Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
Plague Death Toll Now 57, 10 million Euros Needed in Outbreak Battle (
Outbreak News Today) The plague outbreak in Madagascar continues to grow as the countries Health Ministry reported Thursday that 35 Districts were now affected by the plague epidemic. As of Oct 12, 561 reported cases of plague were recorded, 415 of which were pulmonary, 145 of bubonic forms and another case that is unspecified, according to a Flash Bulletin published yesterday.
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West Nile Virus: Delaware Reports 1st Human Case Since 2015 (
Outbreak News Today) A 70-year-old Kent County woman was briefly hospitalized with West Nile virus and is now recovering at home. The case is the 1st lab-confirmed human WNV case reported in 2017. There were no cases in 2016. The mosquito-borne illness can become serious and the Division of Public Health reminds people to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites.
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Groups Warn of Infectious Disease Threats in Puerto Rico (
CIDRAP) After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sep 20, the island lost power, and experienced extensive flooding, leaving thousands homeless and without access to routine medical care. Now, as the waters recede, ISDA is warning that the US territory faces public health threats that need to be countered by immediate funding and aid from the US government.
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Government Affairs & National Security
US Global Health Assistance: FY2001-FY2018 Request (
Congressional Research Service) Congress has made global health a high priority for several years, with notable appropriations increases for global health during the George W. Bush Administration. During this period, global-health-related appropriations rose from less than $2 billion in FY2001 to almost $8 billion in FY2008.
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Global Health Security
Keeping Up with a World in Motion: Screening Strategies for Migrating Populations (
Clinical Infectious Diseases) As global migration increases, especially from countries with a high TB burden to countries with a low TB burden, we will continue to see foreign-born persons accounting for an increasing number and proportion of TB cases in the host countries. Therefore, identification of effective interventions to address TB among mobile populations is critical to reaching global WHO targets for TB elimination in both low- and high-incidence TB countrie.
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Systemic Tuberculosis Screening in Asylum Seekers in Italy (
Clinical Infectious Diseases) The preliminary findings of a TB screening of asylum seekers performed in a reception center located in northern Italy reveal a post-entry screening prevalence rate of 535 per 100000 individuals screened. This result shows that systematic use of chest radiography is a useful tool for active TB screening among asylum seekers in Italy.
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Ask the Disease Specialist: Why Is It So Hard to Beat the Plague? (
goats and soda) An outbreak of the plague is growing in Madagascar. Air Seychelles announced that it has canceled all flights into the country after a traveler returned to the Seychelles with the illness--despite WHO guidance against travel restrictions because "the risk of international spread of plague appears very low."
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Global Health Security--An Unfinished Journey (
Emerging Infectious Diseases) This supplement is a timely, comprehensive compendium of the critical work being done by the CDC and various partners to enhance and expand the Global Health Security Agenda. This perspective provides a review of, and comments regarding, our past, current, and future challenges in supporting the Global Health Security Agenda.
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Medicine & Public Health
California's Wildfires Are a Public Health Crisis (
City Lab) "It is completely unsafe to be here at this moment," said Jennifer Franco, a resident of Fairfield, California, on Wednesday afternoon, as massive wildfires ripped through Santa Rosa and Napa a few miles west. But she wasn't talking about the flames--she was talking about the smoke. Accelerated by high-speed seasonal winds, ash-laden air was blowing eastward, directly into her neighborhood.
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Science & Technology
Other 21st Century Threats
The Section T Canard: The Drive for Decertification and 'Bomb Iran' Redux (
War on the Rocks) Some opponents of the Iran nuclear deal feel the need to consistently mischaracterize the nature of the deal and Iran's adherence to it in order to advance their point of view. They seem to believe that lies about matters of policy are justified given the stakes, which for many of them are clear: the toppling of the Iranian regime.
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