World Tuberculosis (TB) Day - 24 March 2006
March 24th is World Tuberculosis Day, held each year to mark the discovery of the cause of the disease. Tuberculosis is one of the world's deadliest diseases, killing almost two million people worldwide each year. This year's awareness campaign theme is "actions for life: towards a world free of tuberculosis". For additional information on the number of TB cases in Canada, patterns of drug resistance and other TB information, please see http://www.publichealth.gc.ca/tuberculosis.
Source: Tuberculosis Prevention and Control, Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, 24 March 2006

Influenza: Canada
Season to date (28 August 2005 to 11 March 2006), the Public Health Agency of Canada has received 49,063 reports of laboratory tests for influenza; 2,965 (6.0%) were positive, including 1,574 influenza A detections (53.1%) and 1,391 influenza B detections (46.9%). Since the start of the 2005-2006 influenza season, the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) has antigenically characterized 495 influenza viruses: 242 A/California/07/2004(H3N2)-like viruses; 18 A/New Caledonia/20/1999(H1N1)-like viruses; 136 B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like and 94 B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like viruses both belonging to the B/Victoria/2/1987 lineage; and 5 B/Shanghai/361/2002-like viruses belonging to the B/Yamagata/16/1988 lineage. The B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like strain is the WHO-recommended influenza B component for the Northern Hemisphere 2006-2007 influenza vaccine. To date this season, 78 LTCF outbreaks have been reported.
Source: FluWatch, 5 to 11 March 2006 (Week 10), Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada

Influenza: United States
Since 2 October 2005, the World Health Organization and the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System laboratories have tested 89,513 specimens for influenza viruses, of which 9,143 (10.2%) were positive. Of these, 8,546 (93.5%) were influenza A viruses, and 597 (6.5%) were influenza B viruses. Of the 8,546 influenza A viruses, 3,675 (43.0%) have been subtyped; 3,590 (97.7%) were influenza A (H3N2) viruses, and 85 (2.3%) were influenza A (H1N1) viruses. The percentage of specimens testing positive for influenza increased in the United States overall. During weeks 7-9, the percentage of specimens testing positive for influenza ranged from 29.5% in the East South Central region to 10.8% in the Pacific region. During this period, 36.2% and 26.3% of isolates from the Mountain and West South Central regions, respectively, have been influenza B. Combined, the influenza B isolates reported from these regions account for 66.3% of the B isolates reported during the preceding 3 weeks. The percentage of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) decreased during the week ending 4 March but remains above the national baseline. The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza was below the epidemic threshold for the week ending 4 March.
Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Volume 55, No. 10, 17 March 2006

Primary and Secondary Syphilis: United States
In 2000, the rate of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis in the United States was 2.1 cases per 100,000 population, the lowest since reporting began in 1941. From 2001 to 2004, the P&S syphilis rate increased to 2.7, primarily as a result of increases in cases among men who have sex with men (MSM). To characterize the recent epidemiology of syphilis in the United States, CDC analyzed national notifiable disease surveillance data for 2000-2004, focusing on 2003-2004. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that the disparity between syphilis rates among blacks and whites in 2004 increased for the first time since 1993 and is associated with a substantial increase of syphilis among black men. Syphilis rates continue to increase among MSM. After declining for 13 years, the rate of P&S syphilis in 2004, compared with 2003, increased in the South and remained the same among women. The findings underscore the need for enhanced prevention measures among blacks and MSM. In addition, enhanced surveillance is needed to detect any early increases in P&S syphilis among women.
Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Volume 55, No. 10, 17 March 2006

The details given are for information only and may be very provisional. Where incidents are considered of national importance and are ongoing, the initial report will be updated as new information becomes available.