Alarming Outbreaks Currently Ongoing in the US

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious viral infection that causes liver inflammation and can lead to symptoms such as fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and jaundice. While hepatitis A can be contracted through the ingestion of contaminated food and water, the virus is most commonly spread person to person, putting people who use drugs, are incarcerated, or are homeless at the highest risk. The CDC declared an official hepatitis A outbreak March 2017, after several states reported local outbreaks among high-risk populations.

Since 2016, nearly 45,000 cases, including over 27,000 hospitalizations and 421 deaths, have been associated with the outbreaks. While a majority of states have declared an end to this outbreak, outbreaks are currently ongoing in Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. The CDC notes that the hepatitis A vaccine is the best way to prevent HAV infection.

While the CDC officially declared measles eliminated in the United States in 2000, nearly 1,300 cases of the virus were reported in 31 U.S. states in 2019. The CDC explains that measles can enter the U.S. with travelers entering the country, or Americans returning to the country after contracting the virus abroad. For example, the largest source countries for the outbreak from Jan. 1-Oct. 1, 2019, included the Philippines, Ukraine, and Israel.

According to the CDC, 91% of children in the United States are vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella by age two. Most of those who were infected were unvaccinated (70%), and the vaccination status of another 19% was unknown.

The consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk containing Brucella bacteria can result in brucellosis, an illness causing fever, sweats, headaches, back pains, and weakness. While Brucella infections are typically responsive to antibiotics, there have been in recent years a significant number of brucellosis cases in the U.S. that were resistant to certain antibiotics. And while most cases of antibiotic-resistant Brucella infections originated outside of the U.S., some may have originated from raw milk products sold in mainstream supermarkets in the U.S.

From 2019 to 2020, more than 2,800 hospitalizations and deaths from e-cigarette use and vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) were reported in the United States. Many of these cases have been linked to unregulated or counterfeit THC vaping products, which often contain high amounts of harmful vitamin E acetate additives.

The CDC officially declared the increase in EVALI cases an outbreak in August 2019. The outbreak disproportionately affects younger Americans, with 52% of hospitalizations and deaths occurring amongst those under 25 years old.

On Jan. 20, 2020, the CDC reported the first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. A second case was confirmed several days later, and by the end of the month, the CDC issued a 14-day quarantine for all those returning to the country from Wuhan, China. COVID-19 cases and deaths rose precipitously from there, with deaths peaking in the winter of 2021 and surpassing the 1918 flu as the deadliest pandemic in American history.

While the fallout from COVID-19 is far from over and the scope of impact far from realized, there have been 1.1 million deaths due to COVID-19 in the U.S. to date.