CSI Atlanta: Foodborne Outbreak
Posted December 1, 2008 by Ali S. Khan | 0 Comments
During the recent investigation of the outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul, CDC often mentioned that the overall "outbreak investigation is complex and difficult." This complexity and difficulty extends to the hundreds of outbreaks that never make national headlines...
Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak: Epilogue
Posted November 18, 2008 by Ali S. Khan | 0 Comments
I’ve spent many years roaming this planet and, without doubt, we have amongst the safest food in the world. However, the largest foodborne outbreak in the last 10 years with an estimated 15, 000 cases is a vivid reminder that a number of factors will continue to drive outbreaks even here in the US...
Novel Arenavirus Causes Mystery Illness in Zambia and South Africa
Posted October 17, 2008 by Ali S. Khan | 0 Comments
An active, young Zambian safari guide fell ill last month with an unexplained illness that rapidly progressed to her death after medical evacuation to South Africa. Three additional people who had close contact with her or her body fluids, a paramedic, a nurse and a hospital worker, also shortly became ill -- and despite all medical efforts, have also died...
Produce Strikes Back: Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak
Posted July 3, 2008 by Ali S. Khan | 0 Comments
McDonald’s stopped serving sliced tomatoes on their burgers. Other businesses in the food industry have also recently joined this precautionary movement -- actions that follow a trail of health reports all over the United States in what has become one of the largest multistate outbreaks in history...
Mosquitoes: The World's Deadliest Animals
Posted May 15, 2008 by Ali S. Khan | 0 Comments
The area surrounding Antananarivo, Madagascar was not predicted to be a high risk area for Rift Valley Fever this year. Yet as I stepped off the plane from Italy last week, I reviewed a request from the MoH (Madagascar Ministry of Health) through their embassy for U.S. assistance as the epidemic that began in February continues to silently rage in the region…
New Brain Disease is Blowing Minds
Posted May 2, 2008 by Ali S. Khan | 0 Comments
Just saw an email from Alex Thiermann. Of the twelve countries OIE has corresponded with (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom), none have observed anything similar to the newly identified brain illness that is linked, curiously, to the practice of blowing pig brains…
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About This Blog
Public health is a fundamental but often transparent underpinning of our modern society: from clean drinking water, seatbelts, and non-smoking laws, to fluoridation, micronutrient enriched foods, and pasteurization. The exceptional high profile examples of public health action to protect health include our outbreak responses to such things as SARS, West Nile Virus, or Salmonella and our numerous global initiatives to tackle HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tropical diseases. We look at the critical issues in infectious disease that threaten us globally and nationally and our public health actions. Increased communication within public health and with the broader community is the next public health revolution, one that will lead to optimized mental, physical, and social health for a global community that truly thrives.
RADM Ali S. Khan, MD, MPH – Assistant Surgeon General and Deputy Director for the CDC’s National Center for Zoonotic, Vectorborne, and Enteric Diseases – debriefs about his personal experiences working on the front lines of emerging infectious diseases and public health action
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