Outbreak News Today

Vietnam health officials reported about 32 percent of their annual total of dengue fever cases in October alone, making it the most sever month in 2015, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) update. As of 31 October 2015, there were 58,633 cases of dengue, including 42 deaths, reported in 52 out of 63 provinces […]

A steep rise in human cases of P. knowlesi malaria in Malaysia is likely to be linked to deforestation and associated environmental changes, according to new research published in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The study, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, is the first to explore how changes in land use are […]

The Hawaii State Department of Health (HDOH) reported Wednesday four additional dengue fever cases on Big Island, bringing the total cases to 157. Health officials report of the 157, seven are still potentially infectious. The cases further breakdown as follows: 140 are Hawaii Island residents and 17 are visitors. 123 cases have been adults; 34 have been […]

From Peter Parker’s fateful spider bite to Arthur pulling the sword from the stone at the beginning of his reign—everyone likes to know a hero’s origin story. In this case, our heroes are potent antibodies from the body’s immune system that bind to and neutralize HIV—and the story could lead to a vaccine against AIDS. […]

The news last week regarding a norovirus outbreak connected to a Chipotle restaurant in Boston comes in the wake of other foodborne illness outbreaks related to its restaurants which have infected over 50 individuals across nine states. This outbreak has sickened 140 college students, but it is unlike the other outbreaks related to an enterohemorrhagic […]

Trader Joe’s of Monrovia, CA is issuing a voluntary recall of all codes purchased from 11/9/15 through 12/14/15 of Triple Ginger Brew (SKU 51857) due to reports of unopened bottles potentially bursting. Although the ginger brew does not pose a health risk if consumed, all product has been removed from store shelves and destroyed. No […]

Stella & Chewy’s is voluntarily recalling four of its products sold in the U.S. and Canada due to concerns of a possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes. The recall affects a total of 990 cases (964 cases in the U.S and 26 cases in Canada). The recall was prompted by a positive test confirming Listeria monocytogenes […]

A team of researchers have discovered a new way for early detection of a potentially deadly fungal infection in patients with suppressed immune systems such as those being treated for leukemia or have had an organ transplant. A multidisciplinary research group led by Allan Brasier of The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, in […]

The number of mumps cases at the University of Iowa (UI) has topped the 150 mark as health officials report 152 cases, 78 percent of the 196 lab-confirmed cases in Johnson County and 63 percent of the 241 cases reported statewide since July 12, according to local media. A third dose of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has […]

The number of dengue fever cases increase by 2,000 in the past week in Thailand with the country cumulative total now eclipsing 130,000 ( 131,647 cases). In addition, four more dengue fatalities were reported with the death tally now at 129. With the perennial peak for dengue fever cases in Thailand just around the corner, Public Health […]

The number of dengue-related fatalities went over the 200, 300 and 500 mark in Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines, respectively, according to newly released public health data. In Taiwan, health officials reported an additional nine deaths bringing the cumulative total to 204 deaths associated with dengue infection, including 112 in Tainan City, 90 in Kaohsiung City and […]

The Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has notified WHO of ongoing outbreaks of cholera across the country. Although the overall trend is decreasing, there are still areas reporting a high number of cases. Since the beginning of the year, 19,705 cases have been reported in DRC. As of 29 […]

Four additional locally acquired dengue fever cases were reported by the Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) today, bringing the outbreak total to 153. Of the total, 120 cases have been adults; 33 have been children and nearly nine out of 10 cases were in Hawaii residents. Dengue is not endemic to Hawaii. However, it is intermittently imported […]

Just days after Iranian health minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi said, “The first phase of the swine flu disease in the country is under control”, new information published today shows the death toll from H1N1 influenza in Iran has increased by 15 cases. The number of “swine flu” cases has reached 900 and 57 fatalities have been reported, mostly […]

Researchers have discovered how immune cells triggered by recurrent Strep A infections enter the brain, causing inflammation that may lead to autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders in children. The study, performed in mice, found that immune cells reach the brain by traveling along odor-sensing neurons that emerge from the nasal cavity, not by breaching the blood-brain barrier […]

The Mayday Project Lyme patient advocacy group announced a response from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the citizen petition, End Preferential Treatment of the IDSA Guidelines for Lyme Disease. The petition, filed October 14, 2015, claims that CDC provides preferential treatment to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) by promoting […]

Five years ago I reported on how the US Public Health Service under the leadership of Dr. John Cutler conducted clearly unethical and dangerous syphilis experiments in Guatemala in the mid-40s. This was the US Public Health Service “study” to determine the prophylactic capabilities of penicillin. These studies were done on Guatemalan soldiers and prisoners. According to a recent AFP […]

