Outbreak News Today

Increasing temperatures will enlarge Europe’s seasonal window for the potential spread of mosquito-borne viral disease, expanding the geographic areas at risk for a dengue epidemic to include much of Europe. The findings by researchers at Umeå University in Sweden are published in the journal EBioMedicine. Researchers at Umeå University’s Unit for Global Health have calculated […]

The Angola yellow fever outbreak continues to mount concerning cases and deaths. The latest numbers from the Ministry of Health in Angola reveals that some 1,600 suspected and confirmed (516) cases have been reported nationally, including 230 deaths. This is up from 1409 and 198, suspected and confirmed cases and deaths one week ago, respectively. The majority of yellow […]

In early March, Swedish media reported on a Lassa fever case in woman who recently returned from West Africa. Earlier this week, an expert from the Dept of communicable disease control and prevention, Region Västra Götaland and member of the investigation team wrote into the website, ProMed Mail providing additional details on the case. The patient is […]

The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (Metro Health) is asking for the public’s assistance in finding an individual who was unknowingly exposed to rabies. The individual needs to contact Metro Health at 210-207-2095 to start rabies prophylaxis immediately. On March 28, a man walked into the CVS Pharmacy at 4730 Fredericksburg Road around 9:20 p.m. […]

Parasitology 101 is an educational blog that that can be used as a study guide for microbiology, infectious disease and medical technology students. The “bullet-point” format keeps the information concise and to the point. General Information Beef tapeworm Definitive host is humans, herbivores are intermediate hosts Geography Worldwide, particularly where beef is eaten raw or undercooked Morphology (adults) […]

Since the beginning of the year, the state of Florida has reported one confirmed and one probable case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), and both cases are from Hillsborough County, according to state data. The confirmed case was reported from Tampa in January, while a probable case was reported from Valrico, in eastern Hillsborough County last month. […]

Late last month, Thunder Bay health officials investigated suspected foodborne illness among patrons of the Bento Sushi bar located within the Real Canadian Superstore at 971 Carrick Street, Thunder Bay on March 28, 2016. At least four people were sickened and presented symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and weakness after consuming sushi at the establishment. On Tuesday, health […]

The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) issued an update on the E.coli outbreak that has been linked to a Lebanon farm and show that additional cases have been identified since the last report. DPH is investigating 41 confirmed cases of E. coli O157 infection linked to the farm. The patients range in age from 9 […]

Minnesota typically reports less than 10 mumps cases annually, according to Department of Health statistics since 1995, with a couple of outlier years due to outbreaks. However, during the first three months of 2016, state health officials have already reported 16 confirmed and probable mumps cases. Mumps is a viral infection that primarily affects the […]

The Indiana State Department of Health has reported mumps outbreaks at four universities as Purdue University in West Lafayette becomes the latest school to report an outbreak of the viral vaccine preventable disease. School and local and state health officials are investigating five confirmed or probable cases of mumps on the West Lafayette campus. In addition, […]

The Administration is committed to taking every step necessary, as quickly as possible, to protect the American people from the Zika virus. That’s why we submitted to Congress a request for emergency supplemental funding in February to fortify our efforts to combat and stay ahead of the disease. But Congress has yet to act. Nearly […]

Coach Bill Minahan was a living legend who began his football career at the University of Tampa and went on to become one of Tampa’s most memorable high school football coaches, with a twenty-eight-year career at Jesuit High School, leading the Tigers to championship titles as head football coach. Coach Minahan was the recipient of […]

Fresh from Texas of San Antonio, Texas is voluntarily recalling multiple products containing sliced red apples which are identified below because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although […]

Calaveras Public Health Officer, Dr. Dean Kelaita, Tuesday announced that Public Health Services is investigating a child diagnosed with measles traveling through Calaveras County to ensure no local residents were infected. The unvaccinated child resides in Nevada County and developed measles after returning to California from traveling overseas. The child has fully recovered but many […]

Oregon State University (OSU) officials have reported an outbreak of a norovirus-like illness, or “stomach flu” that has affected approximately 50-60 students at the Corvallis campus. The etiology has not been identified and test results for norovirus are expected next week. Executive Director, Jenny Haubenreiser and Medical Director, Dr. Jeff Mull with OSU Student Health Services write […]

In a follow-up to a report on a cryptosporidium outbreak on a farm in Monmouthshire, Wales, Public Health Wales now reports seven people have now tested positive for the parasite, cryptosporidium and 16 others are under investigation after regular attendance at Coleg Gwent’s farm in Usk or contact with those who have. Heather Lewis, Consultant in Health […]

