Outbreak News Today

Vaccination with the anthrax capsule–a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease–completely protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection, according to a study published online this week in the journal VACCINE. These results indicate that anthrax capsule is a highly effective vaccine component that should be considered for incorporation in future generation anthrax […]

Brazilian officials are reporting a confirmed case of chikungunya that was transmitted from mother to baby (vertical transmission) in Paraiba state in northeast Brazil, according to a local media report (computer translated). The 12-day old baby showed strong convulsions and is now hospitalized in an intensive care unit in the city of Campina Grande. Municipal Children’s Hospital […]

On this past Sunday’s show, I spent the better part of the hour discussing chronic Lyme disease and the multi-layers of issues surrounding it with author of the upcoming book, Lyme Madness™, Lori Dennis, MA, RP. In addition to being a writer, Lori is a Registered Psychotherapist and the mother of an adult son who has been suffering […]

The number of influenza deaths for the first five months of 2016 has crushed the number of fatalities reported during all of 2015, according to Ministry of Health data reported in a Globo.com report (computer translated). From Jan. 1 through June 4 this year, Brazilian health officials have reported 886 deaths from H1N1 influenza, including 122 deaths […]

Researchers from the University of Chicago have shown that microbiota—the bacteria, viruses and other microbes living on the skin and in the digestive system—play an important role in the body’s ability to accept transplanted skin and other organs. In a June 20 study, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, the team demonstrated that skin […]

Health officials in Cape Verde announced late last week on eleven Zika-linked microcephaly cases through mid-June, according to a A Semana report (computer translated). The announcement by medical epidemiologist Maria de Lurdes Monteiro noted that of the eleven cases, one was stillborn. Nine of these cases were diagnosed in Praia and two on the island of […]

Of cancers affecting men and women, colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States. But it doesn’t have to be. U.S. health care facilities have the capacity to meet colorectal cancer screening goals – yet only half of adults are up-to-date on screening. US government agencies and their colorectal cancer prevention […]

While here in the states there has been a lot of coverage of the two Texas men who contracted very serious Vibrio vulnificus infections in recent weeks, Hong Kong health officials reported two sporadic cases of necrotizing fasciitis since the second week of June. On June 8 and 11, 2016, the Center for Health Protection (CHP) […]

The number of Lyme disease cases in the Canadian province of Quebec have increased significantly in recent years, prompting health officials to advise the public to be aware of tick bites this summer. According to a report in the Montreal Gazette, there was 159 Lyme disease cases reported in 2015. This compares to 142 cases […]

Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, transmitted from person to person through close physical and respiratory contact. It can cause infection of the nasopharynx, which may lead to breathing difficulties and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The United States recorded 206,000 cases of diphtheria in 1921 […]

Following reports of one and possibly two serious Vibrio vulnificus infections in Texas men who contracted the bacterium while visiting the Texas Gulf Coast HERE and HERE, officials with the Galveston County Health District responded to media accounts with the following statement: You’ve probably heard about a case of Vibrio recently acquired at a Galveston beach, […]

Ten inches of rain in a very short period Thursday has resulted in the worst flooding West Virginia has seen in four decades and ‘among the worst in a century for some parts of the state’. This has tragically resulted in at least two dozen deaths as of Saturday. On Thursday, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray […]

General Mills announced Friday a voluntary national recall of four specific flavors of Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bars and Nature Valley Simple Nut Bars. The recall is being issued as part of sunflower kernel supplier SunOpta’s ongoing national recall for the potential presence of Listeria monocytogenes. General Mills has not received any direct consumer reports […]

Baguio City health officials are reporting a dramatic increase in dengue fever cases this year to date compared to 2015. City hospitals have recorded 1,007 cases of dengue from January to June this year, a more than 500 percent increase over the 214 cases over the same period in 2015. No deaths have been recorded. The […]

The Department of Health reminded South Dakotans to get in the habit of using mosquito repellent as it announced the state’s first human West Nile virus (WNV) case of the year, a Minnehaha County resident in the 10- 19 age group. “Most people who contract West Nile virus, about 70-80 percent, don’t get sick but […]

Health officials in General Santos City in the southern major island of Mindanao, Philippines have raised the dengue alert after reporting a significant increase in cases so far in 2016 compared to the same period last year. According to the the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) of the City Health Office (CHO), since January, 389 […]

Mecklenberg County health officials announced this week that recent test results by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health officials show the presence of the amoeba, Naegleria fowleri that caused the recent death in a teenager from Ohio. In an announcement Friday by The U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC), after discussions […]

