Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
The latest on measles outbreak cases in the U.S.
Washington Post The United States is experiencing a large measles outbreak centered in West Texas. The first cases were reported in late January. Since then, the outbreak has spilled over to more states. Two unvaccinated and otherwise healthy school-aged children have died in Texas. An unvaccinated adult has died in New Mexico. Here’s a look at measles […]
Apr 23, 2025
Most Human H5 Bird Flu Cases in CA Had Exposure to Sick Cows
IDSE All but one case of people infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus in California have occurred in dairy workers who were exposed to sick cows, according to a new CDC report. The first human case of HPAI A(H5N1) virus in California was identified in September 2024. From Sept. 30 through Dec. 24, 2024, […]
Apr 23, 2025
Bird flu studies show variant from 2016 was one mutation away from binding to human receptors
Medical Express A variant of the bird flu virus, collected in 2016 and no longer in circulation, was just one mutation away from being able to bind to human receptors. This finding underscores that certain bird flu strains have the potential to cross over to humans and possibly trigger a pandemic. The variant currently circulating […]
Apr 23, 2025
Bird flu, feared as a possible pandemic, poses growing risk to people as pathogen spreads, scientists warn
CBS News Bird flu has been circling the globe for decades. So the discovery in 2024 that the deadly pathogen had jumped from a wild bird to a cow came as a shock to virus watchers. Now, in just over a year, the virus has ripped through America’s dairy herds and poultry flocks. It has […]
Apr 23, 2025
As bird flu hits cattle herds in U.S., scientists say these H5N1 factors worry them most
CBS News As the H5N1 bird flu virus mutates and rapidly spreads through American cattle herds — a first for the U.S. — doctors and veterinarians are fearful that if the virus is left unchecked, it could spiral into a possible pandemic Avian influenza is constantly changing. Every new infection increases the odds bird flu […]
Apr 23, 2025
Eight-year-old girl diagnosed with H5N1 avian flu accompanied by encephalitis
Down to Earth Second such case in Vietnam since 2004; the virus has impacted the central nervous system as against the known respiratory tract. Vietnam has reported its first case of bird flu in 2025 infecting an eight-year-old girl exhibiting encephalitis symptoms. In December 2024, the country reported an H5 infection in an 18-year-old man […]
Apr 23, 2025
We’re Releasing Millions Of Birds. The Ticks Are Thriving
Forbes Each summer in the U.K., up to 50 million pheasants are released into woods and fields for recreational shooting. At their seasonal peak, the biomass of these birds rivals that of all native U.K. breeding birds combined — an astonishing ecological intervention repeated year after year. The practice is legal, well-established and supports rural economies. But new evidence […]
Apr 23, 2025
Typhoid Is Rapidly Becoming Resistant to Antibiotics
Science Alert Typhoid fever might be rare in developed countries, but this ancient threat, thought to have been around for millennia, is still very much a danger in our modern world. According to research published in 2022, the bacterium that causes typhoid fever is evolving extensive drug resistance, and it’s rapidly replacing strains that aren’t resistant. Currently, antibiotics […]
Apr 23, 2025
Whooping cough cases surge as vaccine rates fall
Washington Post Whooping cough cases are soaring in the United States, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as the Trump administration’s cuts to federal health agencies and funding destabilize programs that monitor disease and promote vaccination. The U.S. has tallied 8,077 cases of whooping cough in 2025, compared with […]
Apr 23, 2025
Measles Surge in Southwest Is Now the Largest Single Outbreak Since 2000
NYT Growing case numbers suggest that the national total will surpass that seen during the last large outbreak in 2019. The spread of measles in the Southwest now constitutes the largest single outbreak since the United States declared the disease eliminated in 2000, federal scientists told state officials in a meeting on Monday. The New […]
Apr 23, 2025