Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Bird flu outbreak more virulent than ever recorded – study
JP While the viruses’ risk to humans remains low, the researchers noted only a few amino acid changes are needed for that to change. The ongoing outbreak of avian influenza, which began in late 2021 in Europe and the Americas, has been marked by rapid genetic changes and highly increased virulence in both birds and mammals, […]
Jun 6, 2023
Kyrgyzstan registers 559 cases of measles
AKI Express Event International health officials have reported elevated measles activity across multiple regions in Kyrgyzstan, with an additional 207 measles cases reported May 20-31, bringing the total case count to 559 cases since Jan. 1. This is compared to the 23 cases of measles reported in the country for 2022. The Osh region (386 […]
Jun 6, 2023
Lessons From the Tuberculosis Patient on the Lam
MedPage Today We can learn from the case now that she’s receiving treatment. Over the last few months, a woman from Tacoma, Washington has been widely featured in local and national media including the New York Times, for refusing to take medication for active tuberculosis (TB). In February 2023, a judge issued a civil warrant for her arrest. In […]
Jun 6, 2023
COVID infections in state Senate prompt CT lawmakers to make changes
CT Insider With less than two weeks before the General Assembly’s statutory deadline, a new round of COVID infections in the state Senate has prompted legislative leaders to order mandatory masking for staff, elected officials and the public on the third floor of the State Capitol building as well as the fourth floor Senate galleries. […]
May 30, 2023
Mpox Outbreak Risk Remains in 2023
Precision Vaccinations The U.S. CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Podcast Briefing, published today, offers an overview of the latest scientific information regarding mpox vaccinations. This podcast discusses three MMWR reports as of the week of May 15, 2023. First, although the number of mpox cases has decreased since the peak of the U.S. outbreak in August 2022, the […]
May 30, 2023
Senegal confirms 2nd Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) case
Outbreak News Today The first case was confirmed on April 21 in a 35-year-old male patient. He was a butcher residing in Fadia city, Guédiawaye district, Dakar region. The date of onset of symptoms was 10 April with fever and flu-like syndrome. Samples were collected on 20 April for suspected viral hemorrhagic fever after he […]
May 30, 2023
Oldest evidence of plague in Britain is over 4,000 years old
UK Natural History Museum The plague was already circulating in Britain thousands of years before the Black Death. New research reveals that Yersinia pestis was widespread across Europe during the Bronze Age, with multiple strains circulating across the continent. The earliest evidence of the plague in Britain has been discovered. Researchers investigating Bronze Age human remains found […]
May 30, 2023
Genetic change increased bird flu severity during U.S. spread
NewsWise St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists discovered how the current epizootic H5N1 avian influenza virus (bird flu) gained new genes and greater virulence as it spread west. Researchers showed that the avian virus could severely infect the brains of mammalian research models, a notable departure from previous related strains of the virus. The researchers […]
May 30, 2023
Inside the Troubled Early Days of Guinea’s Ebola Response
PBS Why wasn’t the largest Ebola outbreak on record, which has now killed more than 10,000 people, stopped before it was too late? That’s the question at the heart of Outbreak, a FRONTLINE investigation from journalist and filmmaker Dan Edge that premieres tonight. In vivid, comprehensive detail, the film traces Ebola’s spread across West Africa, uncovering a string […]
May 23, 2023