Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
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
Over 100,000 birds euthanized at Long Island farm to contain bird flu outbreak
Fox NY Continue reading
Jan 22, 2025
Tanzania Confirms New Outbreak Of Marburg Virus
NDTV One “confirmed case of Marburg virus marks the second outbreak” in Tanzania since 2023, the president told a press briefing broadcast. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan confirmed on Monday that there was a new outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the East African country. One “confirmed case of Marburg virus marks the second […]
Jan 22, 2025
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Detected in New London County Backyard Flock
CT Dept of Ag Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) advises that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1, or bird flu, was confirmed in a backyard flock located in New London County on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. The backyard flock, consisting of chickens, ducks, and peacocks, were family pets, not commercial poultry, and had close […]
Jan 22, 2025
Respiratory virus activity remains ‘high’ in US and will ‘continue for several more weeks’: CDC
ABC News Respiratory viruses are continuing to spread across the United States, sickening millions of Americans. Overall respiratory illness activity — including flu, COVID-19 and RSV — continues to be listed as “high” nationwide and is causing people to seek health care “at a high level,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of […]
Jan 22, 2025
‘Bird flu’ outbreak shutters Long Island’s last duck farm, as culling of 99,000 birds is underway
Riverhead Local An outbreak of avian influenza at Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue has forced the farm to cease operations and begin to euthanize its entire flock, jeopardizing the future of Long Island’s last remaining duck farm. The presence of the virus, which is highly contagious and deadly among domestic poultry, was confirmed by lab […]
Jan 22, 2025