MMWR

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is a weekly epidemiological digest for the United States published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

You can sign up to receive it in your e-mail weekly or access the current version and the archives at the website. There's often something interesting there that isn't getting picked up by the mainstream media and when something does hit the media it's a good place to go for the plain facts.

The writing is aimed at a medical audience so there is quite a lot of jargon but there is always something interesting going on. Here are just a few items that caught my attention in the most recent reports:

• Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication --- Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2009
• Jimsonweed Poisoning Associated with a Homemade Stew --- Maryland, 2008
• Outbreaks of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Among Long-Term--Care Facility Residents --- Three States, 2009