Outbreak News Today

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 […]

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today that the Mexican authorities have granted marketing authorization to Dengvaxia®, making it the first vaccine to be licensed in the world for the prevention of dengue. The Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) has approved Dengvaxia®, tetravalent dengue vaccine, for the prevention of […]

California health officials issued a travel warning for state residents that travel to Mexico and Hawaii due to increased reports of the mosquito borne diseases, dengue fever and chikungunya. “We want all Californians to be extra careful when traveling to these regions and take steps to avoid mosquito bites,” California Department of Public Health (CDPH) […]

The Hawaii Department of Health continues to work with other state and county agencies on the issue of the Dengue Fever outbreak. As of Wednesday, the health officials had reported 145 confirmed cases originating on Hawaii Island. These cases include 128 residents and 17 visitors. Current investigations have identified South Kona (in particular Hookena and Honaunau) as an […]

Health officials in Rio de Janeiro kicked off a new health campaign on Tuesday to reinforce the alert tone to municipalities and the public to combat the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, and the viruses it can carry-dengue, chikungunya and Zika. The campaign called “10 Minutes Saves Lives” replaces the previous “10 Minutes Against Dengue”,also includes the production of information materials […]

A new framework to eliminate human rabies and save tens of thousands of lives each year has been launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Alliance for the Control of Rabies (GARC). The framework […]

The Galveston County Health District (GCHD) encourages parents and educators to teach children the importance of good hand hygiene following an increase of the gastrointestinal illness shigellosis at area schools and daycares. Shigellosis, caused by the bacteria shigella, is spread from person-to-person through hand-to-mouth contact with the stool of an infected person. This frequently occurs […]

In the past week, some 50 students at Chapman University, a private school of about 7,500 students in Orange, California, has been sickened by suspected norovirus. One students has been laboratory-confirmed positive for the virus. The investigation continues and currently, health officials have not pinpointed the source to the infectious agent. Because several students reporting symptoms […]

In a follow-up to a report on the suspected norovirus outbreak linked to a Boston-area Chipotle Mexican Grill, Boston health officials are reporting the etiology has been confirmed as norovirus by laboratory testing. Officials at Boston College Student Heath reported today that more than 120 BC students have reported to BC Health Services with symptoms […]

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have a profound impact on sexual and reproductive health worldwide, and continue to cause a major burden of disease. Global estimates, published in the journal PLOS ONE today, show that an estimated 357 million new infections occur every year with one of 4 STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis. Taken together […]

Dengue experts from 12 countries meet in Taiwan this week to promote the exchange and sharing of knowledge and information on dengue prevention and control. The International Conference on Dengue Prevention and Control and the International Dengue Expert Consultation Meeting were respectively held at the Magic School of Green Technology in National Cheng Kung University in Tainan […]

Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, in collaboration with the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, have identified a molecule expressed by Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) that may facilitate the parasite’s evasion of the host’s immune system. The paper was published […]

The likely norovirus outbreak centered around the Russell Investments Center at 1301 Second Avenue in downtown Seattle has affected more than 200 people, according to officials with Public Health – Seattle & King County today. The survey health officials administered has been closed as the investigation continues. They note based on the numbers of ill people, the spread […]

Chipotle has found itself in more bad press as another outbreak linked to one of their restaurants is at the center of a norovirus outbreak in Boston, Massachusetts. Earlier, Boston College Student Health reported more than 80 BC students have come in to Health Services with gastrointestinal symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea. All of these students […]

New estimates from WHO show a significant increase in the number of countries moving towards malaria elimination, with prevention efforts saving millions of dollars in healthcare costs over the past 14 years in many African countries. According to the “World Malaria Report 2015”, released today, more than half (57) of the 106 countries with malaria […]

The Secretariat of Health Surveillance (SVS) of the Brazil Ministry of Health now puts the total suspected cases of microcephaly at 1,761 identified in 422 municipalities in 14 Brazilian states. In addition, 19 fatalities have been reported. Rio Grande do Norte has seen the most deaths at 7. 1,696 cases were reported from the northeast with Pernambuco, Paraíba and […]

