Outbreak News Today

BACKGROUND: Honey can contain spores of Clostridium botulinum, an organism that produces a potent neurotoxin known to cause severe illness in infants. Infant botulism occurs when C. botulinum spores in food, dust, or other materials are inhaled or ingested and germinate in the gut of infants who have not yet developed mature intestinal flora. For this reason, parents are […]The post Texas health alert: Infant Botulism and the Risk of Honey Pacifiers appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The McHenry County Department of Health (MCDH) reports three cases of mumps that have been identified with a connection to Huntley High School with the first case confirmed positive in October. The Health Department is working with Huntley High School officials to notify parents of all students. Mumps is a contagious viral disease that spreads […]The post Illinois: Mumps cases reported connected to Huntley High School appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Duque on vaccines Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III, during the 19th Philippine National Immunization Conference, stressed to fellow health workers and participants that vaccination has been proven to be the most successful and cost-effective medical intervention ever introduced, saving millions of lives every year and preventing countless illnesses among individuals, families, and communities. He […]The post Philippines: Duque promotes vaccines, MDR-TB numbers appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The Pictsweet Company has recalled 1,872 cases of Pictsweet Farms 8-ounce Steam’ables Asparagus Spears because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms […]The post Asparagus Spears recalled due to potential Listeria risk appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In one of the largest studies to measure the burden of antibiotic resistance in a low- or middle-income country, researchers at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy report that in-hospital mortality is significantly higher among patients infected with multi-drug resistant (MDR) or extensively drug resistant (XDR) pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii. Researchers […]The post Study finds multi- and extensively drug resistant bacterial infections associated with higher in-hospital mortality rates in India appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Italian health officials reported this week ( computer translated) that the measles outbreak in the port city of Bari is now under control. The first epidemiological data reported by the Observatory of the Puglia region shows that the infection started from the same family unit, two unvaccinated 8 and 13 year old brothers, followed by […]The post Italy: Measles outbreak in Bari ‘under control’ appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is shifting its focus towards active screening of girls and women of childbearing age to detect the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative parasite of Chagas disease. Recent evidence demonstrates that diagnosing and treating women of this age group before pregnancy can effectively prevent congenital transmission. “Identifying pregnant women already infected with […]The post Chagas: Preventing congenital transmission by active screening of girls and women of childbearing age appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

This week, Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched a three-day subnational immunization days campaign (SNIDs) that took place on 12–14 November 2018, to maintain the country’s polio-free status. The campaign aimed to administer the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to 4.5 million […]The post Polio vaccination drive in Sudan: Maintaining the country’s polio-free status appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) reported a severely ill child with a confirmed case of adenovirus died Thursday night in a North Jersey hospital. The child had been a resident of the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell and was among 34 pediatric adenovirus cases that have been associated with the current […]The post New Jersey health officials report 11th death in adenovirus outbreak, Medical Reserve Corp called up appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

FINDINGS Infants born to HIV-positive mothers had high rates of congenital cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Infants who also were infected before birth by the virus that causes AIDS were especially prone to CMV infection. The researchers found that 23 percent of the infants who became infected with HIV during the mother’s pregnancy also were infected with […]The post Congenital CMV risk high in infants born to HIV-positive mothers: UCLA researchers appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Natural health advocate, Dr. Joseph Mercola, tweeted a story from his website–“Vitamin D Is More Effective Than Flu Vaccine, Study Says”, on his popular website mercola.com. His text in the tweet stated: Mounting research suggests vitamin D deficiency may actually be a major cause of influenza. This drew a firestorm in response, questioning everything from his […]The post Dr. Joseph Mercola: ‘Vitamin D deficiency may be a major cause of influenza’, Called ‘Charlatan’ on Twitter appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In a follow-up on the multi-state Salmonella Newport outbreak linked to beef from JBS Tolleson, an additional 126 ill people from 13 states were included in the investigation since the last update on October 23, 2018. Three more states reported ill people: Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Missouri. 64 percent of outbreak cases have been reported from three states–Arizona, […]The post Salmonella outbreak linked to ground beef grows to 246 cases appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Aemcolo (rifamycin), an antibacterial drug indicated for the treatment of adult patients with travelers’ diarrhea caused by noninvasive strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli), not complicated by fever or blood in the stool. “Travelers’ diarrhea affects millions of people each year and having treatment options for this […]The post Travelers’ diarrhea drug, Aemcolo, receives FDA nod appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In an update on the first-of-its-kind Biobank, the Bay Area Lyme Foundation announced the addition of the Lyme Disease Tissue Collection Program to its Lyme Disease Biobank, which currently accepts blood samples. The expansion of the Biobank will allow for a greater understanding of the ability of Lyme bacteria to invade tissues and organs. The Lyme Disease Biobank […]The post Lyme Disease Biobank expands to increase understanding of disease in heart, brain, joints and other tissues appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Bohol The Department of Health (DOH) 7 in the Central Visayas is reporting 125 percent increase in dengue fever cases in 2018 year to date compared to 2017. 2,057 dengue cases with 37 fatalities were recorded in the province from January to November 2018, compared to the 917 cases with eight deaths logged in the same […]The post Philippines: Dengue cases up in Bohol, Cordillera appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

