First US Ebola patient.



After surviving Ebola, Fort Worth doctor says we cannot give into fear

For Dr. Kent Brantly, the experience of nearly dying more than two years ago from the Ebola virus seems like a lifetime ago.

While it’s no longer at the forefront of his mind, there are reminders almost daily for Brantly and his wife, Amber.

“It is hard to believe that that all really happened to us,” Brantly said. “I mean, Amber and I really look at each other often and say ‘Can you believe this is real? I really almost died?’ ”

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Mumps spreads on college campuses


Caroline Brown, a sophomore at the University of Missouri, got a fever over Thanksgiving break. Soon it became painful to bite down, and her cheek began to swell. A trip to her physician confirmed it: she had the mumps.

"Mumps kind of sounds like this archaic thing," Brown said. "We get vaccinated for it; it just sounds like something that nobody gets. So I just didn't think that it was possible that I would get it."

But mumps is back, and is having its worst year in a decade, fueled in part by its spread on college campuses. Since classes began at the University of Missouri in August, school officials have identified 193 mumps cases on campus. Nationwide, more than 4,000 cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - nearly triple the number in 2015 and the largest increase in 10 years.

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Pennsylvania again leads US in reported Lyme disease cases

PITTSBURGH – Pennsylvania again leads the nation in reported cases of Lyme disease, according to tracking conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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CDC reviews Zika actions as response nears 1-year mark


As the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nears the 1-year mark from activation of its emergency operations center (EOC) to respond to the Zika outbreak and its complications, Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, today warned that the fight against the virus is not over.

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report:


1,565 Refugees Diagnosed with Active TB Since 2012, Three Times More Than Previously Reported

Between 2012 and 2015, 1,565 refugees were diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB) in the United States, according to annual reports published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The CDC data, which has been public but obscure until now, shows that the number of refugees diagnosed with active TB in recent years is more than three times greater than previously reported by any media outlet.

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Factbox: Why polio is proving so hard to beat

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Pakistan, one of three countries with endemic polio, began an immunization campaign this week in the city of Quetta for children under five after the discovery of a rare strain of the virus in sewage samples, officials said.

No cases of the rare Type 2 strain have been reported in humans in Quetta but it has been added to the vaccine as a precaution. The more common type of polio is Type 1, with no human cases of Type 2 reported for more than a decade.

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CDC keeps details secret of laboratory mishaps with deadly viruses, bacteria

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has faced congressional hearings and secret government sanctions over its sloppy lab safety practices, is keeping secret large swaths of information about dozens of recent incidents involving some of the world’s most dangerous bacteria and viruses.

CDC scientists apparently lost a box of deadly and highly-regulated influenza specimens and experienced multiple other potential exposures involving viruses and bacteria, according to heavily-redacted laboratory incident reports obtained by USA TODAY. Several reports involve failures of safety equipment. In one, a scientist wearing full-body spacesuit-like gear to protect against lethal, often untreatable viruses like Ebola, had their purified air hose suddenly disconnect – “again” – in one the world’s most advanced biosafety level 4 labs.

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Ebola virus found hiding in lungs of health-care worker


Ebola has proven itself a tricky foe to get rid of in the human body. In numerous cases in which it was thought to be gone and patients fully recovered, the virus has been found in the eyes, semen, amniotic fluid, placenta, breast milk and central nervous system.

Now a paper published in the journal PLOS Pathogens describes another possible hiding place for the virus: the lungs.

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Flu Season Starting to Peak



FRIDAY, Jan. 6, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Flu season is in full swing and it's starting to look like a severe one, U.S. health officials said Friday.

That's why they're urging that the most vulnerable -- the very young, the elderly, the chronically ill and pregnant women -- get their shots before it's too late.

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Baby born with microcephaly in Travis County has Zika virus, health officials say



Austin health authorities confirmed this week that a baby born in Travis County with microcephaly in September has the Zika virus.

Although the infant’s case is the first confirmed case of congenital transmission of the Zika virus in Travis County, officials with Austin Public Health do not believe the virus was acquired locally.

Feel bad for baby and mother. :(

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Dengue virus antibodies may worsen Zika infections

In November, the World Health Organization declared that Zika was no longer a public health emergency of international concern.

