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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Author: Claudinne Miller

Four cases of bird flu detected in Quebec farms

Quebec News The avian flu is beginning to infiltrate Quebec farms, reported at four separate sites in less than a week. On Sunday, Canada’s food inspection agency (CFIA) confirmed detection of the H5N1 strain at a poultry flock in Les Sources, a municipality in Quebec’s Estrie region. Bird flu was also detected in the Brome-Missisquoi, Hait-Saint-Francois […]

Jun 18, 2024

Bird flu infects seventh Iowa dairy farm, state agency says

De Moines Register Another dairy herd infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza has been reported in Sioux County, making it the fifth such outbreak in the northwest Iowa county. The Iowa Department of Agriculture said Monday that bird flu, known as H5N1, was reported in a Sioux County herd with 10,000 cows. It’s the seventh […]

Jun 18, 2024

With the threat of H5N1 bird flu, hospitals must stay prepared

STAT A third case of mammal-to-human transmission of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus has been reported in the United States. This latest case, involving a dairy worker in Michigan, raises concerns due to the individual exhibiting respiratory symptoms, highlighting the pandemic potential of this virus. U.S. hospitals need to prepare for the worst and hope […]

Jun 18, 2024

Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid

Bloomberg It’s not your imagination: At least 13 communicable diseases are surging past pre-pandemic levels. Since February, Kathy Xiang and her entire family have been under siege. Her 12-year-old daughter has had whooping cough, rhinovirus and parainfluenza: She’s missed more than five weeks of school in total. Xiang, a software developer in Shanghai, caught all […]

Jun 18, 2024

Bird Flu Is Infecting Cats (and the Occasional Dog). Here’s What to Know.

NYT A few “reasonable precautions” can help people keep their pets safe from the H5N1 virus, experts say. Over the past few months, a bird flu outbreak has spread swiftly through dairy cows in the United States, infecting more than 90 herds in 12 states. Along the way, the virus has caused collateral damage in several other […]

Jun 18, 2024

A critic of the U.S. response speaks out, and USDA tries to ‘corner the virus’

STAT Seth Berkley, the former head of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, gave voice last week to a point of view STAT has been hearing for a while about the U.S. response to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cows. “It’s been shocking to watch the ineptitude,” Berkley, an American currently living in Switzerland, said at an event on […]

Jun 18, 2024

So far, officials have not detected infectious virus in any supermarket milk samples.

USA Today The finding comes as authorities are still identifying new infected herds in this year’s unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in dairy cattle.  Infections have been detected in cows across farms in at least a dozen states, with most of the positive tests coming from raw milk samples that were teeming with the virus. Authorities have called […]

Jun 18, 2024

Infectious bird flu survived milk pasteurization in lab tests, study finds. Here’s what to know.

CBS News A “small but detectable quantity” of infectious H5N1 bird flu virus was able to survive a common approach to pasteurizing milk, according to new research co-authored by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.  The findings, published Friday in The New England Journal of Medicine, were based on experiments run at the agency’s lab. The researchers note […]

Jun 18, 2024

A Bird-Flu Pandemic in People? Here’s What It Might Look Like.

NYT There is no guarantee that a person-to-person virus would be benign, scientists say, and vaccines and treatments at hand may not be sufficient. The bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle has so far spilled over to just three farmworkers in the United States, as far as public health authorities know. All of them have […]

Jun 18, 2024

Flesh-Eating Bacteria That Can Kill in Two Days Spreads in Japan

Bloomberg A disease caused by a rare “flesh-eating bacteria” that can kill people within 48 hours is spreading in Japan after the country relaxed Covid-era restrictions. Cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) reached 977 this year by June 2, higher than the record 941 cases reported for all of last year, according to the National Institute of Infectious […]

Jun 18, 2024