Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Study of H5N1 from an infected person
NIH A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak in U.S. dairy cattle began in early 2024. As of early November, infections have been confirmed in hundreds of cattle in 15 states. More than 40 human cases have also been reported. Most of the human cases were in farm workers who had mild respiratory symptoms […]
Nov 5, 2024
Bird flu virus found in Los Angeles County wastewater
Los Angeles Times Los Angeles County health officials said they have detected H5N1 bird flu virus in wastewater collected from the A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility in Carson. The viral “hit” was detected on Oct. 28 by WastewaterSCAN, an infectious disease monitoring network run by researchers at Stanford, Emory University and Verily, Alphabet Inc.’s life sciences organization. […]
Nov 5, 2024
Bird Flu Cases May be Spreading From Cat Owners to Their Pets
Newsweek Internal emails reveal Michigan health officials suspected that owners may have inadvertently spread bird flu to their household cats, raising new concerns about transmission patterns of the virus. “If we only could have gotten testing on the [REDACTED] household members, their clothing if possible, and their workplaces, we may have been able to prove human-to-cat transmission,” officials […]
Nov 5, 2024
Stopping mpox: wild meat markets are a root cause and must be made safer
The Conversation In many countries around the world, wild animals are sometimes killed for food, including monkeys, rats and squirrels. Wild meat makes significant contributions to nutrition in Africa and to satisfying food preferences in Asia. In Africa, the annual harvest of wild meat, estimated at between 1 million and 5 million metric tonnes, is substantial compared […]
Nov 5, 2024
Britain detects two more cases of new mpox variant
Reuters Britain has detected two more cases of the new mpox variant clade Ib in household contacts of the first case, the country’s health security agency (UKHSA) said on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three. The government agency that added the risk to the population remained low. The clade Ib variant is a new […]
Nov 5, 2024
Novel way to beat dengue: Deaf mosquitoes stop having sex
BBC Scientists believe they have found a quirky way to fight mosquito-spread diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and Zika – by turning male insects deaf so they struggle to mate and breed. Mosquitoes have sex while flying in mid-air and the males rely on hearing to chase down a female, based on her attractive […]
Nov 5, 2024
Cost of Mpox Shot Deters Americans at Risk, Critics Say
New York Times The epidemic in Africa continues to grow, prompting fears of another outbreak in the U.S. But the vaccine is no longer free, and vulnerable people are going without. A particularly deadly form of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, has led to more than 48,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths in Africa this […]
Nov 5, 2024
USDA will launch testing of bulk raw milk for bird flu contamination
Food Safety News The USDA is set to begin testing bulk raw milk for bird flu contamination in an effort to control the rapid spread of the virus. In addition to more than 100 million chickens having been infected, more than 400 dairy herds have also become infected with the virus, with more than 200 […]
Nov 5, 2024
CDC: Pertussis case reports 5 times higher than at this time last year
Washington Post More than five times as many pertussis cases had been reported as of mid-October compared with the same time last year, according to provisional numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pertussis, or whooping cough, is characterized by persistent, chronic fits of coughing followed by a “whoop” sound, and is sometimes called the “100-day […]
Nov 5, 2024
Bird flu detected in pigs – here’s why virologists are concerned
The Conversation H5N1 influenza has now been detected in pigs. This was something virologists had been worrying about ever since this highly pathogenic strain of bird flu started its rapid global spread in 2020. But why were we worrying specifically about pigs? And does this case – detected on a farm in Oregon on October 29 – […]
Nov 5, 2024