Outbreak News Radio

On the September 9 airing of the Outbreak News This Week Radio Show, I am joined by two great guests. In the first half, practicing infectious disease physician, Associate Professor of Medicine with the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Toronto and CEO of BlueDot, Dr Kamran Khan joined me to talk about some current and past outbreaks and the work of BlueDot. The second half of t...

What is sexually transmitted disease (STD) contraction law? Is against the law for a person to knowingly infect someone or put someone at risk for contracting a STD? These and other questions are answered when I talk to leading STD contraction lawyer, Todd Kelly. Mr Kelly is an attorney with The Carlson Law Firm based out of Texas.

Federal and state health officials have been investigating a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections linked to salad mixes distributed to McDonald's by the Fresh Express since mid July. The latest numbers from the CDC put the parasite outbreak total to over 500 cases from 16 states. Fresh Express pulled the salad mix during the last week of July from McDonald's. Last month, John P. Olivo, Pre...

Timely global surveillance of infectious disease threats around the world is critical for governments, healthcare organizations and businesses as they need actionable intelligence. BlueDot is a company that that does just that. Joining me to talk about some current and past outbreaks and the work of BlueDot is CEO Dr. Kamran Khan. In addition, Dr Khan is a practicing infectious disease physician a...

Fluoroquinolones are a type of antibiotic that is an important part of a physicians prescribing arsenal. However, they do carry with them some serious side effects and according to a new study published in the journal, Clinical Infectious Diseases, fluoroquinolones are commonly prescribed for conditions when antibiotics are not needed at all, or when they are not the recommended first-line therapy...

Rabies has been a topic several times on the radio show where I looked at a variety of topics related to this lethal virus. On the return to the airwaves of the Outbreak News This Week Radio Show Sunday, I look at rabies with a different set of topics--some history, some mythology and public health and diagnostics. Texas State University Program Chair for the Clinical Laboratory Science Program an...

Monkeypox is a rare viral disease that occurs mainly in the rain forest countries of central and west Africa. The disease was first discovered in laboratory monkeys in 1958. In 1970, monkeypox was reported in humans for the first time. In June 2003, monkeypox was reported in prairie dogs and humans in the United States. Joining me today for a primer on monkeypox is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics...

A relatively new advanced degree is now available at select institutions for Clinical Laboratory Scientists (CLS), or Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLS), and that's the Doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science (DCLS). Texas State University Program Chair for the Clinical Laboratory Science Program, Rodney Rohde, PhD joins me on the show to talk about this exciting new degree for practicing CLSs w...

Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi; the diseases can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another. Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases of animals that can cause disease when transmitted to humans. Infectious disease medicine requires an extensive understanding of the way in which bacterial, viral, fungal...

A person on my Facebook page, Infectious disease news, who frequently posts anti-vaccine comments and links to certain posts placed a link to a article from a website called Natural News. The author, SD Wells, asks the question and gives his or her answer in a piece called– Which has killed more people, measles or the measles vaccine? Joining me today to look at this article is Paul Offit, MD. Dr...

Today's topic is hot with 3 major papers in the last few months, that is the viral hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease (AD) was estimated to affect 35.5 million people worldwide in 2010 and is expected to affect 115.4 million people by 2050. Four members of the Human Herpes Virus family have been associated with development of Alzheimer's disease; HSV-1, VZV, HHV-6A, and HHV-7....

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that substandard and falsified medicines, including medicines to treat malaria, are a serious problem in much of the world. Here to talk about this serious issue in more detail is Sachiko Ozawa, Ph. D. Dr Ozawa is a health economist and associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She is also the lead author of t...

A recent Reuters article on the problem with Venezuela's measles outbreak crossing the Brazilian border said the following: Brazil complained on Thursday that Venezuela was doing nothing to stop the spread of an outbreak of measles in Brazil and other neighboring countries that has been sparked by an exodus of Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse. This has prompted Brazil to launch a nationwide c...

