Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Measles outbreak grows bigger in rural Texas, and officials expect more cases
NBC Out of the 58 new cases over the past three weeks, 13 people have been hospitalized. At least 58 new cases of measles have been reported across northwest Texas in recent weeks, state health officials said Tuesday, in a “highly contagious” outbreak that might be linked to lack of vaccination. A bulk of these new cases in […]
Feb 19, 2025
U.S. weighs destroying $500 million in stockpiled covid tests
Washington Post The government is reviewing proposals to shut down the program that ships free covid tests to American households and is considering destroying 160 million tests. The Trump administration has been evaluating the costs of destroying or disposing of tens of millions of coronavirus tests that would otherwise be provided free to Americans, according […]
Feb 18, 2025
USDA accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them
NBC The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that, over the weekend, it accidentally fired “several” agency employees who are working on the federal government’s response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak. “Although several positions supporting [bird flu efforts] were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and […]
Feb 18, 2025
Flu deaths may have surpassed COVID deaths nationwide for first time since start of pandemic, early CDC data suggests
CBS News For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, more people in the U.S. died of influenza than from COVID-19 in the week ending on Jan. 25, according to weekly figures published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the week ending on Jan. 25, nearly 1.7% of all deaths […]
Feb 18, 2025
As egg prices soar, Trump administration plans new strategy to fight bird flu
MSN With egg prices soaring, the Trump administration is planning a new strategy for fighting bird flu that stresses vaccinations and tighter biosecurity instead of killing off millions of chickens when the disease strikes a flock. The federal government will seek “better ways, with biosecurity and medication and so on” rather than the current standard practice of […]
Feb 18, 2025
Texas Measles Cases Are Up, and Now an Outbreak in New Mexico: What You Need to Know
MedPageToday State health officials say this is Texas’ largest outbreak in nearly 30 years. The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 58 cases as of Tuesday, and eight people in neighboring eastern New Mexico also have been diagnosed with measles. Public health officials in New Mexico have said they suspect some of the state’s […]
Feb 18, 2025
Texas measles cases are up, and New Mexico now has an outbreak. Here’s what you need to know
AP The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 58 cases as of Tuesday, and eight people in neighboring eastern New Mexico also have been diagnosed with measles. New Mexico health department spokesman Robert Nott said Tuesday that the agency hadn’t “identified any direct contact” between cases in its state and cases in Texas. Measles […]
Feb 18, 2025
How a bird flu pandemic could emerge
CBS News Video The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued conditional approval for a bird flu vaccine for use in chickens. There have been at least 68 confirmed cases of bird flu among humans since 2024, according to the CDC. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder joins to discuss the state of the virus […]
Feb 18, 2025
First Cows, Now Cats. Is Bird Flu Coming for Humans Next?
WSJ With so much H5N1 virus circulating across the U.S., scientists worry we are a few mutations away from a potential human pandemic. Bird flu is here to stay. The H5N1 avian influenza is proliferating among U.S. cows and there are now two strains circulating among mammals and birds. Though there are only 68 confirmed cases in […]
Feb 18, 2025
HPAI vaccine receives conditional approval from USDA
WATT Poultry Whether to implement a vaccination strategy against avian influenza in commercial poultry is a contentious issue in the U.S. An avian influenza killed vaccine for chickens manufactured by Zoetis received conditional approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) on February 14. A conditional license is valid for a finite […]
Feb 18, 2025