Outbreak News Today

Just days after a mumps outbreak was declared at Normal, Illinois’ Heartland Community College, health officials have declared an outbreak at Illinois State University after The McLean County Health Department confirmed that there are three cases of the mumps virus linked to university as of Friday. In Illinois, three or more linked cases within a community qualifies as […]

Hong Kong health officials investigating a confirmed case of dengue fever (DF) and to date haven’t ruled out whether the case was acquired in the city. The female patient, aged 59 with good past health, has developed fever, headache and rash since September 9 and attended the Accident & Emergency Department of United Christian Hospital (UCH) […]

British rock band, The Who, announced Friday they would be postponing all remaining dates on their “THE WHO HITS 50!” North American tour because lead singer and founding member, Roger Daltrey has been diagnosed with viral meningitis. The 71-year-old Daltrey said, “We are very sorry to disappoint our fans in this way. For the last four […]

On September 3, 2015, the World Health Organization declared Liberia to be free of Ebola virus transmission. As a result, on Monday, September 21, 2015, CDC and Department of Homeland Security will stop entry screening for travelers entering the United States from Liberia. These travelers will no longer be funneled through the five enhanced entry […]

Earlier this week, this website gave an update on the number of West Nile virus cases in the United States. We will now look at the situations in Canada and Europe: During the latest epidemiological report from the Public Health Agency of Canada ending Sep. 5, additional cases of West Nile virus (WNV) were reported […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided an update on the number of cyclosporiasis cases in the country this week and we find that 51 additional cases were reported during the past 3 weeks. As of September 14, 2015, a total of 546 ill persons with confirmed Cyclospora infection were reported to CDC in 2015. […]

Welfare Tainan Hospital, Tainan Municipal Hospital, Tainan Municipal An-Nan Hospital, and Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital Tainan Branch have been designated as Dengue Treatment Centers would be in charge of treating certain dengue cases (Group B), the Taiwan CDC said Friday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for Dengue Outbreak implemented the World Health Organization’s classification for dengue […]

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced they are investigating two deaths during the past year in patients in the UPMC Presbyterian’s cardiothoracic intensive care unit. 18 patients have been moved from the unit because of the discovery of mold in some parts of the unit. According to Tami Minnier, UPMC Chief Quality Officer: A careful and […]

A calf on a farm in the Bulgarian village of Elenovo, municipality of Popovo, district of Targovishte has been confirmed by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency, according to a Focus Information Agency report Thursday. The farm has been disinfected and the more than 850 susceptible animals will be vaccinated. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, Anthrax is a zoonotic […]

The questioning finally came around to Republican front-runner, Donald Trump’s views on vaccines and autism during the CNN debate last night and the billionaire developer continued his strange, convoluted, unproven reasoning concerning vaccines. It started out when physician, Dr. Ben Carson was asked about Trump’s views on the topic: Should Mr. Trump stop saying this? […]

Just one week after Taiwanese health officials “hopefully”predicted the dengue outbreak could end in September and stated they could see the “end of the tunnel”, it appears they have changed their tune in light of the surge in cases in recent days, including the 622 new cases reported yesterday. According to local media today, the country’s […]

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) recorded two probable cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in late August 2015. The first case was a 57-year-old woman who enjoyed good past health. She presented with vertigo and deteriorated cognitive function on July 1 and was admitted to a public hospital on July 24. She was found […]

In a follow-up to the salmonella outbreak in multiple Chipotle restaurants in the Twin Cities Metro area in Minnesota, The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) have identified tomatoes as the source of the Salmonella Newport outbreak. Since the outbreak was reported last week, additional illnesses have been confirmed by […]

Just one month after Philippines House of Representatives Speaker, Feliciano Belmonte contracted and was hospitalized with the mosquito borne viral disease, veteran Senator Juan Ponce Enrile has been taken to a hospital in Makati suffering from dengue. The 91-year-old is being treated and is currently under observation at Makati Medical Center. “His platelet went down already. They are monitoring […]

School officials at Heartland Community College in Normal, Il. has seen four confirmed mumps cases, which has prompted Illinois state health officials to declare an outbreak. In Illinois, when three or more linked cases affect a community, an outbreak is declared. An outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a particular disease in a particular […]

The outbreak of the fungal infection, Blastomycosis, linked to visiting the Little Wolf River in Waupaca County near New London has grown to 33 confirmed cases, according to state health officials today. In addition, another 34 probable cases are under investigation. The Wisconsin Division of Public Health advises the public who have visited the Little Wolf […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation to VT-1129, a novel candidate for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis, according to the Durham, NC based company, Viamet Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Created under the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now (GAIN) Act of 2012, QIDP designation provides Viamet with significant incentives for the […]

