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Study: North Carolina Ranks High Among States In Fighting Disease Outbreaks

Vaccine, shot,
Wake Med

 A Washington non-profit group says North Carolina ranks high in stopping infectious diseases.  The Trust for America's Health released a report on a year-long study that says the state hit seven of 10 marks in preventing outbreaks.  Spokesman Albert Lang says North Carolina is focused on more than just maladies common in less-developed nations.

 
"There's other things like whooping cough... measles... stuff like that that, we thought kind were almost eradicated in the United States that are now making a comeback," Lang says.

North Carolina tracks data from hospitals detailing who in the state has what disease and where.  Dr. Peter Leone is a specialist with the Infectious Disease Division at UNC Chapel Hill's School of Medicine.  He says a program called 'N-C Detect' helps

"We live in a world now where people move very quickly from place to place and the ability of diseases to follow that movement is lightning fast," Leone says.  "And the responsibility to detect those things and respond to it is critical."

North Carolina was the only southern state reaching seven of the survey's 10 goals.  New Hampshire scored highest with eight.

Gurnal Scott joined North Carolina Public Radio in March 2012 after several stops in radio and television. After graduating from the College of Charleston in his South Carolina hometown, he began his career in radio there. He started as a sports reporter at News/Talk Radio WTMA and won five Sportscaster of the Year awards. In 1997, Gurnal moved on to television as general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for WCSC-TV in Charleston. He anchored the market's top-rated weekend newscasts until leaving Charleston for Memphis, TN in 2002. Gurnal worked at WPTY-TV for two years before returning to his roots in radio. He joined the staff of Memphis' NewsRadio 600 WREC in 2004 eventually rising to News Director. In 2006, Raleigh news radio station WPTF came calling and he became the station's chief correspondent. Gurnal’s reporting has been honored by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association, the North Carolina Associated Press, and the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas.
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