Typhoid fever, an acute febrile illness caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), is endemic in many low- and middle-income countries (1). In 2015, an estimated 11-21 million typhoid fever cases and 148,000-161,000 associated deaths occurred worldwide (2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo better track public health events in areas where the public health system is unable or unwilling to report the event to appropriate public health authorities, agencies can conduct event-based surveillance, which is defined as the organized collection, monitoring, assessment, and interpretation of unstructured information regarding public health events that may represent an acute risk to public health. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Global Disease Detection Operations Center (GDDOC) was created in 2007 to serve as CDC's platform dedicated to conducting worldwide event-based surveillance, which is now highlighted as part of the "detect" element of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The GHSA works toward making the world more safe and secure from disease threats through building capacity to better "Prevent, Detect, and Respond" to those threats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The United States of America (USA) does not have a national reporting system for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). We describe the epidemiology of PEP in the USA so recommendations can be made during a PEP shortage.
Methods: A two-part questionnaire designed to evaluate PEP distribution practices and estimate PEP use was administered to state health department representatives.
During 2007, 49 states and Puerto Rico reported 7,258 cases of rabies in animals and 1 case in a human to the CDC, representing a 4.6% increase from the 6,940 cases in animals and 3 cases in humans reported in 2006. Approximately 93% of the cases were in wildlife, and 7% were in domestic animals.
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