Wales health authorities are investigating several cases of E.coli O157 in young children who attend childcare settings in Conwy although officials believe the source of the infection came from outside the facilities. Three cases of the infection have now been confirmed, in children with links to one another outside of the childcare settings. There is no […]

The number of West Nile virus cases in the United States has reached the 700 mark for the year to date, with approximately 1/3 of cases being reported from two states–California (123) and Texas (105). Officially, as of Tuesday, a total of 46 states and the District of Columbia have reported West Nile virus infections […]

Appeeling Fruit Inc. in Dauberville, Penn. has been informed by one of its customers that some of the Snack Fresh brand, 2 oz. bagged red apple slices with Best-if-Used-by date 09/21/15 and production date 310815 that was voluntarily recalled on Wednesday, September 9 due to the potential of being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may have […]

Five more cases of Escherichia coli O157 have been identified in the current, ongoing outbreak in Canada, health officials report. The additional cases are reported from Ontario (2) and Quebec (3). This brings the total in the nationwide outbreak to 31 as of Monday. The 31 cases of E.coli with a matching genetic fingerprint reported in Alberta (1), […]

With the additional 522 indigenous dengue cases reported yesterday, the case count in the Taiwan dengue fever epidemic has eclipsed the 10,000 mark, according to the country’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The new cases reported Tuesday include 437 cases in Tainan City, 78 cases in Kaohsiung City, 3 cases in Taipei City, and 1 case each […]

An additional 77 Salmonella Poona cases reported from 18 states during the past week has brought the tally for the multistate outbreak linked to imported cucumbers to 418 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since the beginning of the outbreak, 31 states have reported at least one case. Two deaths […]

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) announced the first confirmed West Nile Virus death (WNV) in Maryland this year. The infected individual, who died Tuesday, September 8, was an older adult who lived in Baltimore County. The death was confirmed to be attributed to WNV late Monday, September 14. “This is very unfortunate, and […]

MRSA is bad news. If you’ve never heard of it, here’s what you need to know: It’s pronounced MER-suh, it’s a nasty bacterial infection and it can cause serious disease and death. Senior molecular biology major Jacob Hatch knows MRSA as the infection that took his dad’s leg. Hatch was thousands of miles away on […]

The number of cases of the mosquito borne viral disease, dengue fever, on the island of American Samoa has risen to 414 cases since May 2015, according to a Radio New Zealand report. This is up from 370 cases reported on Sept. 2. Two people have died due to the virus and 137 people required hospitalization […]

Over the years, we’ve reported on a number of unusual and dangerous ways people, especially children are getting intoxicated. In 2010, we saw the strange trend of “eyeballing”, where the individual would pour vodka into their eyeball for an instant buzz. In 2011, the use of “vodka tampons” in Germany became news as a way to […]

Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued orders that will stop the further sale and distribution of four currently marketed R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company cigarette products – including its Camel Crush Bold brand – because the company’s submissions for these products did not meet requirements set forth in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic […]

New recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise all nursing homes to improve antibiotic prescribing practices and reduce their inappropriate use to protect residents from the consequences of antibiotic-resistant infections, such as C. difficile. To guide these improvements, CDC released a new resource: Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homes. […]

Next Monday, Stewart Parnell, former owner and CEO of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), will be sentenced for the 76 felonies he was charged with back in 2013. It’s likely Parnell will be sentenced to life in prison, and that the four other defendants involved will also be spending significant time behind bars. The Peanut Corporation […]

Following reports from Illinois state health officials of some 150 mumps cases statewide, including the bulk of cases linked to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Eastern Illinois University in Charleston has reported “a small number of students” with Mumps during the week of September 8-11, 2015. Although the school did not give specific numbers, local media report […]

Custom Produce Sales of Parlier, California is voluntarily recalling all cucumbers sold under the Fat Boy® label starting August 1, 2015 because they may be contaminated with Salmonella and are covered by an ongoing recall. No other Fat Boy® products are covered by this recall. Unlabeled cucumbers packed into a black reusable plastic container (RPC) […]

On 9 September 2015, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (MOHSA) of Senegal notified WHO of active circulation of chikungunya virus in the region of Kédougou. The circulation began on 27 August 2015. Samples were collected from 14 suspected cases for laboratory-confirmation at the Institut Pasteur of Dakar. Ten (10) samples tested positive for […]

In a follow-up to as report Saturday on The Global Dispatch, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed a case of bubonic plague in a Michigan resident who recently returned from Colorado in an area with reported plague activity. Plague does not naturally occur in Michigan, and this is the first ever report of plague […]