In the course of one week, the number of suspected microcephaly cases in Brazil has risen by 640, from 1761 to 2401, and appears to be expanding to additional states in the country, the Brazilian Health Ministry reports (computer translated). The Secretariat of Health Surveillance (SVS), as of Dec. 12, a total of 2,401 suspected cases […]

We have seen stories of other people threaten individuals with an infection they may have known or not known they had, but a story from Louisville takes the such a threat to a new level. According to local Louisville media, a woman claiming to be a nurse threatened a police officer with a “botulism IV”. […]

A new technology developed at the University of New Mexico for detecting pneumonic tularemia infection has received an issued patent. The inventors are Drs. Seong Won Choi, Graham Timmins and Terry Wu at UNM’s Health Sciences Center. Timmins is a faculty member in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UNM’s College of Pharmacy and chief […]

Results from testing have now confirmed that the fifth person, who recently contracted Hepatitis A, as reported last week, has the same strain of the virus as the other 4 people who fell sick with Hepatitis A in late October and early November this year, according to the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) today. “All […]

An outbreak of gastroenteritis at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Guaynabo has prompted the postponement of trials and hearing for the rest of the week, according to an El Nueva Dia report (computer translated). Judge Aida M. Delgado Colón with the Federal District Court in Puerto Rico said the outbreak started with nine individuals last Friday and […]

While there were plenty a health warnings concerning the risks of infectious diseases for travelers going to the 2014 FIFA World Cup last summer in Brazil due to the risk of contracting dengue fever while in the country and introducing measles to the country (HERE and HERE), I imagine few suspected the risk of another mosquito […]

Here are two studies that discuss popular social media sites and depression, substance abuse: Depressed Pinterest Users Suffer From Lack of Positive Messages Despite the large number of posts on visual social media platforms that suggest—and fuel—depressing or suicidal thoughts, there aren’t many for users to read and share that would help them cope with their mental […]

In a follow-up to a report earlier today, I reported on what I believed to be an erroneous story concerning polio cases reported in Russia and Tajikistan in news articles by several news agencies (see above link to regurgitated stories). Now members of the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed what I said, the story is rehashed from […]

In a follow-up to a report earlier this week, the H1N1 influenza, or swine flu outbreak is “under control”, according to Iran’s health minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Iranian media report. Hashemi said, “The first phase of the [swine] flu disease in the country is under control.” The outbreak has hospitalized some 600 people in Kerman province and killed […]

Tainted rice wine with methanol concentrations of up to 12 percent has been linked to the nearly 200 people sickened or died in Kratie province in northeast Cambodia, according to a health ministry news release today (computer translated). The outbreak of alcohol poisoning began about one month ago and testing on the toxic brew contained […]

Like Germany, Japan and the US, New Zealand has reported a jump in syphilis cases between 2013 and 2014, according to newly published data from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR). The number of cases of syphilis reported by sexual health clinics (SHCs) and family planning clinics (FPCs) increased notably between 2013 and 2014 (from […]

We have seen imported Zika virus infection in several countries over the recent past in Australia, Germany, Canada and Japan due to travel to areas where Zika is endemic (eg. Thailand) or where there was an active outbreak (eg French Polynesia) so it should no surprise to see travel-associated Zika due to travel to Latin […]

In a follow-up to a report two weeks ago, two cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus were confirmed in Myanmar this past week, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The most recent reported case in the outbreak of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) was isolated from a 15-month old child in Rakhine, with onset of […]

The Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, located in San Jose, CA, is reporting on a possible tuberculosis exposure that may affect some 300+ infants. The hospital says it was notified mid-November that an employee was suspected of having active tuberculosis. The employee worked in the area of the newborn nursery and is currently on leave. The hospital […]

In a follow-up report on the diphtheria tragedy in Punjab province, Pakistan, local media reports since that 50 children have been admitted to the Children’s hospital in Lahore for the dangerous vaccine-preventable disease, including 18 fatalities. The unavailability of diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) has been cited as the reason for the large increase in deaths. Officials […]

Boston health officials have put the outbreak tally of norovirus linked to a Cleveland Circle Chipotle Mexican Grill at 136 as of Friday afternoon. This include 129 Boston College students. The outbreak in Boston, in addition to the multi-state E. coli outbreak, prompted Chipotle founder and CEO, Steve Ells to to make an apology during a nationally […]

