Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Cold virus may set the stage for Long COVID
NIH Many infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, resolve within days or weeks. But a significant number of people have symptoms that linger for weeks, months, or even years. This is called postacute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)—commonly known as “Long COVID.” While several risk factors for PASC have been proposed, we still don’t […]
Sep 19, 2023
The Covid Bump
The New Yorker Call it the first wave of the endemic, a bona-fide covid bump. The statistics may be hard to parse—the United States stopped systematically collecting data on coronavirus cases months ago—but, almost certainly, growing numbers of Americans are coming down with covid. In recent weeks, Jill Biden went into isolation after testing positive, and John McEnroe […]
Sep 19, 2023
How common long COVID is may depend on how it’s defined
CIDRAP In Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Dutch scientists report that the definition of post-COVID condition (PCC, or long COVID) matters when estimating prevalence in a population. In people who had previously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the prevalence of long-term symptoms varied from 26.9% to 64.1%, depending on which of six different definitions was used, while in those who […]
Sep 19, 2023
Ecuador reports three birds dead from avian flu in Galapagos
Retuers Ecuador’s Galapagos National Park (PNG) on Tuesday said that three birds had died of avian flu, prompting officials to activate biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of the virus spreading across the archipelago. “Preliminarily, of the five specimens examined, three of them have tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza,” PNG said in a statement, […]
Sep 19, 2023
What to know about Nipah virus amid outbreak in India
ABC News India’s southern state of Kerala is currently facing an outbreak of the rare, but potentially serious Nipah virus with at least two deaths so far, according to local reports. Health officials have closed schools and offices in Kerala and hundreds of residents are being tested. Despite Nipah virus’s high fatality rate and no specific treatments […]
Sep 19, 2023
How evasive and transmissible is the newest omicron offshoot, BA.2.86, that causes COVID-19?
The Conversation 1. What is BA.2.86 and how is it related to earlier variants? BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, is a highly mutated new omicron sublineage of SARS-CoV-2 that was first detected in Denmark in July 2023. The World Health Organization announced that, as of Sept. 6, 2023, BA.2.86 has been detected in 11 countries. A variant is […]
Sep 12, 2023
‘Heart-breaking’ news as avian flu ravages seabird colonies at sites across Wales
WhalesOnline Avian flu has devastated seabird colonies at sites across Wales this summer, according to the National Trust. It said more than 7,000 seabirds had died of the disease at five of its sites across the UK in 2023. Only one of its sites was affected in 2022. In Wales, the worst-affected was in Anglesey where more […]
Sep 12, 2023
India: Nipah confirmed in 3 people in Kerala state
Outbreak News Today Health Minister Veena George says Pune Virology Institute informed that 3 people have been confirmed with Nipah virus in the state. Nipah virus has been confirmed in a 9-year-old who is under treatment in a private hospital in Kozhikode, 25-year-old mother’s brother and 40-year-old who died yesterday. In addition to this, the […]
Sep 12, 2023
HPAI Influenza Devastating Birds, Marine Mammals in Peru–Study Identifies Concerning Viral Mutations
Press Herald NIAID-funded researchers working in Peru have signaled concern about the deaths of birds and marine mammals from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that has been spreading globally. Historically, South America’s coastal ecosystems and poultry industry have been spared from HPAI outbreaks. “These viruses are rapidly accruing mutations, including mutations of concern, that warrant further […]
Sep 12, 2023
Why Florida is seeing the highest proportion of counties with ‘moderate’ COVID hospitalization rates
CBS News As COVID-19 hospitalizations rise across the country, Florida is seeing higher admissions levels than other states. As of Monday, 43 of Florida’s 67 counties reported moderate levels of weekly new hospital admissions for COVID-19 — a higher proportion than any other state in the U.S., data from the Centers for Disease Control and […]
Sep 12, 2023