Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Could bird flu still spark a pandemic?
Science Friday Bird flu has flown off the national news radar, with only scattered, local reports of dead birds in parks and poultry farms. Is it simply no longer a concern, or have cuts to federal science funding disrupted monitoring for this disease? Airborne pathogens expert Seema Lakdawala gives a flyover view on where bird […]
Mar 25, 2026
Missouri health department reports state’s first 2 cases of clade I mpox
KMBC News The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed two cases of clade I mpox in residents who recently traveled internationally. Clade I mpox, formerly referred to as “monkeypox,” has been spreading globally since 2024. It is different from the clade II mpox outbreak in 2022. Clade I mpox is “more likely to […]
Mar 25, 2026
Trinidad: Health Ministry urges caution as monkey dies from yellow fever
Trinidad Guardian The Ministry of Health has confirmed a case of yellow fever in a deceased Red Howler monkey following laboratory testing. It is assuring the public that there are currently no reported human infections. In a statement yesterday, the ministry explained that yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes, including Aedes […]
Mar 25, 2026
Has bird flu killed millions of chickens in Colorado?
Colorado Sun Poultry losses due to avian flu in 2024 alone drove up egg prices nationwide by 9%, a University of Arkansas study found. Avian flu outbreaks have led to the deaths of more than 11 million commercial chickens in Colorado since 2022. Federal officials usually require farmers to “depopulate” an entire flock if a […]
Mar 25, 2026
H5N1 in marine mammals is spreading: Research tallies over 50,000 seals and sea lions killed along South America’s coast
Phys.org When the H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus was discovered on a poultry farm in Asia in 1996, there was little indication that it would become so widespread and so destructive. Within 30 years, it reached every continental region except Oceania, infecting more than 400 million poultry, tens of thousands of elephant seals and […]
Mar 25, 2026
Four truths about covid that have become clouded over time
Washington Post In the early days, the virus posed a graver threat to people and the health care system, Trump embraced lockdowns he now blasts, and the benefits of vaccines were oversold. Unlike in a hurricane or war zone, much of covid’s toll happened out of public view, inside the crowded hospitals where people died […]
Mar 25, 2026
Kent meningitis outbreak: the latest on the bacterial strain at its centre
The Conversation A meningitis outbreak in Kent has been caused by a strain of bacteria that appears to be genetically distinct from anything scientists have seen before. Health officials are working urgently to understand what that means. As of March 23, 23 young people have been confirmed as cases or considered probable cases of invasive meningococcal […]
Mar 25, 2026
UK Meningitis Outbreak May Worsen, Health Security Agency Warns
Bloomberg The UK meningitis outbreak may worsen in coming weeks and months, with further contamination unrelated to the southeastern county of Kent where it first emerged. There is a risk that the epidemic will move from level 1, in which there is one known case cluster and a small number of cases elsewhere derive from […]
Mar 25, 2026
COVID-19’s Stalling Effect on Children’s Executive Function
Neuroscience.com By tracking over 3,100 children in Massachusetts from 2018 to 2023, researchers found that post-pandemic EF growth rates fell below developmentally typical norms across all socioeconomic groups. This “cognitive stalling” helps explain the widespread academic and behavioral challenges observed in classrooms since the pandemic’s onset, suggesting that children now require systemic support to regain […]
Mar 25, 2026
Uncovering the evolutionary limits of the COVID-19 virus
Oxford University Press A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution, indicates that while the COVID-19 virus has developed rapidly since 2019, it has done so within limited genetic channels. These genetic limits have remained unchanged. Despite scientists’ earlier fears about dramatic, rapid evolution of the COVID-19 virus, it appears recent changes in the virus were relatively […]
Mar 25, 2026