Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
This Ebola Outbreak Could Become Worst Ever, Head Of Africa CDC Warns
CIDRAP: Africa CDC Head Warns Ebola Outbreak Could Be Worst Ever
Today the head of Africa's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned that thousands of case contacts have not been traced in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “If we don't stop the outbreak very soon, it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC,” Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, said during a virtual meeting of African heads of state in Burundi. Kaseya was referring to an outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in 2014 to 2016 that killed more than 11,000 people. (Soucheray, 6/16)
AP: Africa's Ebola Outbreaks Complicated By Victims Who Prefer Traditional Healers
Whenever Ebola comes, some of the afflicted choose the road to the nearest hospital. Others take the path to the shrine of a traditional healer, often with devastating consequences. Many view the onset of hemorrhagic fever as a spiritual affliction and seek out herbs and prayers instead of going to the hospital. This is the case now in Congo, which is suffering its seventeenth outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the virus was first identified in the rich Congo Basin ecosystem. (Muhumuza, 6/17)
The latest on measles, Rickettsia lanei, covid, and New World screwworm —
The Hill: Measles Exposure At SFO And San Jose: Public Health Alert
The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department is warning of a public measles exposure in San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Santa Clara County. Santa Clara Public Health said the person visited public places while contagious with measles, traveling through SFO and other several San Jose locations on June 8. “The person with measles is an adult believed to be exposed to measles during international travel. Further information about the individual will not be released for reasons of medical privacy,” according to Santa Clara Public Health. (Smith, 6/16)
San Francisco Chronicle: Northern California Resident Infected With Rare Tick-Borne Illness
A California resident was hospitalized this spring with an extremely rare tick-borne illness documented in only four known human infections worldwide, according to the California Department of Public Health. The patient was diagnosed in April with an infection involving Rickettsia lanei, a newly recognized bacterium in the spotted fever group of Rickettsia. The public health department said the infection was likely acquired in Northern California. (Vaziri, 6/16)
CIDRAP: Kids With Severe Post-COVID Syndrome At Higher Risk For New Chronic Conditions, Analysis Shows
Children diagnosed as having multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) following COVID-19 infection are more likely to have new and lingering health conditions than those not diagnosed with MIS-C, according to study published last week in Pediatrics. MIS-C, a rare but potentially deadly post-viral hyperinflammatory condition that often requires hospitalization, occurs in some children following COVID-19. While previous research indicated that some symptoms waned two years after infection, this new paper is the first to show that health complications can persist up to 4.5 years after COVID-19. (Holohan, 6/16)
CIDRAP: How To Protect Outdoor Pets From New World Screwworm
The New World screwworm (NWS), a parasitic fly that had been eliminated from the United States for 60 years before reappearing in Texas earlier this month, has traditionally been considered a threat to livestock and wild animals. But a report of screwworm in a New Mexico dog last week highlights the insect’s danger to pets. (Szabo, 6/15)
Cancer updates —
The 19th: Bill Targets Insurance Gap For Cancer Survivors Who Can’t Breastfeed
Erika Nyhus thought she was done having children. The mother of two had required medical intervention to become pregnant in the past, and she’d been told that the breast cancer treatment she’d completed would further diminish her fertility. Then two-and-a-half years ago, feeling rundown after returning home from a family trip, she took a pregnancy test out of an abundance of caution. She assumed it would be negative. (Luthra, 6/16)
KFF Health News: More Americans Are Surviving Cancer. But The Mental Health Challenges Can Persist
The cancer diagnosis came as a shock, disrupting Morgan Newman’s plans for launching her life. It was 2015, and she was working as a dental assistant in Des Moines, Iowa, while studying to become a social worker. After an abnormal result on her Pap smear, her doctor brought her back in to check the tissue for signs of cancer. Newman wasn’t that concerned at first. She was only 24 years old. (Krebs, 6/17)
The Baltimore Sun: UCLA-Tested Pancreatic Cancer Drug Doubles Survival
A daily pill doubled patients’ survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment by blocking one of the primary drivers of the tumor, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles reported. (Hille, 6/16)
