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Maine CDC is seeking the person who dropped off a bat for rabies testing at the Maine CDC Health and Environmental Testing Lab (HETL) in Augusta between Friday, May 8, and Monday, May 11. A note reading "from Gardiner" but no additional information was left with the bat.
The bat has tested positive for rabies. While there is a low likelihood that a person or pet was exposed to
this bat, Maine CDC would
like to locate the individual to assess for exposures.
Maine CDC is asking the person(s) who dropped off a bat to HETL for rabies testing between Friday, May 8, and Monday, May 11, to please call 1-800-821-5821 and press option 3.
Rabies, if left untreated, is a fatal disease that is passed
to people and animals by the bite of an infected animal. In Maine, raccoons,
skunks, foxes and bats are most commonly infected with rabies. In 2014, 43
animals that exposed a person or other animal tested positive for rabies at
HETL. So far this year, nine animals tested positive for rabies, including five
raccoons, two skunks and two bats.
You cannot tell by looking at an animal if it has rabies.
Rabies is entirely preventable after an exposure (i.e., a bite, scratch, or
contamination of eyes, nose, mouth or fresh open wounds with saliva or neural
– brain or spinal cord – tissue of an infected animal), before symptoms appear.
The time frame for people to show symptoms averages one to three months but
ranges from days to years. Exposed
people can prevent rabies by receiving a combination of rabies vaccine and immune globulin
shots. Post-exposure care for pets depends on their vaccination status. It
is recommended that pet owners consult with their veterinarian about their
pet’s care.
Animals brought to HETL for rabies testing must be
accompanied by a completed submission form. The submission form is available at
the lab (entrance from the parking lot off of Columbia Street), but can also be
found online at http://go.usa.gov/39dPR.
The lab needs the submission form to be complete so that exposures
can be assessed, results can be reported and medical care received promptly.
Rabies is a medical urgency, not an emergency.
For More Information:
Call Maine CDC 24/7 at 1-800-821-5821. You
may also find information about rabies online at www.mainepublichealth.gov/rabies
or www.cdc.gov/rabies.
Maine has had four outbreaks
of varicella (three or more cases in a single setting) reported in schools or
daycares during the 2014-2015 school year, more than any previous year.
Varicella is a highly
contagious, acute viral illness that causes both chickenpox and shingles. Varicella can be serious, especially in
babies, adults and those with weakened immune systems. It spreads in the air through coughing
or sneezing, or by touching or breathing in the virus particles that come from
the blisters. Infected
people are contagious from two days before their rash starts until all blisters
have scabbed over. Vaccination is the
best method of protection.
From September 2014 through
mid-May 2015, 84 cases of varicella have been reported in children 18
years or younger, compared to 44 cases during the same time period of the
2013-2014 school year. Cases have been reported in all Maine counties except Washington County during the 2014-2015 school year. Of these cases, 57 (68 percent) were non- or
under-immunized, including four children who were too young to receive
vaccine.
Key points for health care providers:
- Report all cases of varicella, including clinically diagnosed cases with no laboratory testing.
- Providers should ensure all patients are up to date with varicella
vaccine and other vaccines. Two
doses of varicella vaccine are recommended.
- Pregnant women exposed to varicella should contact their
obstetrician for follow up.
- Varicella cases should be excluded from school or work until
lesions are crusted over.
- Laboratory testing is available for varicella through Maine CDC’s
Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory (HETL) as well as other
reference laboratories.
Key points for schools and daycares:
Reporting requirements:
All laboratory and clinically diagnosed cases of varicella should be reported by phone to 1-800-821-5821, or by fax to 1-800-293-7534.
For more information:
Maine CDC is investigating an increase in the number and
severity of invasive group A Streptococcal (GAS) infections in the first half
of 2015 compared to a similar time frame in previous years. Maine CDC received reports of 15 cases of
invasive GAS in April and the first week of May alone, almost half of the 33
cases reported to date this year. Of
those 15 cases, six resulted in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), a
more serious presentation in which the disease affects multiple organs. At this time in 2014, Maine had reports of 23
cases of invasive GAS and nine cases of STSS.
Most GAS infections are relatively mild such as “strep
throat,” scarlet fever or impetigo.
Invasive GAS disease is more severe and includes pneumonia, cellulitis and the least common forms but most severe forms -- necrotizing fasciitis and
STSS.
Invasive GAS infections are seasonal, peaking December
through April. The spread of GAS can be prevented by good hand washing,
especially after coughing and sneezing. People
with sore throats diagnosed as strep throat should stay home from work, school or day care until 24 hours after taking antibiotics.