Researchers at two prominent facilities continue the quest for newer and better treatment options for the drug resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a three-drug strategy of of antibiotics not known to be effective against MRSA were effective in the laboratory and predict […]

The India Health Ministry is calling on the Delhi government to crack down on private hospitals that may be overcharging for treatment of dengue fever as the city’s case tally continues to grow. The municipal corporation released new data saying 613 cases were reported during the past week, bringing the case count to 1,872, with more than […]

Researchers may have discovered a new marker found in the blood for episodic migraine, according to a study published in the September 9, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Episodic migraine is defined as having less than 15 headaches per month. “While more research is needed to […]

With dengue fever cases mounting in the southern areas of Taiwan, health officials have been putting their heads together in an attempt to construct a plan to get the epidemic under control. Over the weekend, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) convened the “Tainan City-Kaohsiung City Healthcare Integration Mechanism Coordination Meeting” and came up with […]

Panamanian officials say a border agent who worked near the Colombia border has died due the mosquito borne viral disease, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEE), according to a local media report (computer translated). The deceased officer of the State Border Service (SENAFRONT), died in late August, but was only revealed last week. On Thursday, authorities said in […]

A case of Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) has been confirmed in a horse in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA). State Veterinarian Dr. Dennis Hughes said today the horse and other livestock on the farm have been placed under quarantine. VS is a viral disease which primarily affects horses and cattle, […]

Cambodian health officials are reporting a dramatic increase in dengue fever during the first eight months of 2015, compared to the same period last year. From Jan. 1 through August 2015, Cambodia reported 7,799 dengue fever cases. In 2014, the country saw 2,227 cases, “We see a significant increase in dengue fever cases in this year’s […]

Health officials on Jersey Island are advising the public concerning some norovirus type activity and appropriate measures to help prevent the infection spreading. Symptoms of norovirus type infection include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, malaise and vomiting, and typically the illness will resolve spontaneously within 48 to 72 hours. Dr Ivan Muscat, Jersey Hospital’s Consultant Microbiologist, said it […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) update their travel notice for Japan after the World Health Organization (WHO) updated the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) case count to 264,541 cases through Aug. 19, 2015. The most frequently identified viruses were Coxsackie virus A16 and A6. While cases have steadily increased since mid-March, health officials […]

The dengue fever surge in southern Taiwan has been enormous for the island country, both on a health basis and an economic basis, and the outbreak continues to spiral topping 9,000 cases, according to the latest data from the Taiwan CDC today. The total tally through Saturday stands at 9,103. Last Monday, this website reported […]

Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) is reminding people that swimmer’s itch is a common hazard during warmer months in some of the lakes and slow-moving rivers and streams in Humboldt County. Swimmer’s itch occurs when a small parasite, released from an infected snail, burrows under the skin of bathers. According to […]

Maryland health officials are warning consumers not to eat products made by Picnic Gourmet Spreads of Potomac, MD after routine retail sampling revealed the presence of the bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes in the product. The potentially contaminated products include Red Pepper Feta Cheese Spread, Moroccan Cilantro Cheese Spread, Tandoori Garlic Cheese Spread, Herbed Goat Cheese, Parmesan Cheese Spread, and […]

The Vibrio parahaemolyticus outbreak, primarily in Western Canada, linked to eating raw oysters has grown to 81 cases after British Columbia and Saskatchewan reported four and one additional case(s), respectively. The 81 cases have been reported from the following provinces: British Columbia (60), Alberta (19), Saskatchewan (1) and Ontario (1) with one case requiring hospitalization for their illness. No […]

A previously reported indigenous case of the mosquito borne viral disease, chikungunya, in Gandia city, Spain is now being called a “false alarm” by local health authorities. Two months ago, the Spanish Ministry of Health reported on a autochthonous, or locally acquired case of chikungunya in a 60-year-old man from Valencian Community, Gandia. However, in a report on the Spanish […]

The number of Vibrio vulnificus cases in Florida has risen to 30 for the year with additional cases reported from Hillsborough and Bay counties, health officials report. Hillsborough County, in west-central Florida now has 5 cases, while Bay County in the panhandle has now recorded 3 cases. The state death toll due to the bacterial […]

Taiwan Taiwan, which has been reporting record numbers of dengue fever cases daily during recent days, continued this trend Friday when the Taiwan CDC saw another 617 cases, bringing the total to 8,677 dengue fever cases since May. The southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung account for 98 percent of all cases, with 7,660 and 885, respectively. […]