Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Bovine H5N1 influenza from infected worker transmissible and lethal in animal models
NIH A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus, isolated from the eye of a farm worker who became infected through contact with dairy cows, was lethal in mice and ferrets infected in a high-containment laboratory environment, according to a new study in Nature. The study investigators also found that the virus isolated from the worker, […]
Oct 29, 2024
California Becomes Hot Spot for Bird Flu Cases in Cows, Sparking Fears
Bloomberg Dairy farmers in California are grappling with a steadily advancing outbreak of avian flu in their herds – a problem few of them want to talk about publicly, but that none of them can afford to ignore. Bird flu has been reported in more than 170 herds in California since late August, with the […]
Oct 29, 2024
Dengue Fever cases reported in Florida after Hurricane Milton
Fox Cases of the mosquito-borne illness Dengue Fever are popping up in Florida’s Tampa Bay region weeks after Hurricane Milton left standing water across the state. Mosquitoes breed by laying eggs in or near standing water, and back-to-back hurricanes Milton and Helene left rivers flooded and standing water around west-central Florida. Since Milton’s Oct. 9 landfall, the Hillsborough County Department of Health has confirmed four cases […]
Oct 29, 2024
Tracking the U.S. bird flu outbreak has been hard. It’s about to get harder
STAT Health systems will likely struggle to differentiate the virus from flu-like illnesses If one can point to anything good about the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle — to be honest, there’s nothing good about this situation — it’s the timing. Transmission of the virus through U.S. dairy herds took off when last winter’s […]
Oct 29, 2024
Deadly bat disease spreads across California, raising wildlife concerns
KRCR The fungus responsible for white-nose syndrome, a lethal disease that has decimated bat populations across North America, has been detected in several California counties. White-nose syndrome, caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is particularly deadly to hibernating bats such as the little brown myotis, Yuma myotis and cave myotis. The disease damages bats’ wing membranes […]
Oct 29, 2024
A human isolate of bovine H5N1 is transmissible and lethal in animal models
Nature The outbreak of clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of the H5N1 subtype (HPAI H5N1) in dairy cows in the US has so far resulted in spillover infections of at least thirteen farm workers1-3, who presented with mild respiratory symptoms or conjunctivitis, and one individual with no known animal exposure who was hospitalized […]
Oct 29, 2024
Lassa Fever Suspected in Death of U.S. Traveler Returning from West Africa
CDC The CDC and the Iowa Department of Health are investigating a suspected case of Lassa fever, which was diagnosed today in an Iowa resident who returned to the United States from West Africa early this month. The patient was not sick while traveling so the risk to fellow airline passengers is extremely low. The […]
Oct 29, 2024
Rwanda sees no new infections or deaths due to Marburg virus for nearly a week
EuroNews The country’s health minister cited the absence of new infections and deaths in the past six days. There is no “community transmission” in the Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda, the country’s health minister said on Sunday. All positive cases have come from the list of known contacts of people with the virus, health minister Sabin Nsanzimana […]
Oct 23, 2024
Bird flu infects four in Washington state; CDC deploys team
The Hill Bird flu has possibly infected four agricultural workers in Washington state, according to the Washington State Department of Health. In a press release Sunday, the Washington State Department of Health said the “workers tested presumptively positive for avian influenza after working with infected poultry at a commercial egg farm in Franklin County.” Franklin County is […]
Oct 23, 2024
Bird flu infects flock of 800,000 poultry in southeast Washington
Washington State Standard Bird flu has infected a commercial flock of about 800,000 fowl at an egg farm in southeast Washington, the state’s Department of Agriculture said this week. It’s the first detection in Washington this year of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial poultry operation and is one of about four dozen known […]
Oct 22, 2024