The latest issue of “Waste Report”, an ongoing project cataloging of egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul reveals the hundreds of thousands of US taxpayer dollars being spent on people’s threshold for spice and bitterness. From red-hot to five-alarm, some people really like spicy foods, and yet others cannot stand the […]

Two additional cases of Hepatitis A have been diagnosed as part of the ongoing outbreak, with all cases have links that can be traced back to Ysgol Glyn Gaer in Caerphilly, where the first patients were identified in April. This brings the total of confirmed cases to 15 and one further suspected case is being investigated. […]

Puerto Rican health officials reported an additional 436 confirmed Zika virus cases in the past week, bringing the total confirmed to 2,162. Of this, 108 additional pregnant women were reported and two additional cases of Guillain Barré syndrome (GBS), bringing the totals to 299 and 14, respectively. This is according to Secretary of Health Ana Armendariz Ríus […]

California health officials issued a health advisory related to an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease occurring in Southern California, primarily among adult gay and bisexual men on Friday. Since the beginning of May, nine meningococcal disease cases have been identified in men living in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, most of whom were gay or bisexual […]

Arizona health officials reported Friday on an additional measles case associated with the private detention facility in Eloy. This is the 18th case reported from Pinal County and the 19th case reported in the outbreak overall. Health officials note a possible exposure area at the Walgreens on 2785 N Pinal Ave in Casa Grande. The potential exposure […]

For four years now, I have been working hard — every day — to advocate for my son. I have helped him determine the cause of his illness, no thanks to the willful neglect and sheer ignorance of the allopathic medical community. And I have helped him navigate the twists and turns of a broken […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released the results of its investigation into the potential health impact that lead contamination in the Flint, Michigan water supply had on the blood lead levels of local children. The findings indicate that when the source of the water supply was switched to the Flint River, […]

After being declared measles-free in 2014, measles is back in very large numbers in Mongolia in 2016, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a travel notice for travelers to the East Asian country. Mongolia reported no confirmed measles cases in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2015, they reported more than […]

Radagast Pet Food, Inc. (Portland, OR) has announced a voluntary recall of four lots of frozen Rad Cat Raw Diet products, sold in 8oz., 16oz., and 24oz. tubs, and free 1oz sample cups, due to the potential to be contaminated with Salmonellaand/or Listeria monocytogenes Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes can affect animals eating the products and […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced this week they would be launching emergency preemptive vaccination campaigns on the DR Congo, Angola border and the city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to halt the epidemic and prevent the risk of further international spread. The initial phase of the campaign which begins in July […]

Previous exposure to the dengue virus may increase the potency of Zika infection, according to research from Imperial College London. The early-stage laboratory findings, published in the journal Nature Immunology, suggests the recent explosive outbreak of Zika may have been driven in part by previous exposure to the dengue virus. The study, which included scientists […]

Ohio is reporting its first case of Zika virus acquired through sexual transmission in a 61- year-old Lucas County woman. Her husband traveled to a country with active Zika virus transmission and has tested positive for the virus, becoming Ohio’s 15th travel-associated case. Local officials are increasing mosquito assessment and control measures in the area […]

In an update of the gastrointestinal disease outbreak in the Eastern Visayas provinces of Samar and Leyte, DOH regional director Minerva P. Molon said that to date, a total of 4, 277 persons were afflicted with 47 deaths. The province of Samar remains to have the highest number of cases with a total of 2,414 with 35 […]

On Wednesday, Sanofi Pasteur, Sanofi’s vaccine division, announced that the National Ministry of Health of Costa Rica has approved Sanofi Pasteur’s tetravalent dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia®, to protect individuals 9 to 45 years of age living in endemic areas against all four serotypes of dengue. This approval in Costa Rica is the fourth registration of the […]

Sales in Macao of live poultry have been halted after a test sample yesterday showed avian influenza virus was detected in a local market, according to the Government Information Bureau of Macao (computer translated). The ban on sales of live poultry will last at least three days, i.e., from Thursday to Saturday inclusive. To protect […]

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today that its quadrivalent influenza vaccine VaxigripTetra™ obtained a positive end of procedure from the German Reference Member State Paul Ehrlich Institute, as a conclusion of the European Decentralized Procedure. Marketing Authorizations can now be issued in the Reference Member State (Germany) and each of the Concerned […]

