MMWR

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Turtle-Associated Salmonella Illnesses in Humans — United States, 2006–2007

PRESS CONTACT: CDC
Division of Media Relations
(404) 639-3286

Prohibiting the sale of small turtles remains the most effective public health action to prevent turtle-associated salmonellosis. This report describes recent cases of salmonellosis associated with small turtles in the United States during 2006–2007, including a fatal case in an infant. Salmonella infections in children may be severe and can result in hospitalization and occasionally in death. The association between Salmonella infection in children and exposure to turtles led to a prohibition of the sale or distribution of small turtles (i.e., those with a carapace <4 inches) in the United States in 1975. That prohibition led to a substantial decline in turtle-associated salmonellosis. However, human cases related to exposure to small turtles continue to occur. Although ongoing public education measures aimed at preventing reptile-acquired Salmonella infections are helpful, prohibiting the sale of small turtles remains the most effective public health action to prevent turtle-associated salmonellosis.

Severe Occupational Lung Disease Among Working Underground Coal Miners — Eastern Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia, 2006

PRESS CONTACT: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Office of Communication
Fred Blosser
(202) 245-0645

While coalworkers’ pneumoconiosis is entirely preventable through stringent and effective dust control, the cases reported here point to gaps in one or more aspects of regulations or procedures used to control dust in underground coal mines. The results of these investigations are being used to inform ongoing activities aimed at preventing pneumoconiosis among coal miners. Even though coalworkers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) is completely preventable, recent medical surveys in coalfields in western Virginia and eastern Kentucky have identified 37 advanced cases of the disease. All except one of the miners had spent their entire working lives under conditions mandated by the 1969 Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, which was intended to eliminate CWP. These cases suggest that gaps or shortcomings exist in current measures to prevent CWP and that the need exists for continued assessment to better understand current exposures, identify why cases of CWP continue to occur, and improve dust control technology.

Deportation of Tuberculosis Patients Complicated by a Shortage of Medications — Honduras, 2006

PRESS CONTACT: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Office of Communication
(301) 443-3376

Successful global TB control must address highly mobile populations, such as persons who are being deported, and requires multi-agency collaborations and support including partners outside the public health field. A 2006 national shortage of anti-tuberculosis (TB) medications in Honduras provided a unique opportunity for the strengthening of transnational TB control partnerships. The Division of Immigration Health Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, local and state public health authorities in the U.S., TBNet, and the Honduras National TB Program coordinated special efforts to facilitate completion of treatment for TB disease in persons deported during treatment. Tuberculosis treatment is complex and poses risks of adverse medication effects and the development of drug resistance should the patient’s treatment be interrupted or not completed. Detained TB patients were repatriated with a supply of medications transferred directly to Honduran TB control authorities allowing for treatment completion while ensuring appropriate supervision.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES