Daily Brief: 2017.1.16

According to the FBI, ransomware payments were said to have reached a billion dollars across all industries in 2016. That compares to just $24 million paid in 2015. Hospitals across several states, including Texas, California and Indiana were impacted by ransomware attacks in 2016.

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Daily Brief: 2017.1.11

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between January 1st, 2016 and November 30th, 2016, a total of 120 people in 37 states across the country were confirmed to have Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). In 2015, the CDC confirmed only 21 cases of the rare illness.

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Daily Brief: 2017.1.9

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all states across the United States are reporting influenza outbreaks. The proportion of people seeing their health care provider for influenza-like-illness is above the national baseline for the second consecutive week this season.

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Daily Brief: 2017.1.6

According to a recently released study, sufficient evidence now exists to conclude that the mosquito-borne Zika virus triggers Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, reviewed all Zika literature published on or before May 30, 2016. In total, a panel of experts assessed evidence of causality in 36 studies that looked at Zika and GBS.

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Daily Brief: 2016.12.30

A recent study, released in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine, has found that a 2-year antibiotic prescription feedback program was ineffective in changing prescribing patterns among physicians in Switzerland. Despite these findings, it was suggested that more thorough prescription feedback programs should be further evaluated.

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Daily Brief: 2016.12.28

According to reports, Minnesota’s ban on soaps containing the germ-killer triclosan is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2017. Minnesota is the first state in the nation to prohibit the sale and production of triclosan. In September of this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), instituted its ban on certain antibacterial chemicals, including triclosan, although the law will be effective starting September 2017.

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Daily Brief: 2016.12.21

According to a recently released report, deaths involving the opioid painkiller fentanyl more than doubled in 2014 in the United States. More specifically, in 2014, 4,200 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl, whereas, in 2013 1,905 deaths were documented. This equates to an increase from six deaths per one million people to 13 deaths per one million people.

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Daily Brief: 2016.12.19

According to a recently released report, the drug that resulted in 18 people being hospitalized over the summer in Brooklyn has been identified as Amb-fubinaca, a synthetic cannabinoid. The drug, which carries the street name AK-47 24 Karat Gold, is 85 times as potent as the main agent in plant-grown marijuana, THC, and 50 times more potent than the first generation of K2, according to lab tests.

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Daily Brief: 2016.12.16

According to recent reports, Montana has confirmed 12 outbreaks of norovirus since late September. These outbreaks have affected more than 250 people.  The two most recent outbreaks in Montana have been documented at long term care facilities in Yellowstone county.

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Daily Brief: 2016.12.12

According to a recently released report, an investigation into a cluster of Elizabethkingia infections in Illinois has found that the illnesses probably reflected ongoing sporadic infections in critically ill patients rather than an acute, point source outbreak.

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