UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Killer Bioterrorism Agents in Your Backyard?

Keywords: anthrax, plague, tularemia, botulism, dengue, bioterror (PubMed Search)

Posted: 9/14/2015 by Jon Mark Hirshon, PhD, MPH, MD (Updated: 9/16/2015)
Click here to contact Jon Mark Hirshon, PhD, MPH, MD

Which infectious disease listed as Class A agents occur naturally, though sporadically within the U.S?

Anthrax- primarily in the West and Southwest (including Texas)
Plague- western United States
Tularemia- in all states except Hawaii, but most common south central US
Botulism- throughout the U.S. Most common type reported is infant botulism
Dengue- primarily Puerto Rico. Within the continental US, a small outbreak was reported from south Texas.

Small pox no longer occurs naturally and other viral hemorrhagic fevers occur in tropical settings.

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/anthrax/technical.html

http://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps/

http://www.cdc.gov/tularemia/statistics/map.html

http://www.cdc.gov/nationalsurveillance/botulism-surveillance.html

http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/epidemiology/

http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/vhf/