Norovirus outbreak in Army service members, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, May 2018.

In May 2018, an outbreak of gastrointestinal illnesses due to norovirus occurred at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The outbreak lasted 14 days, and a total of 91 cases, of which 8 were laboratory confirmed and 83 were suspected, were identified. Because the cases occurred among a population of several thousand service members transiting through a crowded, congregate setting of open bays of up to 250 beds, shared bathrooms and showers, and large dining facilities, the risk of hundreds or thousands of cases was significant.

A retrospective cohort study of military deployment and postdeployment medical encounters for respiratory conditions.

Deployed military personnel are exposed to inhalational hazards that may increase their risk of chronic lung conditions. This evaluation assessed associations between Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) deployment and postdeployment medical encounters for respiratory symptoms and medical conditions. This retrospective cohort study was conducted among military personnel who, between January 2005 and June 2007, were deployed to either of two locations with burn pits in Iraq, or to either of two locations without burn pits in Kuwait.

Exposure science in U.S. military operations: a review.

Since 1991, the U.S. Department of Defense has conducted deployment occupational and environmental health surveillance activities in the geographic combatant commands for major conflicts, military exercises, and humanitarian and peace-building missions.

Responses to occupational and environmental exposures in the U.S. military--World War II to the present.

Since the Civil War, a proportion of U.S. service members continues to return from war with new health problems and continues to reference battlefield exposures as the cause.

Assessing potentially hazardous environmental exposures among military populations: 2010 symposium and workshop summary and conclusions.

From May 19 to May 21, 2010, the Armed Forced Health Surveillance Center and the Uniformed Services University cosponsored an educational symposium and workshop on the assessment of potentially hazardous environmental exposures among military populations. Symposium participants reviewed and analyzed historical exposure events, from herbicides in Vietnam to the 1991 Gulf War oil well fires and World Trade Center dust exposure in 2001, using the framework that the Institute of Medicine developed for addressing environmental exposures and their possible impact on military populations. Historical exposures were critically assessed in terms of methods used to identify and define harmful exposures, to prevent or limit exposures, and to define the health risks to exposed people.

The AFHSC-Division of GEIS Operations Predictive Surveillance Program: a multidisciplinary approach for the early detection and response to disease outbreaks.

The Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Division of Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System Operations (AFHSC-GEIS) initiated a coordinated, multidisciplinary program to link data sets and information derived from eco-climatic remote sensing activities, ecologic niche modeling, arthropod vector, animal disease-host/reservoir, and human disease surveillance for febrile illnesses, into a predictive surveillance program that generates advisories and alerts on emerging infectious disease outbreaks. The program's ultimate goal is pro-active public health practice through pre-event preparedness, prevention and control, and response decision-making and prioritization. This multidisciplinary program is rooted in over 10 years experience in predictive surveillance for Rift Valley fever outbreaks in Eastern Africa.

The relationship between mosquito abundance and rice field density in the Republic of Korea.

Background: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), the causative agent of Japanese encephalitis (JE), is endemic to the Republic of Korea (ROK) where unvaccinated United States (U.S.) military Service members, civilians and family members are stationed.