Disease

Fever hits thousands in parched California farm heartland

California and federal public health officials say valley fever, a potentially lethal but often misdiagnosed disease infecting more and more people around the nation, has been on the rise as warming climates and drought have kicked up the dust that spreads it.

Saudi Arabia reports 3 more novel coronavirus cases

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has informed WHO of an additional three laboratory confirmed cases of infection with the novel coronavirus (nCoV).

Disease

China Bird Flu - Update

The reach and number of H7N9 infections in China continued to expand over the past 3 days, with Hunan province reporting its first case and four others reporting six more, lifting the outbreak's total to 126.

Valley Fever Outbreak in San Francisco's Prisons

The federal receiver who controls medical care in California’s prisons is ordering thousands of high-risk inmates out of two Central Valley prisons in response to hundreds of hospitalizations and dozens of deaths due to valley fever.

The state corrections department has been ordered to exclude black, Filipino and other medically risky inmates from the two prisons because they are more susceptible to the airborne fungal infection, which originates in the region’s soil.

The receiver’s office says the order will affect about 40 percent of the more than 8,200 inmates in Avenal and Pleasant Valley state prisons.