Listed are 12 things to know about the outbreaks and epidemics that have been making headlines both nationally and internationally lately.
Ebola
1. If high levels of hospitalization and vigilance are maintained, the Ebola epidemic in Liberia may end by June.
2. Johnson & Johnson began clinical trials in January of its experimental Ebola vaccine, making it the third vaccine currently in clinical development.
3. As of Jan. 14, there have been more than 21,000 cases of Ebola reported and more than 8,400 Ebola-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
4. The United States currently has 49 Ebola treatment centers.
Flu
1. During the week ending Jan. 10, 19 pediatric deaths associated with the flu were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bringing the total number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths so far this flu season to 45.
2. Roughly 8.5 percent of all deaths reported through the Cities Mortality Reporting System were due to pneumonia and influenza, well above the epidemic threshold of 7 percent.
3. This season's flu vaccine reduces a person's chance of going to see a physician for the flu by 23 percent.
Measles
1. An urgent care clinic on the campus of La Mesa, Calif.-based Grossmont Hospital shut down for a few hours Jan. 14 after five people displaying measles symptoms arrived at the clinic.
2. Several people who have been exposed to a patient treated for measles at a Colorado Springs hospital who are not vaccinated for the highly contagious virus were asked to quarantine themselves at home through Jan. 24.
3. At least 52 cases of measles have been linked to an outbreak linked to Disneyland in California, according to a recent Forbes report.
Shigella
1. Eighty-seven cases of shigellosis, a bacterial infection caused by Shigella, were reported in two New York City neighborhoods — Williamsburg and Borough Park — between Nov. 14 and Jan. 13.
2. More than 60 cases of the infection have been confirmed in Rockland County, N.Y., since Nov. 1, with 17 cases of shigellosis in January alone, according to a report from The Journal News.