Outbreak of Norovirus Illness Among Wildfire Evacuation Shelter Populations - Butte and Glenn Counties, California, November 2018.

The Camp Fire, California's deadliest wildfire, began November 8, 2018, and was extinguished November 25 (1). Approximately 1,100 evacuees from the fire sought emergency shelter. On November 10, acute gastroenteritis (AGE) was reported in two evacuation shelters; norovirus illness was suspected, because it is commonly detected in shelter-associated AGE outbreaks. Norovirus is highly contagious and resistant to several disinfectants. Butte County Public Health Department (BCPHD), assisted by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), initiated active surveillance to identify cases, confirm the etiology, and assess shelter infection prevention and control (IPC) practices to guide recommendations. During November 8-30, a total of 292 patients with AGE were identified among nine evacuation shelters; norovirus was detected in 16 of 17 unique patient stool specimens. Shelter IPC assessments revealed gaps in illness surveillance, isolation practices, cleaning, disinfection, and handwashing. CDPH and BCPHD collaborated with partner agencies to implement AGE screening, institute isolation protocols and 24-hour cleaning services, and promote proper hand hygiene. During disasters with limited resources, damaged infrastructure, and involvement of multiple organizations, establishing shelter disease surveillance and IPC is difficult. However, prioritizing effective surveillance and IPC at shelter activation is necessary to prevent, identify, and contain outbreaks.

The joint effect of multiple health behaviors on odds of diabetes, depression.

This study examines the relationship between health determinant behaviors themselves, and their subsequent combined relationship with chronic illness (diabetes/impaired glucose regulation, depression). While numerous studies have proven the benefits of engaging in more healthy behaviors, the question has not been answered whether the effect of multiple healthy behaviors together is greater than the sum of the effects alone. The study design is cross-sectional, using data on the adult population from the 2017 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). A total of 21,116 participants were included in final analyses. We used multivariable adjusted logistic regression to calculate odds ratios for diabetes and for depression at each subsequent level of a healthy lifestyle index (HLI). We also calculated the adjusted odds ratios between adjacent levels of the index. The odds of having depression and, separately, of having diabetes each decreased with each additional healthy lifestyle behavior, with three of five depression ratios significant at p < 0.05, and four of five significant for diabetes. The magnitude of the association between the HLI level and odds for disease declines exponentially with each additional healthy lifestyle factor, contrary to the hypothesis, for depression, but fits the hypothesis for diabetes. Our results are important for health promotion, suggesting that even one healthy behavior may dramatically decrease the odds for having depression, regardless of the type of healthy behavior chosen. Our results also show an association between lower prevalence of depression and health behaviors historically only considered preventive for physical illness.