted from several research accomplishments that have increased the state's mosquito control capabilities. Go to article

Imported Chikungunya Virus Strains, Taiwan, 2006-2014 (Emerging Infectious Diseases) To reduce the risk for importation and subsequent spread of arboviruses in Taiwan, active and surveillance systems were implemented by the central and local health departments. Serum samples from persons with suspected cases were submitted to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control for confirmation of arboviral infection. Go to article

CDC Lab Shipped Virus Without Following Key Safety Steps (USA Today) Despite intense scrutiny of lab safety lapses at the CDC, workers at an agency lab earlier this year failed to confirm and certify a supposedly killed virus specimen was dead before shipping it across the country, a top CDC official said this week in response to questions from USA TODAY. Go to article

Russia's Generalising HIV Epidemic (The Lancet) As the end of 2016 hoves into view on the horizon, we inevitably begin to refl ect on the year gone by--for many people on numerous fronts, 2016 will be regarded as an annus horribilis, and the HIV/AIDS community is no different. Go to article

Management of Infection by the Zika Virus (Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials) A panel of national experts was convened by the Brazilian Infectious Diseases Society in order to organize the national recommendations for the management of zika virus infection. The focus of this document is the diagnosis, both clinical and laboratorial, and appropriate treatment of the diverse manifestations of this infection, ranging from acute mild disease to Guillain-Barré syndrome and also microcephaly and congenital malformations. Go to article

Multiplex Gene Editing by CRISPR-Cpfl Through Autonomous Processing of a Single crRNA Array (BioRxiv) Microbial CRISPR-Cas defense systems have been adapted as a platform for genome editing applications built around the RNA-guided effector nucleases, such as Cas9. We recently reported the characterization of Cpf1, the effector nuclease of a novel type V-A CRISPR system, and demonstrated that it can be adapted for genome editing in mammalian cells. Go to article

Anthrax Vaccine Candidate, NuThrax, Moves Forward in Development (Outbreak News Today) An anthrax vaccine that may be effective in as few as 2 doses is moving forward in development with the assistance of HHS ASPR. Go to article

Risk of Big Earthquake on San Andreas Fault Rises After Quake Swarm at Salton Sea (Los Angeles Times) The rumbling started Monday morning deep under the Salton Sea. A rapid succession of small earthquakes--3 measuring above magnitude 4.0--began rupturing near Bombay Beach, continuing for more than 24 hours. Before the swarm started to fade, more than 200 earthquakes had been recorded. Go to article

North, South Korea Trade Threats Over Pre-Emptive Strike (The Big Story) Since North Korea's latest nuclear test, Pyongyang and Seoul have been openly trading threats of decapitation strikes and annihilating capitals populated by millions of civilians. And the talk of how each side might throw that 1st pre-emptive punch has become more detailed than ever. Go to article

Hurricane Matthew's Threat to Haiti Grows; Some Resist Shelters (Thomson Reuters Foundation News) Hurricane Matthew edged closer to Haiti on Monday, bringing 130-mile-per-hour (209 kph) winds and torrential rain that could wreak havoc in the Caribbean nation, but some 2,000 people in one coastal town refused to evacuate. Go to article