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A deadly disease is rampant in Metro Atlanta, and scientists are calling it an epidemic. Channel 2's Dave Huddleston spoke with researchers and doctors who said Atlanta is the epicenter of that epidemic, comparing some neighborhoods to developing African countries.

Three new cases of the Zika virus were confirmed in Florida today, bringing total there to 99, state health officials say. The new cases were reported in Martin and Palm Beach counties, and there was also one case of a pregnant woman. The state’s health department does not stipulate the county in the case of pregnant women. State health officials also extended its Declaration of Public Health Emergency to include Martin County. Of the cases reported in Florida, three people are still exhibiting symptoms. Symptoms include rash, fever and joint pain. Symptoms of the virus last between seven to 10...

A new cluster of Elizabethkingia infection, previously rarely seen in humans, has been found in Illinois, health officials said Wednesday. Testing by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the Elizabethkingia anophelis infection in 10 Illinois residents, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Six of those individuals have died. Most of the infected patients had underlying health conditions, and it's unknown if they died from the infection or pre-existing conditions.

Rates of gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease, are rising sharply in California, especially among gay and bisexual men, according to new state health data. The gonorrhea rate among California men aged 15 to 44 shot up 54 percent between 2011 and 2014, according to recently released data from the California Department of Public Health. Among women in the same age group, it rose 35 percent. An average of 34,000 gonorrhea cases among 15-to-44 year-olds was reported in California each year between 2012 and 2014, most of them among men. By contrast, the national gonorrhea rate, calculated slightly differently than California’s,...

DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Health workers are rushing to the site of a fresh Ebola outbreak in Guinea to bolster efforts to contain the virus and prepare for the likelihood of more cases, aid agencies said on Friday. Four people in the southern region of Nzerekore were tested on Thursday and two of them were found to have Ebola. They were all from Korokpara, a village where three people from the same family have died in recent weeks ...

A deadly bacterial outbreak is being investigated in Wisconsin with at least 44 reported cases, killing 18 people, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The rare infection results from a naturally occurring bacteria called Elizabethkingia anophelis, which are found in soil, fresh water and reservoirs, health officials said. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, chills or redness on the skin. The outbreak has primarily affected people over the age of 65 and everyone infected had a history of at least one serious underlying health condition, according to the Department of Health Services. State and federal health officials said...

A Baptist Church group in Brazil said it will consider supporting a growing push to legalize abortion for disabled babies in the South American country. Joel Zeferino, president of the Alliance of Baptists of Brazil, said his church is open to the idea of allowing abortions for women with the Zika virus, according to Premier. With the spread of the virus, some countries have noticed a huge increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly, a neurological disorder where a baby’s head is significantly smaller and the brain is abnormally developed, according to the Mayo Clinic. The condition is...

It is obvious that no significant connection between microcephaly and the Zika virus has been found. It's not even close. So far, therefore, there is absolutely no reason to trumpet an epidemic of Zika. Doing so is quite insane, by any reasonable standard. Here are the principal facts in the article (after which I'll comment): * As of January 30, 2016, 4,783 suspected cases of microcephaly were reported in Brazil. * Of those, 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly, covering the entire country of Brazil, are being investigated. * Of those 3,670, 404 cases have been confirmed as microcephaly or "other...

A fifth person from New York was confirmed to have contracted the Zika virus while traveling south of the border — and experts warned Wednesday that the disease could spike here and across the United States as mosquito season arrives this spring. Health officials, citing federal privacy laws, released scant information about the New York cases, which include two from the Big Apple and one each from Nassau, Orange and Monroe counties.

There is growing concern about the Zika virus that may be causing severe birth defects in children. The virus has been known since the 1940s, but only recently has it become more widespread in the Western Hemisphere. The Zika virus is spread through mosquitoes and can cause a mild flu-like illness, however, health officials became concerned last year when the virus was linked to a rise in the number of babies born with a severe birth defect called microcephaly when the brain does not grow normally. We still don't know if the Zika virus is actually causing the uptick in...

A contagious cancer, spread by biting, has decimated the population of Tasmanian devils since 1996. Researchers have now identified a second contagious cancer in eight devils, making them question how rare contagious cancer is, according to a new study. In addition to attempting to breed devils identified as immune to the disease, scientists started working on a vaccine against Devil Facial Tumor Disease earlier this year -- which they said will not be thrown off by the discovery of a second form of the cancer. The cancer, which researchers believe is spread by common biting behavior, causes tumors and lesions...

