Outbreak News Today

Egypt reported some 160 human cases of H5N1 avian influenza during 2014-2015, by far the most cases the country ever reported. On Monday, the FAO/EMPRES reported on the first case in 2016, according to an Avian Flu Diary report published today. Very little information is available other than the case was reported from Sohag, Akhmem District and […]

In a follow-up to a report in late February, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on some extra details Monday on the case in Argentina. On 29 February 2016, the National IHR Focal Point of Argentina notified PAHO/WHO of a potential first case of Zika virus infection. The patient is a woman from the province […]

On 24 November 2015, health authorities in French Polynesia reported unknown and unspecified causes of morbidity and mortality in the context of concomitant outbreaks of Zika and dengue (serotypes 1 and 3) viruses. This update provides additional information on the clinical findings as well as the epidemiological and laboratory investigations of these cases. Between October […]

The number of Zika virus cases in Puerto Rico since the first locally acquired case was reported in late Dec. 2015 is now at 157 as of Mar. 3, according to the Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico. Of this total, 14 cases were in pregnant women, six patients required hospitalization and one Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) case has […]

Parents of Washington high schoolers may be surprised to hear about a new chickenpox (varicella) vaccine requirement in the coming school year. In the 2016-17 school year, all public and private high school students will be required to get two doses of the chickenpox vaccine before they enter school. Parents are encouraged to get their […]

Peruvian health officials reported Monday (computer translated) on the fourth imported case of Zika virus infection. The individual is a Peruvian citizen who visited the Amazonian localities of Colombia and Brazil, near the border, in the Loreto region and later moved to Lima. Health officials say this is an isolated case and there is no fear […]

With the addition of new confirmed, imported Zika virus cases in Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida health officials now put the case count at 50. Nearly half the cases have been reported in Miami-Dade (24), while Broward (7), Hillsborough (3) and Lee (3) follow. Four cases have been reported in pregnant women in undisclosed […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) in their latest update on the Carnival Cruise lines Carnival Sunshine norovirus outbreak on Mar. 4 put the number of cases at 178 passengers and crew. This number may be adjusted in a future update and according to passengers on board the ship, the […]

It’s been confirmed that 37 sheep in Vellore, Tamil Nadu did die from anthrax infection prompting vaccination of animals in some eight villages in the district, according to Indian media. Between Thursday and Friday last week, 37 sheep died in Keezh Venkatapuram in Nemili block. Blood samples were drawn and sent for testing to the Central Research […]

It actually makes me itch just thinking about it; mites burrowing into the skin and laying eggs. And then to think the mites are also leaving fecal deposits in these burrows in the skin. These burrows are tiny threadlike projections, ranging from 2 mm-15 mm long that appear as thin gray, brown, or red lines […]

A recent study revealed that the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium are able to form biofilms in human infected skin tissues which protects the bacterium from antibiotic treatments. Study lead author and Professor and Department Chair at the Department of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven, Dr. Eva Sapi joined me Sunday to discuss the research. […]

Two weeks ago, health officials in Grenada reported on a chickenpox outbreak that affected 17 students at St. George’s Anglican Junior School. The school was closed for the week to monitor and treat affected students. Last week, the Ministry of Health screened over 400 students from the St. George’s Anglican School. The exercise saw a team of qualified […]

The National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province have reported an additional two imported cases of Zika Virus infection today. This brings the total cases to 12. The cases involve a 47-year-old man and his 6-year-old daughter. They arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport from Venezuela on […]

Health officials in Dayton, OH are investigating an outbreak of illness associated with eating at Lucky’s Taproom & Eatery between the dates of February 12 through February 29. The restaurant is located at 520 East Fifth Street in Dayton. Public Health received an initial complaint of illness on Monday, February 29 and inspected the business the […]

The Texas Department of State Health Services has ramped up efforts to protect people from Zika virus and is urging people to follow mosquito precautions. “Mosquito season is approaching, and the number of travel-related cases continues to inch up for Texas. It’s only a matter of time before Zika virus is locally transmitted here by […]

Missouri health officials reported Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed a case of Zika virus in a Missouri man who had traveled to Haiti, a known area of Zika transmission. This is the first confirmed case of Zika virus infection reported in a Missouri resident. Nearly 80 percent of people […]

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is announcing the first confirmed case of a New Hampshire resident infected with Zika virus. The adult female patient contracted the virus after sexual contact with a male who was symptomatic and had traveled to a country where Zika virus transmission is occurring. The patient […]

