It all started one day in June 2007, with a sudden fever and severe vomiting, said David Hancock. He should have gone to hospital, immediately. But he didn't he thought: If this is a common infection, I'll get over it. Then he realized it wasn't a common infection. But it still took 10 days for doctors to make a reliable diagnosis.
French health officials are working to trace all the contacts of two men who contracted Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), a potentially deadly disease that typically only occurs in the Middle East. These cases of the disease are the country's first in 12 years, according to the French health ministry. The men, both of whom are in their 70s, are in a stable condition.
A Washington state resident is believed to be the first person to die from a rare strain of bird flu, but state health officials said Friday the risk to the public is low. The person, an older adult with underlying health conditions, was being treated for a bird flu called H5N5 after becoming seemingly the first known human infected by the strain, according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Health.