EBOLA RESOURCES 2018
Information on the 2018 Ebola outbreak
Ebola Outbreak May 31, 2018
IN THE NEWS Ebola Outbreak May 31, 2018 As you are no doubt aware from the media, there is an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). There are no cases in the United States or in any country aside from the DRC. The World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee met May 18th and decided that the outbreak should not be considered an International Health Event, at least at this time, but is of concern and will be closely monitored...
Ebola Outbreak May 2018
As you are no doubt aware from the media, there is an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). There are no cases in the United States or in any country aside from the DRC. The World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee met May 18th and decided that the outbreak should not be considered an International Health Event, at least at this time, but is of concern and will be closely monitored by WHO, CDC & other international...
E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 26, 2018
IN THE NEWS E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 26, 2018 Latest Information: There is NO new update posted from CDC on the E. Coli contamination of Romaine Lettuce. The information is from the one posted on 5/16/18 which contained an update of cases and states reported through 5/15/18. Therefore, the cases and statistics remain the same as those posted in the last update. They are repeated below: To date, there have been 172 cases of E Coli O157:H7 in 32...
Influenza Update Week Ending 5-19-2018
Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #20 Week Ending 5-19-18 FLU and ILI news continued to improve and, although there were still Flu and ILI cases, as well as hospitalizations and deaths from influenza, based on the numbers, it is the waning weeks of the 2017-18 Flu Season. So, unless something unexpected happens, this will be the last FirstWatch Flu Summary for Flu Season 2017-18. The CDC will continue to publish their Weekly Flu Reports and Summaries; they can be accessed through this...
Influenza Update Week Ending 5-12-2018
Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #19 Week Ending 5-12-18 FLU and ILI news continued to get better although there were still two indicators that have not normalized, specifically, hospitalizations and pediatric deaths. For the sixth consecutive week, influenza activity (ILI) was below the national baseline. The number of flu and ILI cases both decreased again. A quick glance at the graphs for Percentages of Visits for ILI and Pneumonia and Influenza Mortality Surveillance, gives a pictorial presentation of the severity of this...
E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 16, 2018
IN THE NEWS E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 16, 2018 Updated Information: The last update from the CDC on the E. Coli contamination of Romaine Lettuce was posted on 5/16/18 and contained an update of cases and states reported through 5/15/18. To date, there are 172 cases of E Coli O157:H7 in 32 states. Of the 157 cases with known information, there have been 75 hospitalizations (48%), 20 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one (1) death in California. ...
Influenza Update Week Ending 5-5-2018
Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #18 Week Ending 5-5-18 Continued good news about Flu but two indicators still have not abated. Specifically, the rate of hospitalizations from flu continued to increase and there are were still a couple of pediatric deaths reported this week but they were during previous weeks. For the fifth time in-a-row since this Flu season became active, influenza activity (ILI) was below the national baseline but remained the same as last week. The number of flu cases...
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – EMS policy change and QI: Plan, Do, Study, Act
Read the latest post in the new Paramedic Chief column via EMS1, "Better EMS Performance" led by our own Improvement Guide, Mike Taigman. In this column, Mike highlights the importance of viewing protocol changes through the lens of improvement science. Read the Latest Column Article Here. Access all Column Articles Here.
E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 9, 2018
IN THE NEWS E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 9, 2018 Updated Information: The last update from the CDC on the E. Coli contamination of Romaine Lettuce was posted on 5/9/18 and contained an update of cases and states reported through 5/8/18. To date, there are 149 cases of E Coli O157:H7 in 29 states. Of the 129 cases with known information, there have been 64 hospitalizations (50%), 17 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one (1) death in California. ...
