Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
More understanding needed on HPAI spread in wild birds
Watt Poultry The spread of avian influenza by wild birds is affected by migration pattern and species, however, more research is needed to understand the impact of the virus on wild bird populations. The nature of wild bird species and their behaviors should drive the poultry industry’s understanding of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses, a subtype of influenza […]
Jul 10, 2024
If You Test Positive for Covid, Can You Still Travel?
NYT With coronavirus cases on the rise, summer travelers are once again facing difficult questions. Here’s the latest travel guidance from health experts. As new coronavirus variants gain traction across the United States, summer travelers are facing a familiar and tiresome question: How will the ever-mutating virus affect travel plans? In light of updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease […]
Jul 10, 2024
If bird flu sparks a human pandemic, your past immunity could help
Nature Older populations might be more protected than younger ones because of exposure to ‘matched’ strains during childhood, but an H5N1 pandemic is likely to take a major toll all the same. As the H5N1 bird-flu virus spreads relentlessly in animals around the world, researchers seeking to understand how a human H5N1 pandemic might unfold have turned to a […]
Jul 10, 2024
Bird flu strains: Where are they spreading around the globe?
Reuters Avian influenza, or bird flu, has public health officials on alert after an unprecedented spread in dairy cows in the United States this year. Four dairy workers have also tested positive in the country. A particularly severe variant of the H5N1 strain has been spreading around the world in animals since 2020, causing lethal […]
Jul 10, 2024
‘Playing COVID roulette’: Some infected by FLiRT variants report their most unpleasant symptoms yet
LA Times As the summer travel season picks up, COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising in Los Angeles County — and some of those recently reinfected are finding their latest bout to be the worst yet. There are no signs at this point that the latest coronavirus variants are producing more severe illness, either nationally […]
Jul 9, 2024
CDC Reports Fourth Human Case of H5 Bird Flu Tied to Dairy Cow Outbreak
CDC A human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) (“H5 bird flu”) virus infection in the United States has been identified in the state of Colorado. This is the fourth case associated with an ongoing multistate outbreak of A(H5N1) in dairy cows and the first in Colorado. Previous cases were reported in Texas (1) and Michigan (2). As with […]
Jul 9, 2024
Colorado: Public Health Officials Confirm First Human Plague Case in Pueblo County
Colorado Department of Public Health The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment, in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, has confirmed a human case of plague in a Pueblo County resident. PDPHE continues to investigate a potential source and asks the public to take the precautions listed below:
Jul 9, 2024
Travelers beware: It’s a big year for dengue
NPR It’s already a record-breaking year for dengue infections in Central and South America, with almost 10 million cases diagnosed so far. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of an increased risk of the mosquito-borne virus in the U.S., as summer weather and vacation travel heat up. This week, the CDC told health […]
Jul 3, 2024
COVID-19 emergency room visits, deaths are up. Should you be worried?
USA Today More people ended up in emergency rooms and died in recent weeks from COVID-19, federal health data showed. The information agencies collect, known as surveillance data, that tracks cases and the spread of COVID-19 has become limited. However, COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are indicators of the disease’s spread. The numbers for emergency room admissions and deaths are […]
Jul 3, 2024
3 Things to Know About FLiRT and LB.1, the New Coronavirus Strains
Yale Medicine The good news is that in the early spring of 2024, COVID-19 cases were down, with far fewer infections and hospitalizations than were seen in the previous winter. But SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID, is still mutating, raising concerns about a potential wave of infections this summer. In April, a group of new virus […]
Jul 3, 2024