Lyme disease is a potentially serious bacterial infection that is spread by bites from infected blacklegged ticks and deer ticks. The bacterium, called Borrelia burgdorferi, causes more than 300,000 illnesses each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The prevalence of Lyme disease is increasing in the United States and according to a recent Quest Diagnostics Hea...

Rat lungworm infection or Angiostrongyliasis is a parasitic infection that is relatively rare in the US; however, its effects on those infected can be quite serious. Last Friday, a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report or (MMWR) looked at cases of CNS disease in the continental US for a 6 year period. Joining me on today's podcast is Eugene Liu, MD. Dr Liu is the lead author of the MMWR articl...

A recent study by Johns Hopkins researchers look at the flu and what may explain why men recover faster. The study published in the journal Biology of Sex Differences demonstrates increased amounts of a lung-healing protein called amphiregulin (AREG) could be the reason why men recover from influenza more quickly than women. Public health physician and vaccinologist, Dr Melvin Sanicas wrote about...

Last week I reported on a Wisconsin man who contracted a very serious infection with the bacterium, Capnocytophaga canimorsus and quickly went into septic shock. It is suspected he contracted the bacterium from a dog lick. The latest news on his condition was he had all four limbs amputated. So what is Capnocytophaga? Joining me on today's podcast to discuss this pathogen is infectious disease phy...

Filarial worms are long thread like worms that live in the tissue and body cavities of vertebrates. Their eggs mature into tiny larvae called microfilariae. There are at least eight filarids that are of importance to humans and today we'll be talking about two of them—Wuchereria bancrofti and Brugia malayi. Joining me to discuss filariasis is parasitologist and author, Rosemary Drisdelle.

Shoko Asahara, founder of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo and mastermind behind the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway system and other crimes and acts of terror, and 6 other members were recently executed in Japan. Joining me to look at the cult Aum Shinrikyo and the acts of terror they committed is Laboure College professor and biodefense expert, Lawrence Roberge, PhD

The CDC reports--A U.S. study in 1996 showed that 30% of dogs younger than 6 months deposit Toxocara eggs in their feces; other studies have shown that almost all puppies are born already infected with Toxocara canis. Research also suggests that 25% of all cats are infected with Toxocara cati. In humans, it has been found that almost 14% of the U.S. population has been infected with Toxocara. Glob...

The Herpes Virus family consist of a number of viruses--herpes simplex-1 and 2, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Varicella Zoster Virus (VSV) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). EBV infects about nine out of 10 people and a good number will develop infectious mononucleosis (IM) Despite this, my guest today, infectious disease physician, Steven LaRosa, MD calls EBV "The red-headed step child of the Herpes Virus fa...

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonotic disease caused by the corkscrew shaped organism, Leptospira. It goes by several other names depending on the locale; mud fever, swamp fever, sugar cane and Fort Bragg fever, among others. It is a disease of both humans and animals. On July 5th, the Philippines Department of Health declared a leptospirosis outbreak in the Metro Manila with a recent increase in...

Giardiasis is a diarrheal illness caused by the parasite Giardia intestinalis (also known as Giardia lamblia or Giardia duodenalis). It is the most common intestinal parasite found in humans in the United States. Globally, it infects nearly 2% of adults and 6% to 8% of children in developed countries and nearly 33% of people in developing countries have had giardiasis. Joining me on today's podcas...

Earlier this week, former Texas Congressman and retired physician, Dr Ron Paul and his co host, Daniel McAdams did a show on the Ron Paul Liberty Report on state mandated, or compulsory vaccines and the latest on the Dr Bob Sears case. I've been a big supporter of Dr Paul for many years and agree with him on many issues to include fiscal, monetary and foreign policy. However, on a few issues, comp...

On today's podcast, I talk to parasitologist and author, Rosemary Drisdelle about a potentially fatal roundworm first described in Northern Luzon, Philippines in the early 1960s, Capillaria philippinensis. Rosemary discusses the life cycle, pathology diagnosis and treatment of this serious nematode infection. In addition, she tells an interesting story concerning the history of the parasite.