Dog bites continue to be a source of preventable injury. Prevention programs should target owners of sexually intact male and purebred dogs and owners who live in lower income neighborhoods.

This outbreak was caused by commercially produced, internationally distributed carrot juice that was contaminated with botulinum toxin. When toxemia persists, treatment for botulism should be considered even if diagnosed weeks after illness onset. The implicated pasteurized carrot juice had no barriers to growth of C. botulinum other than refrigeration; additional protective measures for carrot juice are needed to prevent future outbreaks. The US Food and Drug Administration has since issued industry guidance to reduce the risk of C. botulinum intoxication from low-acid refrigerated juices.

Full vaccination provided measurable protection against laboratory-confirmed influenza among children who were aged 6 to 59 months during a season with suboptimal vaccine match. No vaccine effectiveness was identified with partial vaccination among children who were aged 6 to 23 months, affirming that children need to be fully vaccinated to obtain protective effects. These results strengthen the evidence of the vaccine's ability to reduce substantially the burden of disease in this age group.

From 1996 to 2004, the incidence of Salmonella Javiana infections increased in FoodNet, the U.S. national active foodborne disease surveillance programme. Contact with amphibians and consumption of tomatoes have been associated with outbreaks of S. Javiana infection. To generate and test hypotheses about risk factors associated with sporadic S. Javiana infections, we interviewed patients with laboratory-confirmed S. Javiana infection identified in Georgia and Tennessee during August-October 2004. We collected data on food and water consumption, animal contact, and environmental exposure from cases. Responses were compared with population-based survey exposure data. Seventy-two of 117 identified S. Javiana case-patients were interviewed. Consumption of well water [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6-11.2] and reptile or amphibian contact (aOR 2.6, 95% CI 0.9-7.1) were associated with infection. Consumption of tomatoes (aOR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.9) and poultry (aOR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2-1.0) were protective. Our study suggests that environmental factors are associated with S. Javiana infections in Georgia and Tennessee.

Drug use may be contributing to the spread of MRSA in a rural southeastern US community.

No abstract