Chicago, U.S.A - Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc, has released the latest edition of its Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during May.

Published by Impact Forecasting, the firm’s catastrophe model development center of excellence, the report reveals that two earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks struck northern Italy within a nine-day period, killing 25 people, injuring more than 400 others and causing extensive damage to the cultural heritage throughout the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, in addition to businesses and personal property.

An initial, combined economic loss estimate from both tremors stood at EUR5 billion (USD6.25 billion), following significant damage in the provinces of Modena, Ferrara, Reggio Emilia, Rovigo and Mantua.

In Asia, severe and prolonged periods of rain impacted China throughout the month, affecting at least 22 provinces and killing at least 102 people.

According to China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), at least 143,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during one prolonged event. More than 949,400 hectares (2.34 million acres) of cropland were also affected, contributing to a total economic loss listed at CNY16.88 billion (USD2.68 billion).

Meanwhile, powerful thunderstorms struck eastern Japan, resulting in high winds and tornadoes that killed at least three people, injured 59 others, and damaged more than 1,845 buildings in six separate prefectures.

Steve Jakubowski, President of Impact Forecasting, said: “The Italian earthquakes resulted in the largest natural disaster loss for the country since the L’Aquila earthquake event in 2009. The seismic activity was not unexpected, as Italy has long been recognised as a region exposed to the possibility of significant earthquake activity. Given the level of insurance coverage in the region, it is anticipated that insured losses would reach minimally into the hundreds of millions of dollars (USD). However, it remains too early to determine how negligible re/insurance losses may be from this event.”

In the United States, two periods of severe weather impacted central and eastern sections of the country; the first causing widespread hail and wind damage from the Dakotas to Maryland, resulting in an economic loss estimated at USD275 million, and more than 30,000 insurance claims valued atUSD150 million. A secondary severe weather outbreak across the central and eastern U.S. at the end of the month spawned significant damage as well. According to a preliminary report from the South-western Insurance Information Service, insured losses in Oklahoma alone were estimated at USD400 million.

Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall near Jacksonville Beach, Florida at peak intensity with 70 mph (110 kph) winds but did not cause any significant damage, injuries or fatalities.

And wildfires burned in several U.S. states during the month, including the largest fire ever recorded in New Mexico.

Excessive rainfall affected areas of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec in May. In Thunder Bay, at least 1,100 homes were damaged as well as businesses and infrastructure, and flood damage with a 100-year return period was recorded in Montreal, where personal property and infrastructure were widely affected.

Additional flood events were recorded in Nepal, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Georgia, Brazil and Venezuela.

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The first clinical trial of a new vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been launched by the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based nonprofit that develops products to prevent, detect, and treat diseases of poverty. The Phase 1 trial is taking place in Washington State, with a companion Phase 1 trial planned in India, an epicenter of the disease.

Visceral leishmaniasis affects vital organs and bone marrow, destroying white and red blood cells. Because VL attacks the immune system, it has been called the parasitic version of HIV/AIDS.

“Visceral leishmaniasis is a persistent and deadly global health problem,” said Steve Reed, IDRI founder and Chief Scientific Officer, who led the over twenty years of preclinical vaccine work. “Our partnership with India will speed the development of an effective vaccine and accelerate its control.

Leishmaniasis takes several forms, all of which are caused by the Leishmania parasite and transmitted by infected sand flies. VL is most common in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sudan, and Brazil and causes about 500,000 cases and 50,000 deaths each year.  Cutaneous leishmaniasis, the most common form of the disease, causes serious skin lesions and often leaves its victims permanently disfigured.  Leishmaniasis occurs in 88 countries, affecting 12 million people.

While the disease can be treated, current treatments are too expensive, difficult to administer, or toxic for widespread use in poor countries. Drug resistance is also a growing problem, particularly in India. Left untreated, VL has a 90% case fatality, and death can come within two years—much more quickly than AIDS.

Furthermore, scientists warn that the geographical range for leishmaniasis is expanding. Spurred on by global warming, mass migration and rapid urbanization, cases are being reported in previously unaffected areas. Given such challenges, a vaccine is considered essential to control and eliminate the disease.

“With this clinical trial, we hope to launch a new era in the fight against Visceral Leishmaniasis,” said Franco Piazza, Medical Director at IDRI and leader of the vaccine’s clinical development.  “For the first time, an advanced vaccine to prevent this devastating disease is being tested in people.”

