Author: Claudinne Miller
Could the Next Pandemic Start at the County Fair?
New York Times Since 2011, there have been more human swine flu cases reported in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Most have occurred at farm-animal showcases. It was showtime at the youth swine exhibition, and the pig barn was bustling. The competitors, ages 3 to 21, were practicing their walks for […]
Aug 1, 2023
Has COVID’s Patient Zero Finally Been Named?
The Atlantic A major revelation about researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology emerged this week. We still can’t say we’re any closer to the truth. The lab-leak theory of COVID’s origin has always been a little squirrelly. If SARS-CoV-2 really did begin infecting humans in a research setting, the evidence that got left behind […]
Aug 1, 2023
One More COVID Summer?
The Atlantic A mid-year wave might be brewing for the fourth year in a row. Will it always be like this? Since the pandemic’s earliest days, epidemiologists have been waiting for the coronavirus to finally snap out of its pan-season spree. No more spring waves like the first to hit the United States in 2020, no more […]
Aug 1, 2023
Pfizer 2Q numbers tumble and COVID-19 vaccine, treatment sales dry up
Washington Post Crumbling COVID-19 vaccine and treatment sales chopped Pfizer’s second-quarter earnings, but both the drugmaker and Wall Street expect a rebound in the back half of 2023. Pfizer recorded no U.S. sales of its treatment, Paxlovid, in the recently completed quarter, as the company shifts to selling the pills on the commercial market after contracting […]
Aug 1, 2023
Scientists woke up a 46,000-year-old roundworm from Siberian permafrost
Washington Post A female microscopic roundworm that spent the last 46,000 years in suspended animation deep in the Siberian permafrost was revived and started having babies in a laboratory dish. By sequencing the genome of this Rip Van Winkle roundworm, scientists revealed it to be a new species of nematode, which is described in a […]
Aug 1, 2023
Doctors who put lives at risk with covid misinformation rarely punished
Washington Post A Wisconsin doctor in 2021 prescribed ivermectin, typically used to treat parasitic infections, to two covid-19 patients who later died of the disease. He was fined less than $4,000 — and was free to continue practicing. A Massachusetts doctor has continued practicing without restriction despite being under investigation for more than a year over allegations of […]
Aug 1, 2023
NIH launches trials for long-COVID treatments: what scientists think
Nature World’s largest study of long COVID will evaluate potential therapies for brain fog, sleep disruption and more. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced yesterday that it will launch its first trials to test the safety and efficacy of treatments against long COVID. These trials will focus on therapies aimed at some of […]
Aug 1, 2023
Northern Ireland: First positive cases of mammals with bird flu confirmed
Belfast News Positive cases of bird flu have been found in two fox cubs, as well as in wild birds in Portrush, Co Antrim. The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has confirmed the positive results for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or bird flu. It is the first time mammals have been confirmed […]
Aug 1, 2023
Finland orders cull of 50,000 mink and foxes due to bird flu
Reuters The Finnish food authority said on Tuesday it has ordered 50,000 farmed mink and foxes to be culled at three fur farms hit by bird flu infections as mink can host the virus, increasing the chance of it mutating and affecting humans. Finland and Norway are facing record outbreaks of the H5N1 virus strain this year. […]
Aug 1, 2023
The CDC sees signs of a late summer COVID wave
NPR Yet another summer COVID-19 wave may have started in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “After roughly six, seven months of steady declines, things are starting to tick back up again,” Dr. Brendan Jackson, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, tells NPR. The amount of coronavirus being detected in wastewater, the […]
Aug 1, 2023