New Jersey state health officials have identified a 12th confirmed measles case in Ocean County. This individual could have exposed others to the infection while in Ocean County between November 6 and November 9. Anyone who visited the following locations may have been exposed to measles: Fountain Ballroom, 725 Vassar Ave, Lakewood, NJ 08701 October […]The post Ocean County measles outbreak: 12th case reported appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has been the most outspoken advocate for a single payer health care system in the US, or a “Medicare for all” system. In fact, he is frequently citing the Canadian system as one to emulate. Straight from his website we learn that Sander’s universal single-payer health care means comprehensive coverage for […]The post Bernie Sanders single payer health plan vs. the Canadian system: Some significant differences appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The Tennessee Department of Health continues to investigate and respond to a hepatitis A outbreak impacting the state with more than 400 cases of illness to date. One death associated with this hepatitis A outbreak has been reported. The outbreak in Tennessee most heavily affects Nashville and Chattanooga. Nashville reports 150 hepatitis A cases in […]The post Tennessee reports 1st hepatitis A death in current outbreak appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Outbreaks of norovirus in health care settings and outbreaks caused by a particular genotype of the virus are more likely to make people seriously ill, according to a new study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Based on an analysis of nearly 3,800 U.S. outbreaks from 2009 to 2016, the research confirms several factors that can […]The post Norovirus: New study sheds light on outbreaks appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory reports that there is a new case of brucellosis in a cattle herd in Teton County which is in the Wyoming Brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area (DSA). Serologic testing at both laboratories has shown reactor level results on five animals from one herd. Further testing, […]The post Wyoming reports brucellosis in a Teton County cattle herd appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Nashville, TN health officials have confirmed 150 cases of hepatitis A have been reported in the city since December 2017. Metro Public Health Department (MPHD) officials continue to work to reach three at-risk groups. Those at greatest risk of exposure to hepatitis A include: People who use drugs (not just injection drug use), men who have sexual contact with men […]The post Nashville reports 150 hepatitis A cases in nearly a year appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In a follow-up report on the measles outbreak in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community, health officials put the outbreak total at 24 since the first case in October. The initial child was unvaccinated and acquired measles on a visit to Israel, where a large outbreak of the disease is occurring. New York: Measles outbreak in Rockland County […]The post Brooklyn measles update: 24 confirmed cases in the Orthodox Jewish community appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

A new study in the Journal of Wildlife Management looks at the population estimates and management options for introduced rhesus macaques in Florida. According to researchers from the University of Florida, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation: Approximately 12 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were introduced to the forests along the Silver River, central Florida, USA, between […]The post Rhesus macaques in Florida: Population predicted to double, and of course there is Herpes B appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

