Zoonotic & Vector-Borne Diseases

The rapid spread of Zika throughout Puerto Rico coupled with the introduction of active transmission in Florida has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to award millions in Zika funding to US states and territories.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the VERSANT Zika RNA 1.0 Assay (kPCR) Kit for Emergency Use Authorization, as the number of locally transmitted Zika cases rose to 14.

The four previously reported non–travel-related cases of Zika infection have now been confirmed to be locally acquired in Miami-Dade county, Florida.

An international team of researchers has identified a potential role for certain monoclonal antibodies in developing a treatment for Zika virus.

In response to the growing outbreak, and the escalating need for a vaccine that can be used in infants, those who are immunocompromised, and other populations in whom currently available vaccines are not to be administered, the NIAID has entered a vaccine manufactured by Bavarian Nordic into Phase I trials.

After failed requests for funding and warnings of the inevitable, the Florida Department of Health is investigating what could be the first cases of active Zika Transmission in the United States.

Leptospirosis is an important zoonotic bacterial disease of worldwide public health importance. It affects humans, domestic animals, and wildlife and is caused by different Leptospira serovars.

A recent report describes a case of infectious aortitis and resultant mycotic abdominal aneurysm that arose as rare complications of exposure to Pasteurella multocida from a cat bite in a male patient.

Researchers in Guadeloupe, the French territory in the southern Caribbean Sea, have reported, for the first time, the presence of Zika infection in the genital tract of a woman with the virus.

Researchers from the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) have provided a roadmap for how the Zika virus travels from the blood of an infected pregnant woman to her fetus, providing new clues to the process by which the disease leads to birth defects.

As a second case of non–travel-related Zika infection comes to light in Florida, researchers from Brazil discover another mosquito that they believe may be spreading the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it will be granting a total of $60 million, in addition to previously granted funds, to states, cities, and territories, to protect Americans from the virus.

CDC Public Health Response Director Warns Lack of Funds Hampers Protection Efforts

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains the precautions that are already underway to protect the American public from the transference of the Zika virus.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares the main point to keep in mind about the Zika virus.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares which infectious disease he feels needs greater attention.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares how the CDC is working to protect Americans from travel-associated Zika infections and touches on preparations for the Olympics.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains how the CDC responds to outbreaks.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains what they learned from handling the response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014-2015.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains how the CDC is partnering with global organizations to proactively act on the Zika virus.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains how the CDC is working to protect Americans from the Zika virus.

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains what the CDC learned from responding to the Ebola outbreak and how this has impacted the response to the Zika virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently working with local health officials to investigate what seems to be the first case of locally-acquired Zika in the United States.

Despite one reported death from West Nile Virus in November 2015, Louisiana health officials report a decline in the occurrence of the mosquito-borne illness.

Which came first: high Zika viral load or a diminished immune system? This is a question that epidemiologists and medical experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are pondering in regards to the recent case of Zika identified in Salt Lake City, Utah that may have resulted in the individual's death.