UNMC_Acronym_Vert_sm_4c
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases

Chronic wasting disease feared in deaths of 2 hunters who ate deer meat

USA Today The recent report of two hunters who developed neurological diseases after eating infected deer meat has scientists concerned that ‘zombie deer disease’ could pass to humans as mad cow disease did. Two hunters who ate meat from deer known to have chronic wasting disease − or “zombie deer disease” − developed similar neurological conditions and died, raising […]

Apr 24, 2024

First measles case confirmed in West Virginia since 2009

WV News A patient of WVU Medicine in Monongalia County has tested positive for measles. WVU Medicine announced Monday that a patient tested positive after visiting an outpatient clinic last week and is recovering at their home. The U.S. has seen an uptick in measles cases in 2024, but this is the first case confirmed in West […]

Apr 24, 2024

Mpox cases rise in the U.S.

MSN The CDC is reporting an uptick in mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, cases across the United States. So far this year, they’ve reported almost 600 positive cases of mpox, which is nearly double the amount of cases reported in 2023. Dr. Wes Stubblefield with the Alabama Department of Public Health said mpox is a […]

Apr 16, 2024

4 Years In, a Sobering Look at Long COVID Progress

Medscape Four years ago in the spring of 2020, physicians and patients coined the term “long COVID” to describe a form of the viral infection from which recovery seemed impossible. (And the old nickname “long-haulers” seems so quaint now.) What started as a pandemic that killed nearly 3 million people globally in 2020 alone would turn into a […]

Apr 16, 2024

Nigeria: Accelerated research against Lassa fever, which killed 20 people in one week

Actual News Magazine Lassa fever looks a bit like Ebola fever, with fairly severe symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and bleeding. It can kill up to 20% of patients and becomes fatal 10 days after the first symptoms appear, especially if it is not treated. It is found in Africa, in Nigeria […]

Apr 16, 2024

Avian flu infects another commercial poultry farm in Michigan

MI Live As Michigan grapples with the bird flu spreading to cows, it has infected another commercial poultry farm. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced Tuesday, April 16 the highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected at a commercial facility in Newaygo County. This is the seventh time the deadly flu has infected […]

Apr 16, 2024

Upper Respiratory Tract Disease in a Dog Infected by a Highly Pathogenic Avian A/H5N1 Virus

Emerging Viral Zoonoses In summer 2023, during an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in cats in Poland, a 16-year-old dog was presented to the veterinary clinic with persistent, debilitating, dry cough, submandibular lymphadenomegaly, mild serous nasal discharge, and left apical heart murmur. A preliminary diagnosis of kennel cough was made and the treatment […]

Apr 16, 2024

Federal officials are tracking the outbreak of avian influenza in dairy cattle

NPR Audio at the link – Scientists are monitoring the spread of bird flu in dairy cattle and other mammals to see how the virus is changing. So far, there are no alarming signs that it poses a new risk to humans.

Apr 10, 2024

A Spiking Fever

Science Long neglected, Lassa fever is surging in West Africa. Researchers want to know why. Sitting on a bench outside the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) in Edo state in southwestern Nigeria in September 2023, Muhammed Luqman Dagana recounted his ordeal earlier in the year with Lassa fever, a deadly hemorrhagic disease of West Africa. […]

Apr 10, 2024

Bird flu detected in some birds found in New York City parks, green spaces

CBS News Bird flu has been detected in some birds found in New York City parks and green spaces. Health officials are growing more concerned about the disease and warn New Yorkers to keep their distance from wildlife. Philip Meade, a postdoctoral fellow at Icahn School of Medicine, says bird flu has been found in […]

Apr 9, 2024