Disease Surveillance

As October 7, the CDC has received reports of 4,667 total mumps infections in 47 states and the District of Columbia for the year. The MMR vaccine is 88% effective when two doses have been given. In people who receive just one shot, the vaccine is less effective. The effectiveness of the vaccine…

Douglas Patient — Daily Star The pneumonic plague death toll in Madagascar is already five times the average. Officials state that there have been 174 deaths, as well as 82 doctors infected. Schools have been canceled for the month to keep individuals safe as this plague is an airborne easily…

MosquitoMate produced a man-made mosquito that has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency to be released in the environment. The male mosquito produced, Wolbachia pipientis, is intended to kill the Asian tiger mosquito. Asian tiger mosquito is responsible for many diseases, such as…

Ten individuals have been infected with Legionnaires’ disease from visiting the Anaheim theme park, Disneyland. Authorities discovered an increased amount of Legionella bacteria in two of the cooling towers at Disneyland. The towers were shut down and treated with disinfectants to kill off the…

Air quality readings in Delhi have reached 1000 marks on the US embassy air quality index. With the World Health Organization considering anything over 25 marks to be unsafe, Delhi has reached frightening levels of heavy pollution. In recent days, doctors have noticed an influx of patients…

Authorities have begun to prepare for an outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease, a fatal illness. The World Health Organization is aiding Kenyan Ministry of Health to help fight against the spread of the fatal disease from Uganda. A national task force, including the CDC and World Health Organization,…

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were an estimated 90,000 deaths caused by measles during 2016, which is about an 80% decrease in measles deaths compared to the year 2000. Overall, measles deaths have been consistently declining over the last decade, due in large part to the…

Only days after announcing President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe as their goodwill ambassador, the WHO, the World Health Organization, revoked Mugabe’s ambassadorship due to public outcry and outrage across the world over the appointment. Mugabe was appointed recently as an ambassador by the…

Romsy Romero, 28, a Puerto Rico citizen, died due to a fatal infection on October 5th with what doctors believed was leptospirosis. The island was left with a scarce amount of power and clean drinking water after hit with Hurricane Maria, leading to increased this disease outbreak. Reports of…

California is facing a mass outbreak of hepatitis A, with 569 cases currently reported. Most of the cases have predominantly occurred in San Diego County, but the recent spread of the disease has led to cases occurring in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties and there is fear that the disease could…

At least 33 people have been killed and more than 200 individuals infected in Madagascar due to a plague outbreak. The plague is mostly affecting the Eastern and Central locations of the island. Officials believe this is a high risk plague, which can spread nationally. Public events, such as sport…

A fourth person has died in what the New York City Health Department is describing as an "unusual" spike in Legionnaires' disease in the Bronx, officials said Saturday. The news comes as two more Bronx buildings tested positive for the legionella bacteria... Read more

An investigation of a U.S. military facility's mistaken shipments of live anthrax bacteria has turned up another live sample, this one from a 2008 batch sent to Australia, a U.S. defense official said on Friday. The disclosure, if confirmed, suggests the possibility of a broader problem among…

Under fire for selling a medical scope linked to superbug outbreaks, Olympus Corp. is pushing back against its critics and says the design of its product isn't necessarily the sole cause for infections. U.S. health officials have determined that recent bacterial outbreaks were tied to reusable…