Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
The latest bird flu concern: county fairs
Axios The quintessential summer pastime of going to the county fair could carry some risk this year with the threat of bird flu hanging over livestock exhibits and throngs of visitors, experts say. Why it matters: The mingling of animals, people and equipment at 4-H competitions, milking demonstrations and petting farms creates the conditions for potential transmission to […]
Jul 31, 2024
Is New York Ready for Bird Flu?
NYT The state has stockpiled only one drug, which dates to the ’90s, to fight the disease if it spreads to the human population. One infectious disease expert says it could be an Achilles’ heel someday: New York’s plan for fighting bird flu, if it begins spreading among people, largely depends on one drug developed […]
Jul 31, 2024
Fauci Still Masks: Here’s When and Why
Medscape Video — Former NIAID director also discusses HIV and flu antivirals, his third COVID infection, and more. In this exclusive video interview, Jeremy Faust, MD, editor-in-chief of MedPage Today, talks to Anthony Fauci, MD, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), about his new memoir, On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in […]
Jul 30, 2024
Measles cases surge to triple last year’s — with 5 months to go
Fox News The United States’ rate of measles infections in 2024 is more than triple that of 2023, despite almost half the year still remaining. There have been 188 reported cases of measles in the U.S. this year, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated on Thursday. It’s a significant increase from last year, […]
Jul 30, 2024
CDC will offer seasonal flu shots to farmworkers to lower bird flu risk
STAT The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that it is funding a $5 million program to vaccinate livestock industry workers against seasonal flu in a bid to reduce the pandemic risk posed by the ongoing H5N1 bird flu outbreak in cattle. The voluntary program, which will be administered by state and local public health […]
Jul 30, 2024
New York’s Preparations for a Bird Flu Pandemic Rely on a Single Drug
NYT New York’s plan for confronting bird flu if it begins spreading among people relies heavily on a vast stockpile of flu treatment medicine. But experts worry the stockpile is missing a key tool. New York has only one type of flu antiviral drug, Tamiflu, which might prove less effective than hoped against a pandemic […]
Jul 30, 2024
Mortality Due to H5N1 Human Infections Could Decrease by Switching Receptor
Precision Vaccinations Avian influenza mortality might be due to a H5N1 virus pneumonia. The Lancet Infectious Disease recently published a Correspondence offering insights regarding the current influenza A(H5N1) outbreak in dairy cattle and poultry, raising concerns about increased risk for sustained human-to-human transmission. On July 24, 2024, these researchers wrote that avian influenza viruses’ increasing host […]
Jul 30, 2024
Dengue Fever Threatens to Gate-Crash the 2024 Summer Olympics
Wired Measles, bedbugs, and dengue have all been cited as concerns for tourists and athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with the tropical virus in particular forcing authorities into action. Every time the Olympics come around, it seems there’s a different disease stalking the event. At Rio 2016 it was Zika. At the postponed […]
Jul 30, 2024
COVID-19 Is Widespread In ‘Common Backyard Wildlife’ In US
Forbes A new study has determined that the COVID-19 virus is widespread amongst wildlife in the United States. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was recently detected in six common backyard species. Additionally, antibodies indicating prior exposure to the virus were found in five species. Depending upon the species, exposure rates ranged from 40-60%. The […]
Jul 30, 2024
Dengue Fever’s Worrisome Surge
MedPageToday Readers, sometimes I wish we could meet face to face and talk. If so, today I would ask: who here has dealt with the world’s most common mosquito-borne virusopens in a new tab or window and poster child for the 21st century’s explosion of epidemic, vector-borne blights? My guess? Some of you have seen travelers with […]
Jul 30, 2024