outbreak
71 articles
Multiple Outbreaks Threaten the 2018 Winter Olympics
Feb 14, 2018 | Jackie SheridanThe 2018 Winter Olympics began on Thursday, February 8th in PyeongChang, South Korea. The games bring 206 countries to participate [1], comprising...
Unexpected Hepatitis A Outbreaks Spread Throughout the U.S.
Dec 15, 2017 | Jackie SheridanIn 2017, several states have experienced acute outbreaks of Hepatitis A, namely Michigan, Kentucky, Utah, Colorado, and California. Each state...
Nigeria Faces its Worst Outbreak of Meningitis in Years
Apr 27, 2017 | Jackie SheridanNigeria remains in the midst of a meningococcal meningitis outbreak that began this past December. Thirty-eight Local Government Areas, within the...
Alarming Increase in Rates of Congenital Syphilis in California
Mar 13, 2017 | Cheryl LangThe Problem: Rates of congenital syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease passed on from an infected mother to her child during pregnancy, have...
Diphtheria Reemerges as Venezuela Remains on the Brink of Economic Collapse
Feb 21, 2017 | Jackie SheridanVenezuela, simply put, is running out of time. In the midst of a three-year economic recession, basic resources such as food and medicine are...
Seoul Virus Outbreak in the U.S. Could Affect up to 15 States
Feb 15, 2017 | Jackie SheridanThere is currently a Seoul virus outbreak affecting up to 15 states in the U.S., which is the first of its kind in the nation’s history [1]. Twelve...
Yet Another Outbreak Strikes: Yellow Fever in Brazil
Jan 31, 2017 | Jackie SheridanBrazil has had a disheartening start to 2017, with 555 suspected cases of yellow fever and 107 deaths reported. Thus far, 87 of the...
Devastating Cholera Outbreak in War-torn Yemen
Dec 2, 2016 | Cheryl LangThe Problem The war-torn country of Yemen has been battling a significant cholera outbreak since mid-October of 2016. The number of suspected cases...
Acute Flaccid Myelitis Outbreak in Washington
Nov 18, 2016 | Cheryl LangRecent Spike in Acute Flaccid Myelitis Cases As of September 2016, there have been 89 cases of Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) across 33 states in the...
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Spain: A New Emerging Disease in Western Europe?
Sep 27, 2016 | Chris MantellOn August 25th, the first two autochthonous cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) were confirmed in Spain, resulting in the death of one...
Anthrax Outbreak in Siberia as a Harbinger of the Unfreezing of Pathogens
Aug 16, 2016 | Colleen NguyenOn August 1, 2016 in Northern Russia, a 12-year-old boy died of anthrax, marking the first fatal case among 20 confirmed infected humans from the...
Over 1,000 Deaths from H1N1 Outbreak in Brazil
Jul 12, 2016 | Kara SewalkAs of July 1st, 2016, the Ministry of Health in Brazil confirmed that there have been 1,233 deaths linked to the ongoing H1N1 influenza outbreak in...
Elizabethkingia Spreads to Illinois
May 2, 2016 | Colleen NguyenOutbreaks of the mysterious bacteria, Elizabethkingia, has been reported in Wisconsin and most recently, in Illinois. Yet, it has recently been...
Yellow Fever Deaths Reach 250 in Angola
Apr 26, 2016 | Colleen NguyenCurrently, there is a particularly worrisome yellow fever outbreak in Angola due to the increasing number of cases, a vaccine shortage, and another...
Months After 2014 Outbreak Ends, Ebola Flares Up in Guinea
Mar 30, 2016 | Colleen NguyenAt least five people have died since 29 February 2016 due to a new flare up of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea [1]. The first two confirmed cases...
Food Insecurity in Eastern and Southern Africa due to El Niño
Mar 23, 2016 | Kara SewalkThe United Nations Children’s Fund has stated that approximately 11 million children in eastern and southern Africa face hunger, disease and water...
Elizabethkingia spreads throughout Wisconsin Healthcare Facilities
Mar 22, 2016 | Colleen NguyenA mysterious outbreak of an extremely rare bloodstream infection has been ongoing in Wisconsin for at least four months, and public health officials...
Mumps: Making a Comeback
Mar 17, 2016 | Colleen NguyenMumps are making a comeback on college campuses nationwide. On Friday, February 25, there were two lab-confirmed cases and three probable cases of...
First Appearance of Dengue in Uruguay
Mar 15, 2016 | Noushin BerdjisA 31-year old Montevideo resident went to the hospital on February 9, 2016 after experiencing fever and joint pain – two classic symptoms of Dengue...
