Thanks to modern medicine and vaccine campaigns, rubella has been eradicated in many developed nations. That’s just one reason officials are surprised by Japan’s recent outbreak of the virus.

Since the beginning of 2018, rubella cases have spiked across Japan. Most reported cases during this outbreak are popping up in the Kanto region, according to the CDC. The region includes heavily-populated cities like Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama.

According to the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), almost 1,900 cases of Rubella had been reported in 2018, as of November 4th. Compared to the previous year, there have been over 1,000 more reported cases.

[Read more…]

When yellow fever comes up today, you likely imagine a tropical disease. It might only appear as a risk to people in Africa, South America or the Caribbean.

But, the mosquito-borne disease wasn’t always just a foreign risk. There was a time that yellow fever terrorized New Orleans, Louisiana.

In the 1800s yellow fever took hold of the busy city and more than 41,000 people were lost. Despite not knowing the origin of the disease, the city took many efforts to try and contain and erase it.

[Read more…]

While Zika is generally spread by mosquitoes and not by monkeys, newly published research presents a new risk for the virus. Teams at the University of Texas in Galveston and the Faculty of Medicine in Rio, Brazil found evidence that strongly suggests mosquitoes use monkeys as hosts for the virus in the Americas.

If this is true, scientists say it may make eradication of the virus next to impossible due to the presence of the natural transmission cycle.

In a natural transmission cycle, the infected animals will keep a virus or parasite alive in the wild. The animals ensure that future feeders can spread the same diseases later on.

[Read more…]

Often overlooked, diarrhea is still one of the leading causes of death around the world. While it is a disease that affects populations worldwide, it is especially rampant in impoverished regions.

According to a study in The Lancet, various factors make up a location that struggles with these deaths. A lack of clean water, sanitation and health care contribute to disease. These issues are often focused in areas with marginalized and low-income citizens.

We’ve seen the recent dangers of water contamination and poor sanitation in foreign countries. Cholera outbreaks and resistant forms of typhoid have spread across the globe.

[Read more…]

An outbreak of adenovirus in New Jersey has already led to the deaths of 10 children. The adenovirus is normally not deadly, but the virus has now become dangerous.

The outbreak occurred at a singular care center in New Jersey: the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. As of November 8, 30 people were infected at the facility, with more cases confirmed in other parts of the state. More cases have been reported at the Voorhees Pediatric Facility.

Victims range from the age of toddlers to young adults. A staff member was also infected, but has recovered.

[Read more…]