Disease Surveillance

Jenny Walrond- Researchers at University of Exeter Medical School and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology discovered that people that swim in the sea are 77% more likely to suffer from an earache and 29% more likely to suffer from gastrointestinal illnesses, compared to other individuals that do not…

Donald G. McNeil Jr.- In 2016, the number of reported cases of measles was a low 5,273. However, in 2017, this number quadrupled to 21,315 total cases. Romania had the largest number of cases in Europe, 5,562, and the highest number of disease related deaths. Italy followed as the…

Lassa Fever is endemic in Liberia and has continued to spread throughout the country. On January 9, 2018, a patient from Guinea with a fever, neck pain, and body pain was admitted to a local hospital and passed away two days later due to an infection with Lassa Fever. Between January 1, 2017, and…

According to this Science Daily article, a new and faster Zika virus diagnostic test is being developed. This new method will test a patient’s saliva rather than blood, which will allow a diagnosis to be made within minutes. While the virus is not detectable in blood after a couple of weeks, it…

28 cases of salmonella have been reported across 20 states. This recent outbreak is thought to be connected to kratom products, derived from Malaysian leaves that have been used in many consumer products to alleviate pain. As a precaution, the CDC is urging people to avoid all consumption of kratom…

The San Diego Union-Tribune: In the beginning of 2017, San Diego faced one of the largest hepatitis A outbreak in decades. On September 19th, over 27,000 people were vaccinated in hopes of preventing the spread of the hepatitis outbreak that began in March. One week later, over 52,000 individuals…

NBC News: This season’s flu has killed a few dozen children and thousands of adults, making the flu very relevant in the news. The message across the board has been and still is that everyone who can should get vaccinated. Recently there’s been higher demand than usual for the flu shot due to the…

In September of 2017, Nigeria saw a widespread yellow fever outbreak that took the lives of 45 and infected over 358 individuals. As a result, the Nigerian government and the World Health Organization (WHO) began a campaign on January 25th, 2018 with the goal of vaccinating 25 million individuals by…

According to The Dallas Morning News, six unvaccinated people have contracted measles in Ellis County, Texas. Supposedly all of the cases are connected, and the Texas Department of State Health Services is concerned more cases will occur. A health advisory has been issued for health care providers…

On January 10, 2018 the Zambia government launched a campaign to vaccinate residents of Lusaka from cholera with the help of the World Health Organization (WHO). Thus far two million doses have been delivered to Zambia which has the potential to immunize one million people. Zambia's Health Minister…

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 237 individuals in Namibia showed signs of a hepatitis E infection as of January 8, 2018. With 21 confirmed cases thus far, individuals are continuing to undergo tests for Hepatitis E. Although hepatitis A, B, and C are all common in Namibia,…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — abc NEWS A deadly disease causing blindness, Guinea worm, is slowly coming to an end a new report states. Guinea worm disease is characterized by a sometimes meter-long worm which surfaces from a blister. Most reports of the disease come from individuals drinking unfiltered…

CNN's Jacqueline Howard reports that the FDA has recently announced revisions to safety labeling on prescription opioid cough and cold medicine to restrict the use to adults 18 years and older. This announcement comes in response to the growing epidemic of opioid addiction. Last year, an FDA…

According to this Business Insider article, this flu season is having a negative economic impact on many employers. Across the country hospitals are seeing double the normal baseline of patients with flu symptoms. Estimates show that the flu could cost businesses over $9.4 billion this year. Read…