April is National Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Awareness Month, and the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) is raising awareness about those who may be at risk. Judy Nielsen of the DPHHS STD-HIV Prevention Section said there are many steps people can take to prevent STDs. “It’s important for Montanans to know that […]

The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health has reported 1,367 cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) since 2012, including 584 deaths. The Kingdom’s Command and Control Centre (CCC) carried out a survey to assess levels of misconceptions about Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in the community. Health officials say the assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice toward […]

Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units around the country are in the forefront of creating projects that address public health needs in their communities. The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Medical Reserve Corps […]

The New Mexico Department of Health announced today that a 54-year-old man from Cibola County has died of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). This is the second case of HPS in New Mexico this year. An environmental investigation will be conducted at the patient’s home to help reduce the risk to others. Hantavirus is a deadly […]

The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) today announced the on-going investigation of a hepatitis C outbreak associated with a health care worker who was employed at two northern Utah hospitals has identified the following: Of the 15 genotype 2b cases from McKay-Dee Hospital, one is the original case, one is the health care worker, and […]

About one week after the Florida Department of Health (DOH) hit back at claims by the Tampa Bay Times concerning questionable HIV data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave state health officials good marks at HIV surveillance and the HIV data program. Interim Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip said, “As the CDC report shows, […]

Outbreaks of the deadly Nipah virus has been recorded almost every year in selected districts of Bangladesh since 2001. Since the outbreak in Meherpur in April-May 2001, Bangladesh has seen 260 cases through 2015, including 197 deaths, for a case fatality of nearly 76 percent, according to accumulated data from the World Health Organization and the Bangladesh […]

Health officials in Ireland have released their Provisional data on sexually transmitted infections, 2015 and we find that more than four out of 10 of all infectious disease notifications (43 percent) in 2015 were sexually transmitted infections (STI), excluding HIV, hepatitis B and sexually transmitted enteric infections. The STI that showed the largest increase year over year was syphilis. […]

Organ transplants between HIV-positive (HIV+) donors and HIV+ recipients involve special ethical concerns, in addition to those encountered in all transplants, say experts from Johns Hopkins, less than a week after announcing the world’s first HIV+ to HIV+ liver transplant. They outline those ethical concerns in a commentary published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. […]

The risk of rabies in the northern Vietnam Thái Nguyên Province is ever present as dog bites are fairly common. Since the beginning of the year, provincial health authorities have reported some 2,500 bitten by suspected rabid dogs, according to local media. This unfortunately has resulted in three human rabies deaths in individuals age range 8 […]

Angola’s yellow fever outbreak has affected in 490 people and killed 198 since it’s beginning in Dec. 2015, with 1,000 more suspected cases being reported. The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan, arrived in Angola’s capital Luanda for a two-day visit to assess the situation of the current outbreak of yellow fever […]

Officials with Union Public Schools in Tulsa, OK announced Monday that a school employee at James R. Darnaby Elementary School has tested positive for bacterial meningitis. According to Darnaby Elementary Principal, Chris Reynolds in a message to parents on Apr. 4: Parents of Darnaby Students: We were notified this morning that an employee of the Darnaby Extended Day Program […]

Vietnamese health officials have confirmed the first Zika virus infections in the country in two women from Khanh Hoa province and Ho Chi Minh city, Assoc Tran Dac Phu, director of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Ministry of Health said in a press conference Monday (computer translated). The Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology / Pasteur tested […]

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported today as part of (sexually transmitted diseases) STD Awareness Month that the state has seen increases in the number of chlamydia and syphilis cases in 2014 from the previous year, while gonorrhea cases decreased. There were more than 66,500 chlamydia cases in 2014, up from 63,797 in 2013 and […]

April 1st marks federally sanctioned Donate Life Month. Throughout the month, LifeLink of Florida honors the spirit of those individuals who make transplants possible—organ, tissue and eye donors. We celebrate the lives of those recipients fortunate enough to have received their second chance at life thanks to the generosity of an organ donor, remember the […]

In early March, Fiji health officials reported their first locally transmitted Zika virus infection in a woman in the Western Division. This has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a travel notice for the island in the South Pacific Ocean joining other Pacific islands Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia and the […]

The Mayday Project Lyme patient advocacy group will host a forum on the scientific and policy challenges posed by the rapidly growing epidemic of Lyme disease and associated tick-borne illnesses. The forum will take place on Thursday, May 19 from 3:00-6:00 p.m. at 2325 Rayburn House Office Building. Speakers include experts from the fields of […]

