Global & Disaster Medicine

Archive for December, 2015

NASA: The Mississippi River flood plains

Relief Map of St. Louis, Missouri

 

The confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers are shown in this view of the St. Louis area from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The Mississippi flows from the upper left of the image and first meets the Illinois, flowing southward from the top right. It then joins the Missouri, flowing from the west across the center of the picture. The rivers themselves appear black here, and one can clearly see the green-colored floodplains in which they are contained. These floodplains are at particular risk during times of flooding. The Mississippi forms the state boundary between Illinois (to the right) and Missouri (to the left), with the city of St. Louis located on the Mississippi just below the point where it meets the Missouri. This location at the hub of the major American waterways helped establish St. Louis’ reputation as the #147;Gateway to the West.”

 

Size: 173.0 by 222.6 kilometers (107.5 by 138.3 miles)
Location: 339 degrees North latitude, 91 degrees West longitude
Orientation: North toward the top
Image Data: shaded and colored SRTM elevation model
Original Data Resolution: SRTM 1 arcsecond (30 meters or 98 feet)
Date Acquired: February 2000 (SRTM)

For a very high resolution (7200 by 7200 pixel) version of this image, visit PIA03346 at the JPL Planetary Photojournal.

Image Courtesy SRTM Team NASA/JPL/NIMA


Global Disease Detection: Advancing the Science of Global Public Health

Did You Know

Three of the top 10 causes of death globally are from infectious diseases? 1
Most of these deaths are occurring in low- and middle-income countries? 2
About 2/3 of the world’s countries remain unprepared to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats? 3

How We Help

CDC’s Global Disease Detection program rapidly detects, accurately identifies, and promptly contains emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorist threats to promote global health security. We track outbreaks and deploy staff through the Global Disease Detection Operations Center.

Where We Are

Bangladesh, Central America (Guatemala), Central Asia (Kazakhstan), China, Egypt, India, Kenya, South Africa, South Caucasus (country of Georgia), and Thailand.

By the Numbers

Ten GDD Centers have extended support to nearly 50 countries
Discovered 12 pathogens new to the world
75M+ people under surveillance for key infectious diseases and syndromes
30-40 GDD Operations Center monitors 30 – 40 public health threats daily

Who We Are

  • Health Scientists
  • Public Health Advisors
  • Laboratorians
  • Field Epidemiologists
  • Medical Officers
  • Health Communicators

How We Do It

Outbreak Response:

  • Respond to disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies

Impact

  • Responded to 1,700 disease outbreaks
  • Nearly 2/3 of outbreaks responded to within 24 hours
  • Comprehensive response: 85% of outbreaks that involved lab support were given a confirmed cause

Pathogen Discovery:

  • Identify disease threats before they spread
  • Conduct innovative research into the epidemiology and biology of emerging infections

Impact

  • Discovered 12 pathogens new to the world
  • Increased capacity to identify pathogens, through 289 diagnostic tests, leading to faster response times worldwide

Training:

  • Build a global health workforce
  • Improve the quality of epidemiology and laboratory science

Impact

  • Trained ~100K participants on epidemiology, laboratory, all hazards preparedness, risk communication and other topics

Surveillance:

  • Strengthen systems to detect, assess, and monitor infectious disease threats

Impact:

  • Over 75 million people under surveillance for key infectious diseases and syndromes
  • Data is used to detect outbreaks, make policy recommendations, evaluate interventions, and measure public health impact

Build network capacity:

  • Enhance collaboration through shared resources and cooperation

Impact

With WHO and local ministries of health:

  • Worked to control the spread of infections, including antibiotic resistance, in healthcare settings

With WHO and other partners:

  • Assessed countries’ ability to meet International Health Regulations (IHR)

Cumulative data from 2006 – 2014

“The U.S. and the world are at a greater risk today than ever before from biological organisms. In today’s globalized world, an outbreak anywhere is a threat everywhere.”
– CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH

To learn more: http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/gdd/index.html


Flooding in Missouri & 20 deaths


WHO declares the end of Ebola virus transmission in the Republic of Guinea.

WHO

End of Ebola transmission in Guinea

Geneva, 29 December 2015 – Today the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of Ebola virus transmission in the Republic of Guinea. Forty-two days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease tested negative for the second time. Guinea now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance to ensure that any new cases are identified quickly before they can spread to other people.

“WHO commends the Government of Guinea and its people on the significant achievement of ending its Ebola outbreak. We must render homage to the Government and people of Guinea who, in adversity, have shown extraordinary leadership in fighting the epidemic,” says Dr Mohamed Belhocine, WHO Representative in Guinea. “WHO and its partners will continue to support Guinea during the next 90 days of heightened surveillance and in its early efforts to restart and strengthen essential health services throughout 2016.”

