News in Brief(2024-03-25)

FE Team | Published: March 24, 2024 22:41:41

Japan confirms first human-to-human
transmission of tick-borne SFTS
TOKYO, Mar 24: Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) said it has confirmed the first domestic case of human-to-human transmission of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), a tick-borne viral disease. The viral infection was passed from a patient to a doctor, but the doctor's symptoms have improved, the NIID said earlier this week. The doctor, a man in his 20s, attended to a patient in his 90s who had been diagnosed with SFTS after visiting the emergency room last April due to deteriorating health, the institute said. The doctor performed various procedures on the patient who later died, including removing his catheter post-mortem, during which the doctor reportedly wore a face mask and gloves but no goggles. — Xinhua
Gaza war death toll at 32,226
GAZA CITY, Mar 24: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 32,226 people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants. The toll includes at least 84 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 74,518 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7. — AFP
Shootings leave two dead in Brussels
BRUSSELS, Mar 24: Two people were killed in separate shootings in Brussels overnight, police said on Sunday, as officials grapple with a surge in drug-related crimes in the city. Gunfire was heard in the Laeken district in the north of the Belgian capital, where one person was found dead, a police spokesman said. A few hours later, another person died in hospital after being wounded in a shooting near the city centre, another spokesman said. Around half a dozen shootings thought to be linked to drug trafficking, one of them fatal, have taken place since February in Brussels, where the use of crack cocaine on the streets has become increasingly prevalent. Belgium's Antwerp port-the main gateway for cocaine into Europe-is regularly plagued by gang violence linked to the illicit trade, but until recently the capital had largely been spared. — AFP