MMWR Vol. 63 / No. SS-7

MMWR Vol. 63 / No. SS-7

MMWR Surveillance Summaries Vol. 63, No. SS-7 July 25, 2014

PDF Prevalence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — United States, 2010–2011  Paul Mehta, MD, Vinicius Antao, MD, Wendy Kaye, PhD, et al. MMWR 2014;63(No. SS-7)  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease for which no cure has been identified. In 2009, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) implemented the National ALS Registry to collect and analyze data regarding persons with ALS in the United States. During October 19, 2010–December 31, 2011, a total of 12,187 persons meeting the surveillance case definition of definite ALS were identified by the Registry, for a prevalence of 3.9 cases of ALS per 100,000 persons in the U.S. general population. Data collected by the National ALS Registry are being used to describe the prevalence of ALS in the United States better and to help facilitate research.Prevalence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — United States, 2010–2011