Seven children have died from diphtheria in recent weeks in Lahore, Punjab province, Pakistan, according to a Dawn.com report this weekend. The reason cited was the unavailability of diphtheria antitoxin (DAT), which was backordered for at least two months. Officials with the Lahore-based Children’s Hospital say an order of DAT was placed in September with a Russian […]

Iranian health officials are saying that at least 33 people have died in recent weeks in southwestern Iran due to H1N1 influenza, or the swine flu. According to a report in a Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) report Monday, Deputy Health Minister Ali-Akbar Sayyari said the cases were reported in Kerman province (28) and Sistan-Baluchestan (5). Health officials also […]

Three additional locally acquired dengue fever cases were reported in Hawaii County, bringing the total cases to 139. This comes days after a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) team visited Hawaii to check out the state’s response to the outbreak. And the Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) got good marks from the team led […]

A student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been confirmed positive for mumps last week prompting school officials to have a vaccination clinic at the Union Fireside Lounge this Wednesday. The Norris Health Center is working closely with the City of Milwaukee Health Department to initiate the appropriate follow-up investigation with people who have had close contact. […]

In a follow-up to a report concerning a possible norovirus outbreak in Seattle, health officials have provided updated information concerning the investigation. Public Health – Seattle & King County officials have distributed a survey to roughly 600 attendees of a catered event that took place last Tuesday at the Russell Investments Center at 1301 Second Avenue in downtown Seattle. […]

The Consultant Community Medicine (Communicable Disease) of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH), Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, announced last week the investigation into a confirmed local case of dengue fever (DF), and hence again urged the public to maintain strict environmental hygiene, mosquito control and personal protective measures both locally and […]

The number of dengue fever cases and dengue-related fatalities in Malaysia continue to rise as the Asian country now reports as of 21 November, 107,079 cases of dengue with 293 deaths reported in Malaysia for 2015. This is 17.7% higher compared with the same reporting period of 2014 (n=91,002). In fact, other than 2014, when […]

The China Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of a enterovirus 71 (EV71) inactivated vaccine (human diploid cell) designed by the Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The vaccine for children effectively reduce the incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), in particular reducing severe and fatal cases of the disease, […]

Officials noted Saturday that the beginnings of an investigation of a possible norovirus outbreak have started where early reports suggest possibly hundreds of people were affected, according to Public Health – Seattle & King County. The investigation centers around the cafeteria at the Russell Investments Center at 1301 Second Avenue in downtown Seattle. The cafeteria was closed Friday after […]

According to a report originated in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes two distinct clinical conditions. Primary VZV infection causes varicella (i.e., chickenpox), a contagious rash illness that typically occurs among children. A vaccine for preventing initial VZV infection has been available in the United States since […]

This is from an article in 2012 concerning nodding disease: The African nation of Uganda certainly has it’s share of problems including war, poverty and disease. However, one disease is literally making parents in certain districts in the north of the country tremble in fear. The mysterious disease affecting areas of Northern Uganda that many […]

A fifth case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) was reported in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) during the past week. The case was reported from Saysomboun district in Xaysomboune province, and had onset of paralysis on 28 October. This is the most recent date of onset, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). In […]

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) continues to prepare for any potential findings of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). An outbreak of HPAI during spring and summer 2015 was the largest animal health emergency in the country’s history. APHIS and its partners worked throughout the fall to […]

We listed Venezuela as one of the countries with confirmed Zika virus infection last week, now the World Health Organization (WHO) offers more details on the situation in the South American country: On 27 November 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of Venezuela received notification of 7 suspected cases of Zika virus infection. The diagnoses […]

In 2001, Hawaii experienced an outbreak of dengue, which in all 122 laboratory-confirmed cases were identified through 2002 (92 on Maui, 26 on Oahu, and 4 on Kauai). Before 2001, autochthonous dengue infections had last been definitively reported in Hawaii in 1944. That number has been easily eclipsed by the current outbreak on the Big Island. The […]

