Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
United States: ‘Never seen anything like this’: Fungal outbreak infects over 90 workers at Michigan paper mill
USA Today More than 90 employees at an Upper Peninsula paper mill in Michigan are believed infected with a fungus found in soil and decaying wood, with about a dozen requiring hospitalization. Investigation of a blastomycosis outbreak at the Billerud paper mill in Escanaba is ongoing and involves local, state, and federal health and occupational safety officials. The […]
Apr 11, 2023
Marburg Virus: Diagnostic Testing, Packaging, and Shipping
NETEC When To Test for Marburg Virus Disease In the early stages, Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) can be difficult to diagnose based on signs and symptoms alone. Diagnostic testing can confirm infection within a few days of symptom onset. However, handling and transporting specimens from suspected MVD patients requires special precautions. If your facility has a patient […]
Apr 11, 2023
‘Flesh-eating’ bacteria that kills almost one in five infected spreading up east US coast
MSN News A rare ‘flesh-eating’ bacterium that kills almost one in five infected is spreading up the east coast of the US due to warming waters. Vibrio vulnificus is an ‘opportunistic bacterial pathogen’ found in coastal waters. Exposure to the bacteria through skin lesions can cause necrotising fasciitis, where tissue around the wound dies, requiring urgent removal […]
Apr 11, 2023
Chile: 32 specimens of marine animals confirmed with HPAI H5N1
Chile Govt Website (MACHINE TRANSLATED) There are already 2,740 specimens of common sea lions, Humboldt penguins, chungungos and 1 porpoise, which have stranded dead on the coasts of our country during the first quarter of 2023, mainly in the north. The epidemiological situation of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) by H5 subtype of Eurasian lineage […]
Apr 11, 2023
COVID Update by Dr. Lawler
“Treatment with Paxlovid dramatically reduces the risk of post covid health consequences including hospitalization and death,” Dr. Lawler reviews two studies indicating treatment saves morbidity and mortality.
Apr 11, 2023
Gambia confirms bird flu
The Point The general public is hereby informed that High Pathogenicity Avian influenza (HPAI) type H5N1 has just been confirmed in wild birds in The Gambia. This followed a joint investigation conducted by the Department of Parks and Wild life Management (DPWM) of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources and the Department […]
Apr 11, 2023
‘Arcturus,’ a highly transmissible COVID variant eyed by the WHO, appears to have a new symptom. Here’s what you need to know
Fortune A new COVID variant the World Health Organization has its eye on seems to be causing a new symptom in children rarely caused by other Omicron spawn. XBB.1.16, dubbed “Arcturus” by variant trackers, is fueling a new surge of cases in India, at a time when reported cases are down in much of the rest […]
Apr 11, 2023
At Least 3 California Condors Die From Bird Flu in Arizona
NYT Exposure to the virus is expected to rise as condors, an endangered species, migrate north in the spring, the National Park Service said. At least three California condors in northern Arizona have died since last month from bird flu, which could spread and pose yet another threat to the endangered species, the National Park Service […]
Apr 11, 2023
Yes, COVID Is Still Deadlier Than the Flu
MedPageToday VA study finds 61% higher mortality rate in hospitalized cases this past winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 during the most recent flu season remained significantly more deadly than those resulting from influenza, but the gap appears to have narrowed substantially since earlier in the pandemic, according to findings from Veterans Affairs’ (VA) databases. Examining over […]
Apr 11, 2023