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In late February 2020, a teacher experienced headache, sore throat, myalgia, and fatigue while traveling in Europe, where community transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was ongoing [...]

In May of 2018, PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for enteric pathogens, detected a multistate cluster of illnesses caused by an uncommon molecular subtype of Salmonella serovar Mbandaka. A case was defined as an illness in a person infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Mbandaka with illness onset on or after 3 March 2018 and before 1 September 2018. One-hundred thirty-six cases from 36 states were identified; 35 hospitalisations and no deaths were reported. Ill people ranged in age from <1 year to 95 years (median: 57 years). When standardised questionnaires did not generate a strong hypothesis, opened-ended interviews were performed. Sixty-three of 84 (75%) ultimately reported consuming or possibly consuming a specific sweetened puffed wheat cereal in the week before illness onset. Environmental sampling performed at the cereal manufacturing facility yielded the outbreak strain. The outbreak strain was also isolated from open cereal samples from ill people's homes and from a sealed retail sample. Due to these findings, the brand owner of the product issued a voluntary recall of the cereal on 14 June 2018. Additional investigation of the manufacturing facility identified persistent environmental contamination with Salmonella Mbandaka that was closely genetically related to other isolates in the outbreak. This investigation highlights the ability of Salmonella to survive in low-moisture environments, and the potential for prolonged outbreaks linked to products with long shelf lives and large distribution areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is a serious mosquito-borne viral disease that presents as a meningo-encephalitis in humans, four to ten days after a mosquito bite. Topics include Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, headache, vomiting, and coma; and the mortality rate of EEE is 33 percent among those who survive, many have significant brain damage, which can include intellectual impairment, and personality disorders.

The article discusses the prevalence of ebola virus disease in Rhode Island which feature symptoms including fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness and fatigue. It highlights the public threat of Ebola in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone as well as in the U.S. It also cites the risk categories of Ebola including low risk, some rick and high risk.

The article discusses the epidemiology of an invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) which cause by Streptococcus pneumoniae in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or blood. It highlights the developmentr of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) to treat children with pneumococcal disease. It also cites the health risk of IPD which could lead to morbidity and mortality.

In November 2014, the Rhode Island Department of Health investigated a cluster of 3 listeriosis cases. Using whole-genome sequencing to support epidemiologic, laboratory, and environmental investigations, the department identified 1 restaurant as the likely source of the outbreak and also linked the establishment to a listeriosis case that occurred in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the cases of travelers suffering from chikungunya fever due to chikungnya virus (CHIKV) who returned from Caribbean to Rhode Island by the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 7, 2013. Topics discussed include a health advisory to the U.S. public health clinicians and officials by the centers for disease control (CDC) on December 13, 2013, common symptoms of the fever such as conjunctives and arthritis, and presents charts showing cases reported in Island in 2014.

One out of every six people in the United States is estimated to become sick each year from pathogens that can cause foodborne illness. The groups at greatest risk for serious illness, hospitalization, or death include young children, older adults, people with chronic conditions, and pregnant women. Such health disparities must be considered along with those disparities that may exist among racial and ethnic groups and among groups of varying socioeconomic status. We analyzed risk profiles for enteric disease using data from Rhode Island and the nation as a whole, exploring disparities among groups defined by demographic and health characteristics. As expected, disparities in the burden of enteric illnesses are not limited to racial or ethnic differences in disease burden, or in differences otherwise attributable to socioeconomic status. Age is an especially important determinant of risk, as is residential status. Other groups found to be especially vulnerable to foodborne and enteric illnesses in Rhode Island include pregnant women and those with certain health conditions (e.g., cancer, liver disease or immunosuppression). By understanding what groups are at increased risk, providers can more effectively counsel their patients to mitigate risk and effectively treat these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, and blastomycosis are lower respiratory tract fungal infections whose signs and symptoms can resemble those of other respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia caused by bacterial or viral etiologies; this overlap in clinical presentation might lead to missed or delayed diagnoses. The causative fungi live in the environment, often in soil or plant matter. To describe the epidemiologic characteristics of cases of coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, and blastomycosis during the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC analyzed case surveillance data for 2019-2021. During this period, a total of 59,655 coccidioidomycosis cases, 3,595 histoplasmosis cases, and 719 blastomycosis cases were reported to CDC. In 2020, fewer cases of each disease occurred in spring compared with other seasons, and most cases occurred in fall; national seasonality is not typically observed, and cases were seasonally distributed more evenly in 2019 and 2021. Fewer cases coinciding with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with an unusually high blastomycosis case fatality rate in 2021 (17% compared with more typical rates of 8%-10%), suggest that the pandemic might have affected patients' health care-seeking behavior, public health reporting practices, or clinical management of these diseases. Increased awareness and education are needed to encourage health care providers to consider fungal diseases and to identify pneumonia of fungal etiology. Standardized diagnostic guidance and informational resources for fungal testing could be incorporated into broader respiratory disease awareness and preparedness efforts to improve early diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, and blastomycosis., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.