The 2016 Summer Olympics will soon take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a Zika-affected country. This has created a lot of discussion about the risk for travelers and their families. CDC and the WHO have both affirmed that travel to the Olympics is not any riskier than non-Olympic-related travel to Zika affected areas. The [...]
The World Health Organization is calling on everyone to "Know hepatitis - Act now" this World Hepatitis Day on July 28. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver and is often caused by a virus. The three most common viruses that cause viral hepatitis in the U.S. are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. [...]
Data is an instrumental component of public health that helps us monitor population health, plan and evaluate interventions, and track priorities. One of our most valuable sources of public health data is the annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a telephone survey that collects data from Arizona adults 18 and older. The BRFSS survey collects data related [...]
Family, fireworks, food, and fun are four great reasons for a 4th of July celebration. It is also a great time to fire up the grill and prepare delicious summertime meals. Just don’t let foodborne illness spoil the fun. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 out of 6 Americans will become sick this year and 128,000 [...]
Our department receives funding from the CDC for the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant to fund several of our prevention efforts in Arizona, such as the program to reduce the number of prescription drug overdoses and deaths in the state. The block grant has provided strong support to states since the 1980s. In addition to [...]
On April 1st, a delegation of state and local public health professionals from Arizona joined up with experts across the county at CDC's Zika Action Plan Summit in Atlanta. Arizona has already done quite a bit in preparation for the arrival of Zika virus in Arizona, including developing response plans, meeting monthly with state and [...]
Our Public Health Laboratory has been authorized by the CDC to begin testing for the Zika virus. We received a Zika virus testing validation panel from the Laboratory Response Network at CDC late last week, passed the proficiency testing panel and were authorized to test for Zika virus this past Monday. Using this test we can run up to 100 [...]
The Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists and the CDC selected ADHS as an award recipient for the 2016 Influenza Education among Youth in Agriculture Project. This project will be conducted in collaboration between our Vector-borne and Zoonotic Disease Program, Arizona Department of Agriculture, Maricopa County Department of Public Health, and Midwestern University College of Veterinary [...]
Our Bureau of Nutrition and Physical Activity competed successfully to have their SNAP-Ed interventions included in the 2016 SNAP-Ed Strategies and Interventions: An Obesity Prevention Toolkit for States. The comprehensive criteria used in the process focused on policy, systems and environmental change and the scoring process was rigorous. This national publication also includes many new cutting edge approaches from [...]
This week's flu report shows our influenza activity in the state has reached a "widespread" classification. More than 3,700 cases of flu have been reported throughout Arizona, with 51 percent of those in Maricopa County. There have been 3,710 lab-confirmed influenza cases reported for the 2015-2016 influenza season in Arizona. Cases have been reported in all 15 counties, with [...]
