www.hurricanes.gov Facebook Twitter Costliest U.S. tropical cyclones tables updated NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in consultation with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has updated the listing of costliest tropical cyclones to strike the United States mainland. This listing was previously found in the NOAA memorandum The Deadliest, Costliest and Most Intense U.S. Tropical Cyclones, linked at https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/nws-nhc-6.pdf These new tables listed below replace Tables 3a and 3b in the above document. The first table (3a), not adjusted for inflation, lists 36 tropical cyclones from 1900 to 2017 that caused at least 1 billion dollars in damage on the U.S. mainland, and another five striking U.S. territories or Hawaii. The second table (3b) accounts for inflation to 2017 dollars.

Between 2015 and 2017, routine molecular surveillance in the United States detected multiple mumps viruses (MuVs) with mutations in the small hydrophobic (SH) gene compared to a reference virus of the same genotype. These mutations include an unusual pattern of uracil-to-cytosine hypermutations and other mutations resulting in the generation of premature stop codons or disruption of the canonical stop codon. The mumps virus SH protein may serve as a virulence factor, based on evidence that it inhibits apoptosis and innate immune signaling in vitro and that recombinant viruses that do not express the SH protein are attenuated in an animal model. In this study, mumps viruses bearing variant SH sequences were isolated from contemporary outbreak samples to evaluate the impact of the observed mutations on SH protein function. All isolates with variant SH sequences replicated in interferon-competent cells with no evidence of attenuation. Furthermore, all SH-variant viruses retained the ability to abrogate induction of NF-κB-mediated innate immune signaling in infected cells. Ectopic expression of variant mumps SH genes is consistent with findings from infection experiments, indicating that the observed abrogation of signaling was not mediated by other viral factors that may modulate innate immune signaling. Molecular surveillance is an important public health tool for monitoring the diversity of circulating mumps viruses and can provide insights into determinants of disease. These findings, in turn, will inform studies employing reverse genetics to elucidate the specific mechanisms of MuV pathogenesis and potential impacts of observed sequence variants on infectivity, fitness, and virulence. IMPORTANCE Mumps virus (MuV) outbreaks occur in the United States despite high coverage with measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. Routine genotyping of laboratory-confirmed mumps cases has been practiced in the United States since 2006 to enhance mumps surveillance. This study reports the detection of unusual mutations in the small hydrophobic (SH) protein of contemporary laboratory-confirmed mumps cases and is the first to describe the impact of such mutations on SH protein function. These mutations are predicted to profoundly alter the amino acid sequence of the SH protein, which has been shown to antagonize host innate immune responses; however, they were neither associated with defects in virus replication nor attenuated protein function in vitro, consistent with detection in clinical specimens. A better understanding of the forces governing mumps virus sequence diversity and of the functional consequences of mutations in viral proteins is important for maintaining robust capacity for mumps detection and disease control.

Public Health Laboratories (PHLs) in Puerto Rico did not escape the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. We implemented a quality management system (QMS) approach to systematically reestablish laboratory testing, after evaluating structural and functional damage. PHLs were inoperable immediately after the storm. Our QMS-based approach began in October 2017, ended in May 2018, and resulted in the reestablishment of 92% of baseline laboratory testing capacity. Here, we share lessons learned from the historic recovery of the largest United States’ jurisdiction to lose its PHL capacity, and provide broadly applicable tools for other jurisdictions to enhance preparedness for public health emergencies.