Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
NIH study to pinpoint long Covid diagnosis comes up short
NBC Researchers pored over lab results from more than 10,000 patients from across the U.S. but couldn’t find differences between patients with and without long Covid. Long Covid continues to evade a clear diagnostic test, researchers reported in a study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings are part of the National Institute of […]
Aug 13, 2024
Mosquito season is getting longer, which could lead to more disease. How one city is preparing.
CBS News A warmer climate means mosquito season is getting longer, prompting not only an increase in the pesky insects but also greater potential for them to spread diseases like West Nile virus. To help reduce the risk In New York City, expert “insect hunters” track the summer pests among the trees and marshes of parks that residents use to […]
Aug 13, 2024
CDC says COVID is at ‘very high’ activity levels in some US states: See latest data
USA Today Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that over half of the United States have reported “very high” levels of COVID-19 activity. Using wastewater or sewage, the CDC tests the water to see if there are any traces of an infectious disease within a community, the government agency says. Data collected on […]
Aug 13, 2024
Mpox Declared A Public Health Emergency In Africa: Why That’s A Concern For Other Nations
Forbes Due to the alarming surge in cases of mpox (formerly referred to as monkeypox), the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the disease a public health emergency on Tuesday. There have already been 17,500 mpox cases and 460 deaths in Africa in 2024, more than were recorded all of last year. The […]
Aug 13, 2024
USDA to take ‘additional step’ in testing beef from former dairy cattle for bird flu
Iowa Capital Dispatch The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to embark on a year-long study beginning next month that will test samples for evidence of highly pathogenic avian influenza from former dairy cattle moved into meat production. Emilio Esteban, the undersecretary for food safety at the USDA, told reporters on a call Tuesday the new […]
Aug 13, 2024
UN health agency convening experts meeting to decide if mpox outbreak in Africa is global emergency
Washington Post The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday he will convene an expert group to determine if the increasing spread of the mpox virus in Africa warrants being declared a global emergency. At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that given the increasing spread of mpox cases […]
Aug 7, 2024
On front lines of bird flu: dead chickens, biohazard suits and shrugs
USA Today The federal scientists in biohazard suits outside a massive ‒ but virtually deserted ‒ chicken farm don’t need to say a word to indicate that something is very wrong. On a normal day, the farm’s driveway would be filled with trucks, some arriving with feed and others departing with cases and cartons of […]
Aug 7, 2024
India alert after boy dies from Nipah virus in Kerala
BBC Health authorities in India’s Kerala state have issued an alert after a 14-year-old boy died of the Nipah virus. According to the state’s health minister, an additional 60 people have been identified as being in the high-risk category of having the disease. Kerala Health Minister Veena George said the boy was from the town […]
Aug 7, 2024
Portugal: Bird flu found in seagulls in Aveiro, Algarve
Portugal Resident With many saying that the developed world is being prepped for a new pandemic ‘and it is probably going to be bird flu’, bird flu has been detected in seagulls in the districts of Aveiro and Faro – but Portugal remains free of this disease in poultry. So say national veterinary authorities, the DGAV, which […]
Aug 7, 2024
Animal apocalypse: Deadly bird flu infects hundreds of species pole-to-pole
Mongabay Brown skuas and south polar skuas, two gull-like species that nest in Antarctica, are sometimes called the “pirates of the Southern seas.” These migratory seabirds are fierce, competitive predators that hunt or scavenge anything, from eggs and adult birds to seafood, mammals or garbage. “They’re really tough animals — and they’re dying,” says Antonio […]
Aug 7, 2024