The IDRI vaccine, known as LEISH–F3 + GLA-SE, is a highly purified, recombinant vaccine.  It incorporates two fused Leishmania parasite proteins and a powerful adjuvant to stimulate an immune response against the parasite.

The Phase 1 clinical trial will enroll 36 adult volunteers in Washington State.  They will be randomly assigned to receive one of three versions of the vaccine, which differ in the amount of adjuvant included. The trial will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of each version.

A second Phase 1 trial will take place in India, where IDRI is transferring its vaccine technology to the Gennova Biopharmaceuticals. Last month, Gennova opened a vaccine formulation center that will be producing vaccines for neglected diseases in Pune, India, where the company is based.

In India, VL is known as kala-azar, a Hindi word that means black fever, named after the fever that ravages affected individuals, whose skin becomes dark gray.

“Kala-azar is a significant health problem across northern India and neighboring countries,” said Dr.Sanjay Singh, CEO of Gennova.  “Bringing a vaccine to India will not only end deaths and disease, it will also help many of our poorest citizens to lead more productive lives and move out of poverty.”

Beginning later in 2012, the Indian biotherapeutics and vaccine manufacturer will produce the LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE vaccine.  It will be then tested in healthy Indian adults, in collaboration with the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India.

“We are very pleased to be working with IDRI on this vaccine, which is critically important to the many people who suffer from this disease in India as well as to the millions of people who are infected around the world,” said Dr. Shyam Sundar, Professor of Medicine at the University’s Institute of Medical Sciences.

Subsequent clinical trials will involve larger numbers of people who are at high risk of developing VL during their daily lives, because they are frequently bitten by sand flies. Only such large trials, conducted in real-life situations of disease exposure, will determine the full effectiveness of the LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE vaccine.

“Vaccines can do what medicines can’t – prevent the disease from even occurring,” said Dr. N. K. Ganguly, a highly distinguished biotechnology professor and advisor in India, and former Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi.  “Only with an effective vaccine can we expect to control leishmaniasis in South Asia.”

The Phase 1 clinical trials are being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which also recently announced a global partnership with the World Health Organization and 13 pharmaceutical companies to control or eliminate 10 neglected tropical diseases, including leishmaniasis.

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Rescue efforts are well underway in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, the epicenter of an earthquake that shook parts of Tibet, Nepal and Bangladesh on Sunday, September 17. The quake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, has taken the lives of 118 people and injured many more.

Helicopters are being used to deliver food as well as relief material to affected areas within Sikkim. At least 5,000 people are being sheltered in government camps. The Teesta Hydro Electro Project employees feared dead have mostly been counted for and 400 tourists stranded in the remote North have been rescued.

“Rescue workers have now reached most of the villages that had been inaccessible since the quake on Sunday, “ said government spokesman K.S. Topgay. Power in quake epicenter Mangan (district capital of North Sikkim) has been restored, but roads beyond that have been badly affected making it difficult to reach the interior.

Medical teams are being flown in with food and medical supplies, but nine villages still remain completely cut off. Sikkim falls within Zone IV, a high damage risk zone, of the seismological map of the Indian subcontinent.

State finance minister Badal Choudhury said, “Central government should set up at least one station in each of the capitals of all the eight northeastern states with an adequate number of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) personnel.” Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram also visited the quake-hit areas on Thursday to review the situation.

He said that the prime motive was to provide relief to the 5,000 – 6,000 survivors in camps, and to restore connectivity and water supply. The overall death toll has risen to 118, including 75 in the Himalayan state, while West Bengal has reported 15 deaths, nine in Bihar, 11 in Nepal, seven in Tibet and one in Bhutan.

Tibetan Spiritual leader, H.H. The Dalai Lama has donated 500,000 rupees to affected areas. “I was saddened to learn about the loss of life and damage to property that the recent earthquake has caused across isolated Himalayan regions, particularly in Sikkim.

I offer my sympathy and condolences to all those families, who have been directly affected by what I understand is one of the worst earthquakes in recent memory,” His Holiness said in his letter dated September 20, 2011. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and repairs to the area will cost an estimated $22 billion.

Sikkim is the least populous area in India. Many tourists are drawn to the area for it’s Buddhist monasteries and adventure activities. Sikkim experienced a 3.8 tremor around 10:15 pm Thursday night. East Sikkim district collector D Anandan said, “People came out on the roads and were afraid to go back inside their homes.”

Unfortunately, monsoon weather continues to interfere with rescue efforts to the mountainous region.

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