The Alameda County Public Health Department sends out Health Alerts, Advisories, and Updates regarding communicable disease outbreaks, immunization updates, and other public health concerns to Alameda County clinicians and other partners. See recent releases below.
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Health Alerts
| ALERT | conveys the highest level of importance; warrants immediate action or attention. |
| ADVISORY | provides important information for a specific incident or situation; may not require immediate action. |
| UPDATE | provides updated information regarding an incident or situation; unlikely to require immediate action. |
March 21, 2018 |
Update |
Alameda County Public Health and Berkeley Public Health Hepatitis A Guidance for Healthcare Facilities and Clinicians A high demand of single antigen hepatitis A vaccine resulted in a national vaccine shortage toward the end of 2017. Currently, issues with single antigen vaccine supply and ordering appear to be resolved. Medical providers should now be vaccinating based on their own inventory instead of trying to ration or prioritize hepatitis A vaccine. Administer hepatitis A vaccine to any person exposed to a case of hepatitis A (household/sexual contact) and continue to vaccinate all persons in the following risk groups:
If inventory permits, also consider vaccinating persons with close contact to individuals in high risk groups listed above as well as anyone seeking protection from hepatitis A disease. |
January 04, 2018 |
Advisory |
Influenza Testing, Treatment and Vaccination The California Department of Public Health has issued a clinical advisory to direct clinicians about national influenza testing and treatment recommendations. All patients with suspected or confirmed influenza who are hospitalized, severely ill, or at higher risk for complications should be treated as soon as possible with a neuraminidase inhibitor antiviral agent such as zanamivir or oseltamivir and tested using a real-time reverse polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay. The full clinical advisory is linked below. Other Resources: |
October 30, 2017 |
Advisory |
Hepatitis A Vaccine Supply Prioritization: Guidance for Healthcare Facilities and Clinician A hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles counties means that medical providers in Alameda County and Berkeley need to take particular precautions to:
Full ACPHD & BPH Joint Hepatitis A Vaccine Supply Prioritization Advisory |
October 11, 2017 |
Alert |
Unhealthy Air Quality Due to Wildfires Information is evolving rapidly; please check website resources listed for most current information. Very unhealthy air quality from the North Bay wildfires continues to cause unprecedented levels of air pollution throughout the Bay Area. Due to changing wind patterns, air quality could be impacted for many days. Local air quality will be variable and unpredictable; it may improve at times, or get worse very quickly. Today's air quality for the majority of Alameda County is within the 100-150 range, which is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. Air quality tomorrow, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are expected to worsen and be designated Unhealthy. Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion. Residents should protect themselves from the impacts of heavy smoke. If you see or smell smoke in the immediate area, avoid outdoor activity, including exercise. Prevention
Website Resources:
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September 29, 2017 |
Update |
Mandatory Influenza Vaccination or Masking of Health Care Workers During Every Influenza Season As Health Officers for Alameda County and the City of Berkeley, we are updating our joint Health Officer orders (originally dated Aug. 28, 2013) mandating that all licensed health care facilities in Alameda County and the City of Berkeley require their health care workers (HCWs) to receive an annual influenza vaccination or, if they decline, to wear a mask during every influenza season while working in patient care areas. This order applies to all facilities regardless of documented HCW influenza vaccination rate. The 2017update defines Influenza Season as November 1 to April 30 of the following year. This order is ongoing and applies to each influenza season, unless rescinded or modified. |
September 29, 2017 |
Advisory |
Joint Hepatitis A Outbreak Prevention Advisory Alameda County Public Health and Berkeley Public Health Outbreaks of hepatitis A are currently ongoing in San Diego, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles counties in persons who are homeless and/or using illicit drugs. The outbreak in San Diego is the largest person-to-person hepatitis A outbreak in the US since hepatitis A vaccine became available in1996, and has a mortality rate of ~3.6%. To prevent and control hepatitis A outbreaks, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) and Berkeley Public Health Department (BPH) recommend offering Hepatitis A vaccine to persons who are homeless or who might be using illicit injection or non-injection drugs. Although there have been no reported cases of hepatitis A in Alameda County or the City of Berkeley associated with these outbreaks or among known homeless or illicit drug users, both ACPHD & BPH encourage hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccination to prevent an outbreak from occurring locally. Actions Requested of Clinicans:
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August 09, 2017 |
Update |
