Author: Claudinne Miller
Raw Milk Containing Bird-Flu Virus Can Sicken Mice, Study Finds
NYT The results bolster evidence that virus-laden raw milk may be unsafe for humans. Unpasteurized milk contaminated with H5N1, the bird-flu virus that has turned up in dairy herds in nine states, has been found to rapidly make mice sick, affecting multiple organs, according to a study published on Friday. The findings are not entirely surprising: […]
Jun 5, 2024
Relative efficacy of masks and respirators as source control for viral aerosol shedding from people infected with SARS-CoV-2: a controlled human exhaled breath aerosol experimental study
The Lancet Background Tight-fitting masks and respirators, in manikin studies, improved aerosol source control compared to loose-fitting masks. Whether this translates to humans is not known. Methods We compared efficacy of masks (cloth and surgical) and respirators (KN95 and N95) as source control for SARS-CoV-2 viral load in exhaled breath of volunteers with COVID-19 using […]
Jun 5, 2024
Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Mammals
USDA There are many species that are potentially susceptible to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). In addition to birds and poultry, H5N1 viruses have been detected in some mammals (see list below). Infection may cause illness, including severe disease and death in some cases.
Jun 5, 2024
MIT researchers ordered and combined parts of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus. Did they expose a security flaw?
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Without proper guardrails in place, experts and governments worry, artificial intelligence (AI) could make it easier for more people to do harm with biology. Perhaps advanced chatbots could help devise a biological attack plan, or they could de-skill the process of making a pathogen to the point at which many could do it. […]
Jun 5, 2024
These are the bird flu questions that influenza and animal scientists desperately want answered
STAT en weeks after government scientists discovered that H5N1 bird flu was sickening dairy cattle in the United States, many of the mysteries surrounding what is happening on affected farms remain just that. Widespread reluctance on the part of farmers to allow scientists — government or otherwise — onto their premises to study spread of the […]
Jun 5, 2024
Why the New Human Case of Bird Flu Is So Alarming
NYT/Opinion The third human case of H5N1, reported on Thursday in a farmworker in Michigan who was experiencing respiratory symptoms, tells us that the current bird flu situation is at a dangerous inflection point. The virus is adapting in predictable ways that increase its risk to humans, reflecting our failure to contain it early on. The solutions […]
Jun 5, 2024
New Report Underscores the Seriousness of Long Covid
NYT The National Academies said the condition could involve up to 200 symptoms, make it difficult for people to work and last for months or years. One of the nation’s premier medical advisory organizations has weighed in on long Covid with a 265-page report that recognizes the seriousness and persistence of the condition for millions of Americans. […]
Jun 5, 2024
Two human cases of bird flu in Michigan
NPR Michigan (Podcast) The third known case of H5N1 bird flu in a human this year was confirmed late last week in Michigan. Two of the three cases were found in Michigan. All of the infections were found in people who work directly with livestock. In Michigan, both cases involved dairy cattle herds infected with H5N1. On […]
Jun 5, 2024
Bird flu detected in four Colorado dairy herds
Colorado News The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that dairy herds in nine states are infected with the H5N1 virus or bird flu. Four of those herds are in Colorado, where the first infection was detected in the northeastern part of the state in April. The USDA and the Colorado Department of Agriculture are […]
Jun 5, 2024
Finland to offer bird flu vaccine to select groups of people, a possible global first
STAT Finland is preparing to offer vaccines to people at risk of exposure to an avian influenza strain spreading among farmed and wild animals, health officials there said, potentially becoming the first country to take such a step as concerns about the threat the virus poses to people intensify. The vaccine campaign will be limited, […]
Jun 5, 2024