Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Why a bird flu case in Missouri is worrying experts
Washington Post/Opinion The drumbeat that bird flu is coming closer to humans is growing ever louder. Health officials must step up their game in tracking and preparing for this virus before it spreads further. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a case of the illness, also known as H5N1, in a Missouri resident. […]
Oct 8, 2024
Third Possible Human Case of Bird Flu in California
ContagionLive A third possible human case of bird flu has been identified in California, with the individual having had contact with infected dairy cattle in the Central Valley. Specimens are currently being sent to the CDC for confirmatory testing. Despite this new case, health officials maintain that the risk to the public remains low. Importantly, […]
Oct 8, 2024
How Rwanda Is Containing a Deadly Marburg Virus Outbreak
Scientific American Rwanda’s health minister says authorities are tracing every potential contact of the index case in the country’s outbreak of Marburg virus disease to reduce the risk of wider spread. Rwanda is battling its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a deadly illness related to Ebola. The disease does not have any approved vaccines […]
Oct 8, 2024
Lethal Marburg virus is on the rise in Rwanda: why scientists are worried
Nature There is no proven vaccine or treatment for infections with the virus, which is closely related to Ebola virus and causes similar symptoms. It is an outbreak of superlatives. One of the deadliest known viruses, Marburg, has emerged in Rwanda, killing 13 people and sickening 58 in one of the biggest Marburg outbreaks ever documented. […]
Oct 8, 2024
How long does COVID live on surfaces? Experts answer your coronavirus FAQs
USA Today Around the globe, a new strain of COVID-19 is spreading exponentially. The COVID-19 XEC variant is derived from Omicron strains KS.1.1 and KP.3.3, says Dr. Francesca Torriani, MD, an infectious disease specialist with UC San Diego Health. XEC was first detected in Europe earlier this year, and it’s now reached the US. “We expect this could become the […]
Oct 8, 2024
Contagious, deadly rabbit disease detected in WA
Fox The state veterinarian’s office at the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has confirmed the presence of a lethal rabbit virus, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus type 2 (RHDV2), in rabbits found on Lopez and Orcas Islands. Highly contagious among rabbits, RHDV2 has been identified as the cause of death in several cases after tests conducted by the Washington […]
Oct 8, 2024
The end of smallpox was … the beginning for mpox
NPR It all started with an unremarkable trip to grandma’s house in 1970. But two days into the visit, something went terribly wrong. The 9-month-old grandson fell ill. First, a fever. Then, a nasty rash. Alarmed doctors suspected smallpox but, instead, they soon discovered something even more bewildering: The first-known human case of monkeypox, now called […]
Oct 8, 2024
Q&A: How California, now an epicenter for bird flu in dairy cattle, is monitoring the virus
STAT The state has quickly vaulted ahead of others in confirmed infections among herds. From the earliest days of the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle, experts watching the evolving situation have worried about California. The Golden State has the country’s largest concentration of dairy farms, roughly 1,100 herds. The concern has been if […]
Oct 8, 2024
As bird flu outbreak expands in California, dairy farms report it’s worse than they expected
CNN A third farmworker has tested positive for bird flu in California, according to the state’s health department. If confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this would be the 17th human case of H5N1 flu in the US since March, when the virus was first detected in cows. It comes as farmers […]
Oct 8, 2024
Anthony Fauci: A Mosquito in My Backyard Made Me the Sickest I’ve Ever Been
NYT/Opinion After I spent more than 50 years chasing and fighting viruses, one fought back and nearly took me down. I speak of the West Nile virus, delivered by the deadliest animal on the planet: the mosquito. I got infected not during any of my international trips over the years but most likely while I […]
Oct 8, 2024