Sydney, Feb 26: The number of deaths from a disease linked to heavy rainfall and flooding in northeast of Australia’s state of Queensland has more than doubled to 12, local health authorities said.

Health authorities in the tropical north coast region of Queensland confirmed that the death toll from melioidosis in the current wet season has risen to 12, up from five deaths that had been reported as of February 21.

Of the 12 deaths, nine occurred in and around Cairns, the largest city in the region, and three in the city of Townsville, almost 300 km south.

Melioidosis is a rare tropical disease caused by bacteria commonly found in soil and water in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. After heavy rainfall it becomes airborne.

Queensland’s tropical northern coast was hit by widespread flooding earlier in February, with many towns getting record rainfall for the month in a matter of days.

There have been 53 confirmed cases of melioidosis in Carins and 34 cases in Townsville since the start of 2025, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, citing Jacqueline Murdoch, director of the Tropical Public Health Services.

“It absolutely is a record-breaking year. Certainly we haven’t seen anything like this and the numbers are very alarming,” said Murdoch on Tuesday.

“It’s a very severe disease and it has a reasonably high fatality rate, so we do have a large number of deaths now, which is reflecting the large number of cases.”

She said that most of the patients were older people and that the majority had contracted the disease through the air.

Murdoch urged people to be careful about being outside in heavy rain, being in contact with soil and to wear a mask when using a high-pressure hose.

Anyone with a cough or difficulty breathing has been advised to visit their doctor or nearest emergency department.

New Delhi, Feb 22: The government is committed to providing quality healthcare services for workers and their families, Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, said on Saturday, emphasising the welfare of workers.

Dr Mandaviya, who visited Chandigarh to review key institutions under the Ministry, said that data-driven decision-making is crucial for enhancing economic growth, governance and service delivery.

As part of his visit, the Union Minister toured the Labour Bureau and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Model Hospital, Chandigarh, assessing their ongoing initiatives and interacting with stakeholders.

At the Labour Bureau, he was apprised of the objectives, scope and status of various activities, including price indices, labour statistics and surveys.

Dr Mandaviya also took a review of the performance and initiatives of the EPFO Regional Offices under the Punjab & Himachal Pradesh Zone at the Labour Bureau.

The Union Minister highlighted that reforms in the IT system are continuously transforming the functioning of the EPFO.

Later, the Union Minister visited the ESIC Model Hospital in Chandigarh and toured the hospital facilities. He interacted with patients receiving treatment at the hospital and reaffirmed to them that the government is committed to providing quality healthcare services for workers and their families.

Earlier this week, Dr Mandaviya instructed officials to prioritise efficient medical service delivery and expedite the timely completion of hospital renovation and construction projects.

During his visit to ESIC Hospital in Mumbai, he interacted with patients and staff to understand their experiences and feedback on the services provided.

To improve efficiency and transparency, he directed officials to accelerate the digitisation of processes, including inspections, ensure better upkeep of laboratories, and maintain a strong focus on transparency in regulatory activities.

Meanwhile, the payroll data of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), released on Friday, show that as many as 17.01 lakh new employees were added in December 2024 while 20,360 new establishments were brought under the social security ambit of the ESI Scheme during the month, ensuring social security to more workers.

New Delhi, Feb 22: The newly discovered bat coronavirus — HKU5-CoV-2 — can spread to humans like Covid-19, said experts on Saturday, raising fresh health concerns.

HKU5-CoV-2 was identified by a team of Chinese virologists led by Shi Zhengli, a renowned scientist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. She is also known as “Batwoman” for her extensive research on coronaviruses, particularly the SARS-CoV-2 virus — responsible for the deadly pandemic that claimed millions of lives.

The discovery raises concerns about the possibility of another zoonotic spillover. HKU5-CoV-2 belongs to the merbecovirus subgenus, which includes the MERS-CoV virus that caused the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.

Zhengli’s team had, a few years ago, discovered the HKU lineage of coronaviruses in bats from Hong Kong, but it lacked the ability to infect human cells.

On the other hand, “HKU5-CoV-2 is able to bind to human ACE-2 receptors and infect lab cell models of human lungs and intestines. It is also capable of binding to ACE-2 receptors in other mammals, which means it could theoretically spread from animals to man and vice versa,” said Rajeev Jayadevan, Chairman of the Kerala State IMA Research Cell, told media.

The expert noted that Wuhan researchers have not provided a comparison between HKU5-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 in their ability to infect human cells.

However, Gautam Menon, Dean, Research, at Ashoka University said that the HKU5-CoV-2 does not have pandemic potential. “From what we know as of now, this is unlikely to be significant. HKU5-CoV-2 has interesting similarities to Covid-19 and to some other coronaviruses known to infect humans, but that isn’t enough to infer that it will spread between humans in a way that could cause a pandemic,” Menon told IANS.

He further noted that wide exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus may provide immunity against the new bat coronavirus. “The fact that most people on the planet have been exposed to Covid-19 by now should also protect against viruses, such as HKU5-CoV-2,” Menon said, while stressing the need to continue research in this area to prepare for any contingency.

Jayadevan that while research on viruses that naturally live in bats is important, studying these viruses in laboratories also carries inherent risks.

“If proper biosecurity measures are not followed, there is a potential for accidental spillover to humans. To mitigate these risks, many labs studying high-risk pathogens operate under stringent Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) protocols,” he said.

He emphasised the need to decrease interactions between bats and humans. “Viruses are known to recombine with each other, creating new versions with greater abilities. This study is a reminder that viruses living naturally in other animals remain a threat for future pandemics in man, and reducing bat-human interactions is one way to lower the risk of spillovers,” Jayadevan said.