Diseases & Outbreaks News and Discussions

[wjfox]

Sudden explosion of dangerous fungus Candida auris may be because of climate change, scientists say

July 28, 2023 / 11:17 AM / CBS/AP

Candida auris infections have emerged globally as public health threat in recent years, posing a particular risk in health care settings for people who already have serious medical problems. Scientists say the sudden explosion of the fungus, which was not found in humans anywhere until 2009, may be because of climate change.

The fungal infections can cause severe illness, including bloodstream, wound and respiratory infections. Its mortality rate has been estimated at 30% to 60%.

In 2016, hospitals in New York state identified the rare and dangerous infection that was never before found in the United States. Research laboratories quickly mobilized to review historical specimens and found the fungus had been present in the country since at least 2013.

In the years since, New York City has emerged as ground zero for the infections. And until 2021, the state recorded the most confirmed cases in the country year after year, even as the illness has spread to other places, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data analyzed by The Associated Press.

Last year, the most cases were found in Nevada and California, but the fungus was identified clinically in patients in 29 states. New York state remains a major hotspot.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/candida-au ... tion-rare/

[weatheriscool]

Cases of leprosy on the rise in Florida: CDC
Source: ABC News

Cases of leprosy are rising in Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the disease is still rare in the U.S. -- with just 159 cases reported in 2020 -- a new CDC analysis released Monday finds that Central Florida accounts for a bulk of those cases.

Central Florida appears to have the highest concentration of cases in the Sunshine State, with the region accounting for nearly one-fifth of reported cases in the U.S. Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a lingering infectious disease caused by the acid-fast rod Mycobacterium leprae. The disease mostly impacts the skin and the peripheral nervous system, according to the CDC. Today, the disease is curable with antibiotics.

"Leprosy has been historically uncommon in the United States; incidence peaked around 1983, and a drastic reduction in the annual number of documented cases occurred from the 1980s through 2000," the CDC said in its report. "However, since then, reports demonstrate a gradual increase in the incidence of leprosy in the United States."

Most of the cases from 2020 were from Florida, California, Louisiana, Hawaii, New York and Texas, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. In recent decades, cases have been from travelers coming to the U.S. Now, researchers are pointing out that roughly one-third of cases from 2015 to 2020 appear to have been acquired locally, suggesting the disease is being transmitted in the U.S., either from person-to-person or from contact with animals like armadillos.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/cases-lep ... =101876654

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

Climate Change May Be Fueling a Global Surge in Cholera Outbreaks
by Blanca Begert
August 1, 2023

Introduction:

(Grist) In early 2022, nearly 200,000 Malawians were displaced after two tropical storms struck the southeastern part of Africa barely a month apart. Sixty-four people died. Amid an already-heavy rainy season, the storms Ana and Gombe caused tremendous devastation across southern Malawi to homes, crops, and infrastructure.

“That March, we started to see cholera, which is usually endemic in Malawi, becoming an outbreak,” said Gerrit Maritz, a deputy representative for health programs in Malawi for the United Nations Children’s Fund. Cholera typically affects the country during the rainy season, from December to March, during which time it remains contained around Lake Malawi in the south and results in about 100 deaths each year.

The 2022 outbreak showed a different pattern — cholera spread throughout the dry season and by August had moved into Malawi’s northern and central regions. By early February of this year, cases had peaked at 700 per day with a fatality rate of 3.3 percent, three times higher than the typical rate. When cases finally began to decline in March, cholera had claimed over 1,600 lives in a 12-month period — the biggest outbreak in the country’s history.

As climate change intensifies, storms like Ana and Gombe are becoming more frequent, more powerful, and wetter. The World Health Organization, or WHO, says that while poverty and conflict remain enduring drivers for cholera around the world, climate change is aggravating the acute global upsurge of the disease that began in 2021. According to WHO, 30 countries reported outbreaks in 2022, 50 percent more than previous years’ average; many of those outbreaks were compounded by tropical cyclones and their ensuing displacement.

Read more here: https://grist.org/health/climate-chang ... utbreaks/

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Health advisory issued for rare bacterial infection that has claimed the lives of a dozen Americans
Source: USA Today

Published 9:29 p.m. ET Sept. 6, 2023

A health alert has been issued by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response to recent reports of a fatal bacterial infection that thrives in warm coastal waters. The Vibrio vulnificus bacteria can be found in raw or undercooked seafood, saltwater, and brackish water. The most common way to become infected is when an open wound comes into contact with vibrio bacteria in water.