Novel Viruses
Typically, pandemics are caused by novel viruses or variant strains of known viruses since few, if any, people have been exposed or developed antibodies to the virus. Since there is little resistance, many people often get sick. Depending on the virulence (the ability to make a person sick and the severity of that illness), many people may have serious complications or die from their illness. Download the complete document here
DHS Information for First Responders on Maintaining Operational Capabilities during a Pandemic
Executive Summary First responders have a critical role in prehospital emergency care and must continue to provide this essential service and fill the many emergency response roles in a community. The first responder community includes: fire, emergency medical services, law enforcement, emergency management, and 9-1-1 telecommunications. During a severe pandemic, workloads will increase and staff sizes will diminish as employees and their families become ill. Contingency planning now can help reduce the worst impacts: smart planning can save lives. To help with...
CDC Interim Pre-pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation in the United States
Purpose This document provides interim planning guidance for State, territorial, tribal, and local communities that focuses on several measures other than vaccination and drug treatment that might be useful during an influenza pandemic to reduce its harm. Communities, individuals and families, employers, schools, and other organizations will be asked to plan for the use of these interventions to help limit the spread of a pandemic, prevent disease and death, lessen the impact on the economy, and keep society functioning. This interim...
Influenza Update Week Ending 4-28-2018
Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #17 Week Ending 4-28-18 Continued good news about Flu but two indicators still haven’t shown any sign of abating. Specifically, the rate of hospitalizations from flu continues to increase and there are still a number of pediatric deaths for the week. But, for the fourth time in-a-row since this Flu season became active, influenza activity (ILI) was below the national baseline and the number of flu cases once again decreased. A quick glance at the graphs for...
E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 1, 2018 – 2nd Update
IN THE NEWS E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 1, 2018 Updated Information: The last update from the CDC on the E. Coli contamination of Romaine Lettuce was 5/2/18 and contained an update of cases and states. To date, there are 121 cases of E Coli O157:H7 in 25 states. Of the 102 cases with known information, there have been 52 hospitalizations (51%), 14 cases (13.7%) of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one (1) death in California. Reported illnesses started between...
E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 1, 2018
IN THE NEWS E. Coli O157:H7 in Lettuce Update as of May 1, 2018 The last update from the CDC on the E. Coli contamination of Romaine Lettuce was 4/28/18 and contained an update of cases and states, as well as important info related to avoiding risk of infection to contaminated lettuce. To date, there are 98 cases of E Coli O157:H7 in 22 states with 46 hospitalizations,10 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and no deaths. Since there is a 2-3-week lag...
Influenza Update Week Ending 4-21-2018
Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #16 Week Ending 4-21-18 Continued good news about Flu but there are still a couple of indicators that have yet to fall, namely, the rate of hospitalizations from flu, as well as the number of pediatric deaths. However, for the third time in-a-row since the third week in November, influenza activity (ILI) was below the national baseline and the number of flu cases once again decreased. This chart, copied from the CDC Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report,...
Influenza Update Week Ending 4-14-2018
Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #15 Week Ending 4-14-18 Good news about Flu!! For the second time in-a-row since the third week in November, influenza activity was below the national baseline and the number of flu cases once again decreased. There are still a couple of indicators that have yet to fall; namely, the rate of hospitalizations as a cumulative number and for specific age ranges, as well as the number of pediatric deaths. Hopefully, these numbers will begin to fall...
Multi-State E. Coli Outbreak from Romaine Lettuce
IN THE NEWS Update to E. Coli Outbreak Associated with Romaine Lettuce The CDC has announced an expansion of recommendations to those previously made regarding the Yuma, Arizona regional farming area and romaine lettuce. In the April 13, 2018 advisory, the CDC recommended avoiding precut/prepackaged romaine lettuce from the Yuma, AZ area, but stated that whole heads and hearts of romaine lettuce were OK. Further reports of cases and investigation of those cases have shown a need to amend the recommendations to include...
Multi-State E. Coli Outbreak from Romaine Lettuce
IN THE NEWS Multi-State E. Coli Outbreak from Romaine Lettuce The CDC and FDA are investigating an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. Coli O157:H7 that started with New Jersey local and state public health authorities reporting cases, but has now rapidly expanded to 11 states sharing 35 cases (click on link for details) https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/map.html. On April 10, the first notice from the CDC announced the outbreak with 17 people infected in 7 states; so, in 3 days, the cases doubled. Talking to...
