21st Annual Four Corners Conference: Learning and Strategizing in Durango
For more than 20 years, public health advocates and clinical practitioners have been meeting in the Southwest to talk about what's new in TB and HIV. Earlier this month, Arizona’s public health and clinical representatives joined our federal and four-corner-state counterparts in Durango, Colorado. At this 21st conference, presentations ran the gamut from TB case studies, to infectious disease presentations, [...]
Changes in Screening and Monitoring of Travelers Returning from Sierra Leone
The WHO declared the end of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone on Nov. 7 when 42 days (two incubation periods) passed since the last Ebola patient was released from a Sierra Leone Ebola Treatment Unit. This led to modifications of entry screening and monitoring for travelers coming to the United States from Sierra Leone. Travelers from Sierra Leone no [...]
New “Brighten the Family Table” Campaign Launches
The Arizona Nutrition Network in our Bureau of Nutrition and Physical Activity showcases a new campaign that encourages people to “Brighten the Family Table” with colorful vegetables and fruits. The campaign features a variety of healthy, colorful foods such as bright red peppers, colorful carrots, green vegetables like broccoli and leafy greens, pretty purple cabbage, and even white vegetables and [...]
Unique Approach to Timely Dengue and Chikungunya Surveillance
Dengue and chikungunya are two mosquito-borne viruses that Arizonans can contract when traveling outside the country. If a mosquito in Arizona bites an infected person during their illness, it would be possible for the virus to start spreading in the state. To prevent this from happening, it is important for public health to identify suspected dengue and chikungunya patients quickly [...]
HIV Testing and Awareness Campaign Begins
Our HIV Prevention Program in the Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease launched Arizona's first statewide HIV prevention media campaign in late October. The media campaign uses the tagline “Its Only Dangerous When You Don’t Know It’s There” and is designed to positively promote and support HIV-related public health and safety. The campaign features people running into a signpost, falling into [...]
Disease Detectives Investigating Rise in Valley Fever Cases
Every year in the United States approximately 150,000 people are believed to be infected by Coccidioidomycosis, the fungus that causes Valley Fever. It is one of the most commonly reported infectious diseases in Arizona, and our state accounts for 65 percent of all reported cases in the US. Most people that are infected have mild or no symptoms at all; [...]