Category: Disease Outbreak
From CDC to ABC: H7N9 from Hong Kong
Taking on the role of interim CDC director can be an intimidating task, but an impending pandemic can make the position exponentially more daunting. This is the situation Dr. Richard Besser faced in 2009 when he stepped into his new job. But Besser took the task head on and guided the country’s premier health agency Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentPublic Health: Are We Too Slow?
One of the many roles of public health is to protect consumers from threats like foodborne outbreaks. Much of this hinges on quickly getting out clear messages to the public that provide simple steps to help stem the spread of disease. This is something public health professionals have been doing for over a hundred Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentPlague Inc.
James Vaughan, founder of Ndemic Creations, spoke to CDC staff on March 20, 2013 about his new mobile app, Plague Inc. Within the game, players select a pathogen and strategize how to evolve symptoms, transmit the disease, and counter actions taken by world governments and scientists. With a successful disease, players can watch as governments Read More >
Posted on by 29 CommentsHow to Apply Your 5k Training to a Disease Outbreak
By Jeff Eggert It is another beautiful Denver morning. The sun is shining, and Canadian geese are honking in 40 degree weather. A large crowd has begun to gather in the center of a park, huddled around hot coffee and warm bagels while yellow-vested volunteers quickly triage individuals in the crowd towards the appropriate Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentOutbreak Investigation: Meningitis
One Case Sparks National Action Imagine… A patient goes to the doctor for a routine steroid injection. A couple weeks later, the patient feels sick – headache, fever and suddenly uncomfortable in bright light. Within days, the patient is admitted to the local hospital’s intensive care unit. Doctors discover that the patient has a life-threatening Read More >
Posted on by 5 CommentsDisease Detection: Laboratories on the front lines
You can’t respond to threats if you don’t know what they are, which is one reason that laboratories play such an important role in public health. Public health laboratories have helped detect all kinds of threats to the public’s health; including anthrax, monkey pox, novel flu viruses, and foodborne disease outbreaks caused by germs like Read More >
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