Tularemia

Mongolian town quarantined after couples dies from plague

A 38-year-old man and his pregnant wife, 37, died in Mongolia from bubonic plague after eating tainted marmot meat, according to a report in The Siberian Times.

The Mongolian Ministry of Health confirmed the cause of death, and issued a quarantine for Ulgii, the town where the couple lived, leaving several dozen tourists stranded. The quarantine lifted yesterday, the BBC reported. 

CDC: 63 more Salmonella cases linked to JBS Tolleson beef, 120 total

In an update today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced 63 more cases of Salmonella illnesses connected to tainted beef products from JBS Tolleson, Inc. The outbreak, caused by the Newport strain of the bacterium, now stands at 120 cases in 22 states.

Tularemia investigation links Arizona's woman's illness to dog

An investigation into a 73-year-old Arizona woman's death related to a Francisella tularensis infection (tularemia) in June 2016 revealed that she probably contracted the bacterium, classified by federal health officials as a tier 1 select agent, from her pet dog.

Meta-analysis documents rise in drug-resistant bacteria at the Hajj

A review and meta-analysis of studies on bacterial transmission and antibiotic resistance during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca has found rising rates of resistance among certain gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, researchers report in Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease.

Study finds race, male sex associated with MRSA bacteremia

A multicenter study of patients with MRSA bloodstream infections caused by a community-associated strain of the pathogen has identified race as a primary association, researchers reported yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Yellow fever declared epidemic in parts of DRC; 1,000 cases suspected

Yellow fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been declared an epidemic in three provinces as officials report 1,000 suspected cases, Reuters reported today.

US tularemia cases now top 100

Cases of tularemia in four US states have reached at least 104 for 2015, according to federal and state officials.

Several states reporting high tularemia cases

US health officials are grappling with a surge in human cases of tularemia in several states this year, Reuters reported today.

Colorado has had 41 confirmed cases so far this year, Wyoming 14—including 1 death—and South Dakota at least 19, the story said, and a Nebraska official today told CIDRAP News that that state has had 18, for a total of 92 in the four states.

Five more cases of puzzling polio-like sickness reported

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified five more cases of unexplained polio-like illness in children, raising the total over the past few months to 75.

The CDC has been investigating the cases and their possible causes, which include enterovirus D-68 (EV-D68), the source of a respiratory illness outbreak involving 1,116 cases in recent months, nearly all of them in children.