COCA Email Updates: July 5 – July 18

If you have any questions on these or other clinical issues, please write to us at coca@cdc.gov

Sign up for Email Updates and Reminders

Available for download: July 18, 2016, COCA Email UpdateCdc-pdf


COCA News and Announcements

Upcoming COCA Calls:
NEW: CDC Recommendations for Nonopioid Treatments in the Management of Chronic Pain 
Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Participate by Phone:

  • U.S. Callers: 800-779-0686
  • International Callers: 312-470-0194 

Passcode: 3377346
Webinar: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=PW8523113&p=3377346&t=cExternal
Between 1999-2014, nonopioid treatments for chronic pain were used less frequently while the amount of opioids prescribed in the United States quadrupled. Opioid-related overdose deaths have increased in parallel with increased prescribing, yet the amount of pain reported by patients remain unchanged. The CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain provides recommendations for safer and more effective prescribing of opioids for chronic pain in patients 18 years of age and older in outpatient settings outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. During this COCA Call, a case study will be used to illustrate how clinicians can identify appropriate treatment strategies for chronic pain. In addition, clinicians will learn about the effectiveness and risks of nonpharmacologic and nonopioid pharmacologic treatments for chronic pain.

Archived COCA Conference Calls

Free continuing education credits (CME, CNE, ACPE, CEU, CECH, and AAVSB/RACE) are available for most calls. More information about free CE.


CDC Emergency Response

2016 Zika Virus

Zika Virus: Information for Clinicians Slide SetCdc-pdf

Fact Sheets and Posters in Different Languages
CDC fact sheets and posters for distribution to patients are available in languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Creole, and Korean. These resources cover a variety of topics, including travel information, insect repellent, sexual transmission, and mosquito control.

Clinicians Caring for Pregnant Women and Women of Reproductive Age 

NEW: Guidance to Tribal Healthcare Providers: U.S. Zika Pregnancy RegistryCdc-pdf

Clinical Consultation Service for Healthcare Providers Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Infection
CDC maintains a 24/7 consultation service for healthcare providers caring for pregnant women with possible Zika virus infection. This consultation service is NOT for patients or the general public. To contact the service, email ZikaPregnancy@cdc.gov or call 770-488-7100.

Tools for Health-Care Providers
View printable and easy to use CDC fact sheets, guidance documents, and testing algorithms for Zika virus infection.

Outcomes of Pregnancies with Laboratory Evidence of Possible Zika Virus Infection in the United States
CDC will report two types of outcomes:

  • – Live-born infants with birth defects
  • – Pregnancy losses with birth defects

Doctor’s Visit Checklist: For Pregnant Women Who Traveled to an Area with ZikaCdc-pdf

Doctor’s Visit Checklist: For Pregnant Women Living in an Area with ZikaCdc-pdf

MMWR: Interim Guidance for Health-Care Providers Caring for Women of Reproductive Age with Possible Zika Virus Exposure — United States, 2016
CDC has updated its interim guidance for U.S. health-care providers caring for women of reproductive age with possible Zika virus exposure to include recommendations for counseling women and men with possible Zika virus exposure who are interested in conceiving. The updated guidelines also include recommendations for Zika virus testing and guidance for women residing along the US-Mexico Border.

MMWR: Preventing Transmission of Zika Virus in Labor and Delivery Settings Through Implementation of Standard Precautions — United States, 2016
CDC recommends Standard Precautions in all health-care settings to protect both health-care personnel and patients from infection with Zika virus as well as from blood-borne pathogens (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] and hepatitis C virus [HCV]).

Questions and Answers For Health-Care Providers Caring for Pregnant Women and Women of Reproductive Age with Possible Zika Virus Exposure

Clinicians Caring for Infants and Children

Congenital Microcephaly Case Definitions

Questions and Answers For Health-Care Providers Caring for Infants and Children with Possible Zika Virus Infection

Interim Guidelines for Health-Care Providers Caring for Infants and Children with Possible Zika Virus Infection — United States, February 2016
CDC has updated its interim guidelines for U.S. health-care providers caring for infants born to mothers who traveled to or resided in areas with Zika virus transmission during pregnancy and expanded guidelines to include infants and children with possible acute Zika virus disease.

Sexual Transmission

MMWR: Interim Guidance for Prevention of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus — United States, 2016
The following recommendations apply to men who have traveled to or reside in areas with active Zika virus transmission and their female or male sex partners. These recommendations replace the previously issued recommendations and are updated to include time intervals after travel to areas with active Zika virus transmission or after Zika virus infection for taking precautions to reduce the risk for sexual transmission.

Zika and Sexual Transmission

Zika Travel Information

NEW: Country Classification Technical Guidance
To protect travelers from Zika, scientists and travel experts at CDC are monitoring the status of Zika in countries around the world and making appropriate travel recommendations. These recommendations are based on a number of factors, including the historical or current presence of Zika in the country. Based on this assessment, areas with Zika are classified as epidemic or endemic.

NEW: MMWR: Projected Zika Virus Importation and Subsequent Ongoing Transmission after Travel to the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games — Country-Specific Assessment, July 2016
With the exception of four countries, attendance at the Games does not pose a unique or substantive risk for mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus in excess of that posed by non-Games travel.

CDC Issues Advice for Travel to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games

Zika Travel Notices

Clinical Evaluation and Testing

Official CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Update – CDC Recommendations for Subsequent Zika IgM Antibody Testing
Testing for Zika virus infection using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) molecular assays is now commercially available. CDC provides further recommendations for actions to take when requesting Zika rRT-PCR testing from a commercial laboratory.

