Oct. 9 update: A state epidemiologist with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the two boys who became ill after visiting a petting zoo last month were both infected by E. coli O111. “The strain and molecular typing from each patient was identical, making it highly likely that the cases…
Letter From the Editor: Has Gov. LePage Broken Maine CDC?
Anybody who has ever traveled in Maine has probably heard a story like the one about coming to a rural fork in the road. From the map, it might appear that both roads end up in about the same place, but because there is an old man working alongside the road, you ask, “Does it…
Maine CDC: Patrons of Unnamed Restaurant May Have Been Exposed to Hepatitis A
A food service worker with an acute Hepatitis A infection has been identified in Cumberland County, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC). The worker served food while infectious from Sept. 29 to Oct. 11, 2014. Officials did not disclose the name of the Cumberland County restaurant that employed the…
H7N9 Bird Flu Outbreak in China Gets Attention in the States
There have been a few signs this week that state health departments are beginning to prepare for the still unlikely event of China’s expanding outbreak of H7N9 bird flu reaching the United States. The Maine Public Health Alert Network System was used Tuesday to get the word out to local health officials, labs, emergency management…
As Norovirus Cases Spike, Some Precautions to Take
There are places and foods to avoid or to at least to approach more carefully if you want to dodge this winter’s outbreaks of norovirus. Some involve a new strain, likely causing the uptick in cases. Norovirus is nasty and highly contagious, often called “the vomiting disease” by the English for its stomach pains, nausea,…