Controlling the last known cluster of Ebola virus disease - Liberia, January-February 2015.

As one of the three West African countries highly affected by the 2014-2015 Ebola virus disease (Ebola) epidemic, Liberia reported approximately 10,000 cases. The Ebola epidemic in Liberia was marked by intense urban transmission, multiple community outbreaks with source cases occurring in patients coming from the urban areas, and outbreaks in health care facilities (HCFs). This report, based on data from routine case investigations and contact tracing, describes efforts to stop the last known chain of Ebola transmission in Liberia. The index patient became ill on December 29, 2014, and the last of 21 associated cases was in a patient admitted into an Ebola treatment unit (ETU) on February 18, 2015. The chain of transmission was stopped because of early detection of new cases; identification, monitoring, and support of contacts in acceptable settings; effective triage within the health care system; and rapid isolation of symptomatic contacts. In addition, a "sector" approach, which divided Montserrado County into geographic units, facilitated the ability of response teams to rapidly respond to community needs. In the final stages of the outbreak, intensive coordination among partners and engagement of community leaders were needed to stop transmission in densely populated Montserrado County. A companion report describes the efforts to enhance infection prevention and control efforts in HCFs. After February 19, no additional clusters of Ebola cases have been detected in Liberia. On May 9, the World Health Organization declared the end of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

Serum fatty acids and incidence of ischemic stroke among postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although studies have linked types of fatty acids with coronary heart disease, data on individual fatty acids and risk of ischemic stroke are limited. We aimed to examine the associations between serum fatty acid concentrations and incidence of ischemic stroke and its subtypes. METHODS: We conducted a prospective case-control study nested in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study cohort of postmenopausal US women aged 50 to 79 years. Between 1993 and 2003, incident cases of ischemic stroke were matched 1:1 to controls on age, race, and length of follow-up (964 matched pairs). Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios and 99.9% confidence intervals (CI) for ischemic stroke and its subtypes. RESULTS: The multivariable-adjusted odds ratios and 99.9% CI of ischemic stroke associated with a 1-SD increment in serum fatty acid concentration were 1.38 (99.9% CI, 1.05-1.83) for linoelaidic acid (18:2tt, SD=0.04%), 1.27 (99.9% CI, 1.06-1.51) for palmitic acid (16:0, SD=2.74%), 1.20 (99.9% CI, 1.01-1.43) for oleic acid (18:1n9, SD=2.32%), 0.72 (99.9% CI, 0.59-0.87) for docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n3, SD=0.18%), 0.72 (99.9% CI, 0.59-0.87) for docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n3, SD=0.91%), and 0.81 (99.9% CI, 0.67-0.98) for arachidonic acid (20:4n6, SD=2.02%). These associations were generally consistent for atherothrombotic and lacunar stroke but not cardioembolic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that individual serum trans, saturated, and monounsaturated fatty acids are positively associated with particular ischemic stroke subtypes, whereas individual n3 and n6 polyunsaturated fatty acids are inversely associated.

Trans fat, aspirin, and ischemic stroke in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between dietary fat intake and ischemic stroke among postmenopausal women. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 87,025 generally healthy postmenopausal women (age, 50-79 years) enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Repeated and validated dietary assessments were done using a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of ischemic stroke based on quintiles of the cumulative average of fat intake. RESULTS: We documented 1,049 incident cases of ischemic stroke over 663,041 person-years of follow-up. Women in the highest quintile of trans fat intake had a significantly higher incidence of ischemic stroke (HR, 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.79; p-trend = 0.048) compared with women in the lowest quintile, while controlling for multiple covariates. The observed association was modified by aspirin use (p-interaction = 0.02). The HR was 1.66 (95% CI, 1.21-2.36; p-trend < 0.01) among baseline non-aspirin users (n = 67,288) and 0.95 (95% CI, 0.60-1.48; p-trend = 0.43) among aspirin users (n = 19,736). No significant associations were found between intakes of saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated fat and ischemic stroke or any ischemic stroke subtypes. INTERPRETATION: In this large cohort of postmenopausal women, higher intake of trans fat was associated with incident ischemic stroke independent of major lifestyle/dietary factors. Aspirin use may attenuate the potential adverse effect of trans fat intake on ischemic stroke.

