Ebola has been raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since this past August. Even with some progress in a vaccine for the virus, the World Health Organization fear that it could last another six months.

Since our last update about this outbreak, the confirmed cases of Ebola virus rose to 379, and the death toll rose to just over 245 people. Those numbers make this outbreak the second-worst Ebola epidemic in recorded history.

But, those rising case numbers may not be the most worrisome part of the outbreak.

Ebola is a viral infection, initially transmitted through eating infected meat. Then, the disease spreads from person-to-person through contact with that person’s body fluids.

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The upward trend of meningitis transmission amongst college students has only increased in recent years. Many of the affected schools have even responded with new vaccine requirements.

Before starting their classes, students must be vaccinated for the various meningitis strains. While the new rules will reduce meningitis’ spread, it’s also amplified concern for young adults and their parents.

While vaccinations can keep a person from having to hide at home over meningitis fears, why is the disease so common at colleges?

The answer could help slow risk of the disease, but also provide other health benefits. This is because the principle behind meningitis’ spread also makes college attendees more likely to get many other illnesses such as the flu.

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For many vaccines, booster shots are important to maintaining prevention against diseases. This is true for diseases such as hepatitis A and B, yellow fever, and HPV.

But, what about influenza?

During the flu season, people are wary of the dangerous virus. It’s an exciting thought that a second-dose of the flu shot may increase our immunity to the flu as other booster shots do for other diseases. With even more protection, some might think risks of the flu could disappear.

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Shingles is almost exclusively associated with seniors. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the infection most commonly affects that particular age group.

But, with approximately one million cases every year in the United States, it’s useful to know that not all sufferers fall into the same range.

Nearly one in every three people in America will develop shingles in their lifetime. Even young children can experience bouts of the painful rash.

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South Africa is one of the 22 countries that’s been on the “high burden” list for Tuberculosis (TB) since 1998. It has remained in the top-20 for MDR-TB since 2008. This list of countries measures the highest risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, or MDR-TB.

What is a high burden country and how is this determined?

A high burden nation is one that has a significant amount of TB cases reported each year or increased mortality rates from this illness. To be on the high burden list for the MDR-TB, countries have to report at least 4,000 cases of citizens with that strain. These countries also had to account for 85 percent of the TB cases worldwide.

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Thanks to modern medicine and vaccine campaigns, rubella has been eradicated in many developed nations. That’s just one reason officials are surprised by Japan’s recent outbreak of the virus.

Since the beginning of 2018, rubella cases have spiked across Japan. Most reported cases during this outbreak are popping up in the Kanto region, according to the CDC. The region includes heavily-populated cities like Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama.

According to the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), almost 1,900 cases of Rubella had been reported in 2018, as of November 4th. Compared to the previous year, there have been over 1,000 more reported cases.

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When yellow fever comes up today, you likely imagine a tropical disease. It might only appear as a risk to people in Africa, South America or the Caribbean.

But, the mosquito-borne disease wasn’t always just a foreign risk. There was a time that yellow fever terrorized New Orleans, Louisiana.

In the 1800s yellow fever took hold of the busy city and more than 41,000 people were lost. Despite not knowing the origin of the disease, the city took many efforts to try and contain and erase it.

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While Zika is generally spread by mosquitoes and not by monkeys, newly published research presents a new risk for the virus. Teams at the University of Texas in Galveston and the Faculty of Medicine in Rio, Brazil found evidence that strongly suggests mosquitoes use monkeys as hosts for the virus in the Americas.

If this is true, scientists say it may make eradication of the virus next to impossible due to the presence of the natural transmission cycle.

In a natural transmission cycle, the infected animals will keep a virus or parasite alive in the wild. The animals ensure that future feeders can spread the same diseases later on.

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Often overlooked, diarrhea is still one of the leading causes of death around the world. While it is a disease that affects populations worldwide, it is especially rampant in impoverished regions.

According to a study in The Lancet, various factors make up a location that struggles with these deaths. A lack of clean water, sanitation and health care contribute to disease. These issues are often focused in areas with marginalized and low-income citizens.

We’ve seen the recent dangers of water contamination and poor sanitation in foreign countries. Cholera outbreaks and resistant forms of typhoid have spread across the globe.

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An outbreak of adenovirus in New Jersey has already led to the deaths of 10 children. The adenovirus is normally not deadly, but the virus has now become dangerous.

The outbreak occurred at a singular care center in New Jersey: the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. As of November 8, 30 people were infected at the facility, with more cases confirmed in other parts of the state. More cases have been reported at the Voorhees Pediatric Facility.

Victims range from the age of toddlers to young adults. A staff member was also infected, but has recovered.

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