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Human adenovirus (HAdV) serotype 14 is rarely identified. However, an emerging variant, termed HAdV14p1, recently has been described in the United States in association with outbreaks of acute respiratory disease with high rates of illness and death. We retrospectively analyzed specimens confirmed positive for HAdV by immunofluorescence, virus culture, or real-time PCR during July 1, 2009-July 31, 2010, and describe 9 cases of HAdV14p1 infection with characteristic mutations in the fiber and E1A genes that are phylogenetically indistinguishable from the viruses previously detected in the United States. Three patients died; 2 were immunocompromised, and 1 was an immunocompetent adult. We propose that surveillance should be increased for HAdV-14p1 and recommend that this virus be considered in the differential diagnosis of sudden-onset acute respiratory disease, particularly fatal infections, for which an etiology is not clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although low-intensity hurricanes cause far less structural damage than high-intensity hurricanes, these weaker hurricanes do impact regional economic activity through “business interruption.” Because the strike frequencies of low-intensity hurricanes are orders of magnitude greater than those of stronger storms, the cumulative impact of frequent “business interruption” may be significant. Using Chamber of Commerce survey data, we estimate industry-specific business interruption losses for three low-intensity hurricanes striking the Wilmington, N.C., region. The average, per-storm regional impacts of business interruption, including direct, indirect, and induced impacts, are equivalent to between 0.8 and 1.23% of annual regional output, between 1.11 and 1.63% of regional employment, and between 1.21 and 1.81% of annual indirect business taxes. While these per-storm losses may appear small, the high strike frequencies of low-intensity hurricanes produce a cumulative (in expectation) impact equivalent to a high-intensity hurricane strike causing approximately $3.7 billion in damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We gather home sales data for the Cape Fear region of North Carolina and model residential real estate market activity in this coastal area between 1995 and 2000, a period of unprecedented hurricane activity. We extend earlier research revealing an adverse relationship between home values and the series of hurricane strikes beginning in 1996. We construct a framework to consider the changing sentiment of the residential real estate market. Sentiment is the perception of risk by investors in the securities markets, proxied by such measures as trading volume and bid/ask spreads. We hold that residential real estate markets can also be framed by selected measures of sentiment. We employ three sentiment proxies: the spread between listing (asking) and selling prices, average days of a home on the market, and single-family homes sold per month. We find larger spreads and reduced monthly unit sales, but no significant effect upon the marketing time, in the region following the final hurricane landfalls. We believe that these measures of tempered sentiment are likely associated with perceptions of greater catastrophic risk, with the housing market disregarding early landfalls as little more than bad luck, but perhaps viewing later landfalls as evidence of increasing catastrophic risk in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]