Food concern and its associations with obesity and diabetes among lower-income New Yorkers.

OBJECTIVE: To examine food concern (FC) and its associations with obesity and diabetes in a racially diverse, urban population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional population-based survey. SETTING: Five boroughs of New York City. SUBJECTS: Lower-income adults (n 5981) in the 2004 New York City Community Health Survey. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of obesity was 24 % and was higher among FC than non-FC white men and women, black women, US- and foreign-born whites and foreign-born blacks. In multivariable analysis, FC was marginally associated with obesity (OR = 1·18, 95 % CI 0·98, 1·42) among all lower-income New Yorkers, after controlling for socio-economic factors. The association of FC and obesity varied by race/ethnicity, with FC being positively associated with obesity only among white New Yorkers. FC whites had 80 % higher odds of obesity than whites without FC (OR = 1·80; 95 % CI 1·21, 2·68), with a model-adjusted obesity prevalence of 20 % among non-FC whites v. 31 % among FC whites. FC was not associated with diabetes after controlling for obesity and socio-economic factors. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of obesity was significantly higher among FC whites and certain subgroups of blacks. FC was positively associated with obesity risk among lower-income white New Yorkers. Programmes designed to alleviate FC and poverty should promote the purchase and consumption of nutritious, lower-energy foods to help address the burden of obesity in lower-income urban populations.

Healthy People 2020: Rural Areas Lag In Achieving Targets For Major Causes Of Death.

For the period 2007-17 rural death rates were higher than urban rates for the seven major causes of death analyzed, and disparities widened for five of the seven. In 2017 urban areas had met national targets for three of the seven causes, while rural areas had met none of the targets.

Outpatient management of heart failure in the United States, 2006-2008.

Better outpatient management of heart failure might improve outcomes and reduce the number of rehospitalizations. This study describes recent outpatient heart-failure management in the United States. We analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey of 2006-2008, a multistage random sampling of non-Federal physician offices and hospital outpatient departments. Annually, 1.7% of all outpatient visits were for heart failure (51% females and 77% non-Hispanic whites; mean age, 73 ± 0.5 yr). Typical comorbidities were hypertension (62%), hyperlipidemia (36%), diabetes mellitus (35%), and ischemic heart disease (29%). Body weight and blood pressure were recorded in about 80% of visits, and health education was given in about 40%. The percentage of patients taking ß-blockers was 38%; the percentage taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEI/ARBs) was 32%. Medication usage did not differ significantly by race or sex. In multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models, a visit to a cardiologist, hypertension, heart failure as a primary reason for the visit, and a visit duration longer than 15 minutes were positively associated with ACEI/ARB use; and a visit to a cardiologist, heart failure as a primary reason for the visit, the presence of ischemic heart disease, and visit duration longer than 15 minutes were positively associated with ß-blocker use. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was negatively associated with ß-blocker use. Approximately 1% of heart-failure visits resulted in hospitalization. In outpatient heart-failure management, gaps that might warrant attention include suboptimal health education and low usage rates of medications, specifically ACEI/ARBs and ß-blockers.

Conformational changes in a pore-lining helix coupled to cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator channel gating.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), the protein dysfunctional in cystic fibrosis, is unique among ATP-binding cassette transporters in that it functions as an ion channel. In CFTR, ATP binding opens the channel, and its subsequent hydrolysis causes channel closure. We studied the conformational changes in the pore-lining sixth transmembrane segment upon ATP binding by measuring state-dependent changes in accessibility of substituted cysteines to methanethiosulfonate reagents. Modification rates of three residues (resides 331, 333, and 335) near the extracellular side were 10-1000-fold slower in the open state than in the closed state. Introduction of a charged residue by chemical modification at two of these positions (resides 331 and 333) affected CFTR single-channel gating. In contrast, modifications of pore-lining residues 334 and 338 were not state-dependent. Our results suggest that ATP binding induces a modest conformational change in the sixth transmembrane segment, and this conformational change is coupled to the gating mechanism that regulates ion conduction. These results may establish a structural basis of gating involving the dynamic rearrangement of transmembrane domains necessary for vectorial transport of substrates in ATP-binding cassette transporters.