Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Minnesota reporting highest number of whooping cough cases in a decade
Minnesota Post Minnesota has reported 2,324 cases of whooping cough this year, the highest number since 2012. “Health officials expected the spike because the disease peaks every three to five years. Whooping cough cases are increasing across the country, signaling a return to more typical trends seen before a drop-off of many contagious illnesses during the […]
Dec 11, 2024
Investigation launched into Queensland lab breach, with vials of Hendra virus, lyssavirus and hantavirus missing
ABC News Australia Nearly 100 live samples of the deadly Hendra virus have been lost in a biosecurity bungle at a state-run Queensland laboratory. An investigation has been launched after it was revealed 323 virus samples went missing from Virology Laboratory in 2021 in a “major breach” of biosecurity protocol, Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced […]
Dec 11, 2024
H5 Avian Flu Detected at Wastewater Sampling Site in Hilo
State of Hawaii The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) State Laboratories Division has detected H5 avian influenza (bird flu) in a wastewater sample collected on Dec. 2 at the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant on Hawaiʻi Island. This is the first detection of bird flu on a neighbor island and indicates an H5 type of bird flu virus […]
Dec 11, 2024
Officials warn of bird flu amid child possibly infected after drinking raw milk in North Bay
NBC There are new health warnings about the growing number of bird flu cases in California and the latest is in Marin County, where health officials say they are investigating a possible new case linked to a child who drank raw milk. Raw milk been under the microscope for weeks in California. On Dec. 6, […]
Dec 11, 2024
Congo’s mpox crisis
Science For the second time in 2 years, a long-overlooked virus poses a global threat. Can it be contained? In late September 2023, a 33-year-old man who co-owned a bar in Kamituga, a remote mining city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), developed lesions on his genitals and a fever. He first sought […]
Dec 10, 2024
Replication Restriction of Influenza A(H5N1) Clade 2.3.4.4b Viruses by Human Immune Factor
CDC ABSTRACT We show that human myxovirus resistance protein 1 (MxA) suppresses replication of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses isolated from mammals in vitro and in MxA-transgenic mice. However, H5N1 can evade MxA restriction through replacement of individual viral polymerase complex components from a human-adapted MxA-resistant strain in vitro. Since 2022, clade 2.3.4.4b highly […]
Dec 10, 2024
Bird flu in California child linked to virus in dairy cows, CDC says
Washington Post There is no evidence the youngster was exposed to livestock or any infected animals, deepening the mystery about the spread of H5N1 bird flu. Federal disease trackers reported Tuesday that the first child diagnosed with bird flu in an ongoing U.S. outbreak was infected with a virus strain moving rapidly through dairy cattle, even though there is […]
Dec 10, 2024
The state of H5N1 avian influenza riskWhy hasn’t the bird flu pandemic started?
Science Some scientists examining mutations found in H5N1 viruses fear major outbreak is imminent but others say pathogen remains unpredictable If the world finds itself amid a flu pandemic in a few months, it won’t be a big surprise. Birds have been spreading a new clade of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, 2.3.4.4b, around the […]
Dec 10, 2024
What Happened to the Canadian Teen Who Became Critically Ill With H5N1 Bird Flu?
Medpage Today Public health investigation is closed, but officials haven’t provided patient updates. Canadian public health officials closed their investigation into the teenager who became critically ill with the H5N1 bird flu virus, with no source of infection identified. It’s not clear whether the teenager recovered or was released from the hospital. Andy Watson, director […]
Dec 10, 2024
California: Marin officials report possible bird flu case in child
Marin Independent A child who visited Marin County during Thanksgiving week is being tested for a possible infection of H5N1, the bird flu. Marin’s public health officer, Dr. Lisa Santora, said the child tested positive for influenza type A, a category that includes bird flu. The child had been visiting from out of state for […]
Dec 10, 2024