Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Malaria: Big city mosquitoes are a big problem — and now a big target
NPR Goats & Soda About a decade ago, a new kind of mosquito began showing up in African cities. Native to Asia, Anopheles stephensi prefers crowded urban environments over rural ones. That spelled trouble: These mosquitoes transmit malaria. It’s especially bad news for Africa where more than 93% of the world’s quarter-billion malaria cases were identified last year. “The […]
Dec 5, 2023
Avian flu outbreaks hit more commercial farms in 7 states
CIDRAP The steady pace of highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks at commercial poultry farms and in backyard flocks continues, with the virus striking 11 more commercial farms across seven states, according to updates over the past few days from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Affected premises include two broiler […]
Dec 5, 2023
Belgium reports bird flu outbreak on farm near French border
Retuers Belgium has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, on a poultry farm in the northwestern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday. The outbreak, which would be the first this season, was detected in Diksmuide, not far from France. It […]
Dec 5, 2023
Is It Too Late to Get a Flu Shot?
NYT Influenza season goes until spring, so getting the vaccine late can still give you some protection. In the United States, annual flu vaccine campaigns begin in early September, before temperatures start to cool down and the cycle of people catching and spreading virus commences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that most people get […]
Dec 5, 2023
What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection
Forbes Pirola, or BA.2.86, is the third most prevalent Covid strain in the U.S., and although there may be concerns the new monovalent vaccines—which protect against the XBB lineage that Pirola isn’t a part of—don’t offer protection against Pirola and its subvariants, drugmakers and the CDC are sure the vaccines offer defense. Pirola made up 8.8% of […]
Nov 29, 2023
COVID variant BA.2.86 triples in new CDC estimates
CBS News Nearly 1 in 10 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are from the BA.2.86 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Monday, nearly triple what the agency estimated the highly mutated variant’s prevalence was two weeks ago. Among the handful of regions with enough specimens reported from testing laboratories, BA.2.86’s prevalence is largest […]
Nov 28, 2023
Nearly 3 million birds euthanized in Iowa due to Avian Influenza
HIgh Plains Journal Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza continues to spread across the High Plains and the Midwest and Iowa has become a hotspot for this contagious poultry disease. There are now 15 reported outbreaks in commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks across the state. These avian flu cases have led to the euthanasia of nearly […]
Nov 28, 2023
France reports bird flu on turkey farm as disease spreads in Europe
Reuters France has detected an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu virus on a turkey farm in the northwest of the country, the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday, as a seasonal wave of infections spreads across Europe. The outbreak in the Brittany region, France’s first farm case this autumn, occurred near where an infected wild […]
Nov 28, 2023
Is the New Mpox ‘Outbreak’ Deadlier?
Medpage Today Three factors could explain the higher case fatality rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An outbreak* of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) has been detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the case fatality rate — the percent of detected cases that are fatal […]
Nov 28, 2023
Bird flu kills hundreds of flamingos in Argentina
BBC An outbreak of bird flu has killed 220 flamingos in north-western Argentina, officials have confirmed. The dead birds are of the James’s flamingo species (Phoenicoparrus jamesi), which lives at high altitudes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. The H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus currently spreading through South America can infect an entire […]
Nov 28, 2023
