Day: July 2, 2024

CONNECTICUT — The second of the three Connecticut residents who were exposed to a very rare flesh-eating bacteria has been reported dead. The three patients were between 60-80 years of age, and all were hospitalized earlier this summer. Both deaths occurred in July, according to DPH spokesperson Chris Boyle. The first was reported July 28, the second this week. The bacteria Vibrio vulnificus can cause severe infections when in contact with saltwater, brackish waters or contact with raw or undercooked shellfish. Two of the three infections reported in Connecticut were wound infections not associated with seafood. The third infection was a Connecticut resident that consumed raw oysters not harvested from Long Island Sound at an out-of-state establishment. No Connecticut shellfish have ever been associated with Vibrio vulnificus illnesses, according to state Department of Agriculture spokesperson Rebecca Eddy. The department’s Bureau of Aquaculture routinely monitors oyster harvest areas statewide for vibrio levels during the summer months. Samples are screened for levels of total vibrio bacteria and then Vibrio vulnificus and pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus levels, according to the bureau. People with a Vibrio vulnificus infection can get seriously ill and need intensive care or limb amputation. About one in five people with this type of infection die. People at greatest risk for illness from the infection are those with weakened immune systems and the elderly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some Vibrio vulnificus infections lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies, inspiring the “flesh-eating bacteria” moniker. The necrotizing fasciitis can be caused by more than one type of bacteria, according to the CDC. Watery diarrhea, often accompanied by stomach cramping, nausea, vomiting, and fever For bloodstream infection: fever, chills, dangerously low blood pressure, and blistering skin lesions For wound infection, which may spread to the rest of the body: fever, redness, pain, swelling, warmth, discoloration, and discharge (leaking fluids). To reduce your chance of getting this type of infection, the CDC suggests following these precautions: Don’t eat raw or undercooked oysters or other shellfish. If you have a wound (including from a recent surgery, piercing, or tattoo), stay out of saltwater or brackish water, if possible. This includes wading at the beach. Cover your wound with a waterproof bandage if it could come into contact with saltwater, brackish water, marine life, or raw or undercooked seafood and its juices. This contact can happen during everyday activities, such as swimming, fishing, or walking on the beach. Wash wounds and cuts thoroughly with soap and water after they have contact with saltwater, brackish water, marine life, raw seafood, or its juices.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is reporting the first human infections in 2023, caused by West Nile Virus (WNV). Over the last month, evidence of WNV activity has increased across the state and is now considered to be widespread, the state health department reports. Positive mosquito pools have been identified in many regions of the state, and human infections have occurred in central, south central and southeast Oklahoma, according to the health department. WNV spreads through the bite of an infected mosquito. In Oklahoma, WNV is primarily spread by the Culex mosquito, which feeds on infected birds and then spreads the virus when biting humans, horses, and some other mammals. This type of mosquito increases in abundance during mid to late summer when temperatures are high, and the weather pattern is dry. “We expect human cases of WNV every year,” said Jolianne Stone, the State Epidemiologist. “Typically, summertime is the beginning of the WNV season in Oklahoma, so with more people participating in outdoor activities there are increased opportunities for encountering infected mosquitoes.” OSDH officials are reminding the public to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites as mosquito surveillance pools in the state show continued WNV activity. Tips to avoid mosquito bites and prevent WNV: Use an insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin and clothing when going outdoors, particularly between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are more likely to bite. Insect repellent with permethrin should be used on clothing only. Repair or install window and door screens to keep mosquitoes out of the home. Prevent items such as buckets, cans, pool covers, flowerpots, children’s toys and tires from holding water to prevent providing mosquitoes a place to breed. Empty pet’s outdoor water bowl and refill daily. Scrub and refill bird baths every three days. Clean leaves and debris from rain gutters regularly to ensure they are not clogged. While the vast majority of individuals with WNV will likely never experience symptoms following an infection, those with symptoms, are often mild and may include sudden fever, headache, and body and joint pain. Recovery typically occurs within one to three weeks. People older than 50 years, diabetics, or those experiencing uncontrolled hypertension are at a greater risk of developing severe neurologic disease from WNV infection. When the disease affects the nervous system, it can cause confusion or disorientation, loss of consciousness, paralysis, neck stiffness or coma. Long lasting complications of WNV disease can include difficulty concentrating, migraines, headaches, extreme muscle weakness and tremors, and paralysis of a limb. There is no vaccine or treatment drug for this illness. The best defense is taking steps to avoid mosquito bites. For more information on WNV, including historical reported cases, click here.

Researchers have uncovered a massive campaign that delivered proxy server apps to at least 400,000 Windows systems. The devices act as residential exit nodes without users’ consent and a company is charging for the proxy traffic running through the machines.. Residential proxies are valuable to cybercriminals because they can help with deploying large-scale credential stuffing attacks from fresh IP addresses. They also have legitimate purposes like ad verification, data scraping, website testing, or privacy-enhancing rerouting. Some proxy companies sell access to residential proxies and offer monetary rewards to users who agree to share their bandwidth. In a report today, AT&T Alien Labs says that the 400,000-node proxy network was built by using malicious payloads that delivered the proxy application. Despite the company behind the botnet claiming that users gave their consent, the researchers discovered that the proxy installed silently on the devices. “Although the proxy website claims that its exit nodes come only from users who have been informed and agreed to the use of their device, Alien Labs has evidence that malware writers are installing the proxy silently in infected systems,” AT&T Alien Labs “In addition, as the proxy application is signed, it has no anti-virus detection, going under the radar of security companies,” the researchers added. The same company controlled exit nodes created by a malicious payload called AdLoad that targeted macOS systems, which AT&T reported last week. In fact, the two Go-based binaries (for macOS and Windows) appear to originate from the same source code, however, the Windows proxy client evades antivirus detection due to using a valid digital signature. Proxyware infection The infection starts with the execution of a loader hidden in cracked software and games, which downloads and installs the proxy application automatically in the background without user interaction. The malware authors use Inno Setup with specific parameters that hide any indicators of the installation process and all typical user prompts. During the installation of the proxy client, the malware sends specific parameters, which are also relayed to the command and control (C2) server so that the new client can be registered and incorporated into the botnet. Installation and establishing persistence (AT&T) The proxy client establishes persistence on the infected system by creating a registry key to activate it when the system boots and a by adding a scheduled task that to check for new client updates. “The proxy then continuously gathers vital information from the machine to ensure optimal performance and responsiveness,” explains the AT&T report. “This includes everything from the process list and monitoring CPU to memory utilization and even tracking battery status.” Data collection taking place on the infected device (AT&T) How to protect AT&T recommends looking for a “Digital Pulse” executable at “%AppData%” or a similarly named Registry key on “HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun.” If any are present, the researchers recommend removing them. The name of the scheduled task is “DigitalPulseUpdateTask” and should also be deleted to eliminate the chance of the client update mechanism re-introducing the infection. Finally, avoid downloading pirated software and running executables sourced from dubious locations like peer-to-peer networks or site offering premium software free of charge. Signs of proxyware infection include performance and internet speed degradation, unexpected network traffic patterns, frequent communication with unknown IPs or domains, and system alerts.