Outbreak News Today

In a follow-up on the E. coli outbreak in southern Utah, the Southwest Utah Public Health Department reports there have been no new confirmed cases linked to this outbreak since July 9, saying the outbreak is drawing to a close. Health officials say the outbreak that sickened nearly a dozen and killing two in the Hildale/Colorado City […]The post Utah E. coli outbreak coming to an end, linked to infected livestock appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Mobile County Health officials in Mobile County, AL report a fifth case of Vibrio vulnificus for 2017. The case is currently under investigation by Mobile County Health Department (MCHD’s) Infectious Diseases & Outbreak division. More details will be available once the investigation is completed. Information on the previous four cases is as follows: The first case involved […]The post Vibrio vulnificus updates: Mobile County and Florida appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Dallas County health officials have reported the first human West Nile virus (WNV) case of 2017 Friday. According to the Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS), the patient was a Dallas resident with underlying medical conditions who was previously diagnosed with West Nile neuroinvasive disease Friday, July 14. West Nile virus (WNV) is a disease that is […]The post Dallas resident is county’s 1st West Nile virus death appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

A relatively rare tapeworm has popped up in several patients in Alberta, Canada in the past few years, which may not sound like much; however, the only other human case in Canada was in 1928 in Manitoba. The parasite is called Echinococcus multilocularis and it appearance in Alberta has caught the attention of some infectious […]The post Coyote tapeworm in Alberta: 5th human case reported appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In recent weeks, Ohio county fairs reported swine H3N2 prompting closure of the pig exhibitions (HERE and HERE). According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) FluView published today, eleven human infections with novel influenza A viruses were detected in Ohio during the week of July 16. All 11 persons were infected with influenza A (H3N2) […]The post Ohio reports 11 human H3N2v influenza cases last week appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The number of Cyclospora infections in New York City have doubled during the first half of the year prompting city health officials to advise clinicians to be on the alert for patients with diarrhea due to the parasitic infection. A total of 27 cases were reported between January 1 – June 30, 2017 compared to 13 cases […]The post New York City reports increase in Cyclospora infections appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Today in World Hepatitis Day, which every July 28th brings the world together under a single theme to raise awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis and to influence real change. Viral hepatitis affected 325 million people worldwide in 2015, with 257 million people living with hepatitis B and 71 million people living with […]The post World Hepatitis Day: WHO prequalifies first generic hepatitis C med, Let’s not forget hepatitis E appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) is urging Hoosiers to take precautions against pertussis, also known as whooping cough, amid an increase in cases across the state. In the first half of 2017, 136 cases of pertussis have been confirmed in Indiana. During the same period in 2016, the state saw 66 cases. Because […]The post Indiana reports doubling of whooping cough cases, vaccinations urged appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Who said health care must be expensive and essentially dominated by the US government and insurance companies? Free market options are out there and this sector is growing as the government-insurance cartel crumbles before our eyes. Wichita, Kansas family physician, Dr. Josh Umbehr joined me to talk about his Direct Primary Care Clinic, which is essentially a […]The post Health care options: Direct Care appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

From 2007 to 2016, private insurance claim lines with diagnoses of Lyme disease increased 185 percent in rural areas and 40 percent in urban areas, according to data from FAIR Health, a national, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information. Delving into its database of over 23 billion privately billed […]The post Analysis of health insurance claims reveal increase in Lyme disease appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In an update on the Powassan virus situation in Saratoga County, NY, health officials in Schuyler County reported on their website that three cases of Powassan virus have been identified in Saratoga County. Powassan is relatively rare in New York State with only 26 cases reported during the past 13 years. LISTEN: Powassan virus: The spread is inevitable […]The post New York: 3 Powassan virus cases reported in Saratoga County appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In a follow-up on the multi-state Salmonella outbreak (HERE and HERE), Grande Produce has announced a voluntary recall of a limited quantity of Papaya Maradol (with the brand name Caribeña labeled on cartons) distributed during the dates of July 10 and July 19 due to a potential health risk from Salmonella. According to Grande Produce, a Maryland […]The post Salmonella prompts papaya recall appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Scientists developing promising new antibiotics in India, Ireland, France, Switzerland, the US and UK are to share up to US$17.6m to speed treatments for the world’s deadliest superbugs. A year since launching, the international partnership CARB-X today announces its second round of antibiotic research and development funding – alongside a call for greater global support. The seven […]The post CARB-X announces funding for global scientists racing to discover new antibiotics to treat ‘superbugs’ appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Pathogenic bacteria are rapidly developing resistance to the arsenal of microbial therapies – and driving researchers to identify families of therapeutics with new modes of action. Recently, those include antibiotics that inhibit LpxC, an enzyme critical to forming the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. This week in mBio, an international group of scientists report on laboratory […]The post Antibiotics: New class shows promise against plague, multi-drug resistant bacterial infections appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Health officials in Wales are reporting two additional measles cases in the ongoing outbreak prompting urging for parents to ensure their children are protected as school summer holidays begin. The two new measles cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the outbreak affecting the Newport and Torfaen areas to 10. Summer holidays abroad, events […]The post Measles: Gwent outbreak same strain that’s spreading across Europe appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Texas and Hidalgo County health officials have confirmed that an individual tested positive for Zika virus. Because the individual has not recently traveled out of the area or had any other risk factors, the infection probably occurred via a mosquito bite in South Texas sometime in the past few months, officials note. “We credit the […]The post Zika virus: Locally transmitted case reported in Hidalgo County, Texas appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Sixty-eight passengers and one crew member on board Holland America Cruise line vessel, Volendam, were stricken with norovirus, according to federal health officials. During a voyage from July 12-19, 68 of 1,480 (4.59%) passengers and 1 of 610 (0.16%) crew were reported as ill with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus has been identified as the causative agent […]The post Norovirus sickens dozens on Holland America’s Volendam appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Earlier this month, Canadian media reported on two cases of botulism in a 54-year-old woman and her 30-year-old daughter, which authorities suspected may be due to the consumption of beluga whale meat. Today, local media reports that beluga meat has been confirmed as the source of the botulism that killed mother and hospitalized the daughter. The beluga meat […]The post Botulism: Beluga whale confirmed as source in Nunavik appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

While past attempts to treat melanoma failed to meet expectations, an international team of researchers are hopeful that a compound they tested on both mice and on human cells in a petri dish takes a positive step toward creating a drug that can kill melanoma cancer cells without harming nearby healthy cells. In a series […]The post Skin Cancer: Compound shows promise in treating melanoma appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Through July 25, 2017, the number of suspected cholera cases reported in the Yemen epidemic has surpassed 400,000 since April, 27, 2017. In three months, 402,484 suspected cholera cases and 1,880 deaths (CFR: 0.5%) have been reported in 91.3% (21/23) of Yemen governorates, and 88.9% (296/333) of the districts. UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, WFP Executive […]The post Yemen: Cholera outbreak eclipses 400,000 cases in 3 months appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Researchers with the Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands say the overall risk of developing Lyme borreliosis after a tick bite was 2.6 percent, according to a study published PloS One Monday. In the study, they used 3,525 single tick bite reports from three large prospective […]The post Risk of developing Lyme disease after a tick bite is about 3 percent: Dutch researchers appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Why men with hepatitis B remain more than twice as likely to develop severe liver disease than women remains a mystery, even after a study led by a recent Drexel University graduate took lifestyle choices and environments into account. In an attempt to explain the disparity between the two, suggestions have been made that lifestyle […]The post Hepatitis B: Men twice as likely to develop severe liver disease appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Public Health — Seattle & King County received a report on July 24th of a King County resident with a rare wound infection caused by the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus. The likely source of infection was fish purchased from a live fish tank at the Seattle Supermarket, located at 4801 Beacon Ave S, Seattle 98108. Vibrio vulnificus can cause […]The post Vibrio vulnificus case linked to fish from Seattle Supermarket live fish tank appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

California health officials have reported in hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in a Northern California man, prompting reminders of the importance of taking precautions. The most recent case occurred in a patient who was exposed to the virus in Mono County. Most HPS cases have been exposed in the Sierra Nevada or Southern California mountain areas. […]The post Hantavirus case reported in Northern California appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Parasitology teacher and the author of the book, Parasites: Tales of Humanity’s Most Unwelcome Guests, Rosemary Drisdelle joined me on the episode to discuss the soil-transmitted helminth, the giant intestinal roundworm–Ascaris lumbricoides. Today’s episode will be the first of a series of podcasts I’d like to call Parasites 101, which we’ll try to do on a weekly […]The post Parasites 101: Ascaris lumbricoides appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

