Outbreak News Radio

"If you induce a back of the envelope calculations given the hundreds of thousands of people who died every year of smallpox prior to when the campaign was started and looking at it now that its gone, D.A.'s work has saved literally tens of millions of lives. You can argue that he's may of saved more lives than any other single human being in human history.

"That's the magnitude of his accomplishment."- Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, on the accomplishments of DA Henderson after his death on Aug 19, 2016.

In 2009, infectious disease physician and University of South Florida professor, Dr. Sandra Gompf and her husband lost their son Philip to the parasite , Naegleria fowleri. In this 2015 interview, Dr Gompf joined me to discuss the amoeba, Philip's infection, awareness campaigns she is involved in, new developments at the time in diagnostics and treatment and some prevention advise for other parents.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic--history's worst epidemic which killed more people than World War I and World War II combined.

Historian and author of the book, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, John M. Barry joined me to discuss several topics on the history of this unusually deadly influenza pandemic.

On today's show we talke about a 3rd intestinal coccidian parasite and least common (remember we already discussed Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora), Cystoisospora belli, or you may remember it as Isospora belli.

Joining me as always to talk about parasites is Parasitology teacher and author of the book, Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests, Rosemary Drisdelle.

Writer and author, Bob Arnebeck once wrote in A Short History of Yellow Fever in the US--From 1793 to 1822 yellow fever was one of the most dreaded diseases in the port cities of the United States.

Statistically, one can dismiss it as inconsequential in comparison to tuberculosis and smallpox. Yellow fever did not kill that many people, but during that period, it struck with such ferocity in principal cities that it spread gloom and fear throughout the country.

Bob joined me for this interview concerning the history of yellow fever in the US in the late 18th century into the 19th century.

During 2005–2008, more than 1 billion live animals were legally imported into the United States for food or pet trade markets. One such animal, the swamp eel, can carry parasites (worms) called gnathostomes.

If those eels are eaten undercooked or raw, this parasite can cause mild to serious (blindness, paralysis, and even death) consequences. This parasite is native to Southeast Asia but not to the United States.

Rebecca A. Cole, PhD, Parasitologist with the US Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center discusses a study concerning Gnathostomes in Asian swamp eels here in the US in this 2014 interview.

An average 274 people in the US die from blood clots each and every day, according to data on the National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) website.

Former Chair of Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Hofstra-NorthShore/LIJ School of Medicine, Dr. Jack Ansell joined to discuss the most important medical issue.

Dr. Ansell went through a number of topics concerning deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) including the differences between DVT and PE, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment and several others.

What is a cannibal sandwich?

A cannibal sandwich is by definition, raw ground beef typically served on rye bread or crackers with onions. Occasionally, a raw egg will be mixed with the meat. It is a traditional winter holiday specialty in certain regions of the upper Midwest.

These are also called "tiger meat" sandwiches.

In this 2013 interview, I speak with CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Abbey Canon, DVM, MPH, LT, about an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Wisconsin that year and the health risks with consuming raw ground beef.

In this radio interview from March 2015, my guest reminds us all that bedbugs are "still out there" despite the recent lack of media attention.

Assistant professor of entomology at the Kansas State University Research and Extension Center, Sarah Zukoff, PhD joined me to answer some of the most common questions concerning these nuisance creatures: Where are bedbugs found?, Do they spread disease? What are the signs of infestation? and how do you get rid of bedbugs?