Some patients and healthcare staff in several Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) Manchester clinics and Catholic Medical Center (CMC) may have been exposed to crusted (Norwegian) scabies by a patient treated at these facilities within the past several months. Crusted scabies is a more severe version of typical scabies and can be more easily passed to others than […]

New Jersey health officials reported last week on two travel associated Zika virus cases in individuals who were infected in Honduras and Columbia. At the same time, a State Health Department public education campaign is underway to explain the risk of the Zika virus to pregnant women, college students and others considering travel to Latin America and the […]

The number of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) stands at five for 2016 to date, with the addition of three new cases in Pakistan in the past week. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the new cases were reported in Quetta, Balochistan, and the districts of Hangu and Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with onset of […]

Health officials in Panama reported on Sunday an additional seven Zika virus infection cases, bringing the total to 118, according to media accounts (computer translated). The capital districts of San Francisco, Las Cumbres, Vista Alegre and Bella Vista saw six of the new patients and another was on the island of Narganá. On Friday, the Ministry […]

Bolivia health officials reported Sunday that the country Zika case total has now reached 12 after an additional case was reported in a teen from eastern department of Santa Cruz, according to reports (computer translated). Director of the Department of Health Services, Joaquín Monasterios said seven belong to the municipality of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and […]

Progressive Gourmet Inc. of Wilmington, MA, is recalling its 6 ounce packages of Sausage, Egg, and Cheddar Cheese on English Muffin breakfast sandwiches manufactured for Starbucks Coffee Co. out of the abundance of caution because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes […]

An unidentified American woman has reportedly contracted Zika virus while staying in the Philippines in January, according to local media reports. In a press briefing Sunday, Philippines Health Secretary Janette Garin said that the unidentified American woman stayed in the Philippines for four weeks and apparently developed symptoms in her last week before returning to the […]

Country music mourned Friday after hearing the news of the death of Joey Feek after a lengthy battle with cervical cancer. She was 40. Joey Martin Feek, the wife and half of the country and bluegrass duo, Joey + Rory, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in June 2014 shortly after the birth of their daughter […]

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has become the latest country to report autochthonous, or locally acquired Zika virus transmission, according to a report from the World Health Organization Friday. Laos joins 40 other countries to record local transmission of the mosquito borne virus since Jan. 2015. Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines have reported or […]

In a follow-up to the initial report on the Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Sunshine norovirus outbreak earlier this week, CDC Vessel Sanitation Program officials put the case count up to 178 as the cruise ship docks in Port Canaveral, FL today. Of the 3001 passengers on board, 173 have been taken ill by the contagious gastrointestinal virus (5.76%). […]

Michigan health officials are reporting a cluster of tampon-associated Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) since December 2015. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, five TSS cases have been reported among young women in four different local health department jurisdictions: Kent, Mid-Michigan, District Health Department 10 and Oakland. None of the cases were fatal. The previous […]

The outbreak of Elizabethkingia anophelis in southeastern and southern Wisconsin is “very worrisome” to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to ABC News’s Chief Health and Medical editor and former CDC official, Dr. Richard Besser. The outbreak has affected 44 people in 11 Wisconsin counties and 18 deaths have been recorded (although it has not been determined […]

Health officials in Canyon County in western Idaho are reporting a syphilis outbreak among men, according to a KBOI2 report. The outbreak of the sexually transmitted infection in the Treasure Valley has nearly quadrupled during the past year. The 21 cases reported since Jan. 2015 has been reported primarily in young, gay or bisexual men who […]

The number of dengue fever cases get closer to the 10,000 mark this past week as the Thailand Bureau of Epidemiology puts the total cases as of Feb. 28 at 9639 from all 77 provinces. In addition, health officials report two additional dengue related deaths bringing the total to three during the first two months of […]

Working with lab-grown human stem cells, a team of researchers suspect they have discovered how the Zika virus probably causes microcephaly in fetuses. The virus selectively infects cells that form the brain’s cortex, or outer layer, making them more likely to die and less likely to divide normally and make new brain cells. The researchers […]

The contagious viral infection, mumps has been reported with increased frequency on college campuses in recent weeks with clusters reported from Indiana University, Butler University, the University of Kentucky and Harvard among others. Now, the University of Southern Maine (USM) in Portland is reporting a confirmed case of the viral disease. In a notification letter to […]

CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, will travel to Puerto Rico March 7-9 to assess first-hand CDC’s support for the Zika response. As of March 3, 103 cases of Zika virus infection have been reported to ArboNET, a surveillance system managed by CDC and state health departments, among residents in Puerto Rico. Public health experts […]