In a follow-up to the reports on the death of Ohio teen, Lauren Seitz from primary amebic meningoencephalitis suspected of being contracted in Charlotte, North Carolina (HERE and HERE), the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte released the following: A LETTER FROM OUR CEO I would like to address the recent media reports and concerns expressed […]

An outbreak of hepatitis A has been reported at Puerto Rico’s largest public hospital and it is believed the source of the outbreak is food from an unlicensed street vendor. The San Juan based Centro Medico in Rio Piedras has seen at least 26 hepatitis A cases in hospital employees as of Wednesday. To date, no patients have […]

The Dengue School-Based Immunization program that commenced on Apr. 4 and has been administered to more than 300,000 schoolkids aged nine years and above in Regions III, IV-A, and National Capital Region (NCR) is now being expanded to Grade 4 pupils in the Central Visayas (Region VII). The announcement of the expanded use of the dengue fever vaccine, […]

A phase II clinical trial demonstrated that a new type of treatment for genital herpes, an immunotherapy called GEN-003, may reduce the activity of the virus and the number of days with recurrent herpes. This effect of treatment, given by a series of three injections, appears to last for up to at least one year. […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted Wednesday that live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), also known as the “nasal spray” flu vaccine, should not be used during the 2016-2017 flu season. ACIP continues to recommend annual flu vaccination, with either the inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) or recombinant influenza […]

Mission of Hope (MOH) and a group of Arbonne consultants joined together in Minoterie, Haiti today to celebrate the completion of 90 new homes for families displaced by the 2010 earthquake. Minoterie has a high homeless population, as many families were dropped here after the tragic quake. The funds for the 90 houses were raised […]

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered how the most severe forms of West Nile virus cause memory loss and mood disorders, opening the door to potential new treatments for the mosquito-borne illness. The study, published in the journal Nature, says 50 percent of patients who survive the most damaging kind […]

Kyle Gracin Lewis died at Cook Children’s Medical Center in the summer of 2010, from the Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), the brain infection caused by the water-born amoeba, known as Naegleria fowleri. Now Cook Children’s is the first, and currently the only, hospital in the nation to house a life-saving investigational drug called miltefosine (trade […]

Health officials in Arizona reported today on the 18th measles case in the current outbreak linked to the private detention facility in Eloy. This is the 17th case in Pinal county. Public health has identified the following potential exposure sites: Monday, June 20, 2016 Walgreens, 1514 E Florence Blvd, Casa Grande, AZ 85122, from 9 a.m. […]

In a follow-up to the report of an Ohio 18-year-old woman who contracted and died from the very lethal parasitic amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, officials with the Mecklenburg County Health Department in North Carolina and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) held a press conference today to discuss the case. According to the early investigation into the […]

Using unmanned drones to deliver vaccines in low- and middle-income countries may save money and improve vaccination rates, new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center suggests. The cost savings would come from drones being able to deliver vaccines more quickly and cheaply than land-based methods […]

There is nothing worse than an unwanted house guest, especially when they do nothing but suck you dry. Mosquitoes have nasty habits of buzzing around; causing itchy bite marks and making many grab the nearest can of bug repellent. Enjoy the outdoors this summer and stop the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses by following tips from […]

Health officials in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur are warning the public to take precautions against dengue fever as the province heads into the rainy season when the risk of contracting mosquito-borne disease is high. We should always observe preventive measures to stop mosquitoes from breeding, said Dr. Ali S. Descallar, senior medical consultant of the Provincial […]

Hong Kong health officials report today they are investigating two additional suspected cases of botulism after receiving injections of botulinum toxin. The first patient is a 39-year-old woman with good past health, who has developed dry mouth, swallowing difficulties as well as face and neck muscle weakness since May 24. She sought medical attention from a […]

Health officials in Ohio are reporting a fatal case of primary amebic mengioencephalitis, or PAM, which is caused by the infection with the free-living amoeba, Naegleria fowleri. In a statement to Outbreak News Today, Franklin County Public Health Director of Communication, Mitzi Kline said, “An 18 year old Franklin County female has died from a confirmed cased […]

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced a new Japanese encephalitis case in Tainan City, which is the city’s first case this year.　The case is a 64-year-old male who works in agriculture. On June 9, he developed impaired consciousness and high fever. On June 12, he sought medical attention at a hospital and […]

Americans spent $30.2 billion–$28.3 billion for adults and $1.9 billion for children–out-of-pocket on complementary health approaches, according to a nationwide survey. These approaches include a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products such as herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic, and yoga. This amount represents 9.2 percent of all out-of-pocket spending by Americans […]