Disease Prevention

Background. Valley fever is a fungal infection occurring in desert regions of the U.S. and Central and South America. Environmental risk mapping for this disease is hampered by challenges with detection, case reporting, and diagnostics as well as challenges common to spatial data handling. 
Design and Methods. Using 12,349 individual cases in Arizona from 2006 to 2009, we analyzed risk factors at both the individual and area levels. 

Dengue virus, primarily transmitted by the Aedes aegypti (L.) mosquito, has rapidly expanded in geographic extent over the past several decades. In some areas, however, dengue fever has not emerged despite established Ae. aegypti populations. The reasons for this are unclear and have sometimes been attributed to socioeconomic differences. In 2013 we compared Ae. aegypti adult density and population age structure between two cities in Sonora, Mexico: Hermosillo, which has regular seasonal dengue virus transmission, and Nogales, which has minimal transmission.

This study sought understand how the 2014-2016 EVD Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak impacted the nutrition sector in Sierra Leone and use findings for improving nutrition responses during future outbreaks of this magnitude. Methodology This qualitative study was iterative and emergent.

Objective The National Disaster Health Consortium is an interprofessional disaster training program. Using the Hierarchical Learning Framework of Competency Sets in Disaster Medicine and Public Health, this program educates nurses and other professionals to provide competent care and leadership within the interprofessional team. This study examined outcomes of this training. Methods Training consisted of a combination of online and on-site training.