Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Under Pressure, CDC Unraveled This Mysterious Outbreak
MedPageToday We know what Legionella is thanks to an intense CDC investigation 50 years ago. Summer brings regular outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease — including an ongoing one in New York City that has killed five peopleopens in a new tab or window — but nearly 50 years ago, the bacterium that causes the disease was unknown to mankind. It […]
Aug 20, 2025
Dangerous tick-borne virus causes brain damage in vulnerable young patient
Fox Newborn baby fights for life after contracting Powassan virus. A 5-week-old baby in Boston is fighting for her life after a tick bite. The baby, Lily Sisco, was bitten while on a walk with her family on Martha’s Vineyard, her mother, Tiffany Sisco, told local news outlets. After returning from the walk, Sisco told […]
Aug 13, 2025
Rare exotic tick species identified in Connecticut
Yale Ticks likely hitchhiked across continents on human travelers, experts say. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) reports that it has identified four nonnative exotic tick species in Connecticut in recent years, with the blood-feeding parasites and disease vectors hitching a ride on unknowing travelers returning to the state. Although the exotic ticks found on […]
Aug 13, 2025
R.S.V. Season Is Approaching. Here’s How to Protect Yourself.
NYT Doctors recommend that eligible people get vaccinated in late summer or early fall so antibodies can kick in before cases spread. Respiratory syncytial virus, known as R.S.V., is one of the world’s most common respiratory illnesses and the leading reason infants go to the hospital in the United States. It infects roughly 64 million people around […]
Aug 13, 2025
Gene Editing and Fly Factories: The Fight Against a Flesh-Eating Pest
NYT The American and Mexican governments are exploring “all options” to battle a deadly parasite threatening cattle and wildlife. Judy McCullough, a rancher in Wyoming, still remembers the blood sprayed on the barn walls, the smell of burning tar and the fear of finding a maggot nestled in the broken hide of a cow. More […]
Aug 13, 2025
Bird Flu on Dairy Farms May Be Airborne After All
Scientific American Infectious bird flu virus was found in milk, on equipment, within wastewater and aerosolized in the air on California dairy farms. The H5N1 avian influenza virus can now be found not only in milk and on milking equipment but also in farm wastewater and in the air, say researchers who have been trying […]
Aug 13, 2025
Tracking HPAIV H5 through a geographic survey of Antarctic seabird populations
Nature An extensive survey for the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus (HPAIV) H5 in seabird species is reported here. It was conducted between December 2023 and January 2024, in thirteen breeding sites spanning from the northeastern sector of the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Sea, including the coasts of the Bellingshausen Sea and […]
Aug 13, 2025
Chikungunya – what you need to know
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine LSHTM expert Dr Doris Kemunto Nyamwaya discusses chikungunya virus, and the factors driving a rise in cases in several countries, including China Doris Kemunto Nyamwaya is an Assistant Professor and a Peter Piot Fellow for Global Health Innovation: Epidemic Preparedness and Response at the LSHTM Centre for Epidemic Preparedness […]
Aug 13, 2025
With Drones and ‘Elephant Mosquitoes,’ China Wages All-Out War on a Virus
NYT In a citywide campaign to curb a mosquito-borne virus, residents of Foshan face inspections and warnings for failure to comply. In the southern Chinese city of Foshan, officials are engaged in an all-out battle against chikungunya, a painful, mosquito-borne viral disease that could spread across the country. Soldiers wearing masks are fogging parks and […]
Aug 13, 2025
Hong Kong biotech firm races to develop chikungunya fever test for early detection
South China Morning Post Phase Scientific’s CEO says his team is working on rapid test that can yield results in 10 to 15 minutes by finger pricking. Hong Kong researchers are developing a rapid test for chikungunya fever that they hope will detect the mosquito-borne disease at an earlier stage, as part of the city’s […]
Aug 13, 2025