An outbreak of infectious syphilis affecting rural and remote Aboriginal communities in the Far North and Eyre and Western regions of South Australia (SA) since November 2016 has now extended to metropolitan Adelaide. A total of 49 cases have been notified in the Far North and Eyre and Western region since the outbreak was declared. […]The post South Australia: Syphilis outbreak extends to Adelaide appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In an update on the acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) situation in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 90 confirmed cases of AFM in 27 states as of today. These 90 confirmed cases are among the total of 252 reports that CDC received of patients under investigation (PUIs). During a CDC […]The post Acute flaccid myelitis cases in the US: 90 confirmed cases in 27 states appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show tickborne diseases are again on the rise. In 2017, state and local health departments reported a record number of cases of tickborne disease to CDC. Cases of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis/ehrlichiosis, spotted fever rickettsiosis (including Rocky Mountain spotted fever), babesiosis, tularemia, and Powassan virus […]The post Lyme disease, other tickborne diseases up in 2017 appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. This bacterial neglected tropical disease is targeted to be eliminated as a public health problem in 2020. My guest today says in a post in the blog BugBitten that the future looks bright for trachoma elimination. Joining me to discuss trachoma , the elimination strategy and the […]The post Trachoma: The SAFE strategy, the successes and a look forward to elimination appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The New Jersey Department of Health is warning residents that 5 additional cases of measles — a highly contagious disease — have been confirmed in Ocean County. This brings the total to 11 confirmed cases. These individuals could have exposed others to the infection while in Ocean County on November 1. Anyone who visited the […]The post Five additional measles cases reported in Ocean County, NJ appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In an update on the measles outbreak in Rockland County, New York, health officials are now reporting 68 confirmed cases as of Tuesday. These cases are presently clustered in eastern Ramapo (New Square, Spring Valley, Monsey), however due to Rockland County’s small geographic size, exposure to the measles may occur anywhere in the county. To date, the […]The post New York: Measles outbreak in Rockland County up to 68 confirmed cases appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Scientists at The Wistar Institute and collaborators have successfully engineered novel DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) targeting Zaire Ebolavirus that were effective in preclinical models. Study results, published online in Cell Reports, showed that DMAbs were expressed over a wide window of time and offered complete and long-term protection against lethal virus challenges. DMAbs may also provide […]The post Synthetic DNA-delivered antibodies protect against Ebola in preclinical studies appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The global disease burden of meningitis remains unacceptably high, and progress lags substantially behind that of other vaccine-preventable diseases, warns a new analysis published in The Lancet Neurology. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Global Burden of Disease study showed that meningitis deaths reduced by just 21% globally between 1990 – 2016, whereas other […]The post Global burden of meningitis is unacceptably high, and progress lags substantially behind other vaccine-preventable diseases – Lancet study appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

England health officials issued a travel warning this week after a UK resident died after becoming infected with rabies following a cat bite during a visit to Morocco. Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunizations at Public Health England said: This is an important reminder of the precautions people should take when travelling to countries where rabies is present. […]The post Rabies death reported in UK traveler to Morocco appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The number of rubella cases reported in Japan this year continues to rise as officials report an additional 154 cases in the week up to November 4th. According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the total cases near the 2,000 case mark with 1,884 cases reported to date–which is about a 700 + case increase in […]The post Japan rubella outbreak: More than 650 cases in Tokyo appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Hepatitis C drugs cure more than 90 percent of patients, but can cost more than $50,000 per patient. Findings from a new study could lead to significant cost savings. Preliminary data from the study, co-led by a theoretical modeling researcher from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and Loyola Medicine, found that in 50 […]The post Study finds hepatitis C treatment could be cut in half in 50 percent of patients appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In a follow-up on the chikungunya situation in Thailand, health officials report 538 people had been diagnosed with the virus in the southern provinces for the first 10 months of the year. The bulk of the cases have been reported in Satun, Narathiwat, Songkhla and to a lesser extent in Trang. The Bureau of Epidemiology puts the […]The post Chikungunya cases rise in southern Thailand appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