Public officials are in the process of eliminating Naegleria Fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba that thrives in warm water, from another drinking water supply in Louisiana. Naegleria Fowleri was detected during routine tests on Aug. 5 at a utility district in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, roughly 80 miles from New Orleans... According to the local fire department, the Schriever Water System serves approximately 97,000 residents in the Houma area. .. While officials say the water is safe for drinking, residents are urged to use caution with the water, not letting it get into their nose. Humans are infected when water containing the...

Bulgarian health officials have have instituted an epidemiological investigation in the seaside city of Varna after a man contracted and died from anthrax.According to authorities from the health ministry (computer translated), the 53-year-old from the village of Mlada Gvardiya, municipality of Vetrino, in Varna district apparently cut his hand during the slaughter of an infected cow, but never sought medical attention for the wound.The slaughtered cow was flayed by the deceased and is cut into 4 pieces. Around the eighth or ninth day of July 2015., Carcass meat is sold to a person of Bozveliysko, Municipality Provadia and transported to...

South Korea struggled to contain an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Monday as health authorities announced three more cases, bringing the number of infections to 18 in just over 10 days. Authorities are considering a ban on overseas travel for the nearly 700 people isolated for possible infection after a 44-year-old man broke a voluntary house quarantine last week and flew to Hong Kong and then travelled to mainland China. The man subsequently tested positive for MERS, China's first confirmed case, setting off alarm bells as health officials traced his footsteps and tested dozens of people who...

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad declared a state of emergency on Friday due to a rapidly expanding avian flu outbreak, soon after state agriculture officials announced four new poultry farms had initially tested positive for the virus. Iowa, the top egg-producing state in the United States, is the third state to declare a state of emergency because of the viral outbreak, which either has led or will lead to the extermination of up to 21 million chickens and turkeys nationwide. Minnesota and Wisconsin declared states of emergency in April... Dozens of countries have imposed total or partial bans on U.S. poultry...

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official cited an “epidemic” of syphilis among homosexual men during an event Thursday by a lobbying group pushing for an increase in federal funding for sexually transmitted disease prevention from $157 million to $212 million. “We’re also seeing what we are calling pretty much an epidemic of syphilis among men who have sex with men – that really started in the early – 2000, 2002, but we’ve seen a dramatic increase since 2008,” Dr. Gail Bolan, director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, said at a briefing by the National Coalition of STD...

Many urbanites use doggie day cares while they work long hours. Paying others to exercise their pets, owners can forgo long walks and enjoy guilt-free pooch snuggling in the evenings. While usually a healthy experience for the dogs, the day care environment, with dozens of pets mingling, contributed to an epidemic of dog flu in Chicago that is spreading in the Midwest, experts say.

Islamic State fighters are being pounded by a debilitating skin illness called leishmaniasis. The disease, that is widespread by sandflies, is fast swelling interjection to wickedness and bad hygiene conditions and there have been some-more than 100,000 cases reported, British media outlets reported progressing this week. The jihadi fighters are refusing medical diagnosis that has led to some-more outbreaks, according to a reports. Medical centers have sealed given medical staff have fled a assault creation a widespread of a illness some-more acute, according to a reports. Dubbed “Rose of Jericho,” a illness is caused by protozoan parasites that go to...

Recent outbreaks of an unpleasant intestinal illness in Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania are due to a drug-resistant version of a bacteria that causes travelers' diarrhea, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned this week. Since May 2014, Shigella sonnei bacteria that have shown resistance to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin have sickened 243 people across 32 states and Puerto Rico, the federal agency said. "Research by the CDC found that the drug-resistant illness was being repeatedly introduced as ill travelers returned and was then infecting other people in a series of outbreaks around the country," the CDC explained. Shigellosis is often...

A syphilis outbreak of "astronomical" proportions has been unleashed in Canada's easternmost province, according to the healthcare authority of eastern NewfoundlandAlready this year — in less than three months — 15 cases of syphilis have been reported, according to Eastern Health. That's more than half the total number of cases (26) confirmed by the region's health authority all of last year. Most of the 41 syphilis infections were identified in homosexual men between 20 and 49 years of age, with 10 of the cases also being diagnosed with HIV, according to Eastern Health. Rising concerns This substantial increase is raising...