Outbreak News Today

Costa Rica, El Salvador and Suriname are the three winners of the Malaria Champions award, a prize presented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), that recognizes the efforts of the Americas…

The Louisiana Department of Health reported earlier this week the first death related to West Nile virus (WNV) in 2016. Due to privacy issues, WNV deaths by parish are not reported.…

The University of Southern California (USC) Engemann Student Health Center issued a norovirus alert on campus after reporting dozens of cases of the rapidly spreading gastrointestinal disease. According to a CBS Los Angeles news report Thursday, the Los Angeles County Health Department has put the case tally at 103 since the outbreak started last week. Some […]

Health officials in St. Clair County, Illinois are investigating a Salmonella Newport (PFGE pattern of JJPX01.0381) cluster in individuals who attended the Belleville Chili Cook-off on October 8, 2016. While the number of those infected is not available, health officials say those affected live in multiple Illinois counties of St. Clair, Madison, and Lake, and one ill […]

On November 3, 2016, a 5 year-old Saddlebred displaying severe neurologic signs and a 10 year-old Saddlebred in Los Angeles County displaying moderate neurologic signs were confirmed positive for the non-neuropathogenic strain Equine Herpesvirus-1 at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, according to a Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) alert. Due to severity […]

A new study from HealthPartners Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis (Tdap) vaccination was not associated with an increased risk for microcephaly or other major birth defects. The study was published in the Nov. 1, 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This retrospective […]

Federal health officials released updated data on the Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) situation in the United States year-to-date, and in September we seen a significant number of cases reported. As of September 2016, 89 people in 33 states were confirmed to have AFM. This is up from 50 cases reported at the end of August. The […]

The number of suspected and lab confirmed cases of mumps in northwest and central Arkansas has increased by a whopping 173 cases in one week, according to newly released numbers from The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) yesterday. One week ago, the case tally stood at 769 cumulative cases. As of Wednesday, ADH puts the number at […]

English health officials have opened up an investigation of several Wahaca Mexican restaurants after hundreds of staff and patrons have become ill with suspected norovirus. The restaurant chain, founded by 2005 MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers, announced today: We assessed each case and when it became clear they were not isolated incidents, we got in touch with […]

The Public Health Branch of the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency is working closely with a local restaurant and school that served a frozen strawberry product that was recently recalled due to possible Hepatitis A contamination. Bella Vista Elementary School had received the product from its vendor and used it in smoothies at […]

The University of Missouri Student Health Center issued a mumps alert yesterday upon announcing that five confirmed cases of mumps have been identified in MU students since the beginning of the Fall semester. In addition, health officials are investigating five other possible cases. Mumps is an acute viral infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include […]

Kansas state health officials announced they are investigating of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 cases among persons who attended the Louisburg Cider Mill Ciderfest, which was held September 24-25 and October 1-2. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) says there has been seven cases identified to date. State and federal health officials performed an […]

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) reported today an additional non-travel associated Zika virus case in a resident of Duval County. Health officials say the individual had multiple exposures in Miami-Dade County and do not believe transmission is occurring in Duval County. This brings the number of locally acquired Zika cases to 186. On Tuesday, Florida […]

In a notice Wednesday from State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz Director of Student Health Services, Jack Ordway, M.D., nine mumps cases have been confirmed on campus. Local media report the cases are members of the school’s intercollegiate swimming program. Mumps is an acute viral infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include swelling and tenderness of […]

Two widely prescribed antibiotics — chloramphenicol and linezolid — may fight bacteria in a different way from what scientists and doctors thought for years, University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have found. Instead of indiscriminately stopping protein synthesis, the drugs put the brakes on the protein synthesis machinery only at specific locations in the gene. […]

Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is investigating two cases of tuberculosis (TB) at University of Washington Tacoma. The Health Department learned of the first case – a Pierce County resident – in April. In the second case, Public Health Seattle King County referred an individual – a King County resident – to Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department […]

The New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services (NH DPHS) issued a health alert after learning of four cases of invasive Group A Streptococcal bacteremia, all males, and all active injection heroin users from Southern/Central New Hampshire, who presented to healthcare in the last 10 days. Health officials say it is unclear if these cases are […]

In a follow-up to a report this weekend about the cholera outbreak in Cape Coast, Ghana, local media report the outbreak in the fishing port city has topped 20 cases, including three fatalities. A StarrFM report states cholera cases have been reported in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem municipality, the Mfanteman municipality and Twifo Atti Morquah districts. Governmental and […]

