Deadly Salmonella Outbreak Forces USDA to Recall Raw Turkey (CNN) With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service has recalled turkey products linked to a salmonella outbreak. Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales, LLC recalled 91,388 pounds of raw ground turkey products after the USDA found that a sample of the products tested positive for a salmonella reading matching the outbreak strain. Go to article
Anti-vaccination Stronghold in NC Hit with Worst Chickenpox Outbreak in 2 Decades (Syracuse.com) Chickenpox has taken hold of a school in North Carolina where many families claim religious exemption from vaccines. Cases of chickenpox have been multiplying at the Asheville Waldorf School, which serves children from nursery school to sixth grade in Asheville, North Carolina. About a dozen infections grew to 28 at the beginning of the month. By Friday, there were 36, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Go to article
11th Patient Dies at Pediatric Facility in Viral Outbreak (AP News) Health officials say an 11th patient has died amid an outbreak of a respiratory virus at a care facility in New Jersey. The state health department on Friday confirmed that the "severely ill child" at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation had the adenovirus infection. The youth died Thursday night in a hospital, but further details about the child were not disclosed. Go to article
See Also:WHO Director-General: Violence in DRC Is Allowing Ebola to Spread (STAT) The public health workers behind the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are struggling to combat an outbreak of the deadly virus in what is effectively a war zone. Repeated rebel attacks on the city of Beni - the outbreak epicenter and the headquarters of the response operation - have given the virus an advantage over the humans trying to contain it, acknowledges Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization's director-general. Go to article
Government Affairs & National Security
USDA Launches New Biosecurity Campaign Asking All Poultry Owners, Workers and Hobbyists to Protect the Health of Live Poultry (USDA) The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is launching a new outreach campaign focused on preventing the spread of infectious poultry diseases in both commercial and backyard poultry. Considering the devastating impact of the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in 2014-2015, as well as this year's outbreak of virulent Newcastle disease, the timing is right for everyone in the poultry community to work together to protect the health of our nation's flocks. Go to article
Domestic Preparedness & Response
Serving Time, and Fighting California Wildfires for $2 a Day (NPR) As flames consume parts of California, an unexpected group of firefighters has put their lives at risk to protect communities: prison inmates. For $2 per day - and another $1 an hour when battling fires - qualified inmates can volunteer to help authorities combat fires. Go to article
Global Health Security
Ethiopia to Vaccinate More Than 1 Million People Against Yellow Fever (WHO Ethiopia) The Ethiopian Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and partners, today started a second vaccination campaign to protect high-risk populations against yellow fever. More than 1.3 million people will be protected in this seven day campaign, which follows a smaller, more focused campaign in October. Go to article
North Korea Running Low on TB Meds, Experts Fear Epidemic (AP News) The withdrawal of a major international aid organization threatens to leave tens of thousands of tuberculosis patients in North Korea without the medication they need and could spiral into a severe crisis if it is not addressed soon, according to health experts familiar with the situation in the North. Go to article
Medicine & Public Health
Cell-based Flu Vaccine More Effective Than Egg-based Versions (MD Magazine) Using electronic medical record data from the 2017-2018 flu season, investigators found that a cell-based influenza vaccine was 36.2% more effective than the standard egg-based version in preventing influenza-like illness. Go to article
European Medicines Agency Recommends Fexinidazole, the First All-oral Treatment for Sleeping Sickness (DNDi) The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has adopted a positive scientific opinion of fexinidazole, the first all-oral treatment that has been shown to be efficacious for both stages of sleeping sickness. This approval is a result of clinical trials led by the non-profit research and development organization DNDi and an application submitted by Sanofi. The decision paves the way for the distribution of fexinidazole in endemic countries in 2019. Go to article
Other 21st Century Threats
The Russian Disinformation Attack that Poses a Biological Danger (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) In a series of increasingly confrontational statements, Russia has suggested that the Pentagon is establishing a chain of bio-weapons labs on its borders. At the heart of the accusations is the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research in the Republic of Georgia. Named after US Senator Richard Lugar, who initiated the renovation of lab networks in former Soviet states, the Lugar Center became operational in 2013. Go to article
Delivered first thing each Tuesday morning, Preparedness Pulsepoints provides a snapshot of each week's USG action on readiness and response.
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