One Piece Found in the Marburg Puzzle
Posted August 17, 2009 by Ali Khan 
0 Comments
Marburg hemorrhagic fever is one of the world’s deadliest diseases. While not always fatal, infection with the Marburg virus generally causes serious illness. There is no vaccine or drug therapy available for those who become infected and we know that as many of 90 percent of those infected during outbreaks have died.
The First Step in Identifying a Foodborne Outbreak... PulseNet
Posted July 24, 2009 by Steven Stroika | 0 Comments
The road to last month's cookie dough recall started when CDC scientists reviewed information collected through PulseNet, a national network of laboratories that perform DNA "fingerprinting" of foodborne bacteria like E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria. These fingerprints are plugged into a database that CDC and its state partners routinely scan.
Crafting Ebola Prevention Messages in Uganda
Posted July 22, 2009 by Craig Manning | 0 Comments
I work in CDC's Special Pathogens Branch (SPB) where we study highly infectious viruses. My job is health communications and I've just returned from Uganda. I was there to work with the Ministry of Health and health educators from Uganda's Western Districts to create materials that would help keep people there safe from Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fevers.
Imported Human Rabies Cases
Posted July 15, 2009 by Jesse Blanton | 0 Comments
In the U.S., human rabies is rare, thanks mostly to the availability of rabies vaccination and the elimination of dog rabies. But in many other countries around the world, dog rabies is very common and people are at greater risk.
Not a Typical Spring Weekend: Seven Salmonella Investigations
Posted July 9, 2009 by Mark Sotir | 0 Comments
Foodborne illnesses occur throughout the year and summers tend to be busy with outbreaks. I work in CDC's Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch and we just spent a few busy weeks on an investigation linking E. coli 0157 illnesses to raw cookie dough. See Karen Neil's blog about that process.
Linking Raw Cookie Dough to an E. coli Outbreak
Posted June 30, 2009 by Karen Neil | 0 Comments
Contaminated raw cookie dough wasn’t on anyone’s mind as my public health colleagues and I were searching for the cause of a multistate outbreak of E. coli infections...
Of Pigs and Men
Posted May 8, 2009 by Ali S. Khan | 1 Comment
When I started working at CDC as an EIS officer in the Influenza program, there was a lot of focus on pigs as the source of novel influenza viruses. It was called the mixing vessel theory. The new H1N1 flu virus appearing in different parts of the world has genetic pieces from human influenza, bird influenza,and 2 different types of pig influenzas...
Trichinellosis: "Bearly" Cooked
Posted May 7, 2009 by Alex da Silva | 0 Comments
In late October 2007, a hunter in Northern California shot a black bear and brought the carcass home for a community feast the next day. At least 38 people ate a variety of dishes, some of which included bear meat which was not fully cooked. Within a week, people who had attended the event started getting sick with fever, chills, and muscle aches...
Clostridium difficile - an Emerging Zoonosis?
Posted April 16, 2009 by Ali S. Khan | 0 Comments
Recent studies have isolated a bacterium called Clostridium difficile from meats sold in grocery stores. C. difficile causes a severe colon infection and is generally acquired in hospitals and long-term care facilities, but 20% of cases are acquired in the community - outside of healthcare settings. Could C. difficile be a source of infection from retail meats...
Snails, Slugs, and Semi-slugs: A Parasitic Disease in Paradise
Posted April 3, 2009 by Alex da Silva | 0 Comments
...CDC’s Division of Parasitic Diseases was contacted by the Hawaii Department of Health for advice regarding three cases of presumed Angiostrongylus cantonensis (AC) infection. AC, commonly called the rat lungworm, is a parasitic worm and the most common infectious cause of eosinophilic (a type of white cell) meningitis in humans worldwide...
Disclaimer: The content of Public Health Matters expresses the opinions of its authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Please read our "Blog Comment Policy" before submitting any comments.
About This Blog
Public health is a fundamental but often transparent underpinning of our modern society save for the exceptional high profile examples of 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. In this blog, we share our public health passions and look forward to listening to our communities for greater transparency and accountability. I will be joined by our scientists who presently spend their days working with some of the most critical infectious diseases that threaten us globally and nationally. From high tech labs in Atlanta to the field worldwide, please join us as we share our perspective and personal experiences working on the front lines of emerging infectious diseases and public health action.
Contact Us:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd
Atlanta, GA 30333 - 800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov
