Tag Archives: Disease

California Woman Dies From Brain Eating Amoeba

A 21-year-old California woman is dead after falling victim to a brain eating amoeba.

Health officials would not release the name of the woman but said she likely contracted the infection while swimming on private property.  They do not believe that anyone other than family and friends who used the same body of water could be at risk.

The amoeba, known as Naegleria flowleri, thrive in warm freshwater lakes, ponds and hot springs.  The infection can take hold of a human when the amoeba travels through the nasal passages and into the brain.  Once in the brain, the amoeba will destroy the brain tissue.  The victim usually dies within 3 to 18 days.

The Centers for Disease Control says that of 133 cases in the U.S. in the last 52 years, only three people have survived infection.  The victim in this case was admitted to Northern Inyo Hospital in Bishop, California on June 16th and was diagnosed with meningitis.  When she didn’t improve, she was flown to Reno, Nevada where the CDC confirmed the deadly amoeba.

The interesting thing about the amoeba is that while it is widespread, it does not seek a human host.

“It is unknown why certain persons become infected with the amoeba while millions of others exposed to warm recreational fresh waters, including those who were swimming with people who became infected, do not,” Richard Johnson, M.D., of Inyo Public Health said in the report.

The CDC recommends that people avoid poorly maintained or unmaintained freshwater sources including pools, hot springs and ponds.

Ebola Re-Emerges in Liberia

Liberian officials confirmed a third case of Ebola on Thursday, two months after the country had declared itself Ebola free.

A case management leader for the country’s Ebola Task Force says that the three villagers with the disease “have a history of having had dog meat together.”  Dog meat is common in the diet of Liberians.

The first confirmed case, a 17-year-old boy, died Sunday about 30 miles from the capital city of Monrovia.  The other two cases are in the same village as the dead teen.

“The two (latest) live cases are 24 years old and 27 years old. They are stable,” Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Thursday.

Scientists say that there is no proof yet that dogs can carry the Ebola virus.  Humans have been infected in past outbreaks by eating contaminated monkey meat.

“There is no need to panic. Our health team is on top of it. It will be contained,” Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told Reuters.

At least 175 people are being monitored because of contact with the three confirmed cases.

Washington Woman Dies From Measles

Washington state officials have confirmed a woman’s death from measles, the first person in the U.S. to die of the disease in 12 years.

The Washington State Department of Health said it was likely the woman became exposed during an outbreak in Clallam County, just northwest of Seattle.  The disease was reported in six people in the county versus a total of 11 in the state.

The woman visited a medical facility at the same time as a person later diagnosed with measles.  She had a variety of health issues that depressed her immune system which caused death via pneumonia from measles.

“This tragic situation illustrates the importance of immunizing as many people as possible to provide a high level of community protection against measles,” the state health department’s statement read. “People with compromised immune systems often cannot be vaccinated against measles.”

The CDC said that measles were effectively eliminated in the United States in 2000 but are making a comeback due to adults who are delaying or avoiding vaccinations for their children.

The CDC said that 178 people have been diagnosed with measles in the United States this year with many connected to an outbreak at Disneyland during the 2014 holiday season.

Plague Expert: “No One’s Fault” Teen Died From Plague

An expert on the plague says that the death of a teenage boy in Colorado was likely unavoidable because of how the disease presents itself.

‘You need some kind of indication from patient history that [plague] is what it is,” Dr. Robert Perry, plague researcher with the University of Kentucky, told USA Headline News.  “Septicemic is rare enough and doesn’t have really many more symptoms that anybody would think of going in real soon for that.”

“If he had gone in soon enough, and the doctors had recognized what it was, maybe he would have been OK but after a certain period of time even antibiotics are too late.”

Perry said that the symptoms that would have been presented by Taylor Gaes would have mimicked the flu until the very end.

“There was no reason anyone would have thought it was anything significant, just the flu,” Dr. Perry said.  “Nobody did anything wrong here.  The parents, the kid.”

“It could have been a dozen of viral or bacterial agents,” he continued.  “There aren’t any distinguishing symptoms to say it’s not a flu that you’re going to get over.  And once it progresses to a certain stage, it’s just too late.  It’s essentially the same as pneumonic plague.  The symptoms are pretty common to a bacteria that causes a lung infection.”

“24 to 48 hours after symptoms start to show, it’s too late to treat pneumonic plague.”

Dr. Perry said that because the bacteria went straight into the bloodstream it was classified as “septicemic.”  He said that the other two kinds of plague show earlier symptoms because the bacteria would grow in the skin or lungs before entering the bloodstream.  Once the bacteria enters the bloodstream, it immediately begins to destroy internal organs.

“Septicemic plague is basically bubonic plague that skips the earlier stages,” Dr. Perry said.

High School Athlete Dies from Plague

A rare strain of the plague has killed a 16-year-old Colorado athlete.

Taylor Gaes was a star athlete for Poudre High School.  Taylor, who was 6 foot, 4 inches, was already being considered an excellent college baseball prospect and was being scouted by schools when he fell ill.

He died June 8th, a day after his 16th birthday from a sudden illness.  Friends thought it was just a bad case of the flu.  He woke up that morning and told his parents he coughed up blood.  The family tried to rush him to the hospital but he died five minutes before arriving.

That’s when doctors discovered the real cause of death was septicemic plague.  It is the rarest of three forms of the plague and happens when bacteria directly enters the bloodstream.  It is highly fatal.

