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LIMA, Peru – Peru on Thursday declared a “health emergency” in 13 departments in the country’s north, center and southeast due to an outbreak of dengue. The emergency would remain in place for 90 days, according to an official notice, after the health ministry recorded more than 11,500 cases and 16 deaths due to the disease so far in 2023. This represented a “considerable increase” of 72 percent from the same period in 2022. Last year, the country had more than 72,800 dengue cases and 84 deaths. Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease that can provoke a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pain, and sometimes death. Earlier this month, neighbor Bolivia also declared a health alert with a cumulative number of more than 6,800 cases and 26 deaths.
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A coronavirus variant known as "lambda" is gaining the attention of health officials as it spreads around the world. The variant, also known as C.37, was first detected in Peru in August 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). On June 14, the agency designated C.37 a global "variant of interest," or VOI, and named it lambda. VOI means the variant is increasingly showing up in communities and has mutations that are predicted to have some effect on viral characteristics, such as increased transmissibility. In contrast, officials use the term "variant of concern," or VOC, once reliable data shows that the variant has increased transmissibility — such as what's been seen with the delta variant — or other worrying features. So far, lambda has been detected in 29 countries, with high levels of spread in South American countries. In recent months, the lambda variant was detected in 81% of COVID-19 cases in Peru that underwent genetic sequencing, according to the WHO. And in Chile, the variant was detected in about one-third of cases, the WHO said. Most recently, the variant popped up in the United Kingdom. On June 25, Public Health England reported six cases of the lambda variant, all of which were tied to overseas travel. Officials are monitoring the lambda variant because it carries a number of mutations that could potentially aid its spread. The variant has seven mutations in the virus's "spike protein" compared with the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 detected in Wuhan, China. Some of these mutations have the potential to increase transmissibility of the virus or to reduce the ability of certain antibodies to neutralize, or inactivate, the virus, according to the WHO. For example, lambda has a mutation known as F490S located in the spike protein's receptor-binding domain (RBD), where the virus first docks onto human cells. A paper published in the July issue of the journal Genomics identified F490S as a likely "vaccine escape mutation" that could both make the virus more infectious and disrupt the ability of vaccine-generated antibodies to recognize the variant. Still, these effects are theoretical at this point. "There is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe disease or renders the vaccines currently deployed any less effective," according to Public Health England. More studies are needed to see if these mutations really do affect how the virus behaves.
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Veterinary authorities in Peru yesterday confirmed H5N1 avian influenza in sea lions and a dolphin, adding more reports of detections in mammals as the virus continues its push into Central and South America. Peru's National Agrarian Health Service (SENASA) said surveillance for marine species on the country's coasts are part of its response to outbreaks in poultry. Tests on three sea lions found dead in November and one dolphin were positive for H5N1, SENASA said in a statement, which was translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease news blog. In a follow-up, SENASA said at least 585 sea lions and 55,000 wild birds have been found dead in seven of the country's coastal nature preserves, likely due to avian flu. Also, media reports citing Peru's health ministry said tests on a zoo lion in central Peru identified H5N1 as the cause of death. The reports add to a growing number of detections in mammals, including recent reports from the United Kingdom and H5N1 in farmed minks in Spain. The United States has so far reported 110 detections in mammal species. The H5N1 clade circulating in birds, poultry, and an increasing number of mammals has a mutation that makes the virus more recognizable by mammalian airway cells. Seven human H5N1 infections have been reported, all involving people who had close contact with poultry. Some illnesses were mild, but some were severe or fatal. So far, no human-to-human transmission has been reported. Poultry outbreaks surge in Central and South America The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) last week raised concerns about not only the spread of the highly pathogenic avian flu to new countries in Central and South America, but also the speed of the spread over a 4-month period, with occasional spillovers to humans and mammals. The most recent human case was reported in a 9-year-old girl from Ecuador. Newly affected countries include Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Chile reported its first high-path outbreaks in 20 years. WOAH said outbreaks have already led to the loss of 1.2 million poultry in Central and South America, a concern given that poultry is one of the most consumed animal proteins in the region, with the fast-growing poultry sector providing income to thousands of families. It and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently created an expert group on avian flu, which met in December to make recommendations, which included stronger biosecurity and surveillance steps. Outbreaks continue in other regions; WOAH notes mammal detections In a separate report that covers global avian flu activity in the first 3 weeks of January, WOAH said there were 70 outbreaks in poultry during the period and 90 events involving other birds, mainly in Europe, but also in the Americas and Asia, affecting 3 million birds that died or were culled. Most of the activity involves the current H5N1 subtype. Based on seasonal patterns, WOAH said it expects the number of outbreaks in animals to peak in the weeks ahead. It urged countries to maintain surveillance and biosecurity measures and to report the detections in timely manner in poultry and nonpoultry species. "WOAH also stresses the importance of reporting outbreaks of avian influenza in unusual hosts, as it has been noted that the virus has been increasingly detected in mammals in recent months, a situation that should be monitored," it said, adding that high-quality information is needed to support early detection and response to potential threats to both animals and people. More detections in US poultry In the United States, a steady stream of outbreaks continue in poultry. In updates over the past few days, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported more outbreaks in three states, including California, Maine, and Wyoming. Most involve backyard flocks, but one of three new outbreaks in California occurred at a commercial duck breeding farm in Merced County that houses 29,100 birds. So far, the H5N1 outbreaks in the United States, which began in February 2022, have led to the loss of nearly 58.3 million birds across 47 states.
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Peru will start testing coronavirus vaccines from China's Sinopharm and U.S. drugmaker Johnson & Johnson in September, researchers said, which should help the country gain faster access to inoculations once the vaccines are approved. Sinopharm began this week to recruit up to 6,000 volunteers in Peru, which Reuters data indicates has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in relation to its population size. A team of Chinese scientists is expected to arrive in the Andean nation next week to work with local researchers, said Germán Málaga, a doctor and lead vaccine investigator at Lima’s Cayetano Heredia University. “This is going to happen around Sept. 3, to begin vaccinations on Sept. 8,” he said. Sinopharm’s clinical trials in Peru are being done with Cayetano Heredia and the state-run Universidad Mayor de San Marcos. Peru has recorded around 622,000 cases of the coronavirus, the fifth highest case load in the world, and 28,277 deaths. It now has the world’s deadliest fatality rate per capita, with 86.67 deaths per 100,000 people, a Reuters tally shows, just ahead of Belgium. Sinopharm will also do clinical coronavirus vaccine trials elsewhere in Latin America, including in Argentina. Other Chinese laboratories that will be conducting trials in the region include Sinovac Biotech, which will work in Brazil and Chile, and Walvax Biotechnology Co Ltd and CanSino Biologics Inc, which will test in Mexico, authorities have said. Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit will start tests with some 4,000 volunteers in Peru around Sept. 24, Prime Minister Walter Martos told reporters on Thursday. “We are contacting other companies, laboratories, from Britain and other countries that are going to help us immunize at least 70% of the local population,” Martos said. J&J said earlier this week that it would conduct Phase III trials for its vaccine in Chile, Argentina and Peru. Peru, a country of nearly 33 million people and the world’s no. 2 copper producer, has been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, both in terms of infections and economic impact. The economy crumbled over 30% in the second quarter of the year. Researcher Málaga and Carlos Castillo, the chief adviser for immunizations and vaccines at Peru’s health ministry, said that carrying out clinical trials would help Peru get faster access to vaccines when they were ready. “There is an unwritten agreement, in the sense that in the country where a clinical trial is being carried out, it has priority access to vaccine availability,” Castillo said.
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