Updated Guidance for Health Care Providers Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Exposure On August 2, 2017 the California Department of Public Health released Updated Guidance for Health Care Providers Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Exposure. This guidance differs from CDC’s 7/28/17 guidance update, which extends discretion to states where regional epidemiology and travel patterns may deviate from patterns seen in other parts of the country. The Alameda County Public Health Department is adopting the new CDPH guidance. As of 8/4/2017,) there have been 37 cases of Zika virus infection in Alameda County (and an additional 3 in Berkeley), many of whom were pregnant women. Providers should continue to screen pregnant women for possible Zika virus exposure and continue advising women who are pregnant or who want to conceive in the near future to avoid unnecessary travel to areas where Zika is circulating and to follow the appropriate recommendations for preventing sexual transmission. When indicated, testing should be ordered through commercial labs for patients with Zika virus exposure related to travel or sexual contact and either uncomplicated clinical illness (regardless of pregnancy status) or who are asymptomatic pregnant women. |
July 31, 2017 |
Advisory |
Immunize to Prevent and Control Hepatitis A Outbreaks in Homeless and Illicit Drug Users Hepatitis A Outbreak Situation UpdateOutbreaks of hepatitis A are occurring among persons who are homeless and/or using illicit drugs in San Diego County and Santa Cruz County. To prevent and control hepatitis A outbreaks, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) recommend offering Hepatitis A vaccine to persons who are homeless or who might be using illicit injection or non-injection drugs. Although there has been no increase in reported hepatitis A cases in Alameda County, ACPHD encourages hepatitis A vaccination to prevent an outbreak from occurring locally. Please see the CDPH advisory for more details about the outbreaks and immunization recommendations. Hepatitis A Prevention by ImmunizationHepatitis A Vaccine Medi-Cal (both fee for service and Medi-Cal managed care) covers hepatitis A vaccine without need for any prior authorization. If a client has Medi-Cal and their regular source of primary care does not carry the vaccine, they can be referred to an in-network pharmacy. To determine an in-network pharmacy, the client can call the member services phone number on the back of their Medi-Cal card. Uninsured clients can find hepatitis vaccine a few different ways. Uninsured clients who are registered patients at the clinics participating in the Vaccines for Adults (VFA) program can be vaccinated there. Other uninsured clients who are not registered with a participating VFA program clinic can receive free vaccines at the Family Justice Center immunization clinic held on Thursday afternoons from 1-4pm in Oakland, or other clinics listed here. We request that if clients will be referred to get vaccinated at Family Justice Center, that the referring provider call in advance to 510-267-3230 to ensure the clinic is prepared to receive adults during back-to-school clinics in August. |
June 13, 2017 |
Advisory |
Alameda County Health Officer Order for Reporting Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are untreatable or difficult to treat bacteria that are resistant to carbapenem antibiotics and nearly all available antibiotics. They can cause serious illness and death; bloodstream infections are fatal in 40% -50% of cases. CRE was designated by the CDC in 2013 as one of the three most urgent drug resistant threats in the United States. CRE are easily spread between infected or colonized patients by health care workers and equipment, unless rigorous infection prevention precautions are taken. Cases and outbreaks of CRE have been increasingly recognized in recent years in Northern California, including Alameda County. On June 13, 2017, the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) issued a Health Officer Order for reporting CRE and submitting CRE isolates to the Alameda County Public Health Laboratory, effective June 15, 2017. |
May 26, 2017 |
Advisory |
Increased Norovirus Activity in School Settings Alameda County and California are experiencing an unusually large proportion of reported gastrointestinal illness outbreaks among students and staff in school settings. This has been attributed to a new strain of
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May 17, 2017 |
Advisory |
Foodborne Botulism Outbreak From mid-April through May 16, 2017, 10 cases of foodborne botulism have been reported to Sacramento, San Joaquin, Colusa and Solano county public health departments. Cases consumed nacho cheese sauce from the Valley Oak Food and Fuel gas station in Walnut Grove (Sacramento County). No cases of botulism from this outbreak have been reported in Alameda County residents, but Alameda County residents who consumed prepared food at the Valley Oak Food and Fuel gas station in Walnut Grove until May 6 may still develop symptoms. Providers are asked to consider botulism in patients with compatible neurological symptoms and to report suspected cases immediately to the Alameda County Health Department. |
March 02, 2017 |
Update |
ACPHD and BPH Joint Zika Virus Update Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) and Berkeley Public Health (BPH) are now encouraging providers to route Zika virus testing through commercial labs for uncomplicated situations. Routing directly to authorized commercial labs does not compromise quality and improves turnaround time by up to five weeks. Clinicians should continue to obtain testing through Public Health (ACPHD or BPH) in complex or questionable situations, such as:
If there are clinical circumstances where it is unclear whether a specimen should be routed through ACPHD or a commercial lab, clinicians should consult with the ACPHD Acute Communicable Disease section during normal business hours M-F 9am – 5pm by calling 510-267-3250. For Berkeley residents only, contact the Berkeley Communicable Disease program by calling 510-981-5292. |