The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) is issuing a recall notice for frozen, raw oysters imported from Korea and sold in bulk to distributors and food establishments in Hawaii. The individually quick frozen (IQF) raw oysters on the half shell are packaged under the Dai One Food Company label. The shellfish harvest dates are […]

A reproductive disease of cattle that can be economically devastating for ranchers has been diagnosed in three South Dakota cattle herds. Bovine trichomoniasis, or trich, has recently been diagnosed in two Oglala Lakota county cattle herds and one herd that operates in Corson and Ziebach counties. Trichomonas foetus is transmitted between cows and bulls during […]

A panel of scientists and public health experts convened by WHO met in Geneva this week to prioritize the top five to ten emerging pathogens likely to cause severe outbreaks in the near future, and for which few or no medical countermeasures exist. These diseases will provide the basis for work on the WHO Blueprint […]

Syphilis is making a comeback, and it seems no country is immune. Earlier we reported increases of the sexually transmitted infection in the United States and Japan, now German officials report similar increases in their country. According to a report from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany saw an increase of 14 percent in 2014, putting […]

Bravo Pet Foods of Manchester, CT is recalling a select lot of Bravo Chicken Blend diet for dogs & cats with a best used by date of 11/13/16 due to concerns of the possible presence of Salmonella . Out of an abundance of caution, Bravo is also recalling three additional items that did not test […]

The number of dengue fever cases have grown by some 6,000 in the past week, putting the total cases near 130,000 year-to-date, according to Thailand health officials. Between the beginning of the year and Dec. 8, health officials report a total of 129,040 cases from all 77 provinces. In addition, the number of dengue-related fatalities […]

Since autochthonous, or locally-acquired cases of Zika virus infection were confirmed in Brazil earlier this year, health authorities in the country put the estimated number of cases between 440,000 to 1,300,000 in states with laboratory-confirmed autochthonous cases, according to a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Risk Assessment published Thursday. Since February, 18 states have confirmed locally […]

Tanzania’s cholera outbreak, which began in late August 2015, has progressively spread to more than half of country’s regions, affecting thousands of people. Months into the response, local capacities and resources are overstretched; prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify the outbreak an organization-wide priority, enabling it to deploy additional resources to contain the […]

A bipartisan group of legislators, advocates and community members in Delaware unveiled Thursday a series of proposals to prevent the spread of Lyme, raise awareness and improve treatment and coverage. In response to Delaware having a high incidence of Lyme disease, House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf and Sen. Ernie Lopez sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 10 last […]

According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), a total of 557 suspected dengue fever cases, including 130 deaths, were reported in Sudan between 29 August (when the outbreak started) and 4 December. The outbreak had initially affected Darfur but has now spread to Kassala and Kordofan states. According to the MoH, 53 per cent of […]

Health Canada is advising Canadians that the use of over-the-counter acne products applied to the skin containing benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid may cause rare but serious allergic reactions. Signs and symptoms of a serious allergic reaction called hypersensitivity reaction may include itchy hives with swelling of the face, eyes, lips, mouth or throat; difficulty […]

Francisella philomiragia is a distant cousin to Francisella tularensis, the cause of tularemia or “rabbit fever.” Unlike tularemia, however, F. philomiragia is an opportunistic pathogen that very rarely causes disease in people. In fact there have been only 17 reported cases over the past 40-year period. And the majority of these cases were in persons […]

The Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee voted unanimously to approve the First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act Wednesday, a bill introduced by U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) in August 2015. The bill would establish a pilot program to make available to first responders on a voluntary basis […]

After reviewing Canadian and international information regarding the safety of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, Health Canada is informing Canadians that the benefits of using this vaccine continue to outweigh the risks. The overall evidence continues to demonstrate that this vaccine can be safely used and that there are no new safety risks associated with its […]

In 2012 we reported on the acorn-mice phenomenon and it’s relationship with Borrelia burgdorferi-infected black-legged ticks described by Cary Institute disease ecologist Rick Ostfeld: “We had a boom in acorns, followed by a boom in mice. And now, on the heels of one of the smallest acorn crops we’ve ever seen, the mouse population is crashing. This spring, […]

With the presence of autochthonous, or locally transmitted Zika virus infection in nine countries in South and Central America and Mexico in 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued travel notices for people traveling to the following countries: Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela today. Local transmission means that mosquitoes in the area have been […]

Smallpox virus, which killed millions of humans through the ages, ranks among the world’s most feared bioterrorism agents. Human monkeypox continues to occur sporadically in remote African villages. In a new report, virologists from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and their collaborators at Oklahoma State […]