Note: My blogging schedule will be a bit light for the rest of the week as I’ll be on the road, and out of town, until Sunday. I will attempt to do some brief updates over the next couple of days from my netbook, depending on my schedule and internet availability.
In my absence I would direct you to Crofsblog, Chen Qi, Arkanoid Legent, A Times Memory, along with The Flu Wiki and FluTrackers for infectious disease news.
For more in depth coverage of selected topics, you may also wish to visit Vincent Racaniello’s Virology blog, Maryn McKenna’s Superbug blog, and Ian York’s Mystery Rays blog.
You’ll find other resources worth exploring in my sidebar as well.
And a reminder, FEMA now has their own blog which you can read here, and the Emergency Management Daily provides an excellent overview of what’s happening in the world of EMS, Security, and Infectious disease threats.
# 5206
Some welcome news.
For the first time since February of 2010, the number of new suspected dengue cases in Puerto Rico has dropped below the epidemic threshold.
The most recent report (week of Dec 3-9) showed 188 new cases, which is still above the historical average for that date.
Although the surveillance numbers are only current through week 49, already Puerto Rico has seen twice as many suspected dengue cases (and 50% (n=31) greater fatalities) in 2010 than in their last major outbreak (in 1999).
In a related story, the latest arbovirus surveillance report from Florida (dated Dec 25th, 2010) listed:
No new cases of dengue associated with Key West were reported this week. In 2010, there have been 63 locally-acquired cases in Key West, one in Broward County, and one in Miami-Dade County.
The odds of acquiring a mosquito-borne disease while visiting any of these locales remain quite small, and will diminish even further over the winter.
But the departments of health continue to advise people to follow the `5 D’s’:
For an extensive list of my blogs on Dengue and Mosquito Borne Diseases you can select the DENGUE Quick Search here, on my sidebar.
