May 6, 2011 / Vol. 60 / No. RR–4
Compendium of Measures to Prevent Disease Associated with Animals in Public Settings, 2011: National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc.


Health risks such as infectious diseases, exposure to rabies, and injuries are associated with contact with animals in public settings, including county or state fairs, petting zoos, animal swap meets, pet stores, zoologic institutions, circuses, carnivals, educational farms, livestock-birthing exhibits, educational exhibits at schools and child-care facilities, and wildlife photo opportunities. Washing hands is the most important prevention step to reduce the risk for disease transmission associated with animals in public settings. Other recommendations include prohibiting food in animal areas, including transition areas between animal areas and nonanimal areas, providing information about disease risk and prevention to visitors, and proper care of animals.

June 10, 2011 / Vol. 60 / No. SS–7
Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9–12 — Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, Selected Sites, United States, 2001–2009

Sexual minority youths are youths who identify themselves as gay or lesbian, bisexual, or unsure of their sexual identity or youths who have only had sexual contact with persons of the same sex or with both sexes. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors priority health-risk behaviors and the prevalence of obesity and asthma among youths and young adults. YRBSS results from surveys conducted during 2001–2009 in seven states and six large urban school districts indicate that sexual minority students, particularly gay, lesbian, and bisexual students and students who had sexual contact with both sexes, are more likely to engage in health-risk behaviors than other students.

May 13, 2011 / Vol. 58 / No. 53
Summary of Notifiable Diseases — United States, 2009

The Health-care providers in the United States are required to report certain infectious diseases to a specified state or local authority. A disease is designated as notifiable if timely information about individual cases is considered necessary for prevention and control of the disease. Each year, CDC publishes a summary of the cases of notifiable disease reported for the most recent year for which data is available. This report presents a summary of notifiable diseases for 2009. The Summary is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_nd/index.html. This site also includes publications from previous years.

April 15, 2011 / Vol. 60 / Supplement
Guidelines for Biosafety Laboratory Competency --- CDC and the Association of Public Health Laboratories

These guidelines for biosafety laboratory competency outline the essential skills, knowledge, and abilities required for working with biologic agents at the three highest biosafety levels (BSLs) (levels 2, 3, and 4). The competencies are tiered to a worker’s experience at three levels: entry level, midlevel (experienced), and senior level (supervisory or managerial positions). These guidelines are intended for laboratorians working with hazardous biologic agents, obtained from either samples or specimens that are maintained and manipulated in clinical, environmental, public health, academic, and research laboratories.