One of the main issues with Lyme disease is the testing, or the diagnostics as the current two-tier diagnostic approach can be inaccurate up to fifty percent of the time. Professor in the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and inventor of the Global Lyme Diagnostics platform, Richard Marconi, PhD joined me to […]The post A new Lyme disease test: Dr Richard Marconi discusses the GLD Test appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

On July 22, one horse in Franklin County, Florida was confirmed with Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), according to a Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) report. The unvaccinated yearling became neurologic July 17th and was euthanized due for humane reasons. This the first case for Florida in 2017. EEE is a mosquito-transmitted disease that is much […]The post Florida reports first Eastern Equine Encephalitis case in Franklin County horse appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Health officials in Los Angeles County announced Friday that the number of reported Valley Fever infections continues to increase. In 2016, a total of 714 cases were reported across Los Angeles County, compared with 521 in 2015, a 37% increase. Each year since 2009, a greater number of cases were reported than the year before, and […]The post Valley fever: LA County reports 37 percent increase in infections appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Health officials in Bolivia reported the fifth yellow fever case in Cochabamba, according to local media (computer translated). The director general of Health Services of the Ministry of Health, Rodolfo Rocabado said, “We are taking action in an endemic area.We have an epidemiological team that is working together with the Departmental Health Service (Headquarters) We are taking […]The post Bolivia reports fifth yellow fever case appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Small reductions in childhood measles vaccinations in the United States would produce disproportionately large increases in the number of measles cases and in related public health costs, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Baylor College of Medicine. A 5 percent drop in the number of children ages 2 to […]The post Measles vaccine: 5 percent drop in childhood vaccination levels would cause annual cases to triple appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

New findings from Swaziland, supported by the Swazi Ministry of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), reveal remarkable progress in controlling the country’s HIV epidemic and are the latest to show that global HIV efforts are helping to curb the HIV […]The post Swaziland halves its new HIV infection rate appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Hepatitis Vietnam’s health ministry recently reported the viral hepatitis burden in the country of less than 100 million people. According to Xinhua report Monday, the southeast Asian nation currently has 7.8 million of hepatitis B patients and 991,000 hepatitis C cases. Hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, includes viral hepatitis types A, B and C. New, […]The post Vietnam: High hepatitis numbers, Dengue in the Mekong Delta appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

A vaginal ring that researchers are hopeful will be approved as a method for preventing HIV in women was found to be safe and acceptable in teen girls, according to results of a study conducted in the United States and reported at the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2017) today in Paris. The […]The post Dapivirine vaginal ring for HIV prevention found safe and acceptable in US adolescent girls appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

With the number of dengue fever cases topping 105,000 cases and 300 deaths so far in 2017, the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are rapidly scaling up emergency assistance to help contain the country’s worst-ever outbreak of the mosquito-borne viral disease. Dengue patients are […]The post Sri Lanka Red Cross: ‘The size of this dengue outbreak is unprecedented’ appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Between 1 January 2016 and 21 July 2017, the Romania National Center for Communicable Disease Control and Control has reported 8,246 measles cases and 32 deaths (computer translated). Last week, the Health Ministry and the Interior Ministry started a vaccination campaign against measles. There are about 180,000 unvaccinated kids in Romania, according to the Health Ministry. Only 10% […]The post Romania measles update: 8,246 cases and 32 deaths appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In the past month in Tanzania, two clusters s of suspected acute aflatoxicosis have occurred in Kiteto District, Manyara Region in the northern part of Tanzania According to a WHO report on the event: The first cluster, reported on 21 June 2017, involved five children aged between 3-9 years from one family in Partimbo Village, Kimotonge […]The post Aflatoxin kills 4 children in Tanzania, linked to consumption of maize appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Health officials have reported on a single case of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) was confirmed in a young, 10-year-old shepherd (caring for 26 head of cattle) in Fatick District, Kamsaté, Senegal. The child developed fever, headache, arthralgia, muscle pain and vomiting on 29 June 2017. Upon presentation to a local clinic on 30 June 2017, he was […]The post Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever case reported in Senegal shepherd appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The raccoon that topples your trashcan and pillages your garden may leave more than just a mess. More likely than not, it also contaminates your yard with parasites — most notably, raccoon roundworms (Baylisascaris procyonis). “If you see a raccoon in Santa Barbara, chances are that it’s full of roundworms,” said Sara Weinstein, a former […]The post Raccoon roundworm survey: 7 percent of Santa Barbara residents tested were positive for antibodies appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

