Dengue Fever Hits Key West
Officials Confirm Cases of the Tropical Disease Carried by Mosquitos
More than two dozen cases of locally-acquired dengue fever have hit the resort town of Key West , Fla., in the past nine months, officials from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Although not the first cases of home-grown dengue in the U.S., or even in Florida, the outbreak highlights the need for physician vigilance regarding this and other formerly exotic tropical diseases, the CDC said in the May 21 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
"The re-emergence of dengue in Florida as well as the threat posed to the U.S. from other emerging mosquito-borne arboviruses (e.g., chikungunya) emphasizes the necessity for strong vector-borne surveillance and mosquito control infrastructure to rapidly identify and control outbreaks of dengue or other mosquito-borne diseases," MMWR's editors wrote in a commentary accompanying the report.
Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted by mosquito bites. It can be debilitating, but is not usually fatal in otherwise healthy people.
It is endemic in the Western Hemisphere from Mexico southward. Most cases seen by U.S. physicians have involved travelers to such regions.
Over the past 30 years, a few cases of locally-acquired dengue have been confirmed along the Texas-Mexico border, according to the report, authored by CDC researchers, public health officials in Florida, and physicians who treated the first cases in the new Key West outbreak.
Dengue was also known in Florida in the 1930s, but no locally-acquired cases had been confirmed since then, until last August.
The first case was actually identified in Rochester, N.Y., involving a 34-year-old woman who had just returned from a week-long visit to Key West.
The day after arriving back in Rochester, she went to her doctor complaining of fever, headache, malaise, and chills. Lab analysis showed bacteria and blood in her urine.
Not surprisingly, her primary care physician and a local emergency department did not initially suspect dengue. The presumptive diagnosis was a urinary tract infection and she was treated accordingly.
The editors also recommended that physicians consider dengue when evaluating any patient with a febrile illness who has recently been in subtropical areas of the U.S., as well as in countries to the south.
"This is particularly important when signs and symptoms such as thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, hemoconcentration, rash, or eye pain are present," they wrote.
Suspected cases should also be reported promptly to public health authorities, they indicated.
No external funding for the work was reported.
No potential conflicts of interest were reported.
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Anthrax outbreak in Colombia
by Daniel Purt on May 26, 2010
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Anthrax
According to Colombia Reports, a state of emergency was declared in the northwest part of the South American country of Colombia on Tuesday following an anthrax outbreak in the northwest department of La Guajira.
Two people have died as a result of the outbreak, according to the report. So far, 77 people have been treated for skin lesion outbreaks consistent with the effects of anthrax exposure, but only three cases have been confirmed by doctors, accroding to Colombia Reports.
As a result of the anthrax outbreak, authorities have closed down goat slaughterhouses in the region in an effort to prevent the spread of the outbreak, according to the report. Anthrax can be contracted through exposure to animals that have anthrax or animal products as well. Those who work with dead animals are considered to be at a high risk to contract the illness, the report states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies anthrax as a Category A bioterrorism agent, meaning it can pose the greatest risk possible of a negative public health effect. Anthrax can be contracted through contact with infected animals or from breathing in an anthrax spores from infected animal byproducts such as wool.
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Anthrax scare in Evansville, Ind.
by Ted Purlain on May 26, 2010
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Anthrax spores
Employees at the Federal Building in Evansville, Ind., were sent home on May 24 after an envelope sent there was discovered to contain an unknown white powder.
According to WFIE in Evansville, the FBI has turned over the suspicious white powder to the Vanderburgh County Health Department for further testing, which will be conducted in Indianapolis.
The powder will be tested to determine if it contains, among other possibilities, anthrax.
The details of the investigation remain undisclosed by the FBI, WFIE reports.
WFIE says that anyone who sends a threatening letter to a federal building, whether or not it contains a bioterrorism agent such as anthrax or just white powder, can face a 10-year prison sentence if convicted in the case.
A Denver man was recently arrested for sending letters containing white powder to government buildings in several states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies anthrax as a Category A bioterrorism agent, meaning it can pose the greatest risk possible of a negative public health effect. Anthrax can be contracted through contact with infected animals or from breathing in an anthrax spores from infected animal byproducts such as wool.
http://www.bioprepwatch.com/news/213206-anthrax-scare-in-evansville-ind
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