Over the weekend we reported that the Philippines, one of four countries to approve the Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, and the first in Asia, were to commence the first dengue vaccine campaign on Apr. 4. Today, in response to the Philippines campaign, Sanofi Pasteur released the following: Sanofi and its vaccines global business unit Sanofi […]

New York state health officials announced last week that all public and private school students entering 7th and 12th grades must be fully vaccinated against meningococcal disease in order to attend school starting in the Fall of 2016. Health officials say that before school this September, the following guidelines will apply: One dose of meningococcal vaccine […]

In a follow-up on the flare-ups of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa HERE and HERE, The World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health teams in Liberia and Guinea are investigating the origins of transmission in Liberia’s latest flare-up after learning that a woman who died from Ebola in Liberia last week had […]

The parasite responsible for a form of malaria now spreading from macaques to humans in South Asia could evolve to infect humans more efficiently, a step towards enhanced transmission between humans, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The researchers say that defining the means by which the Plasmodium […]

Some interesting vaccine research has been published recently, and on Sunday’s airing of the Outbreak News This Week Radio Show, two of those researchers joined me to talk about their work. During the first half, Mark K. Slifka, Ph.D., a professor at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at the Oregon Health & Science University discussed his paper in Clinical […]

The Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team announced Saturday that team captain, Steven Stamkos will be out for up to three months due to blood clots. Stamkos is scheduled to undergo surgery to treat a type of Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (called Effort Thrombosis) near his right collarbone, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman said. The procedure is […]

Just days after reporting an anthrax outbreak in Jharkland state, India, officials in Odisha state, an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal, are reporting an anthrax outbreak that has killed at least four in the past week. The outbreak in the village of Jambaguda in Rayagada district has also resulted in the hospitalization of five others, which are […]

The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation® (PDF®) is calling upon communities around the US to join the team working to #EndParkinsons during April’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month. PDF urges people with Parkinson’s, their loved ones, scientists and health professionals, all of whom are critical to ending the disease, to take an active role this April by using the #EndParkinsons […]

They are young and mostly female: with more than 3.2 million reported cases between 2005 and 2014, chlamydia remains the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) across Europe. As chlamydia infection often shows no symptoms, these numbers underestimate the true picture. The updated ECDC guidance Chlamydia control in Europe makes the case for national chlamydia […]

An outbreak in Masaka, Uganda remains a mystery although good news was reported Sunday and three serious hemorrhagic fevers were ruled out via preliminary laboratory testing–Ebola, Marburg and Rift Valley Fever. Uganda media reports that six patients are currently admitted at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital with hemorrhagic fever-like symptoms and another four people from the parishes of […]

Vermont Senator, Democratic Presidential candidate and self-described “democratic socialist”, Bernie Sanders has been blowing the horn for universal, single-payer health care in the United States for years. As recently as Feb. 2016, Sanders said, ” Every major country has managed to provide healthcare to all people and they are spending significantly less per capita than […]

After reporting in excess of 200,000 dengue fever cases and nearly 600 deaths in 2015 and seeing nearly 20,000 cases through Feb. 20 of this year, Philippine health officials are ready to kick off the dengue fever vaccine campaign on Monday, Apr. 4. In Dec. 2015, the Philippines Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Sanofi Pasteur’s Dengvaxia®, […]

Health officials in San Joaquin County, CA learned Friday that a individual from another county who ate at a Stockton restaurant on Mar. 22 had measles. Anyone who ate at the Royal Indian Cuisine, 7610 Pacific Ave., between 5 and 10 p.m. on March 22 is asked to contact Public Health Services at (209) 468-3822. Two […]

Zoetis Inc. announced this week that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted the company a conditional license for Avian Influenza Vaccine, H5N1 Subtype, Killed Virus*. The vaccine is intended for use in chickens as an aid in the prevention of disease caused by avian influenza H5N1. “We stand ready to help our customers implement […]

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is urging Vermont pet owners to ensure that their pets are properly vaccinated, after several sick and dying gray foxes, raccoons, and skunks have been discovered in central Vermont. After the deadly rabies virus was ruled out on one adult male gray fox, the Fish & Wildlife Department investigated […]

Every person deserves the chance to reach for their highest hopes and fulfill their greatest potential. On World Autism Awareness Day, we reaffirm our dedication to ensuring that belief is a reality for all those who live on the autism spectrum ‑‑ including 1 in 68 children. And we uphold our obligation to help make sure […]

A team led by Purdue University researchers is the first to determine the structure of the Zika virus, which reveals insights critical to the development of effective antiviral treatments and vaccines. The team also identified regions within the Zika virus structure where it differs from other flaviviruses, the family of viruses to which Zika belongs […]