Author: Claudinne Miller
Yellow Fever Resurgence Could Make COVID Look ‘Pale’ by Comparison
Science Alert Yellow fever is a dangerous mosquito-borne virus that, for hundreds of years, has caused sporadic, deadly outbreaks in the tropics of South America, Central America, and Africa. According to a new perspective from infectious disease specialists and the Yellow Fever Advisory Group, the chances of the virus going global have only increased with each passing decade. A recent resurgence in yellow fever […]
May 21, 2025
WHO declares polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea
BBC The World Health Organisation has declared a polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea and called for an “immediate” vaccination campaign. Samples of the highly infectious virus were found in two healthy children during a routine screening in Lae, a coastal city in the country’s north east. Less than half of the country’s population are […]
May 21, 2025
Panel Discussion: ‘What turns spillovers into epidemics?’
University of Oxford How do we move from tracking disease emergence to predicting the next epidemic? This talk brings together experts in pathogen genomics, virology, ecology, climate science, and data science to explore how AI, genomic surveillance, and new environmental data streams can enhance predictive models of emerging infectious diseases —bridging the gap between spillover […]
May 20, 2025
More than 2 million hens in Arizona flock hit by avian flu
Watt Poultry Nearly 2.26 million commercial laying hens in Arizona have been lost to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported that the presence of the virus was confirmed in Maricopa County on May 19. The flock included 2,258,100 hens. Instances of HPAI infections […]
May 20, 2025
What makes H5N1 a pandemic risk and how can we stop it?
Medical News As H5N1 bird flu continues to evolve and cross species, researchers reveal how the latest vaccine technologies, nanomedicine, and AI could shape the future of pandemic defense. The global health landscape has been starkly reminded of the pandemic risk associated with zoonotic viruses with multiple host species. In a recent PEARLS article, a concise […]
May 20, 2025
Genetic test suggests Brazil’s bird flu cases in farm and zoo share same strain
Reuters The results of genetic tests suggested that Brazil’s first outbreak of bird flu on a commercial poultry farm in the state of Rio Grande do Sul shares the strain with cases in zoo animals in the same state, an official told Reuters on Tuesday. Rosane Collares, a director at the state’s agriculture department, said […]
May 20, 2025
The US hasn’t seen a human bird flu case in 3 months. Experts are wondering why
AP Health officials are making a renewed call for vigilance against bird flu, but some experts are puzzling over why reports of new human cases have stopped. Has the search for cases been weakened by government cuts? Are immigrant farm workers, who have accounted for many of the U.S. cases, more afraid to come forward […]
May 20, 2025
California could face another record-breaking year of Valley fever fungal infection
NBC News Drier summers and wetter winters are expanding the range of the fungus. The same conditions drive increasingly intense wildfires. Brynn Carrigan’s headaches started in April 2024. Within a couple of weeks, she was debilitated. Her vomiting exacerbated the excruciating pain in her skull. She spent nearly every hour in bed with the covers […]
May 20, 2025
WHO signs international pandemic response treaty without the U.S.
Washington Post As countries overwhelmingly passed a WHO global pandemic agreement, top U.S. health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invited states to reject the “moribund WHO.” After three years of intensive negotiations, the World Health Organization on Tuesday adopted the world’s first agreement on how to cooperate and respond to future pandemics — without the support […]
May 20, 2025
Long covid patients are desperate for treatments. These trials may help.
Washington Post Five years since the pandemic began, millions of people are still grappling with long covid, even as new patients are joining their ranks. “Considering how far along we are and how tens of millions of people are suffering, we’ve done very little,” said Eric Topol, a professor of translational medicine and the executive vice president of Scripps […]
May 20, 2025