GENERAL INFORMATION – Public Health England

LONDON – A year has passed since the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s health ministry declared a new outbreak of Ebola in the northeast of the country. Yet, far from being contained, the outbreak has now become the DRC’s second in five years to be classified by the World Health Organization as a Public Health Emergency of… Read more »

Clean water is a necessity when camping, hiking, or backpacking, but can be hard to come by in some situations. Here’s how to ensure you always have potable water on hand in the wilderness. Whether you’ve gotten a bit of hiking inspo from following the National Park Service on Instagram or just want to recapture… Read more »

Outbreak is largest on record in Georgia ATLANTA (CNN) – An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease tied to a prominent Atlanta hotel is the largest recorded Legionella outbreak in Georgia, an official with the public health department told CNN on Sunday. One person died of the disease and 11 others were diagnosed with it after staying or… Read more »

Coagulation factors, which are involved in blood clotting after injury, may offer new strategies for fighting multidrug-resistant bacteria, according to a study published in Cell Research. Infections caused by these bacteria pose an urgent public health risk, as effective drugs to combat them are lacking. A deficiency in blood coagulation factors – for example in patients… Read more »

In the wake of a positive test for bacteria that may have caused Legionnaires’ disease at a Midlothian elementary school, the Chesterfield County government is ramping up scrutiny of the local school system’s facility inspection and maintenance regimen. According to Leslie Haley, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, staff in the county’s Risk Management and Internal Audit… Read more »

The first death from Legionnaires’ disease related to an outbreak of Legionella at the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Atlanta was confirmed Tuesday by the Georgia Department of Public Health. There are now 12 lab-confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease, including one death, and 61 probable cases, DPH spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said Tuesday. That’s up from 55… Read more »

FULL REPORT

A mother of two on holiday with her family acquired a horrendous infection from a hotel hot tub that nearly cost her her leg. Taylor Bryant, from Indianapolis, USA, was holidaying with her family in Tennessee earlier this year when she went to the hot tub to relax. Later that day, she felt nauseated and… Read more »

The next ‘enchanted ring’ could be found with obafluorin, a broad spectrum antibiotic from nature. Understanding how antibiotic scaffolds are constructed in nature can help scientists prospect for new classes of antibiotics through DNA sequencing and genome mining. Researchers have used this knowledge to help solve the X-ray crystal structure of the enzyme that makes… Read more »