The U.S. has seen a number of outbreaks this year of diseases — like the plague, leprosy and measles — that have ranged from relatively local incidents to epidemic-level events.
Here's a list of 10 disease outbreaks the U.S. has experienced so far in 2015.
1. Thirty-one new cases of Legionnaires' disease have been reported since July 10 in New York City's South Bronx, and two deaths of patients with the disease have also been reported. The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is checking potential sources of the outbreak, such as water from cooling towers, to find the source. Read more.
2. Outbreaks of Cyclospora infections have been occurring annually in the U.S. since 2012, including this year. For instance, there have been 205 reports of cyclosporiasis infections so far this year, and Wisconsin has had illness clusters as well. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration tied the annual outbreaks to cilantro coming out of Puebla, Mexico. Read more.
3. Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is spreading in Florida, thanks to an unlikely source: armadillos. Nine people in Florida have contracted the illness, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, after being in contact with the unique-looking mammals. Read more.
4. According to the CDC, the U.S. has had five outbreaks and 178 cases of measles through June 26 of this year. Earlier this year, a woman in Washington state died from the virus, meaning the United States recorded its first measles death since 2003. Read more.
5. The CDC received reports of major outbreaks of multidrug-resistant Shigella sonnei infections in 2015, with the bacteria showing resistance to ciprofloxacin and/or azithromycin, the antibiotics most commonly used to fight such infections. Outbreaks have cropped up in Illinois, Minnesota and Montana involving gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Read more.
6. Duodenoscopes were linked to several carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infection outbreaks in recent years and months, including outbreaks at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Seattle-based Virginia Mason Medical Center. Read more.
7. In Colorado, the plague spread from a pit bull to four people in 2014 in the largest outbreak of pneumonic plague in the U.S. since 1924. The pneumonic plague is fatal more than 93 percent of the time if it's left untreated. In this case, all involved were successfully treated with antibiotics. Read more.
8. Pertussis, or whooping cough, spiked in Washington state this year, with a total of 341 cases reported statewide as of this April, compared to 57 reported in 2014 during the same time period. A public health official blamed the surge on a weaker vaccine. Read more.
9. The CDC issued a health advisory to alert physicians, hospitals and health departments across the country to be on the lookout for increases in injection drug-related HIV and hepatitis C infections. As of April 21, the CDC had identified 135 people with newly diagnosed HIV infections in an Indiana community of 4,200 people, 84 percent of whom were also infected with hepatitis C. Read more.
10. A listeriosis, or listeria, outbreak caused by contaminated ice cream sickened a total of 10 people in four states this year. News of the contaminated ice cream first broke in March when five patients at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kan., developed the illness after eating Blue Bell ice cream while at the hospital. Three of those patients died. The outbreak led to a recall of Blue Bell products. Read more.