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Data collected from 5 participating health care facilities in Oregon from January 2021 to June 2023 showed that a booster mRNA dose conferred additional protection for healthcare workers against COVID-19.
Our new Multidrug-resistant Organism (MDRO) dashboard provides detailed data on MDRO cases in Oregon. This dashboard replaces the quarterly Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) Report. Carbapenemase-producing organism (CPO) cases reached 35 in 2025, a new record. Although Oregon remains a low-prevalence state, cases continue to rise across the West Coast.
Oregon CPO Cases by Year
What really happens when you flush the toilet? In this episode, environmental microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba reveals the science behind aerosolized germs, viral cross-contamination, and the surprising role toilet flushing plays in spreading pathogens like norovirus. Discover how air sanitizer sprays can reduce airborne and surface contamination and what that means for infection prevention. If you’ve ever used a public restroom, this is one episode you don’t want to miss.
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For anyone engaged in healthcare-associated infections or antimicrobial stewardship work, mark your calendar for an upcoming free virtual summit.
Our experienced Infection Preventionists are here to help! Our team can offer expert guidance if you're managing an outbreak or looking to strengthen your infection prevention practices. Reach out for a consultation, and let us help you keep patients and staff safe!
Sign up to enhance your infection prevention knowledge and stay ahead in protecting patients, residents, and staff. Reach out if you're interested in joining our Eastern or Western Oregon IP Collaborative, where we spend one hour discussing the latest infection prevention strategies. All interested healthcare and public health staff are welcome to attend.
HAIAC membership is an opportunity to provide input and expertise, help guide our work, and stay informed about our program’s activities. Members serve a two-year term and attend as many meetings as they can. There are no additional time commitments. Current vacancies are:
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- Physician with expertise in infectious diseases
- Physician who practices in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) with interest and involvement in infection control
- Hospital quality director
The next meeting is scheduled for March 11th from 1 to 2 pm. Everyone is welcome, regardless of membership.
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2026 marks Antimicrobial Resistance Lab Network's (ARLN) 10th anniversary of service in performing high-quality bacterial and fungal isolate testing! The ARLN is the first national network to provide comprehensive AR testing of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and community-associated infections, fungal diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, and drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Through the end of 2025, AR Lab Network conducted more than 1.5 million tests to rapidly detect AR and control outbreaks. These include:
- 424,000+ isolate characterizations
- 464,000+ colonization screenings
- 611,000+ whole genome sequences
Thank you to all our hardworking laboratory partners that have helped grow CDC’s AR Lab Network over the last decade.
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Get to know the exceptional members of the HAI team.
Angela Dusko is the Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Emerging Infections Program (EIP) Manager in the Acute and Communicable Disease Prevention (ACDP) Section at the Oregon Health Authority. For more than three years, she has led Oregon’s participation in CDC-funded HAI Community Interface and fungal surveillance programs, partnering across healthcare, laboratories, and public health to strengthen surveillance and prevention of healthcare-associated infections and emerging pathogens.
Angela earned her degree in Microbiology and Clinical Laboratory Science from Montana State University and later completed a Master of Public Health at the University of Montana, combining clinical laboratory expertise with population health and disease prevention. A certified Clinical Laboratory Scientist, she has over 20 years of experience specializing in microbiology, immunologic diagnostics, and laboratory biosafety. Her career began in hospital laboratories in Idaho and Montana, where she worked as a clinical microbiologist and ancillary testing coordinator, contributing to antimicrobial stewardship, quality improvement, and point-of-care testing programs. She later moved into public health leadership at the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services, overseeing statewide laboratory programs, managing CDC-funded initiatives, and supporting outbreak response, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Outside of work, Angela enjoys traveling with her family, hands-on hobbies like sewing and woodworking, outdoor activities with her kids, and spending time with her dogs, Murphy and Koda, and her cat, Mowgli.
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Oregon Health Authority works to transform the health care system in Oregon by lowering and containing costs, improving quality and increasing access to care to improve the lifelong health of Oregonians. OHA is overseen by the nine-member citizen Oregon Health Policy Board working toward comprehensive health reform in our state.
The HAI program within the OHA Public Health Division is dedicated to preventing and containing healthcare associated infections (HAIs) and addressing the growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AR). Through initiatives such as the Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network) and the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), we are bolstering our ability to detect and respond to antibiotic resistance while strengthening the nation's most widely used HAI tracking system. We also focus on antibiotic stewardship to improve the appropriate use of antibiotics, and we provide comprehensive infection prevention and control (IPC) education and training to equip the health care workforce with the necessary skills. Our team further offers IPC consultations to health care facilities throughout the state, providing expert guidance and support in implementing effective infection prevention strategies and responding to outbreaks. Together, we are committed to enhancing patient safety and reducing the impact of HAIs and antimicrobial resistance.
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