Today's report of three measles cases in Maricopa County is a sobering reminder that this rare and highly contagious disease can flare among those who aren't vaccinated. Before the U.S. introduced a vaccination program, measles was a common illness in infants, children, and young adults. It can be severe: Approximately two out of 1,000 people [...]
Amid a wetter monsoon season than recent years, Arizona is experiencing a record high season for the West Nile virus, which transmits through mosquito bites. Through late last week, Arizona had seen 123 cases and four deaths. Nearly all of them have been in Maricopa County, where West Nile virus has been detected in record [...]
Arizona, along with 18 other states, is currently experiencing an outbreak of hepatitis A. There have been more than 245 cases, mostly among individuals who are experiencing homelessness and/or use drugs. Currently over two-thirds of the cases are in Pima County. The disease has also spread to five other counties. More than 80 percent of individuals [...]
Vaccines are critical to protecting the health of all Arizonans because they help stop the spread of numerous dangerous diseases, such as measles and whooping cough. Not everyone is old enough or healthy enough to be protected with vaccines, which is why it’s so important that nearly everyone else in our community is fully vaccinated. [...]
National Adoption Day, which took place this year on Nov.18, is an annual event held to raise awareness for more than 100,000 foster-care children nationwide who are waiting to find their forever families. Adoptions for hundreds of children are finalized on this special day. This year 261 children were adopted in Maricopa County. Our Bureau of [...]
We hosted a Zika Action Plan Workshop and Tabletop Exercise on June 20 as part of our Zika preparedness series that began with the Zika Action Plan Summit in May 2016. Approximately 80 partners representing more than 25 local, tribal, and state organizations attended the latest workshop. The workshop events included an overview of Zika [...]
Excessive Heat Warnings have affected many areas of our state since June 17. Temperatures during the Heat Warning reached as high as 122 degrees in cities like Lake Havasu and Bullhead City. Other parts of the state including Glendale and Yuma were at 120. With the extended duration of this event, overnight low temperatures seemed to [...]
Office of Infectious Disease Services recently published a report in the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) describing the 2016 measles outbreak associated with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in our state. This week marks the one year anniversary of the public health response to the outbreak. ADHS worked with Pinal County [...]
The ADHS and Maricopa County Ryan White Programs recently won a National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award in the Health category for their Ryan White Joint Application and Integrated Eligibility project. Maricopa County and the State of Arizona Ryan White Programs developed a joint application for HIV services for clients who are dually enrolled [...]
In response to client and provider concerns, we have been working with Maricopa County to develop an improved eligibility process for clients participating in the Ryan White and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. These programs are critical to providing care, services, and medication assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS who meet specific eligibility requirements, but the [...]
