Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
US reports first outbreak of H5N9 bird flu in poultry
Reuters The United States has reported its first outbreak of H5N9 bird flu in poultry on a duck farm in California, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday. U.S. authorities also detected the more common H5N1 strain on the same farm in Merced County, California, they said in a report to Paris-based […]
Jan 28, 2025
‘A Dangerous Virus’: Bird Flu Enters a New Phase
NYT A pandemic is not inevitable, scientists say. But the outbreak has passed worrisome milestones in recent weeks, including cattle that may have been reinfected. When bird flu first struck dairy cattle a year ago, it seemed possible that it might affect a few isolated herds and disappear as quickly as it had appeared. Instead, […]
Jan 28, 2025
COVID, Flu, and RSV: Which Virus Has the Worst Outcomes?
MedPageToday COVID-19 still worse, but differences narrowed in 2023-2024 season compared with prior yearSARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with more severe disease outcomes than influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during the 2022-2023 respiratory illness season, while differences were less striking during the 2023-2024 season, according to a retrospective cohort study of veterans. The 30-day risk […]
Jan 28, 2025
New case of more spreadable mpox detected
BBC A new case of Clade Ib mpox has been detected in East Sussex, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed. First detected in central Africa, this variant of the virus appears to transmit more easily between people. Symptoms include pus-filled lesions, fever, headaches and low energy. The individual is now under specialist care at Guy’s […]
Jan 22, 2025
Texas A&M, University of Minnesota receive $3.8M for Mpox treatment research
KRHD TX Researchers from Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the University of Minnesota have received a $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop antiviral treatments for mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. The disease, which causes rashes and blisters, remains a significant public health concern in […]
Jan 22, 2025
Covering an Mpox Outbreak in Congo: Mile After Mile of Muck
NYT A reporter made a long journey, much of it spent fighting through mud on a motorbike, to reach the epicenter of a viral outbreak in Africa. Last July, I read an article in a medical journal about a puzzling new strain of the mpox virus that had turned up in Kamituga, a scrappy mining […]
Jan 22, 2025
Marburg Virus Disease in Rwanda — Centering Both Evidence and Equity
NEJM The final months of 2024 brought several developments that will have far-reaching implications for global health delivery efforts in the years to come. Closest to home for those of us in the United States, the results of our federal elections raise the possibility of reduced investment in shared defenses against epidemics and the weakening […]
Jan 22, 2025
First U.S. H5N1 Death Sparks Urgency: Scientists Warn That Bird Flu Is Mutating Faster Than Expected
Science Daily Researchers at Texas Biomed have identified nine mutations in a strain of bird flu found in a person in Texas. Bad news: This strain shows an increased ability to cause disease and is more effective at replicating in the brain. Good news: Current approved antiviral treatments remain effective against this strain. Researchers at […]
Jan 22, 2025
COVID-19: It has been five years since the first case in America. What’s it like today?
USA Today Five years ago Monday, someone was identified with COVID-19 for the first time on American soil. In the years since, 1.2 million Americans have died from the virus, and more than 7 million worldwide. On Jan. 20, 2020, laboratory tests confirmed that man in his 30s who had recently returned from Wuhan, China, was infected […]
Jan 22, 2025
Bird flu found in a second commercial flock, Georgia agriculture officials say
Atlanta News A second commercial case of avian influenza, or the “bird flu,” has been confirmed in northeast Georgia, according to the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The disease was found in a commercial flock in Elbert County on Wednesday, the department said. That’s the same county the first case was found in last Friday. “This […]
Jan 22, 2025