Health officials are speculating that Taylor contracted the disease from fleas on a dead rodent or other animal on his family’s farm.

Now the Larimer County Health Department is warning all those who attended Taylor’s memorial on the ranch to be vigilant for any changes in their health.

“There is a small chance that others might have been bitten by infected fleas, so anyone who was on the family’s land in the last 7 days should seek medical attention immediately if a fever occurs,” the agency said.

Gaes was the first resident of the area to contract the disease since 1999 although a visitor to the region in 2004 caught it while camping.

Patient With Extreme TB At National Institutes of Health

A woman with extremely hard to treat tuberculosis has been sent to the National Institutes of Health in Washington as health officials are tracking down hundreds who may have had contact with her.

“The patient was transferred to the NIH via special air and ground ambulances,” the NIH said in a statement.

The woman reportedly traveled to three states before she felt ill enough to seek medical attention.

“The patient traveled in April from India to the United States through Chicago O’Hare airport,” the CDC said in a statement provided to NBC News.  “The patient also spent time in Missouri and Tennessee. Seven weeks after arriving in the United States, the patient sought treatment for and was diagnosed with active TB.”

The woman is now isolated at the NIH after her initial isolation in Chicago.

“The patient is staying in an isolation room in the NIH Clinical Center specifically designed for handling patients with respiratory infections, including XDR-TB. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, is providing care and treatment for the patient in connection with an existing NIH clinical protocol for treating TB, including XDR forms. NIAID has treated other XDR-TB patients in the past under this protocol,” the NIH said.

The patient, whose identity is being kept secret, is facing months or years of treatment.  XDR-TB sometimes requires surgery to remove pockets of infection.  Up to half the people infected with the strain cannot be cured.

Texas Stores Limit Egg Sales

A chain of grocery stores in Texas is telling their customers they can only purchase a limited amount of eggs because of the bird flu impacting the nation’s egg supply.

H-E-B stores has posted signs saying that customers are limited to three cartons of eggs.  There is no limit on the size of the cartons, just the number of cartons.

The restriction is also in place at H-E-B’s affiliated Central Market stores.

“The avian flu this year has impacted a significant portion of the egg laying population in the United States (over 30 million birds),” company officials said in a statement. “This temporary constriction in the US market has caused an increase in price and shortage in availability of eggs.”

The announcement by H-E-B is on the heels of restaurant chain Whataburger announcing they were reducing their breakfast hours because of the number of egg based dishes on their menu.

Post Holdings Losing 35 Percent Of Eggs To Avian Flu

Post Holdings announced that a third company-owned chicken farm in Nebraska has been infected with avian flu.  The infection means that the company has lost 35 percent of their egg crop.

The company, which makes Raisin Bran and other well known cereals, said they are still working on the financial impact of the major loss.  The loss is so significant that the situation is being declared a “force majeure event” that will allow the company to get out contract obligations for egg deliveries because of an event out of their control.

The outbreak continues to spread throughout the midwest.  Nebraska Department of Agriculture officials confirmed another poultry farm infected with over 3 million hens in Knox County. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said three more turkey flocks have been infected with the flu.  Iowa’s Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reported one new infection in a county with three other outbreaks.

The outbreak has caused at least one tradition to be suspended.  The Indiana Board of Animal Health has said that all bird shows at county fairs and the state fair will be prohibited until the outbreak ends.

“We are very concerned about bird health,” said Denise Derrer, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Board of Animal Health. “This decision wasn’t done lightly, and it wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction to a single backyard flock.”

The total number of deaths from the virus has been 40 million birds.

Bird Flu Cases Hit 35 Countries

The World Organization for Animal Health says the bird flu outbreak that is currently killing millions of birds in the United States has impacted 35 countries around the world.

The major strain in the U.S. that has led to the deaths of 33 million birds since last December is H5N2.  The USDA is now admitting that the H5N8 strain of bird flu has also been found in the United States.

The OIE says that the H5N8 strain was discovered in Korea and China before moving to Japan.

“From there the strain probably spread with migratory wild birds to India, Europe, Canada and later the United States of America,” the OIE said in a statement.

The OIE has requested that the 180 member countries apply better biosecurity measures at farms, live bird markets and in trades.  They’ve also requested an increase in surveillance to try and stop outbreaks before they can infect more than one location.

The OIE added that while the main focus is on H5N2 and H5N8, the H5N1 virus that lead to a worldwide outbreak in 2004 and also infected humans is still out there.  The virus has most recently been found in Africa.

Nebraska Declares State of Emergency Due To Bird Flu

Nebraska’s governor has declared a state of emergency because of a bird flu strain that has contributed to the termination of 33 million birds in 16 states.

Governor Pete Ricketts declared the state of emergency on Thursday after federal officials said a second farm in the state had tested positive for the avian flu virus.  The declaration is the fourth by governors after Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.

The action by the governor would allow emergency funds to be release to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and other state agencies tasked with stopping the spread of the flu virus.

Experts say the H5 strains post little threat to human health but are on the verge of record levels in the U.S.

“Having a second farm in Nebraska confirmed to have HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) is unfortunate but not completely unexpected,” said Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach.  “This follows the pattern we’ve seen in other states when it comes to the spread of the virus.”

Ibach said that 1.8 million birds will be destroyed.  The state’s first case resulted in the destruction of 1.7 million.