At least a dozen people have died from the infection across the country this year. About 80,000 people get vibrio infections each year. Of those infected, about 100 people will die from the infection annually in the U.S., according to the CDC. As ocean waters continue to warm due to climate change, the Vibrio vulnificus is migrating north, studies have found.

"The warmer water is, the more bacteria can reproduce faster," researcher Gabby Barbarite at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, Florida told USA Today. Infections have increased eight-fold between 1988 and 2018 around he country, according to research published in March in the journal Nature Portfolio.

The bacteria and infections are spreading northwards up the East Coast at a rate of about 30 miles a year, researchers share. "Cases used to be concentrated almost exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico in the southern United States," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, told USA TODAY earlier this year.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/hea ... 781843007/


Link to info on alert - https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2023/han00497.asp

[Time_Traveller]

New outbreak of deadly virus with epidemic potential sparks shutdowns in India

Friday 15 Sep 2023

The state of Kerala has confirmed five cases of the disease, which can mild to severe symptoms – such as acute respiratory syndrome and brain inflammation which can leave patients comatose in a matter of days.

One of them, a 9-year-old child, remains on ventilation, according to a local government press statement.

Schools in the affected area have been shut down and some 950 known contacts of the seven known carriers have been ordered to undertake testing.

The current Nipah outbreak is the fourth to have occurred in Kerala since 2018, when 17 people died and thousands recovered in quarantine.

https://metro.co.uk/2023/09/15/nipah-vi ... s_home_top

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Health advisory issued for rare bacterial infection that has claimed the lives of a dozen Americans
Source: USA Today

Published 9:29 p.m. ET Sept. 6, 2023

...

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/hea ... 781843007/


Link to info on alert - https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2023/han00497.asp

More on that:

New Study Confirms Presence of Flesh-eating and Illness-causing Bacteria in Florida’s Coastal Waters Following Hurricane Ian
October 16, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) When Hurricane Ian struck southwest Florida in September 2022, it unleashed a variety of Vibrio bacteria that can cause illness and death in humans, according to a new study published in the journal mBio.

Using a combination of genome sequencing and satellite and environmental data, a team of researchers from the University of Maryland, the University of Florida and microbiome company EzBiome detected several pathogenic Vibrio species in water and oyster samples from Florida’s Lee County, a coastal region that was devastated by Hurricane Ian. The samples, which were collected in October 2022, revealed the presence of two particularly concerning species: Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus.

“We were very surprised to be able to detect—without any difficulty—the presence of these pathogens,” said the study’s senior author Rita Colwell, a Distinguished University Professor in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) who has studied Vibrio for the last 50 years.

The study’s findings correspond with a reported increase in V. vulnificus cases in the state of Florida in October 2022. According to the Florida Department of Health, Lee County, which had the highest caseload in the state, reported 38 infections and 11 deaths linked to vibriosis.

Vibrio bacteria naturally occur in the ocean, where they live symbiotically with crustaceans, zooplankton and bivalves. When the bacteria come in contact with humans, some species can cause an infection known as vibriosis, but the side effects depend on the type of Vibrio and severity of the infection. V. parahaemolyticus can cause gastroenteritis and wound infections, while the V. vulnificus species can cause necrotizing fasciitis—a flesh-eating infection—and kills 1 in 5 infected people.

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1004811

For the study as published in mBio https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1 ... .01476-23

[weatheriscool]

Dozens sickened across 22 states in salmonella outbreak linked to bagged, precut onions

Source: CBS News/AP

October 24, 2023 / 7:48 PM

An outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to bagged, precut onions has sickened at least 73 people in 22 states, including 15 who were hospitalized, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

Gills Onions of Oxnard, California, has recalled packages of diced yellow onions, red onions, onions and celery and a mix of onions, celery and carrots, known as mirepoix, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. The products recalled had use-by dates in August 2023.

They are no longer for sale in stores, but consumers may have them — or foods made with them — in freezers. Consumers should not eat, sell or serve the onions for foods made with them, health officials said.



The diced onion products were sold to food service providers and other institutions in the U.S. and Canada, and at retailers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Retail sites included Stater Bros., Bashas' markets, Smart & Final and Chef's stores.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-recall ... eak-gills/