A new way of producing the seasonal flu vaccine could speed up the process and provide better protection against infection. For decades, vaccine manufacturers have used chicken eggs to grow the flu virus strains included in the seasonal flu shot. But because these human strains frequently mutate to adapt to their new environment in eggs, […]The post Flu vaccine production could provide better protection against infection appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

In a follow-up on the progress of the Lyme disease vaccine candidate VLA15, French company, Valneva announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the vaccine Fast Track designation. Fast Track designation is granted by the FDA to products that are under development for serious conditions and have the potential to fulfill […]The post Lyme disease vaccine candidate granted Fast Track designation appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

U.S. Poison Control Centers receive a call every 24 minutes, on average, regarding dietary supplement exposures, according to a new study from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center, both at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The study, published online today in the Journal of Medical Toxicology, found the rate of calls […]The post Dietary supplements: Poison Control receives a call every 24 minutes appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Health & Environment (CDHE) have reported a significant rise in hepatitis A cases statewide in 2017, particularly in men who have sex with men (MSM). Through July 21, officials report 49 cases year-to-date, more than the total from all of 2015 (24) and 2016 (23). The breakdown by county is […]The post Colorado experiencing hepatitis A outbreak, already double last year’s total appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

A new study from India raises questions about the dangers to human health of farming chicken with growth-promoting antibiotics–including some of the same drugs used in raising millions of chickens in the United States and worldwide. The study, led by researchers from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) and published today in Environmental […]The post High levels of antibiotic-resistance in Indian poultry farming raises concerns appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer said, “The great tragedy is that this cholera outbreak is a preventable, man-made humanitarian catastrophe. “It is a direct consequence of a conflict that has devastated civilian infrastructure and brought the whole health system to its knees. “I find this needless suffering absolutely infuriating. The world is […]The post Cholera outbreak expected to double in Yemen: One in every 45 Yemenis will be affected appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel notice for Sri Lanka in light the current dengue epidemic. The Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka has reported 103,114 suspected dengue cases and more than 250 deaths since the beginning of the year. Public health officials are responding by increasing mosquito control efforts […]The post CDC issues travel notice for Sri Lanka because of dengue outbreak appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

A 10-year-old Venezuelan boy who was hospitalized at the Santo Antônio Children’s Hospital suspected of having pharyngotonsillar diphtheria died Tuesday morning, according to a Globo.com report (computer translated). He had been hospitalized since July 12 in an isolation ward at the Santo Antônio Children’s Hospital in Boa Vista. In a statement, the City of Boa Vista reported […]The post Brazil: Venezuelan child dies from suspected diphtheria appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Health officials in Hong Kong reported the cause of a local case of Japanese encephalitis (JE) affecting a male patient who stayed in Grantham Hospital in the entire incubation period–a blood transfusion given while hospitalized. The patient aged 52 was admitted to Queen Mary Hospital on May 10 for organ transplant for his underlying illness. He […]The post Blood transfusion transmitted Japanese encephalitis confirmed in Hong Kong appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says “Hepatitis” means inflammation of the liver. The liver is a vital organ that processes nutrients, filters the blood, and fights infections. When the liver is inflamed or damaged, its function can be affected. Heavy alcohol use, toxins, some medications, and certain medical conditions can cause hepatitis. […]The post Talking Hepatitis A with Dr Amesh Adalja appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

Hawaii state health officials reported an additional 18 confirmed mumps cases, bringing the total to 172 in 2017 to date. Twelve of the cases are from Oahu, four are from Kauai and two are from Hawaii Island. Nine of the new cases of individuals are adults. Of the 172 total, the majority of the confirmed cases […]The post Hawaii mumps outbreak rises by an additional 18 cases appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health is reminding the community to prevent mosquito bites with 19 human cases of West Nile virus infection reported this season, including one death. The individual who died was an older adult who also suffered from additional health issues. Sadly, older adults are most at risk for serious complications of West […]The post Arizona: West Nile virus death reported in Maricopa County appeared first on Outbreak News Today.