Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Behind the Mission to Stop Viral Outbreaks Within 100 Days
Time Magazine here are at least two major viral outbreaks underway in the world right now: the Andes hantavirus outbreak that began on a cruise ship and now involves people from more than 20 countries, and the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which was only very recently announced but which has already killed 131 people and crossed […]
May 20, 2026
This U.S. doctor went to Congo to heal others. Then Ebola hit his hospital.
Washington Post An American missionary doctor who contracted Ebola may have gotten infected while performing surgery on a patient. Peter Stafford, a man of deep Christian faith, had been working as the only surgeon at a hospital serving a remote area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he began feeling sick Saturday. The […]
May 19, 2026
Nature: The outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19 of hantavirus is one that scientists studied carefully, so many researchers are turning to it for information about the virus.
Nature Recurrent Nipah virus infections in India reveal two distinct epidemiological patterns despite a shared bat reservoir. In Kerala, frequent spillover rarely progresses beyond small clusters due to surveillance and one health approaches, while in West Bengal, limited events have enabled healthcare-associated transmission, and enhanced surveillance has detected the recent 2026 outbreak. This contrast underscores […]
May 13, 2026
NPR: Argentina’s 2018-19 hantavirus outbreak is guiding the response to this one
NPR The outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19 of hantavirus is one that scientists studied carefully, so many researchers are turning to it for information about the virus. The outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19 of hantavirus is one that scientists studied carefully, so many researchers are turning to it for information about the virus.
May 13, 2026
ABC News: Doctor who helped ship take care of passengers with hantavirus is isolated in Nebraska medical unit
ABC An oncologist traveling on a cruise ship amid a hantavirus outbreak says he’s the lone American isolated at a special biocontainment unit in Nebraska. An oncologist traveling on the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak says he’s the lone American isolated at a special biocontainment unit in Nebraska. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld of Bend, […]
May 13, 2026
Contagion Live: A Glimpse Inside the Facilities Housing the Quarantined Cruise Ship Passengers
Contagion Live The University of Nebraska’s Mark Rupp, MD, weighs in on his institution’s facilities where passengers are being housed during the quarantine protocol, insights on how they are monitored, and their current medical conditions. As of this morning, there are now 11 people infected with the hantavirus (Andes species) from the cruise ship. The […]
May 13, 2026
CDC: Concurrent Detection of Swine-Origin Influenza A(H1N1) Virus in Pigs and Farmer, Switzerland
CDC Since the 2009 swine influenza pandemic, sporadic human infections with swine influenza A viruses (swIAVs) continue to occur, including rare instances of onward human-to-human transmission, highlighting the ongoing pandemic risk (1–4). Pigs are key reservoirs and mixing vessels for influenza A virus (IAV) evolution; transmission between humans and pigs is frequent and bidirectional (5,6). […]
May 13, 2026
AVMA: CDC confirms cat-to-human transmission of avian influenza
AVMA A public health investigation documented the transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI, more specifically avian influenza type A H5N1) from a domestic cat to a human, but health officials maintain that the risk remains low. Last spring, investigators with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) and Centers for Disease […]
May 13, 2026
The Conversation: Hantavirus is very different to COVID. Here’s why the ‘Andes virus’ won’t cause the next pandemic
The Conversation For many people, news of a virus outbreak on a cruise ship immediately brings back memories of COVID spreading when the Ruby Princess docked in Sydney in March 2020. Of the passengers and crew who disembarked, 575 had COVID. The virus then spread to the community. So it’s understandable people are concerned that passengers from […]
May 13, 2026
NYT: French Hantavirus Patient Is Critically Ill as Outbreak Reaches 11 Cases
NYT The woman, who was a passenger on the MV Hondius, was breathing with the help of an artificial lung, officials in Paris said. A French woman with hantavirus who had traveled on the MV Hondius cruise ship was critically ill on Wednesday, officials said, as the number of identified cases in the outbreak climbed to […]
May 13, 2026