Disease

Plague: Idaho, USA

Idaho state health officials are reporting on the first confirmed human case of plague identified in the state since 1992. A child in southern Idaho’s Elmore County is currently recovering from the bacterial disease. Health officials say it is not clear whether the child was exposed to plague in Idaho or during a recent trip to Oregon.

Hepatitis A: USA

Hepatitis A outbreaks have struck a number of cities and states since the beginning of 2017 to include San Diego and other areas of California, Detroit and other areas of Michigan, Kentucky,especially Louisville, Utah and West Virginia.

Since Jan 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received more than 2,500 reports of hepatitis A infections associated with person-to-person transmission from multiple states, including dozens of deaths. Of the more than 1,900 reports for which risk factors are known, more than 1,300 (68%) of the infected persons report drug use (injection and non-injection), homelessness, or both.