Health News Roundup: China ministry seeks more fever clinics to combat respiratory illness surge; Japan detects season's first bird flu case, to cull 40,000 birds - NHK and more

The local government in Saga prefecture will cull about 40,000 birds on the farm, NHK said, citing agriculture ministry officials it did not name. Zimbabwe restricts gatherings, food vending as cholera cases spike Zimbabwe's government has started restricting public gatherings and food vending, while monitoring burials in all areas affected by cholera, after cases of the disease spiked this week.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China ministry seeks more fever clinics to combat respiratory illness surge

China's health ministry on Sunday urged local authorities to increase the number of fever clinics as the country grapples with a surge in respiratory illnesses in its first full winter since easing COVID-19 restrictions. The spike become a global issue last week when the World Health Organization asked China for more information, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases.

Almost 400,000 deaths in Europe in 2021 attributable to filthy air -EU report

Almost 400,000 deaths in Europe in 2021 were related to three main air pollutants and some could have been avoided if pollutants had been reduced to World Health Organisation-recommended levels, an EU report said on Friday. The European Environment Agency (EEA) said that within the European Union, pollution caused by fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which affects people with heart diseases in particular, led to 253,000 deaths in 2021. Pollution from nitrogen dioxide (NO2), most harmful to people with diabetes, resulted in 52,000 deaths and short-term ozone (O3) exposure led to 22,000 deaths.

Japan detects season's first bird flu case, to cull 40,000 birds - NHK

Japan detected the first case of highly pathogenic H5-type bird flu this season at a poultry farm in the south of the country, public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday. The local government in Saga prefecture will cull about 40,000 birds on the farm, NHK said, citing agriculture ministry officials it did not name.

Zimbabwe restricts gatherings, food vending as cholera cases spike

Zimbabwe's government has started restricting public gatherings and food vending, while monitoring burials in all areas affected by cholera, after cases of the disease spiked this week. New cholera cases in the southern African country trebled from 437 to 1,259 this week, the biggest jump since the latest outbreak of the water-borne disease started in February. This has triggered panic in Zimbabwe, where more than 4,000 people died from cholera in 2008.