Epidemic Anthrax in the Eighteenth Century, the Americas

Anthrax has been described as a veterinary disease of minor importance to clinical medicine, causing occasional occupational infections in single cases or clusters. Its potential for rapid and widespread epidemic transmission under natural circumstances has not been widely appreciated. A little-known 1770 epidemic that killed 15,000 people in Saint-Domingue (modern Haiti) was probably intestinal anthrax. The epidemic spread rapidly throughout the colony in association with consumption of uncooked beef. Large-scale, highly fatal epidemics of anthrax may occur under unusual but natural circumstances. Historical information may not only provide important clues about epidemic development but may also raise awareness about bioterrorism potential

Reye Syndrome Associated with Vaccination with Live Virus Vaccines

To determine whether vaccination with live virus vaccines may be etiologi cally related to Reye syndrome, we examined 404 cases reported to the Center for Disease Control. Fifteen of 269 children with Reye syndrome had been inoculated with live virus vaccines within 30 days before onset of illness. Although this temporal relationship may have occurred by chance, seasonal distribution and clustering of incubation periods suggests that live virus vaccines may occasionally serve as cofactors in the etiology of Reye syndrome through undefined mechanisms.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66647/2/10.1177_000992287901800105.pd

Global Public Health Security

National public health institutes will play a key role in implementation of the revised International Health Regulations