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U.S., Mexico ask WHO for emergency declaration over deadly fungal outbreak
CBSN
Authorities in the U.S. and Mexico have asked the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern over a deadly fungal outbreak, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Friday. The request comes after recruiters lured hundreds of patients from multiple countries and 24 U.S. states to two facilities in Mexico for cosmetic operations that may have exposed them to the fungus.
The CDC is currently monitoring the condition of 195 people across the U.S. who got surgeries involving epidural anesthesia at the now-shuttered River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3 in Mexico.
Fourteen are "suspected" and 11 are "probable" cases of fungal meningitis — infections of the brain or spinal cord — based on their symptoms or test results. Two of these patients have died. Six potential cases have been ruled out since the CDC's last update on Wednesday.
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As vaccination rates decline, widespread outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio could reemerge
Health officials in western Texas are trying to contain a measles outbreak among mostly school-aged children, with at least 15 confirmed cases. It's the latest outbreak of a disease that had been virtually eliminated in the U.S., and it comes as vaccination rates are declining — jeopardizing the country's herd immunity from widespread outbreaks.