Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
COVID-19 has left the world less prepared for an influenza pandemic
Nature Prior to 2020, most pandemic preparedness efforts centered on influenza. Some countries, such as Aotearoa (New Zealand)1, were able to successfully adapt national pandemic influenza plans to the response to COVID-19, and global influenza surveillance systems were harnessed for SARS-CoV-2 (ref. 2). It is now critical that nations and the international community implement lessons learned […]
Apr 25, 2023
Get ready for the newest omicron COVID variant — Arcturus
(CBS News) The World Health Organization has elevated the fast-growing Omicron sublineage XBB.1.16 as a new variant of interest, and says it is outcompeting the previously dominant XBB.1.5 in many regions. XBB.1.16 is a descendant of the recombinant XBB, which is a mashup of two BA.2 sublineages. On social media, the variant has been nicknamed […]
Apr 25, 2023
Measles outbreak in American Samoa declared public health emergency
ABC News American Samoa has issued a public health emergency after an outbreak of measles has spread across the U.S. territory. As of Tuesday, there has been one laboratory-confirmed case among an 8-year-old and 31 suspected and/or probable cases of the highly infectious disease, according to the Department of Health. During a press briefing, Dr. Scott Anesi, the department’s […]
Apr 25, 2023
A rare and lethal virus is spreading in Europe, prompting hunt for tests and cures
European Commission As a deadly disease that people can catch from ticks moves across the continent, the EU is seeking new tests and a vaccine for the infection. A 62-year-old man was bitten by a tick while hiking through fields in Spain. Two days later he began to feel ill and was taken to a […]
Apr 25, 2023
More than 3,300 sea lions in Chile die of H5N1 bird flu
BNO News More than 3,300 sea lions in Chile have died of H5N1 bird flu, a six-fold increase in just 4 weeks, according to government estimates released on Wednesday. The outbreak is also affecting other marine animals, including dolphins, porpoises, sea otters and penguins. The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (SERNAPESCA) said at least 3,347 […]
Apr 25, 2023
What’s Going On With Covid Right Now?
NYT Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are lower than they’ve been in years. We asked experts how to think about personal risk — and what the future likely holds. Deaths from Covid-19 in the United States are the lowest they’ve been since March 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data tracker. Case rates […]
Apr 25, 2023
There’s a New Symptom the ‘Arcturus’ COVID Variant May be Causing
NBC Chicago News A new variant of COVID-19 starting to spread around the United States could be responsible for a new symptom that is unlike any we’ve seen with the virus so far. That variant, classified as XBB.1.16 by the World Health Organization, was designated as a “variant under monitoring” by the organization last month. […]
Apr 25, 2023
Toll in Equatorial Guinea Marburg outbreak rises to 12
GMA Network The death toll in Equatorial Guinea from an outbreak of Marburg virus, a cousin of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, has risen to 12, the health ministry said on Monday. The figures are a provisional toll based on lab-confirmed tests as of April 21, it said in an update, adding that 116 people were currently […]
Apr 25, 2023