Author: Claudinne Miller
Brazil extends avian flu health emergency for 180 days
Reuters Brazil’s agriculture ministry has extended a national health emergency for another 180 days due to more detections of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus in wild birds, according to a statement on Tuesday. The highly infections virus has not yet reached commercial flocks, meaning Brazil’s status as an avian influenza-free country before the […]
Nov 7, 2023
Weekly Update by GCHS Dr. Lawler
GCHS This week Dr. Lawler provides us with information on the new JN.1 COVID-19 strain, along with a quick update on Biobot’s wastewater data.
Nov 1, 2023
Nipah Virus Outbreak Renews Calls to Protect Bat Roosts
Reuters The deadly Nipah bat virus killed two people and put hundreds more in quarantine recently in Kerala, India. The outbreak there — the fourth in five years — shows why many world health leaders want a planned global health treaty to include strong measures to prevent viruses from jumping from animals to humans. MARUTHONKARA, […]
Nov 1, 2023
Dengue rates drop after release of modified mosquitoes in Colombia
Nature Largest-ever deployment of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes yields ‘encouraging’ results in three densely populated cities. Three cities in Colombia saw a dramatic fall in the incidence of dengue in the years following the introduction of mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia, a bacterium that prevents the insect from transmitting viruses. In neighbourhoods where the Wolbachia mosquitoes were well established, dengue incidence dropped by […]
Nov 1, 2023
Moderna joins CEPI’s 100 Days Mission to advance pandemic preparedness
Fierce Biotech Moderna is shifting attention to the next pandemic, whatever it may be, in a new partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to condense vaccine development timelines down to 100 days. The famed biotech is the latest to join CEPI’s 100 Days Mission, which aims to strengthen pandemic preparedness and speed […]
Nov 1, 2023
The Viral Threat Almost No One Is Thinking About
The Atlantic Flu viruses and coronavirus started the last few pandemics. Could the next one be a paramyxovirus? Whether it begins next week, next year, or next decade, another pandemic is on its way. Researchers can’t predict precisely when or how the outbreak might begin. Some 1.6 million viruses are estimated to lurk in the world’s mammalian […]
Nov 1, 2023
What to Know About the JN.1 Variant
MedPageToday While the BA.2.86 or “Pirola” variant of SARS-CoV-2 never took off in the U.S., some researchers are now eyeing its descendant, JN.1, which may be more immune-evasive. JN.1 has yet to appear on the CDC’s variant proportions tracker, but it has started cropping up in samples in France, the U.K., and Portugal. The CDC warned in Augusto that […]
Nov 1, 2023
Children’s hospitals prepare for surge in admissions amid shortage of RSV drug
The Hill A supply shortage means a drug that can prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants won’t have a major immediate impact, children’s hospitals said, and they are preparing for a surge in admissions this respiratory disease season. “Widespread access [to the new antibody drug] will take time across many sectors of the pediatric […]
Nov 1, 2023
Paxlovid Probably Won’t Cut Your Odds for Long COVID: Study
HealthDay The antiviral drug Paxlovid is great at treating COVID-19 infections, but a new study casts doubt on its effectiveness at preventing symptoms associated with long COVID. Nearly 9,600 veterans given Paxlovid had about the same risk of most post-COVID side effects as vets not treated with the antiviral med, according to findings published Oct. […]
Nov 1, 2023
A chikungunya vaccine is nearing approval. Who will get it?
Science U.S. travelers at risk of getting the disease are first in line. The first vaccine against the mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya will likely come to market next month. With the debilitating disease now afflicting more than half the countries in the world and threatening to spread further, the imminent U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]
Nov 1, 2023
