Category: Disease Investigation

The Hidden Dangers of Getting Inked

The practice of tattooing has been around for thousands of years.  These days, 21% of adults in the United States report having at least one piece of permanent artwork on their bodies.   Many people who receive these lasting tributes – to loved ones, to pop culture, to religion, or to whatever they’re into – Read More >

Posted on by Blog Administrator35 CommentsTags , , , , ,

Money Well Spent: Public Health Dollars Save Lives

piggy bank on top of bill notes

  By Jean O’Connor, JD, DrPH, Deputy State Public Health Director, Oregon About a week and a half ago, the Oregon Public Health Division learned about a child with hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), this sounds complicated but it’s essentially kidney failure brought on by an infection of the digestive system. In an otherwise healthy child, E. Read More >

Posted on by Blog Administrator3 CommentsTags , , , , ,

Testing…1,2,3: How Does CDC Respond to Anthrax?

anthrax

This week, CDC’s Division of Strategic National Stockpile is practicing how it would respond to the release of anthrax in multiple locations across the nation. Four states – North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky – also are participating in this exercise so they, too, can test their abilities to respond. Read More >

Posted on by Blog Administrator2 CommentsTags , , ,

Disaster Movies: Lessons Learned

By Regina Quadir With the Oscars just 3 days away, movies have been on our mind lately here at CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.  Especially disaster movies.  They come in all kinds of flavors: deadly viruses, tornadoes, earthquakes, and, yes, even snakes on a plane.   Read More >

Posted on by Blog Administrator41 CommentsTags , , , , , ,

HANDI – A Handy App for Public Health

By Melissa McClung, MSPH Denver Public Health The next person in line hands me their driver’s license.  I scan it with a device docked with my iPod touch, ask some questions, print a barcoded sticker, and direct them to where they need to go.  Are we at the airport?  Car rental?  Sports venue?  None of Read More >

Posted on by Blog Administrator16 CommentsTags , , ,

Real-life Contagion: Part 2

By Tyler M. Sharp, PhD Before we left off in Part 1 I had just gotten on a boat to visit a small atoll in the Marshall Islands affected by the dengue outbreak… A few days earlier we had identified a small cluster of cases on Arno, a small atoll about 30 miles from Majuro. I Read More >

Posted on by 6 CommentsTags , , , , ,