Seven additional Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 (STEC O26) infections have been reported linked to the Chipotle Mexican Grill outbreak. In addition, cases were reported from Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania for the first time, bringing the number of states affected to nine. As of December 2, 2015, 52 people infected with the outbreak strain of STEC O26, […]

While there has been much attention given to the latest mosquito borne illness that arrived in the Western Hemisphere recently, Zika virus, it should be noted that today is the second anniversary on the confirmation of the first autochthonous transmission of Chikungunya virus in the Americas. Two cases of the strangely-named mosquito borne viral infection (pronunciation: […]

In 2014, outbreaks of the protozoan parasitic infection in several counties led to large numbers of cases of cryptosporidiosis in the Sunshine state with 1,877–much larger than previous years (2011 with 436 cases, while comparable numbers were seen in 2012 (470) and 2013 (411)). The good news is that in the first 11 months of 2015, Florida […]

Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) is advising the public to be alert to measles symptoms after an adult was diagnosed with the highly infectious disease in western Sydney this week. The patient, who recently returned from Singapore, spent time in retail outlets in Parramatta, Wentworthville, Rouse Hill and Kings Langley on Thursday 26 and […]

With the addition of 275 locally acquired dengue fever cases reported Thursday, the number of cases in Taiwan have hit a new milestone eclipsing the 40,000 mark, according to the latest data from the Taiwan CDC. Of the 275 additional cases, Kaohsiung City accounted for the majority with 252. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for […]

Three people from the community of Ustupu, district of Ailigandi, on the Panamanian island of Guna Yala have been reported positive for “native” acquired Zika virus infection, the Panamanian Health Ministry announced Thursday (computer translated). This makes Panama the 10th country in the Western hemisphere to report autochthonous transmission of Zika virus–the others include Brazil, Chile (on Easter […]

Hawaii health officials are reporting an additional eight locally acquired dengue fever cases on Big Isle, bringing the island’s total to 130. Of the confirmed cases, 114 are Hawaii Island residents and 16 are visitors. 100 cases have been adults; 30 have been children, according to the Hawaii Department of Health. As the Centers for Disease Control […]

Weapons of mass destruction have been always considered as the worst weapons ever, especially if we analyze the possible effects of biological and chemical terrorism. People cannot be prepared enough for that kind of weapon and consequences are unlimited. Just one simple thought about the militarizing of microbes or chemical agents and the abuse of […]

After a relatively mild (for the Philippines) first half of the year in 2015 concerning dengue fever, the mosquito borne viral disease has exploded as the cumulative case tally from January through October has reached 142,227. To show how active dengue has been in the past several months, the total cases through the first six months […]

In response to the current Zika virus outbreak in Brazil and the surge of microcephaly cases in the northeast, São Paulo health officials want to test all pregnant women in the state for Zika virus. According to Brazilian news source, em.com (computer translated), the country’s largest state prepares a plan to tackle the potential future problem in the […]

The Nunavut Department of Health issued a public health advisory Tuesday for residents of Clyde River as polar bear meat distributed in the community in early October may have Trichinella. They advise residents to thoroughly cook the meat as freezing or fermenting does not kill the parasite. In addition, they say to the public to not feed infected […]

A Seattle-based Mediterranean restaurant was closed by county health officials Tuesday after several patrons developed symptoms consistent with norovirus. Officially, Main Street Gyros, located at 301 2nd Ave Ext S, Seattle was closed for a “Imminent health hazard: investigation of possible foodborne illness outbreak”. However, as the Seattle Times reports, a total of three people, from two parties, developed […]

Almost one third (30%) of all deaths from foodborne diseases are in children under the age of 5 years, despite the fact that they make up only 9% of the global population. This is among the findings of WHO’s Estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases – the most comprehensive report to date on the […]

Since the outbreak of the systemic fungal infection, Blastomycosis, was first reported in early August linked to visits to the Little Wolf River in Waupaca County near New London, the number of confirmed and probable cases have risen to 49 and 40, respectively. In addition, the Associated Press reported today that The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said they […]