Yellow Fever Claims 125 in Angola
Mar 4, 2016 | Colleen NguyenSince December 5, 2015, a Yellow fever outbreak in Angola has claimed 125 lives, with 664 suspected cases [1, 2]. The municipality of Viana in Luanda...
Could Zika be the Mysterious Killer of Howler Monkeys in Nicaragua?
Feb 24, 2016 | Kara SewalkScientists are concerned that the recent mysterious deaths of howler monkeys in Nicaragua could be a result of the Zika Virus. Recently, nearly 40...
Have We Underestimated the Zika Outbreak in Venezuela?
Feb 19, 2016 | Colleen NguyenIn Venezuela, there have been reports of over 5,000 suspected cases of the Zika virus [1, 2] – a virus with potential links to severe birth defects...
Unraveling the Zika Virus Mystery: Lessons Learned from Another Flavivirus
Feb 8, 2016 | Sumiko MekaruViruses, of course, do not live independently outside of their hosts. Rather, they are uniquely bundled bits of data that use the body of their...
Zika Virus: A Quick Update
Feb 1, 2016 | Colleen NguyenIn early December 2015, we reported on Brazil’s microcephaly outbreak and its alleged potential connection with Zika virus. This piece is a quick...
The End of Guinea Worm?
Jan 17, 2016 | Colleen NguyenLast week, The Carter Center announced that only 22 cases of Guinea Worm occurred in 2015 [1]. This signals a significant drop from the 146 cases of...
Malaria Ravages South Sudan
Jan 10, 2016 | Colleen NguyenSouth Sudan is experiencing an ‘unprecedented’ outbreak of malaria, with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stating that this...
Outbreak of Microcephaly Connected to Zika Virus in Brazil
Dec 7, 2015 | Kara SewalkThe first indications of a connection between Zika virus and the current outbreak of microcephaly in Brazil were picked up by the HealthMap system in...
Hantavirus Reported in Mumbai, India
Aug 22, 2015 | Colleen NguyenIn early August, the city of Mumbai, India, reported its first case of Hantavirus [1]. On June 27th, a 39 year old man from Kurla, a suburb of Mumbai...
Legionnaires’ Strikes New York City
Aug 9, 2015 | Colleen NguyenOn August 9, 2015, New York City had recorded ten fatalities related to Legionnaires’ disease [5]. There have been 108 cases recorded thus far, with...
California's New Vaccine Law
Jul 13, 2015 | Colleen NguyenOn Tuesday, June 30th, Governor Jerry Brown of California signed into law SB 277. The new law requires children attending daycare programs and public...
Europe Reports First West Nile Virus Case of the Season
Jul 4, 2015 | Colleen NguyenAs of June 28, 2015, this year’s first European West Nile Virus (WNV) human case of the season has been reported in Sofia, Bulgaria [1]. According to...
Tularemia Cases on the Rise in Colorado
Jul 3, 2015 | Noushin BerdjisHealth officials are alarmed about a recent increase in the number of Tularemia cases in Colorado. Between 1983 and 2013, the average number of...
Guinea Pig in the Time of Chagas
Jun 28, 2015 | Colleen NguyenAlthough endemic in parts of Latin America, studies show that it is hard to transmit Chagas disease. Research studies have estimated that for one...
Dengue Escalates in Southeast Asia
Jun 20, 2015 | Colleen NguyenCases of dengue fever have increased in Southeast Asia over the last few months. Vietnam has reported more than 20,000 cases of dengue so far in 2015...
Spain: First Case of Diphtheria Since 1986
Jun 13, 2015 | Colleen NguyenIn early June, Spain recorded its first case of diphtheria since 1986 [1]. The first case in 28 years is a six-year old boy from Olot, a town located...
MERS Outbreak in South Korea
Jun 7, 2015 | Noushin BerdjisReported Deaths On Wednesday June 3rd, a South Korean man became the third confirmed MERS death in South Korea, following the virus’ initial...
Powassan Emerges in Connecticut
Apr 19, 2015 | Noushin BerdjisResearchers recently found Powassan virus infected ticks in Bridgeport and Branford, Connecticut [1, 5-6]. Although the virus had already been...
Rubella in Taiwan: Second Case Confirmed
Apr 17, 2015 | Yuki AraOn March 18th, a female flight attendant was confirmed to be infected with rubella in Taiwan [1]. Before she developed symptoms, she had a travel...
Canine Influenza in Chicago
Apr 15, 2015 | Colleen NguyenChicago has recently seen an increase in cases of canine influenza. Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control issued a warning earlier this...
Nipah in Bangladesh
Apr 12, 2015 | Colleen NguyenAccording to the Bangladesh Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), as of February 2015, nine cases of Nipah virus have been...
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