Outbreak News Radio

Nigeria is currently experiencing what is described as an "unprecedented outbreak" of Lassa fever. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and partners like the World Health Organization (WHO)are intensifying the outbreak response. So what is Lassa fever? I was joined by infectious disease physician, Dr Judy Stone in this Mar. 2016 interview to learn the ins-and-outs of this serious viral di...

On today's podcast, we ventured back into the world of trematodes, or flukes and discussed the sheep liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. Parasitology teacher and author of the book, Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests, Rosemary Drisdelle joined me to talk about this parasite.

According to the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS), Medical laboratory science professionals, often called medical laboratorians, are vital healthcare detectives, uncovering and providing laboratory information from laboratory analyses that assist physicians in patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as in disease monitoring or prevention (maintenance of health). Professor...

"If you induce a back of the envelope calculations given the hundreds of thousands of people who died every year of smallpox prior to when the campaign was started and looking at it now that its gone, D.A.'s work has saved literally tens of millions of lives. You can argue that he's may of saved more lives than any other single human being in human history. "That's the magnitude of his accomplishm...

In 2009, infectious disease physician and University of South Florida professor, Dr. Sandra Gompf and her husband lost their son Philip to the parasite , Naegleria fowleri. In this 2015 interview, Dr Gompf joined me to discuss the amoeba, Philip's infection, awareness campaigns she is involved in, new developments at the time in diagnostics and treatment and some prevention advise for other parent...

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic--history's worst epidemic which killed more people than World War I and World War II combined. Historian and author of the book, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, John M. Barry joined me to discuss several topics on the history of this unusually deadly influenza pandemic.

On today's show we talke about a 3rd intestinal coccidian parasite and least common (remember we already discussed Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora), Cystoisospora belli, or you may remember it as Isospora belli. Joining me as always to talk about parasites is Parasitology teacher and author of the book, Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests, Rosemary Drisdelle.

Writer and author, Bob Arnebeck once wrote in A Short History of Yellow Fever in the US--From 1793 to 1822 yellow fever was one of the most dreaded diseases in the port cities of the United States. Statistically, one can dismiss it as inconsequential in comparison to tuberculosis and smallpox. Yellow fever did not kill that many people, but during that period, it struck with such ferocity in princ...

During 2005–2008, more than 1 billion live animals were legally imported into the United States for food or pet trade markets. One such animal, the swamp eel, can carry parasites (worms) called gnathostomes. If those eels are eaten undercooked or raw, this parasite can cause mild to serious (blindness, paralysis, and even death) consequences. This parasite is native to Southeast Asia but not to th...

An average 274 people in the US die from blood clots each and every day, according to data on the National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) website. Former Chair of Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Hofstra-NorthShore/LIJ School of Medicine, Dr. Jack Ansell joined to discuss the most important medical issue. Dr. Ansell went through a number of topics concerning deep vein thrombo...

What is a cannibal sandwich? A cannibal sandwich is by definition, raw ground beef typically served on rye bread or crackers with onions. Occasionally, a raw egg will be mixed with the meat. It is a traditional winter holiday specialty in certain regions of the upper Midwest. These are also called "tiger meat" sandwiches. In this 2013 interview, I speak with CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Offic...

In this radio interview from March 2015, my guest reminds us all that bedbugs are "still out there" despite the recent lack of media attention. Assistant professor of entomology at the Kansas State University Research and Extension Center, Sarah Zukoff, PhD joined me to answer some of the most common questions concerning these nuisance creatures: Where are bedbugs found?, Do they spread disease? W...

In this episode in the series, Parasites 101, I talk to Parasitology teacher and author of the book, Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests, Rosemary Drisdelle about the protozoa Cryptosporidiosis (or "Crypto" for short). Rosemary answers the question, "How common is it", along with discussing the symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment of the parasite.

In recent weeks, two high profile individuals-- a televangelist and the newly appointed Health commissioner of Milwaukee, WI--made very troubling anti-vaccine statements that garnered critiques by health experts. Charismatic televangelist Gloria Copeland basically told followers to skip the flu shot in favor of prayer and Milwaukee's new Health commissioner, Dr Patricia McManus, the person respons...

According to Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), a food allergy is a serious and potentially life-threatening medical condition affecting up to 15 million Americans. One in every 13 children has a food allergy—that's about 2 in every U.S. classroom. And every 3 minutes, a food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room. Scott Riccio, senior vice president of education and advocacy...

The Lupus Foundation of America says lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body. Their research estimates that at least 1.5 million Americans have lupus. The actual number may be higher; however, there have been no large-scale studies to show the actual number of people in the U.S. living with lupus. More than 16,000 new cases of lupus are reported annually across t...

Lyme disease was first described in the US in 1975-- it's a vector borne illness caused the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted to humans primarily by the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis and other species. Is the Lone Star Tick, Amblyomma americanum, also a vector of the Lyme bacteria? My guest today says it is not. Ellen Stromdahl, BCE joined me on the show to discuss this topic...

The CDC Yellow Book says the number of people traveling internationally has continued to grow substantially in the past decade. According to the World Tourism Organization, there were 1.2 billion worldwide international tourist arrivals in 2015, an increase of 4% from 2013; 50 million more people spent a night at an international destination than in 2014. In 2015, US residents made more than 73 mi...

Last week it was reported in a number of media outlets that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be dramatically downsizing its epidemic prevention activities in 39 out of 49 countries because money is running out--That money is slated to run out by September 2019. The program is called the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). Joining me today to talk about the GHSA and the...

In this June 2016 interview, I talk to the author of Lyme Madness: Rescuing My Son Down The Rabbit Hole of Chronic Lyme Disease, Lori Dennis about the book, chronic Lyme disease and the multi-layers of issues surrounding it. In addition to being a writer, Lori is a Registered Psychotherapist and the mother of an adult son who has been suffering from Chronic Lyme Disease for more than four years. D...

In this podcast, that was actually recorded in early November 2014, I started by giving some thoughts on Ebola in the US. This segued into a discussion with Associate Professor with the Department of Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, and Epidemiology at Kent State University's College of Public Health, Tara Smith, PhD. Dr. Smith addressed topics of how the situation in West Africa got...

Taenia solium is a tapeworm that people get from eating raw or undercooked "measly pork". The pork meat has cysticerci (the larval stage) which in the human intestine mature to an adult tapeworm. Here the tapeworm attaches to the intestine and produces thousands of eggs. Human cysticercosis occurs either by the direct transfer of Taenia solium eggs from the feces of people harboring an adult worm...

My guest on today's podcast says that while there were many successes in human development in 2017, arguably, the most significant achievements of the last 12 months were in global health. Public health physician and a vaccinologist, Dr Melvin Sanicas wrote in an article in Project Syndicate that he counted at least 18 unique successes in 2017 and on today's show, we'll touch on several to include...

This podcast is from a February 2015 radio interview with Sybil Meister. Sybil is the mother of Koral Reef Meister Pier, a young lady from California who contracted the rarely encountered parasite, Balamuthia mandrillaris in March 2013. Unfortunately, Koral lost her battle against the 95% fatal amoeba in Oct. 2014. I had the opportunity and honor to talk to Sybil and their family friend, Ebony Par...

The internet has been flooded by every possible news source covering a story about a man, who claimed he ate sushi daily, who presented to his doctor a 5 ½ ft long tapeworm. This is from a podcast called "This won't hurt a bit" where a Fresno California physician told the story. What was this parasite and what other parasitic and bacterial risks are associated with raw sushi? Joining me to answer...