News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – After a decade of significant gains following the terrorist attacks of 2001, the risk of continuing budget cuts for state and local public health agencies is the biggest threat to US public health preparedness, says a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(CIDRAP News) – Public health leaders, recalling and reflecting on the anthrax letter attacks of 2001 in a lengthy report released today, say the nation is better prepared to respond to such an emergency than it was 10 years ago, but their confidence is tinged with fear of slipping backward in the current era of budget cutting.

(CIDRAP News) – Early diagnosis and treatment were crucial in helping a Florida man beat the odds by recovering from inhalational anthrax, a rare and often deadly disease, according to a Minneapolis physician who treated him.

(CIDRAP News) – An investigation into the origins of Minnesota's first human anthrax case in many years is focusing on where the patient might have been exposed to the deadly pathogen, Minnesota State Epidemiologist Dr. Ruth Lynfield said today.

(CIDRAP News) – A person hospitalized in Minnesota has contracted inhalational anthrax after traveling in western states, officials from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced today.

In a release, the MDH said that the agency and its partners at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating the infection, which apparently stemmed from environmental exposure.