Podcasts

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Influenza cases are difficult to track because many people don't go to the doctor or get tested for flu when they're sick. The first months of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic were no different. In this podcast, CDC's Dr. Carrie Reed discusses a study in the December issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases that looked at the actual number of cases reported and estimated the true number of cases when correcting for underreporting.

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View full-text article: Estimates of the Prevalence of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, United States, April–July 2009

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In this podcast, Dr. Scott Dowell discusses the first cases of the new H1N1 influenza virus in China in May 2009, which occurred in three students who had been studying in North America during the early days of the pandemic and returned home to visit their friends and family. Chinese health officials acted swiftly to investigate and determine whether the students had spread their illness to others. The article, which appears in the September 2009 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, details what they found.

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View full-text article: Clinical and Epidemiologic Characteristics of 3 Early Cases of Influenza A Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Virus Infection, People’s Republic of China, 2009

Listen Now or Download MP3 Length: 7:37

In this podcast, Dr. Greg Dasch discusses an outbreak of four cases of sylvatic typhus that occurred at a wilderness camp in Pennsylvania. Sylvatic typhus is very rare in the United States, with only 41 cases since it was discovered in the United States in 1975. Lab work at CDC and the discovery that all four camp counselors who became ill had slept in the same bunk at the camp between 2004 and 2006 ultimately led to confirmation that flying squirrels living in the wall of the cabin were to blame for the illnesses.

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View full-text article: Cluster of Sylvatic Epidemic Typhus Cases Associated with Flying Squirrels, 2004–2006

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In this podcast, Dr. Marina Eremeeva discusses an article about Bartonella quintana in homeless populations in San Francisco. Bartonella quintana is a bacterium that is transmitted by human body lice. Findings by the article’s authors suggest that Bartonella quintana may be transmitted by head lice. This could mean that populations other than homeless populations, such as school children, might be at increased risk for Bartonella quintana.

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View full-text article: Bartonella quintana in Body Lice and Head Lice from Homeless Persons, San Francisco, California, USA

Listen Now or Download MP3 Length: 17:15

In this podcast, CDC's Dr. Tim Uyeki discusses H5N1, a subtype of influenza A virus. This highly pathogenic H5N1 virus doesn't usually infect people, although some rare infections with H5N1 viruses have occurred in humans. We need to use a comprehensive strategy to prevent the spread of H5N1 virus among birds, including having human health and animal health work closely together.

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View full-text article: Seroprevalence of Antibodies to Avian Influenza Virus A (H5N1) among Residents of Villages with Human Cases, Thailand, 2005

Listen Now or Download MP3 Length: 9:12

Clostridium difficile is a common cause of diarrhea in healthcare settings but little is known about what causes cases in the community. In this podcast, CDC's Dr. L. Clifford McDonald discusses two papers in the May 2009 edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases that explore whether the organism could be found in meat samples purchased in grocery stores in Arizona and Canada.

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View full-text article: Clostridium difficile in Retail Meat Products, USA, 2007

Listen Now or Download MP3 Length: 9:12

Clostridium difficile is a common cause of diarrhea in healthcare settings but little is known about what causes cases in the community. In this podcast, CDC's Dr. L. Clifford McDonald discusses two papers in the May 2009 edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases that explore whether the organism could be found in meat samples purchased in grocery stores in Arizona and Canada.

Download Transcript [PDF - 22 KB - 3 pages]

View full-text article: Possible Seasonality of Clostridium difficile in Retail Meat, Canada

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Residents of the Amazon region of South America contend with a number of health threats - from mosquito-borne diseases to difficulty accessing doctors and healthcare facilities in such a vast area. This podcast helps explore some of the health issues in the region and what's being done to address them.

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View full-text article: The Status of Infectious Disease in the Amazon Region

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In this podcast, Dr. Nina Marano discusses Bartonella, a bacterial agent that's prevalent in many species, including cats, dogs, and cattle. Wild animals are normally thought to carry Bartonella, so when animals are caught in the wild for pet trade, the risk that humans can become infected with Bartonella increases. Bartonella is an identified risk associated with ownership of exotic animals and has serious health consequences.

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View full-text article: Exotic Small Mammals as Potential Reservoirs of Zoonotic Bartonella spp.

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Countries throughout the world are preparing for the next influenza pandemic. Developing countries face special challenges because they don't have antiviral drugs or vaccines that more developed countries have. In this podcast, CDC's Dr. Dan Jernigan discusses new and innovative approaches that may help developing countries fight pandemic flu when it emerges.

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View full-text article: Meeting the Challenge of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness in Developing Countries

Listen Now or Download MP3 Length: 6:38

Influenza viruses change antigenic properties, or drift, every year and they create seasonal outbreaks. Occasionally, influenza viruses change in a major way, called a 'shift.' If an influenza virus shifts, the entire human population is susceptible to the new influenza virus, creating the potential for a pandemic. On this podcast, CDC's Dr. Scott Dowell discusses responding to an influenza pandemic.

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View full-text article: Capacity of Thailand to Contain an Emerging Influenza Pandemic

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In this podcast, Dr. Lynne Sehulster discusses Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare neurodegenerative disease. This disease is caused by a pathological accumulation in the brain of an abnormal protein known as prions.

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View full-text article: Medical Procedures and Risk for Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Japan, 1999–2008

Listen Now or Download MP3 Length: 4:56

CDC's Dr. Oliver Morgan discusses how the use of masks and other protective gear impacted whether workers dealing with an outbreak of bird flu in England became sick. The paper is published in the January 2009 issue of CDC's journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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View full-text article: Personal Protective Equipment and Risk for Avian Influenza (H7N3)

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CDC's Dr. Jon Gentsch discusses rotaviruses, the most important cause of severe gastroenteritis in children less than five years of age. Essentially, all children around the world get the disease during the first few years of life.

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View full-text article: Novel Human Rotavirus Genotype G5P[7] from Child with Diarrhea, Cameroon