MMWR: Interim Guidance for Interpretation of Zika Virus Antibody Test Results
If serologic testing indicates recent flavivirus infection that could be caused by either Zika or dengue virus, patients should be clinically managed for both infections because they might have been infected with either virus. Patients with clinically suspected dengue should receive appropriate management to reduce the risk for hemorrhagic medical complications.

Official CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) Update – Diagnostic Testing of Urine Specimens for Suspected Zika Virus Infection

MMWR: Interim Guidance for Zika Virus Testing of Urine – United States, 2016

Diagnostic Testing
Contact your state or local health department to facilitate testing.

Collection and Submission of Body Fluids for Zika Virus Testing

CDC and OSHA Issue Interim Guidance for Protecting Workers from Occupational Exposure to Zika VirusCdc-pdf
CDC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new guidance and information for protecting workers from occupational exposure to Zika virus.

Biosafety Guidance for Transportation of Specimens and for Work with Zika Virus in the Laboratory

Clinical Evaluation & Disease
Zika virus is transmitted to humans primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis. Most people infected with Zika virus are asymptomatic. Characteristic clinical findings are acute onset of fever with maculopapular rash, arthralgia, or conjunctivitis. Other commonly reported symptoms include myalgia and headache.

State, Local, Tribal and Territorial Health Department Resources

NEW: Information on Aerial Spraying in Puerto Rico

CDC Emergency Vector Control Request FormCdc-excel

CDC Draft Interim Zika Response PlanCdc-pdf
The purpose of this document is to describe the CDC response plan for the first locally acquired cases of Zika virus infection in the continental United States and Hawaii.

US Zika Pregnancy Registry
CDC has established the US Zika Pregnancy Registry to learn more about pregnant women in the United States with confirmed Zika virus infection and their infants and is collaborating with state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments to collect information about pregnancy and infant outcomes following Zika virus infection during pregnancy.

Zika Active Pregnancy Surveillance System (ZAPSS)/Sistema de Vigilancia Activa de Zika en Embarazos (SVAZE)
The Puerto Rico Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have developed a surveillance system called Zika Active Pregnancy Surveillance System (ZAPSS)/Sistema de Vigilancia Activa de Zika en Embarazos (SVAZE). The surveillance system will be used to evaluate the association between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and adverse outcomes during pregnancy, birth, and early childhood up to 3 years old.

Pregnant women with any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection in the United States and territories, 2016
These data reflect pregnant women in the US Zika Pregnancy Registry and the Zika Active Pregnancy Surveillance System in Puerto Rico.

Zika Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Discussions
To address the communication concerns and needs of state, local, and territorial health communicators, as well as partner organizations, CDC is hosting a series of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) teleconferences related to Zika issues. These teleconferences will be held on a weekly basis beginning Tuesday, May 17, from 1-2 pm (Eastern Time). Each week, a new topic will be presented on a different aspect of CERC.

Zika Virus Microsite
CDC has developed an easily embeddable collection of Zika virus information for partner and stakeholder websites. This collection, called a microsite, can supplement partner web sites with CDC’s up-to-date, evidence-based content. . The content is automatically updated when CDC’s website is updated.

CDC News and Announcements

NEW: Special Presentation: Seven Decades of Firsts with Seven CDC Directors
In order to recognize some of the accomplishments that have occurred at CDC over the past 70 years, former CDC directors joined current director Dr. Tom Frieden for this special Grand Rounds presentation.

CDC Science Clips: Volume 8, Issue: 28

Each week select science clips are shared with the public health community to enhance awareness of emerging scientific knowledge. The focus is applied public health research and prevention science that has the capacity to improve health now.

Public Health Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness and Response – (CDC)

Find preparedness resources for all hazards.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Training Resources for Clinicians – (CDC)

Find online and in-person training resources.

Natural Disasters and Severe Weather

Hurricane Readiness – (CDC)

CDC Feature: Prepare for Spring Weather – (CDC)

Food and Water Needs: Preparing for a Disaster or Emergency – (CDC)

Health and Safety Concerns for All Disasters – (CDC)

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

The MMWR series is CDC’s primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. To subscribe electronically, go to. Electronically Subscribe.

July 15, 2016 / Vol. 65/Nos. 27 Download .pdf document of this issueCdc-pdf

Infectious, Vector-Borne, and Zoonotic Diseases

Seasonal Influenza

A Toolkit for Long-Term Care Employers
Within this comprehensive toolkit are a number of resources intended to help long-term care facility, agency, or corporation owners and administrators provide access to influenza vaccination for their workforce and to help any employer of workers in long-term care understand the importance of influenza vaccination for their employees.

Information for Health Professionals– (CDC)

Weekly Flu View – May 21 (CDC)

Flu View is a weekly influenza surveillance report prepared by CDC Influenza Division. All data are preliminary and may change as CDC receives more reports.

Planning and Preparedness: Health Professionals and Seasonal FluExternal  – (HHS)

Travel Safety

Current Travel WarningsExternal – May 31 (US Department of State)

Food, Drug and Device Safety

MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting ProgramExternal – (FDA)

MedWatch is your Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gateway for clinically important safety information and reporting serious problems with human medical products.

FoodSafety.gov: Reports of FDA and USDA Food Recalls, Alerts, Reporting, and ResourcesExternal – (HHS/USDA/FDA/CDC/NIH)
Foodsafety.gov lists notices of recalls and alerts from both FDA and USDA. Visitors to the site can report a problem or make inquiries.

The CDC and HHS logos are the exclusive property of the Department of Health and Human Services and may not be used for any purpose without prior express written permission. Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organizations.

Page last reviewed: July 18, 2016 (archived document)