Public Health Matters Blog Posts
Simian Malaria in Humans: Hard to Tell
Malaria is preventable and treatable. However, each year 350–500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, and more than a million people die, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa. In the U.S., about 1,500 people get malaria annually, almost all from traveling to countries where malaria is transmitted. In 2006, six people in the Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsFood Safety: Need for Speed
CDC plays a vital role but public health happens at the local level thanks to the work of thousands of our state, territorial, tribal, city, and county public health professionals. So it is always a pleasure to meet with state epidemiologists, leaders in using epidemiologic data to guide public health practice and improve health. On Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentImported Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever: One That Got Away
CDC’s Special Pathogens Branch recently diagnosed a case of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in a U.S. traveler, who returned from Uganda back in January 2008 [SPB posting]. This person had visited the famous “python cave” in Maramagambo Forest, Queen Elizabeth Park, western Uganda. Fortunately, no one seems to have been infected from this patient when she Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentIngredient Driven Outbreaks: The Inside is Bigger than the Outside
The current Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak associated with a peanut processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, appears to have begun in September 2008, and was first detected in mid-November 2008 by DNA fingerprinting of Salmonella in public health labs across the country [last blog link]. The broad distribution of peanut butter and peanut paste shipped to food Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentSalmonella Typhimurium Outbreak Investigation: Do Not Try This at Home
The Enteric Diseases programs at CDC have been collaborating with state public health officials, the USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate a multi-state outbreak of human infections due to Salmonella serotype Typhimurium affecting almost 400 persons. There are numerous interesting features of this outbreak that Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsA New Twist for Ebola: Reston-Infected Pigs in the Philippines
Ebola-Reston [initial identification] virus is a mystery. Although quite deadly in monkeys, this Ebola cousin doesn’t appear to cause human illness. And who knows how it got to or independently evolved in the Philippines – a good 7,000 miles and really big ocean away from its Zaire, Sudan, Cote D’Ivoire, and Bundibugyo brethren in Africa. Read More >
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