In a follow-up on the norovirus outbreak at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Public Health officials at the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region has indicated that measures taken last week appear to have reduced the spread of norovirus, prompting the University and health officials to implement a graduated return to normal operations. The following actions are being taken to include the re-opening […]

Earlier this week, Wisconsin health officials reported on 44 cases of Elizabethkingia anophelis infections in 11 counties since Nov. 1, 2015. What is this not-so-common human pathogen, Elizabethkingia? A search of the literature shows that Elizabethkingia anophelis is a bacteria species in the family Flavobacteriaceae, gram negative aerobic bacillus. It is a dominant resident in the mosquito gut of […]

America is doing a better job of preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), but more work is needed – especially in fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest Vital Signs report urges healthcare workers to use a combination of infection control recommendations to better protect patients from these infections. “New data show […]

Some 22 people were sickened and hospitalized for anthrax after consuming tainted beef in the southeastern province of Masvingo, Zimbabwe, according to local media Thursday. The incident occurred in the ward of Mukore where villagers shared the carcass of an animal that died from the bacterial infection, sending them to the hospital for treatment. All 22 people […]

Vaxart, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, announced today it has initiated preclinical testing of an oral vaccine for Zika virus. With no available vaccine or treatment modalities, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared Zika virus an international public health emergency. […]

Miami-Dade County, Florida reported an additional three travel-associated Zika virus cases today, according to the Florida Department of Health. This brings the county’s total to 22 and the state total to 47. There have been no locally-acquired cases of Zika in Florida. Through Mar. 2, 153 travel-associated Zika virus cases have been reported to the Centers […]

Chikungunya, a viral disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes, could have been misdiagnosed as dengue because both have similar symptoms, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases. This could potentially result in inaccurate understanding of the prevalence of chikungunya, as well as chikungunya-dengue co-infection, with potential consequences for diagnosis, treatment […]

In a follow-up report on the mumps situation on the campus of Harvard University, Director of Harvard University Health Services, Dr. Paul J. Barreira reported Wednesday that they have confirmed four additional cases of mumps in the Harvard community, for a total of six cases. These students have already been in isolation, and Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) […]

On March 4 and 5, 2016, The University of the West Indies will host a two-day symposium bringing together an interdisciplinary group of specialists to explore issues relevant to the control of the Zika virus in the Caribbean. The symposium titled: One Environment, One Health: Informing the Caribbean Response to Zika, takes place at the […]

The Brazilian Ministry of Health reports it is investigating 4,222 suspected cases of microcephaly across the country, according to a news release Tuesday (computer translated). This represents 71.5% of reported cases. The new report also points to 1,046 notifications have been discarded and 641 confirmed for microcephaly and other nervous system disorders, suggestive of congenital infection. […]

In a continuation of the 2015 meningococcal meningitis C outbreak in Tuscany, health officials have reported a dozen cases and four deaths through Feb. 26, according to an Italian media account (computer translated). In 2015, 31 cases, including 6 deaths, attributable to serogroup C were reported. This compares to the two and three cases reported in 2014 […]

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) has received confirmation that two state residents acquired the Zika virus during international travel. These are the first laboratory confirmed cases of the virus in Oklahoma. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) laboratory in Ft. Collins, CO notified OSDH of the results this week. Zika virus […]

A raccoon from the Caistor Centre area in West Lincoln has tested positive for rabies, Niagara’s first ground-level rabid animal (not a bat) in over 25 years. A total of 58 cases of raccoon rabies (42 raccoons and 16 skunks) have been confirmed in Hamilton and its bordering areas since December. Prior to December, it […]

State and local health officials in Wisconsin are investigating an outbreak of bloodstream infections caused by bacteria called Elizabethkingia anophelis. In addition, a team of epidemiologists and laboratory partners from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is on site assisting with the investigation. “The Elizabethkingia infection has been detected in 44 patients located in southeastern and […]

A study published in Nature Communications from researchers at the University of Geneva and Baylor College of Medicine show the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum uses antimicrobial defense systems akin to phagocytes of the human innate immune system, and it evolved these defenses much earlier than initially thought. D. discoideum is a soil living amoeba often referred to […]

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced that Head Start and Early Head Start services will expand immediately in Flint, Michigan to help children and families exposed to lead in the city’s water supply. The expansion was made possible through one-time emergency funds of $3.6 million and is one of several steps […]