Recommendations:
Health care providers should consider invasive GAS in any patient who presents
with early signs of STSS and should collect culture specimens and consider
prompt antibiotic treatment. Because invasive GAS infections can progress
rapidly, providers are encouraged to be familiar with early signs of STSS:
- Fever
- Abrupt
onset of generalized or localized severe pain, often in an arm or leg
- Dizziness
- Influenza-like
syndrome
- Confusion
- A flat
red rash over large areas of the body (occurs in 10% of cases)
Reporting requirements:
All cases of suspected invasive GAS and STSS
should be reported by phone to the Maine CDC at 1-800-821-5821, or by fax to 1-800-293-7534.
For more information:
Healthy Maine Works (HMW) is the Maine CDC’s initiative to
support and provide employers of all sizes with tools and resources to develop
an evidence-based worksite wellness program.
Many employees spend most of their waking hours at work. Worksite
wellness programs give employers a unique opportunity to support the health of
their employees.
What is Worksite
Wellness?
Worksite wellness programs help to improve the health of
employees, leading to a decrease in health-care costs for employees and their
employer. They offer many benefits such
as:
- Lower health care costs
- Less absenteeism from work
- Reduced staff turnover
- More productive employees
- Healthier employees
Worksite wellness also offers a good return on investment. According to the 2010 Harvard study Workplace
Wellness Programs Can Generate Savings, for every dollar that an employer
spends on worksite wellness, an average return of $3.27 will be seen.
How HMW Can Help
HMW can provide the tools to help any employer create a
worksite wellness program or help improve an already existing program. When you sign up, you can get access to:
- Employee health surveys to determine what health topics your employees would find interesting
- A newsletter that provides information, ideas and resources to help create healthier worksites
- Healthy Us Score card – an easy to use online assessment and planning tool that helps promote healthy living
Employers interested in developing a worksite wellness program
can contact their local Healthy Maine Partnership by visiting www.healthymainepartnerships.org. They can help you get your worksite wellness
program started today.
To learn more about
Healthy Maine Works, visit www.healthymaineworks.com
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne
disease in Maine. Cases have been increasing each year in Maine, and occur in
all 16 counties. More than 1,395 cases of Lyme disease were reported statewide
in 2014, a record high for Maine. Lyme
disease is most common among school-aged children and mature adults over the age
of 65. Most infections occur during the summer months. A total of 89 cases have already been reported in 2015.
The most common early symptom of Lyme disease is an expanding red rash that occurs 3-30 days after being bitten. Fever, headache, joint and muscle pains and fatigue are also common during the first several weeks. Later features of Lyme disease can include arthritis in one or more joints (often the knee), Bell's palsy and other cranial nerve palsies, meningitis and carditis (AV block). Lyme disease is treatable, and the majority of patients recover after receiving appropriate therapy.
Lyme disease is a reportable condition in the
State of Maine. Providers should report all diagnosed
erythema migrans rashes and all positive lab diagnoses. Cases can be reported by fax at
1-800-293-7534 or by phone at 1-800-821-5821.
Other tickborne diseases:
Other diseases that are carried by ticks in Maine include anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Powassan and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. They are all reportable in Maine.
In 2014, providers reported 191 cases of
anaplasmosis, more the twice the number of cases reported in 2013. Providers reported 42 cases of babesiosis, a
slight increase from 2013. Five anaplasmosis cases and one babesiosis case have already been reported in 2015.
For more information:
The United States is currently experiencing a large, multi-state outbreak of measles. As of May 1, 169 cases have been reported in 20 states and the District of Columbia. There are no cases in
Maine. The last confirmed case of measles in Maine was in 1997.
For more information, go to http://www.cdc.gov/measles/
Cases of pertussis (whooping cough) continue to be reported statewide.
A total of 160 cases have been reported in Maine this year, as of May 11. The majority of the cases are in school-aged children.
Maine CDC encourages providers who see patients for cough in an outbreak area to test for pertussis and treat empirically. (Providers do not need to wait for positive
results to return or a two-week history of cough in order to treat.)
DTaP vaccine is recommended for all infants and children. Tdap vaccine is recommended for all preteens, teens, and adults, including health care providers. Per ACOG (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), Tdap is also recommended for every pregnancy in
the third trimester.
For more guidance and information, visit http://go.usa.gov/dCO
Liberia has been declared Ebola-free by the
World Health Organization (WHO). As
of May 9, the latest Ebola case count reported from WHO is 14,954 confirmed
cases globally with an estimated 11,079 deaths.
The
Maine CDC Public Health Emergency Operations Center continues to monitor the
situation.
For
more information, visit http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/
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