The Maine CDC is excited to announce that we are modernizing our Tuberculosis (TB) reporting system.
Currently, inactive TB (also known as Latent TB Infection or LTBI) cases and suspect and confirmed active TB cases are reported through a combination of faxed referral forms and phone calls. The new system is an online form that can be used to report inactive TB cases and suspect and confirmed active TB cases.
Please take a moment to review this information on accelerating subtyping of influenza A in hospitalized patients in the U.S.
To date, no human cases of H5N1 have been detected in Maine. Risk to the general public remains low. People with job- or recreation-related exposures to infected animals are at increased risk of H5N1 infection, especially when those exposures happen without use of appropriate personal protective equipment.
U.S. CDC has announced the first severe case of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) (also called HPAI, avian influenza, or bird flu) in the country, discovered in Louisiana, and another severe case was recently reported in Canada. There have been no known human cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) in Maine. Human and animal exposures to and infection with avian influenza remains a possibility.
Please take a moment to review this information from U.S. CDC on the first detection of clade I mpox in the United States. Maine has not detected any cases of clade I mpox.
This week Maine CDC reported a human case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in a Penobscot County resident. This is the first human EEE case reported in Maine since 2015. The purpose of this health advisory is to remind clinicians to consider testing for mosquito-borne arboviruses in patients presenting with unexplained flu-like symptoms, encephalitis, aseptic meningitis, or high fever. In Maine, mosquitoes can spread EEE, Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV), and West Nile virus (WNV).
Influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are three viral respiratory infections that cause most respiratory-related hospitalizations and deaths in our communities. Influenza and RSV cause seasonal epidemics with timing that varies year to year; COVID-19 burden continues to rise and fall with no seasonality. U.S. CDC anticipates that the upcoming fall and winter respiratory disease season will likely have a similar or lower number of combined peak hospitalizations due to COVID-19, influenza, and RSV compared to last season.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) reports 101 pertussis cases between January 1 and October 23, 2024. This surpasses the 76 cases reported throughout all of 2023. Ages ranged from 1 month to 55 years old. Teenagers (13-19 years old) accounted for 43% of cases. Children under 5 years old accounted for 26% of cases.
This increase in cases is not exclusive to Maine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) shared that more than 5 times as many cases had been reported nationally as of October 19, compared to the same time in 2023.
The tick season in Maine this year remains active with numbers of some human tickborne illnesses so far in 2024 surpassing incidence rates of earlier years. The purpose of this health advisory is to remind clinicians to consider tickborne infection testing in patients presenting with febrile illnesses at any time of the year, including this fall when deer ticks are active.
Please take a moment to review this timely information from the U.S. CDC about disruptions in certain products from the Baxter International Facility in North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene. Federal agencies are working with Baxter and with other manufacturers to restore production capacity for these products as soon as possible.
Please review this information from the U.S. CDC on the Marburg virus disease outbreak in Rwanda and the federal response to it. Further information is provided here for Maine facilities and providers. No confirmed cases of MVD related to this outbreak have been reported in the United States or other countries outside of the Republic of Rwanda to date.
Any patients with confirmed or suspected Marburg virus disease must be reported immediately to Maine CDC by phone at 800-821-5821.
