COCA Email Updates: March 11 - March 25, 2013

Available for download:March 25, 2013, COCA Email Update

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COCA News and Announcements

Additional COCA Conference Calls
Free CE credit/contact hours (CME, CNE, ACPE, CEU, CECH, and AAVSB/RACE) are available for most COCA calls.

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CDC News and Announcements

NEW:CDC Feature: Prepare for Unpredictable Spring Weather – March 18 (CDC)
Spring weather can be unpredictable. When severe weather hits unexpectedly, the risk of injury and death increases, so planning ahead makes sense. Prepare for storms, floods, and tornadoes as if you know in advance they are coming, because in the spring, they very likely will.

NEW:Twitter Chat: Safe Healthcare
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden will host a live Twitter chat about making healthcare safer by protecting patients from life-threatening infections. Follow Dr. Frieden on Twitter to join the conversation on Monday, March 25, 2:00-3:00PM EDT. Follow Dr. Frieden on Twitter @DrFriedenCDC and use the hashtag #CDCchat to participate.

CDC Science Clips: Volume 5, Issue: 11 – (CDC)
Each week select science clips are shared with the public health community to enhance awareness of emerging scientific knowledge. The focus is applied public health research and prevention science that has the capacity to improve health now.

Public Health Preparedness

NEW:Public Health Matters Blog: Advancing a City’s Resilience, One Neighborhood at a Time – March 12 (CDC)
Often a city‘s identity is attached to a significant event in its past, and for San Francisco that event is the Earthquake of 1906. That fateful event, in which thousands perished and our City burned to the ground, captured the attention of the whole world. Its legacy forged a commitment in the psyche of every San Franciscan – never again.

Emergency Preparedness and Response – (CDC)
Find resources for All Hazards and Specific Hazards preparedness.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Training Resources for Clinicians – (CDC)
A resource for scheduled and on-demand emergency preparedness and response trainings offered by federal agencies and COCA partners.

Natural Disasters and Severe Weather

Health and Safety Concerns for All Disasters – (CDC)

Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Journal

EID is prepared by the CDC. EID Home Page

Volume 19, Number 4 – April 2013
Highlights in this issue include:

• Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Colonization of the Groin and Risk for Clinical Infection among HIV-infected Adults
• Risk Factors for Influenza among Health Care Workers during 2009 Pandemic, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Serotype IV and Invasive Group B Streptococcus Disease in Neonates, Minnesota, USA, 2000–2010

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

MMWR publications are prepared by the CDC. Electronically Subscribe

March 22, 2013 / Vol. 62 / No. 11Download .pdf document of this issue

• Notes from the Field: Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Infantis, Newport, and Lille Infections Linked to Live Poultry from a Single Mail-Order Hatchery in Ohio — March–September, 2012
• Tuberculosis Control Activities Before and After Hurricane Sandy — Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States, 2012
• World TB Day — March 24, 2013
• Trends in Tuberculosis — United States, 2012

Infectious, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

Weekly Flu View – March 16 (CDC)
This is a weekly influenza surveillance report prepared by CDC Influenza Division. All data are preliminary and may change as CDC receives more reports.

Planning and Preparedness: Health Professionals and Seasonal Flu – (HHS)
Health care providers play an important role during flu season. The following guidance and information will assist health care providers and service organizations to plan and respond to seasonal flu.

Travel Safety

Current Travel Warnings – March 25 (US Department of State)
Travel Warnings are issuedwhen long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable lead the State Department to recommend that Americans avoid or consider the risk of travel to that country. A Travel Warning is also issued when the U.S. Government's ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff.

Food, Drug and Device Safety

NEW:CDC Press Release: Norovirus is now the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in US children – March 21 (CDC)
Norovirus is now the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis among children less than 5 years of age who seek medical care, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

NEW:FDA News Release: FDA approves first Botulism Antitoxin for use in neutralizing all seven known botulinum nerve toxin serotypes – March 22 (FDA)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has approved Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent (A, B, C, D, E, F, G)-(Equine) to treat patients showing signs of botulism following documented or suspected exposure to botulinum neurotoxin.

MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program – (HHS/USFDA)
Your FDA gateway for clinically important safety information and reporting serious problems with human medical products.

FoodSafety.gov Reports FDA and USDA Food Recalls, Alerts, Reporting & Resources – (HHS/UDSA/FDA/CDC/NIH)
For recalls and alerts by both FDA and USDA, or to report a problem or make inquiries.