The City of Lubbock Health Department has confirmed the first human case of West Nile Virus in Lubbock for 2016. WNV is a disease of birds. Humans are exposed to the virus when they are bitten by mosquitoes that have fed on infected birds. The infected mosquitoes become the link (vector) that spreads the disease […]

An outbreak of unknown etiology on the P&O Cruises vessel, Adonia, sickened some 25 total passengers and crew, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vessel Sanitation Program (CDC-VSP) report last week. The 23 passengers and two crew members suffered through symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. The voyage from Oct 16 through 23, docked in […]

In a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) consumer update published today, officials discuss the treatment, control and prevention of the bacterial infection, impetigo. Impetigo is a common bacterial skin infection that can produce blisters or sores anywhere on the body, but usually on the face (around the nose and mouth), neck, hands, and diaper area. […]

Enterovirus activity is up in Taiwan and health officials say has been higher than the epidemic threshold for two consecutive weeks. According to the surveillance data compiled by Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC), during October 23 and 29, 2016, the number of visits to outpatient services and ER for enterovirus infection in the […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) published the following update on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) situation in Saudi Arabia: Between 16 September and 10 October 2016 the National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia seven (7) additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) including one (1) fatal case. Details of the cases A 28-year-old […]

Lyme disease cannot be contracted in Australia and patients should not be treated with antibiotics for so-called Lyme-like diseases, new medical research has found. Professor Peter Collignon AM from The Australian National University (ANU) and colleagues dispute well-publicised claims by some people and advocacy groups that the disease can be transmitted by ticks in Australia. […]

The Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) has recently reported two imported cases of the bacterial disease, leptospirosis in Oct. 2016. The first case was recorded on October 14 affecting a 21-year-old female tourist with unremarkable past health. She presented with fever, headache, malaise, runny nose and skin […]

Most of the research to understand the consequences of Zika virus infection has focused on how the virus affects pregnant women and causes severe birth defects in their developing fetuses. But a new study in mice suggests that Zika infection also may have worrisome consequences for men that interfere with their ability to have children. […]

Leopoldo Villegas. MD joined me for an in-depth interview on the crisis in Venezuela on the Sunday, Oct. 30 airing of the Outbreak News This Week Radio Show. Dr Villegas is a Venezuelan trained physician, a senior international health adviser, an infectious disease expert and a former advisor to the Venezuelan Ministry of Health. LISTEN to […]

The International Company for Agricultural Production & Processing (ICAPP) is voluntarily recalling certain lots of its frozen strawberries out of an abundance of caution in response to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation of an outbreak of Hepatitis A. The recalled products were all distributed for sale to and use in food service […]

Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) reports the third West Nile Virus death in Dallas County for the 2016 season. The patient was a resident of the 75149 zip code of Mesquite and was previously diagnosed with West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease on Monday, Oct.17. West Nile Virus (WNV) is a disease that is spread […]

The number of Zika virus infections in the southern Vietnam city of Ho Chi Minh City (HCM City)have tripled in recent weeks, according to the Vietnam Health Ministry’s Department of Preventive Medicine today. Through Oct. 31, HCM City has recorded 17 Zika virus cases detected by the local disease monitoring system. This is up from five […]

Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria exposed to chlorhexidine-containing disinfectants can become resistant to colistin, a last resort antibiotic often used against multidrug resistant pathogens. This is the first study to link exposure to chlorhexidine with resistance to colistin in this clinically important pathogen. The research is published this week in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of […]

Three additional confirmed Vibrio vulnificus cases were reported in the past week in the state of Florida, bringing the state total to 36 through Friday. The new cases include the fourth case confirmed in a Atlantic Beach, Duval County resident, a second case out of Palm Beach County (Lake Worth) and Hillsborough County’s first case […]

In a follow-up on a report two weeks ago concerning a potential Zika-related microcephaly case in a four-month old child Krong Buk district, Dak Lak province, Vietnam health officials say the link was laboratory confirmed Sunday, local media report. Vietnam is the second country in Southeast Asia to record cases of Zika-linked microcephaly after Thailand confirmed two […]