A milestone for the Ebola outbreak    

The end of Ebola transmission in Guinea marks an important milestone in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The original chain of transmission started two years ago in Gueckedou, Guinea in late December 2013 and drove the outbreak which spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone and, ultimately, by land and air travel to seven other countries.

“This is the first time that all three countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago,” says Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “I commend the governments, communities and partners for their determination in confronting this epidemic to get to this milestone. As we work towards building resilient health care systems, we need to stay vigilant to ensure that we rapidly stop any new flares that may come up in 2016.”

In addition to the original chain of transmission, there have been 10 new small Ebola outbreaks (or ‘flares’) between March and November 2015. These appear to have been due to the re-emergence of a persistent virus from the survivor population.

Among the challenges survivors have faced is that after recovering from Ebola virus disease and clearing the virus from their bloodstream, the virus may persist in the semen of some male survivors for as long as 9-12 months.

WHO and its partners are working with the Governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to help ensure that survivors have access to medical and psychosocial care, screening for persistent virus, as well as counselling and education to help them reintegrate into family and community life, reduce stigma and minimize the risk of Ebola virus transmission.

Sustained support to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

“The coming months will be absolutely critical,” says Dr Bruce Aylward, Special Representative of the Director-General for the Ebola Response, WHO. “This is the period when the countries need to be sure that they are fully prepared to prevent, detect and respond to any new cases.

“The time-limited persistence of virus in survivors which may give rise to new Ebola flares in 2016 makes it imperative that partners continue to support these countries. WHO will maintain surveillance and outbreak response teams in the three countries through 2016.”

At the same time, 2016 will see the three most-affected countries implementing a full health sector recovery agenda to restart and strengthen key public health programmes, especially maternal and child health, while continuing to maintain the capacity to  detect, prevent and respond to any flare-up of Ebola.


Microcephaly & Zika Virus: Brazilian officials have registered at least 2,782 cases this year, compared with just 147 in 2014 and 167 the year before.

NY Times

Zika Virus fact sheet - What you need to know.  Zika is a virus spread through Aedes species mosquito bites.  Aedes mosquitoes also spread dengue and chkungunya viruses.  A risk to anyone traveling to a region of the world where Zika virus is found.


Live!! Weather across the US

National Weather Outlook

Central Great Lakes sector loop

Northeast sector loop

 


EU Migrant, Refugee Arrivals by Land and Sea Approach 1 000 000 in 2015

IOM


Zika Virus in Central America

CDC

What is the current situation?

In November 2015, the first local transmission of Zika virus infection in Central America was reported in El Salvador. Local transmission means that mosquitoes in the area have been infected with Zika virus, spreading it to humans. Zika virus is now being reported in other countries in Central America.

As of December 18, 2015, the following Central American countries have reported cases of Zika virus:

CDC recommends that travelers to Central America protect themselves from mosquito bites(http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/avoid-bug-bites). The Ministry of Health of Brazil is concerned about a possible association between the Zika virus outbreak and increased numbers of babies born with birth defects. For this reason, pregnant women should take extra precautions to avoid mosquito bites.


Zika Virus in Mexico

CDC

In November 2015, Mexico reported two locally transmitted cases of Zika virus infection: one in the municipality of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and one in the municipality of Huixtla, Chiapas. These are the first cases of Zika virus in Mexico. Local transmission means that mosquitoes in Mexico have been infected with Zika virus, spreading it to humans.

Map - Mexico


Zika Virus in South America

CDC

As of December 10, 2015, the following South American countries have reported cases of Zika virus infection:

CDC recommends that travelers to South America protect themselves from mosquito bites(http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/avoid-bug-bites). The Ministry of Health of Brazil is concerned about a possible association between the Zika virus outbreak and increased numbers of babies born with birth defects. For this reason, pregnant women should take extra precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

 

Approximate known distribution of Zika virus, 1947–2007. Red circle represents Yap Island. Yellow indicates human serologic evidence; red indicates virus isolated from humans; green represents mosquito isolates.

Approximate known distribution of Zika virus, 1947–2007. Red circle represents Yap Island. Yellow indicates human serologic evidence; red indicates virus isolated from humans; green represents mosquito isolates. (Source:  Hayes EB. Zika virus outside Africa. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2009 Sep [date cited]. Available from http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/9/09-0442)

 

World map showing countries that have reported outbreaks of Zika virus. The countries affected are tropical Africa, in some areas in Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands

Countries that have past or current evidence of Zika virus transmission (as of December 2015) (Source:  CDC)

 


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