Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
What we do — and don’t yet — know about the malaria cases in the U.S.
NPR In the 1950s, the U.S. declared that it had wiped out malaria. As NPR reported a few years ago, this public health milestone was achieved “through the use of insecticides, drainage ditches and the incredible power of window screens.” This week, headlines trumpeted the “return” of malaria: four cases in Florida and one in Texas. So […]
Jul 5, 2023
20 Cats Confirmed with Bird Flu in Poland
Precision Vaccinations Poland’s Chief Veterinary Office recently confirmed 29 samples of avian influenza A(H5N1) were tested, 20 of which came from cats from Gdańsk, Gdynia, Poznań, Lublin, Pruszcz Gdański, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Bydgoszcz, Wrocław, the Rzeszów district and the vicinity of Zamość. As of June 30, 2023, Poland’s State Veterinary Institute in Puławy reported these infections. Previously, a team of scientists […]
Jul 5, 2023
Raw meat linked to H5N1 bird flu outbreak among cats
BNO News Raw meat consumed by one of the infected cats in Poland has tested positive for H5N1 bird flu, according to researchers, adding to growing signs that a food product is behind the unusual outbreak. At least 16 cats across Poland have died and tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, but health officials are […]
Jul 5, 2023
Brazil confirms bird flu in main poultry-producing state
Poultry World According to Brazil’s Official Veterinary Service, 2 new outbreaks have been confirmed in the country, this time in the state of Paraná, a state that accounts for 35% of Brazil’s poultry production. The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply updated the number of cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild […]
Jul 5, 2023
The doctor who warned the world of the mpox outbreak of 2022 is still worried
NPR A little over a year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic was still a public health emergency, a little-known virus came seemingly out of nowhere to add to the world’s worries – a virus known at the time as monkeypox. Monkeypox – since renamed mpox following criticisms that the name held misleading and racist connotations – went […]
Jul 5, 2023
National Guardsman identified as individual who tested positive for malaria
Texas Local News Christopher Shingler said he was among the troops stationed in Brownsville in May on a border security assignment prior to the end of Title 42. He was heavily bitten by bugs, including mosquitoes, and started experiencing symptoms within two weeks, Shingler said. “I started having fevers and vomiting, and that was the […]
Jul 5, 2023
Statement from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on CDC’s Historic Recommendation Allowing Older and Immunocompromised Adults to Receive the RSV Vaccine
HHS CDC Recommendation Follows the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) Recommendations for the Use of New GSK and Pfizer RSV Vaccines for People Ages 60 Years and Older Today, in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine for seniors over 60, U.S. Department of […]
Jul 5, 2023
A Rare Domestic Resurgence of Malaria Is Circulating in the US
Wired AT LEAST FOUR people in Florida and one in Texas have been diagnosed with malaria that they must have caught near where they live—because, according to health officials, none of them traveled outside the US or their own states. The very unusual discovery has left infectious disease specialists wondering: Who else might be ill, and will local […]
Jul 5, 2023
COVID Update
Dr. James Lawler reviews studies reinforcing lessons learned throughout the pandemic including air travel surveillance, variant trends, excess mortality, the role of children in household transmission, and more.
Jun 27, 2023
What Do We Know About the EU.1.1 COVID Variant?
MedPageToday It’s a descendant of XBB.1.5, but it “isn’t setting off any red flags for me,” expert says. The CDC is tracking a handful of new COVID variants, including the EU.1.1 variant, which now makes up an estimated 1.7% of U.S. COVID cases. EU.1.1 is an XBB sublineage related to the XBB.1.5 variant that currently accounts for […]
Jun 27, 2023