Hong Kong health officials released updates recently on the situations on Legionnaires’ disease (LD) and dengue fever (DF). According to the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today reported from October 23 to 29, three community-acquired LD cases were reported: A male patient, aged 63, who lives in Chung Kuk […]

Columbus Public Health tweeted Friday an update to the Cryptosporidium outbreak in Central Ohio, which shows a slight increase in the past week (29 cases) bringing the total to 966. Columbus Public Health spokesman Jose Rodriguez says fewer cases are being diagnosed on a daily basis. “At one point we were seeing 10, 20 a day,” Rodriguez […]

Following reports over a week ago about historic numbers of the sexually transmitted infections (STI), chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in 2015 in the United States, California health officials have reported numbers of the same reportable STI at a 20 year high. Findings from a 2015 California Department of Public Health (CDPH) report on sexually transmitted infections demonstrate The […]

With the announcement of two additional autochthonous, or locally acquired Zika virus cases Friday in the Philippines, the Department of Health now puts the case tally at 19 this year. Health Undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo said the two new cases are from Region IV-A or CALABARZON, a forty-something woman and a boy. The pregnancy status of the […]

The Cape Coast Health directorate is reporting new cholera cases in the metropolis linked to contaminated food, local media reports. Ten residents have been diagnosed with cholera and are they are currently hospitalized for their illness. The current situation has been described by health experts in the region as having reached an epidemic status. Health officials […]

An international study, led by the University of Southampton, shows the UK and France experience the highest number of malaria cases imported from other countries. Research led by WorldPop, based at the University, examined and mapped the movement of the disease from endemic countries (those where malaria is regularly found in the population) to around […]

In a follow-up to a report last week, Western Australia Health is reporting a second confirmed measles case in a person who was infected during travel overseas. The person visited numerous places in the Perth suburbs – and was infectious to others from Friday 21 October to Friday 28 October 2016. The specific locations and dates/times, […]

Grenada health officials reported this week on an outbreak of the childhood viral disease, hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). Grenada’s Ministry of Health has received reports of twelve cases linked to daycare and preschool centres across the island. Dr. George Mitchell, Chief Medical Officer said, “Several education/ information brochures relating to the disease are being distributed in […]

Philippines health officials have reported twelve locally acquired Zika virus infections this year, with the bulk of the cases reported in Iloilo City to date. Joining the Department of Health in the battle against the spread of the mosquito borne virus is Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle. According to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, Cardinal […]

A non-virulent variant of the deadly Vibrio cholerae O1 strain has likely been present in Haitian aquatic environments for several hundred years, with the potential to become virulent through gene transfer with the toxigenic strain introduced by UN peacekeepers, according to research published today by scientists at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute. “Since […]

In a follow-up to a report five weeks ago concerning the measles situation in Romania, the Ministry of Health now puts the measles tally in the southeastern European country at just shy of 1,000 cases, according to a Romania-Insider report Friday. With the addition of 150 cases this month, the case count for the first 10 […]

Even though a large majority of the U.S. public is aware of the Zika virus, according to a newly-released New York University (NYU) Zika study, fewer than half know some of the hallmarks of this novel virus: that it can cause birth defects among babies born to Zika-infected pregnant women, that it may be sexually-transmitted […]

The number of cases in the Arkansas mumps outbreak that started in “officially” in early September has grown to more than 800 suspected and lab confirmed cases, according to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Friday. The 806 cases under investigation have been reported from four counties: Benton, Madison, Pulaski, and Washington. The ADH says there are currently 27 […]

The crisis in Venezuela is immense with skyrocketing inflation rates, food and medicine shortages and incredible violence and civil unrest. The health care crisis has showed us hospitals with no supplies, a lack of running water and electricity, a malaria epidemic and the resurgence of diphtheria after 24 years…and that’s just the tip of the […]

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene advised health care providers in an alert Thursday of a case of HIV infection in a resident who was reported to have been adherent to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Health officials say the patient has a multidrug resistant strain of the virus, including resistance to the drugs […]

With Oct. 31, or Halloween, just around the corner, public health officials want to remind you about protecting your eyes against serious infections with advice about the use of decorative contact lenses with your costume next Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says decorative contact lenses are medical devices like other contact lenses. […]

The ground has been broken on a major international initiative to rid the world of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) – also known as sheep and goat plague – a highly contagious viral animal disease that causes major losses in regions home to millions of the world’s poorest people. The $996.4 -million plan launched by […]