A cluster of four deaths in late December 1993, marked the onset of an outbreak of disease of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa, which has an estimated population of 7,500 elephants. Mortalities peaked in January 1994, with 32 deaths, and then declined steadily to reach pre-outbreak levels by September, but sporadic losses continued until N...

BACKGROUND A better characterization of the early growth dynamics of an epidemic is needed to dissect the important drivers of disease transmission, refine existing transmission models, and improve disease forecasts. MATERIALS AND METHODS We introduce a 2-parameter generalized-growth model to characterize the ascending phase of an outbreak and capture epidemic profiles ranging from sub-expone...

Guinea is struggling to contain west Africa’s first major Ebola outbreak. Laboratory tests have confi rmed an appearance of the Zaire strain—the most deadly subtype of the virus— originating in the impoverished country’s rural southeast. Of the more than 100 suspected infections, at least 70 people have died, according to the country’s health offi cials. Four of the dead are health workers. If ...

BACKGROUND Rapid response to outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases is impeded by uncertain diagnoses and delayed communication. Understanding the effect of inefficient response is a potentially important contribution of epidemic theory. To develop this understanding we studied societal learning during emerging outbreaks wherein patient removal accelerates as information is gathered and diss...

A retrospective whole-population survey was used to investigate putative risk factors for bacterial gill disease (BGD) in young hatchery-reared rainbow trout in North America. Three sets of analyses were done. The first analysis included as cases all of the hatcheries in which there was at least one outbreak of BGD during the 2-year study interval, regardless of location of the outbreak in the ...

OBJECTIVES To test the hypothesis that many non-outbreak cases of legionnaires' disease are not sporadic and to attempt to pinpoint cases clustering in space and time. DESIGN Descriptive study of a case series, 1978-86. SETTING 15 health boards in Scotland. PATIENTS 203 probable cases of non-outbreak, non-travel, community acquired legionnaires' disease in patients resident in Scotland. ...

Mathematical models provide a useful framework to investigate real-world problems. They can be used in the context of disease dynamics to study how a disease will spread and how we can stop or prevent an outbreak. In December of 2013, an outbreak of Ebola began in the West African country of Guinea and later spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia. Health Organisations like the US Centers for Diseas...

Practical relevance: Dermatophytosis (ringworm) is the most important infectious and contagious skin disease of cats in shelters. Its importance relates to the fact that it can affect all cats, but tends to affect those which would otherwise have good chances for adoption. Although many diseases in shelters fit this description, dermatophytosis is of particular significance because of associate...

On March 12, 2004, a college student infectious with measles returned to Iowa from India by a commercial airliner; the case was subsequently linked to two other measles cases. This report updates information about this outbreak and provides details regarding vaccination, quarantine, and other measures used by Iowa public health authorities to interrupt disease transmission in a vulnerable popul...

17 Address to which correspondence should be sent: 18 C. Elaine Chapman 19 Département de physiologie 20 Université de Montréal 21 PO Box 6128, Succursale centre ville 22 Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7 23 Canada 24 25 Tel : 514-343-2304 26 Fax : 514-343-6113 27 e-mail : [email protected] 28 29 30 Running title: Tactile roughness perception 31 32