African Water Frog

The Centers for Disease Control are warning of an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium connected with handling water frogs, including African Dwarf Frogs.  More than 50 people, mostly young children, have been diagnosed with the disease since June of 2009.  About one in four have had to go into the hospital, but none has died so far.

The CDC stresses that people with compromised immune systems, including cancer patients on chemotherapy, should avoid handling frogs and reptiles and anything that comes in contact with them like aquariums, habitats, and water.  These animals should not be in households with children under five. Read the rest of this entry »

The fiscal year 2010 Labor-HHS-Education portion of the omnibus appropriations conference report funds the Colorectal Cancer Screening, Education and Outreach program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at $45 million.  This is a $6 million increase over fiscal year 2009 (14.3 percent increase).

We need your help to get Congress to continue to increase funding for colorectal cancer programs next year!  Register now to join us at the 2010 Call-on Congress, and continue reading for more details on fiscal year 2010 funding for cancer programs and research.

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Although the fiscal year ended on September 30, to-date Congress has only completed 5 of the 12 annual appropriations bills.  This week, Congress moved forward with a couple of important steps and it looks like they are now on track to complete the remaining 7 bills before the end of the year.

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The Centers for Disease Control is warning the public about fraudulent emails that appear to come from the CDC and tell people to create a “Personal H1N1 Vaccination Profile” on the CDC website.

Clicking on a link in the email takes the receiver to a site that looks very much like the CDC’s own web pages.  Once there, readers are encouraged to download a file which loads a malicious program on their computers which can collect sensitive information and steal identities.

The CDC stresses that they are not sponsoring a personal vaccination profile program requiring registration online. Read the rest of this entry »

The Centers for Disease Control has awarded $22 million to 26 states and tribal organizations to provide colorectal cancer screening to the uninsured and underinsured from age 50 to 64.

Through the Colorectal Cancer Control Program, five-year grants ranging from $358,283 to $1.1 million will support support screening and diagnostic follow–up care, data collection, outreach and public education, health care provider education, and program evaluation.  Projects can choose from among recommended screening methods including colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or stool tests.

The new funding builds on the successful CDC Colorectal Cancer Screening Demonstration Program in five sites across the US, including Baltimore, Long Island, Seattle and King County, Nebraska, and Missouri. Read the rest of this entry »