That doesn’t mean concern over Zika is over, but now that a link between Zika and microcephaly has been established, it is viewed as a long-term problem, which requires constant attention.

While researchers have concluded that Zika infection can cause microcephaly and other birth defects such as eye damage in newborns, there are still many unanswered questions about the virus.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

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What to Know About Influenza Before Peak Flu Season

Influenza activity is on the rise across the U.S., with 10 states already reporting high levels of flu activity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While getting the flu doesn't usually inspire dread among the otherwise healthy, the virus can have serious consequences for the frail. Every year, millions of people will be sickened by the seasonal flu and thousands in the U.S. will die from it.

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Twinkies recalled for possible salmonella contamination

Hostess has recalled some of its Twinkies due to potential contamination with salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections.

The Kansas City, Missouri-based company announced in a news release Monday that some of its Holiday White Peppermint Hostess® Twinkies® contain confectionary coating produced and recalled by Blommer Chocolate Company. Although Hostess hasn’t received any reports of illness, it is recalling the product out of an abundance of caution, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The UPC of the recalled product is 888109111571, and it was sold in nine-pack boxes with individually wrapped cakes. They were distributed across the United States at grocery stores, mass merchandisers, dollar and discount stores, according to the FDA.

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Angola announces first 2 cases of Zika, but strain not clear

JOHANNESBURG – Angola has announced its first two cases of the Zika virus, but it is not clear whether the strain is the one spreading through the Americas.

The Portuguese news agency Lusa says one case involved a French citizen. The other was found in Viana municipality in Luanda province. Both were registered in recent weeks.

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Up to 50 potentially exposed to tuberculosis at Ohio hospital's neonatal unit

Health officials in Ohio said nearly 50 people may have been exposed to tuberculosis (TB) in the neonatal intensive care unit at an Ohio hospital by a patient unaware of their diagnosis at the time. Those at risk of exposure include infants, visitors and staff, Fox 8 reported.

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'Superbug' Resistant to All Antibiotics Killed Nevada Woman

FRIDAY, Jan. 13, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- A Nevada woman in her 70s who'd recently returned from India died in September from a "superbug" infection that resisted all antibiotics, according to a report released Friday.

The case raises concern about the spread of such infections, which have become more common over past decades as germs have developed resistance to widely used antibiotics.

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Flu and Bird Flu, for today.


US flu season picks up as European levels stay high

The US flu season picked up more steam last week, with rising flu indicators and the first three pediatric flu deaths reported, as many countries in Europe grapple with an early, busy flu season led by the H3N2 strain that poses a serious threat to seniors.

In its weekly update today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said all 10 of its regions are above their baseline percentages of clinic visits for flulike illness for the first time, though the country as a whole has been above its national baseline for the marker for 4 straight weeks.

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China roast duck vendor dies of H7N9 bird flu: Xinhua

A roast duck vendor has died of bird flu in central China, the official Xinhua news agency said Saturday, the latest human casualty of the disease this winter.

The 36-year-old man, surnamed Zhang, passed away on January 11 in Yongcheng city of the central province of Henan, Xinhua cited the provincial health and family planning commission as saying.

He sold roast duck in the coastal province of Zhejiang before falling ill with fever and coughing just after Christmas, eventually returning to his hometown in early January.

Yongcheng city is monitoring the health of 16 people who have had close contact with Zhang.

:-)

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Croatia to cull poultry near capital due to H5N8 bird flu

ZAGREB — Croatia said on Saturday it had detected H5N8 bird flu among ducks on a farm some 30 km (20 miles) southeast of the capital Zagreb. The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that all the poultry on the affected farm would be culled, along with all poultry in non-intensive farming in a 3 km radius. "We're undertaking all the necessary measures to isolate the affected poultry that will have to be culled. The owners will be compensated. We're fighting this in the same manner as many other neighbouring countries," Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolusic said. Two weeks ago there was a similar case on another farm in northeastern Croatia.

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We’re not prepared for future Ebola outbreaks, experts warn


Despite recent headlines declaring the success of an experimental Ebola vaccine, the world is not fully prepared for future epidemics — and not in position to use vaccines to prevent another deadly outbreak, a report published Tuesday warned.

The report raised serious concerns about the work that remains to be done on Ebola vaccines.

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