Maine CDC encourages healthcare providers and facilities to review this information from U.S. CDC regarding the current U.S. federal response to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
All confirmed and suspected patients with Ebola virus disease must be reported immediately to Maine CDC by phone at 800-821-5821.
The purpose of this advisory is to inform clinical laboratories and health care providers in Maine about changes to guidelines for submitting venous whole blood lead specimens to the Maine CDC's Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory (HETL). HETL is updating its guidelines given concerns, recently identified in Maine and nationally, that some lavender-top specimen collection tubes may be contaminated with lead, potentially producing falsely elevated results.
Please take a moment to review this information from U.S. CDC regarding increased respiratory virus activity in the U.S., including in Maine. The information provided here also addresses current trends of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), seasonal influenza, COVID-19, and enterovirus/rhinovirus (EV/RV).
Please see the attached HAN Health Advisory from U.S. CDC about an emerging outbreak of Ebola in Uganda. Further information is available on U.S. CDC's webpage on the September 2022 Uganda, Mubende District (https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/uganda/2022-sep.html) page.
The purpose of this U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory is to inform healthcare providers that
Healthcare providers and hospitals in several regions of the United States notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) during August 2022 about increases in pediatric hospitalizations in patients with severe respiratory illness who also tested positive for rhinovirus (RV) and/or enterovirus (EV). RVs and EVs can have clinically similar presentations and are indistinguishable from one another on multiplex assays often used in clinical settings. Upon further typing, some specimens have been positive for enterovirus D68 (EV-D68).
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has received several reports of positive influenza laboratory results during recent weeks. Maine CDC is requesting that laboratories send respiratory specimens from influenza confirmed or suspect patients to Maine's Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory (HETL) for subtyping, especially in the beginning of influenza season. Subtyping allows Maine CDC to determine which influenza viruses are circulating this season and detect novel influenza virus infections.
The global outbreak of monkeypox continues to grow in Maine and across the United States. Most cases have been identified in urban areas in other states. More cases are expected in Maine. Nationwide, the outbreak remains largely confined to gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men and transgender, gender non-conforming, or non-binary individuals who have sex with men, although some infections have been identified in other people.
This health advisory provides updates on three key areas for clinicians: testing, vaccination, and treatment.
In 2021, providers reported 63 cases of varicella in Maine residents to Maine CDC, compared to just 33 cases reported in 2020. The decrease in widespread COVID-19 social distancing practices likely played a role in the increase in varicella cases. Varicella is a notifiable condition in Maine, and all confirmed or suspected cases should be reported to Maine CDC by telephone, fax, or electronic lab report within 48 hours of recognition or strong suspicion of disease.
In 2014, national surveillance began for Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM). Peaks of cases were observed across the United States in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Given the observed biennial pattern, it was anticipated that there would be an increase in AFM cases in 2020; however, cases plateaued from 2019 through 2021. It is likely that methods of prevention for COVID-19 contributed to the deviation from the previously observed biennial pattern. AFM is still observed across the country; it is unknown if the biennial pattern will resume.