During all of 2017, Mexican health officials reported seven human brucellosis cases in the region known as MIddle Zone. However, so far in 2018, at least a dozen cases have been reported, according to a Plano Informativo report this week (computer translated). During 2018, the municipalities with the highest incidence are Cerritos and Villa Juárez. The […]The post Mexico: Brucellosis cases up in the Middle Zone appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The action will urgently address 34 municipalities in the Amazon Region that have concentrated around 80% of Brazil’s malaria cases. The Amazon Region will receive from the Ministry of Health 300,000 bed nets impregnated with long-lasting insecticides (MILD) as a complementary strategy to combat malaria. The action planned for this month of November aims to serve 364,500 people from 34 […]The post Malaria: 300K bednets sent to Amazon Region of Brazil appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The period of greatest transmission of yellow fever is from December to March. Metropolitan regions of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerias and São Paulo are among the areas at risk of infection, Brazil health officials warned today. The population living in areas recommended for the yellow fever vaccine should seek vaccination before the beginning of summer, […]The post Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerias and São Paulo are among the areas at risk for yellow fever appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Nearly two thirds of Americans (65%) say antibiotic resistance is a public health problem and a strong majority (81%) say they are concerned that antibiotic resistance will make more infections difficult or impossible to treat and even deadly, according to a national public opinion survey commissioned by Research!America in collaboration with the Infectious Disease Society of America […]The post Antibiotic resistance: Survey says 81 percent of Americans concerned appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The dengue fever outbreak in Senegal continues, with the disease being confirmed in new districts. As of 3 November 2018, the cumulative number of suspected cases is 2,123, of which 216 are confirmed. Six regions are currently reporting confirmed cases: Diourbel (169), Fatick (34), St Louis (6), Dakar (3), Louga (3) and Thiès (1). So far, […]The post Dengue outbreak in Senegal includes CDC travel notice appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Thailand health officials continue to work to contain a measles outbreak in the southern provinces, in which some 1,500 cases have been reported, including 12 deaths. The morbidity rate in Yala province is 132.61 / 100,000 population, by far the highest in the country. The majority of patients are babies and children who have not […]The post Measles outbreak in Thailand: More than 1,500 cases in the South appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In an update on the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituru provinces in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Ministry of Health reported the death toll in the outbreak topped 200 on Friday, with the tally at 205 as of Nov. 10. Since the beginning of the epidemic, the cumulative […]The post Ebola death toll tops 200 appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

An African swine fever outbreak has been reported on a large pig farm in Qingyang county, Anhui Province in eastern China. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (computer translated), the farm has 8339 live pigs, with 96 diseases and 47 deaths. Immediately after the outbreak, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs sent a steering group to […]The post China: African swine fever outbreak reported in Anhui Province appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Since our last update on the adenovirus outbreaks at two New Jersey facilities–the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell and Voorhees Pediatric Facility–three additional cases in residents have been reported. This brings the total cases to 42 (Wanaque Center-34, Voorhees–8). The death toll remains at 10, all at the Haskell facility. The two […]The post Adenovirus outbreaks top 40 cases in NJ facilities appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Heart complications in patients diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia are more serious than in patients diagnosed with viral pneumonia, according to new research from the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City. In the study of nearly 5,000 patients, researchers found that patients diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia had a 60 percent greater […]The post Heart complications in patients with bacterial pneumonia more serious than in patients with viral pneumonia appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

An Alaska Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Workgroup of health care providers and public health officials reviewed RSV seasonality data in past years this September and recommended administration of palivizumab (Synagis®) to qualifying infants and children during November 28, 2018 through May 22, 2019, to provide the best coverage for RSV prevention in Alaska. The Workgroup […]The post Alaska: RSV Workgroup recommend Synagis for qualifying children to start now appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Measles, measles and more measles. On today’s show, I look at the measles situation here in the states and in Israel and Asia. I also look at a paper that demonstrates the importance of herd immunity. I play part of an older interview with an infection preventionist on measles. I look at some local hepatitis […]The post Outbreak News This Week Radio Show 11-18-18 appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Brazil’s Ministry of Health received reports of 11,524 outbreaks of foodborne diseases between 2000 and 2015, with 219,909 individuals falling sick and 167 dying from the diseases in question. Bacteria caused most outbreaks of such illnesses, including diarrhea and gastroenteritis. The most frequent were Salmonella spp., with 31,700 cases diagnosed in the period (14.4% of […]The post Salmonella: Brazilian researchers identify 39 genes responsible for antibiotic resistance appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Hong Kong health officials are alerting the public to an increase in hepatitis A cases since October 1. Since that time, 14 cases have been reported, while the previous none months saw just 1-5 cases per month. The 14 cases recorded from October 1 to yesterday affected eight males and six females with ages ranging […]The post Hepatitis A cases rise in Hong Kong appeared first on Outbreak News Today.