Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Weekly Update by GCHS Dr. Lawler
GCHS This week Dr. Lawler provides us with information on the new JN.1 COVID-19 strain, along with a quick update on Biobot’s wastewater data.
Nov 1, 2023
Nipah Virus Outbreak Renews Calls to Protect Bat Roosts
Reuters The deadly Nipah bat virus killed two people and put hundreds more in quarantine recently in Kerala, India. The outbreak there — the fourth in five years — shows why many world health leaders want a planned global health treaty to include strong measures to prevent viruses from jumping from animals to humans. MARUTHONKARA, […]
Nov 1, 2023
Dengue rates drop after release of modified mosquitoes in Colombia
Nature Largest-ever deployment of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes yields ‘encouraging’ results in three densely populated cities. Three cities in Colombia saw a dramatic fall in the incidence of dengue in the years following the introduction of mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia, a bacterium that prevents the insect from transmitting viruses. In neighbourhoods where the Wolbachia mosquitoes were well established, dengue incidence dropped by […]
Nov 1, 2023
A chikungunya vaccine is nearing approval. Who will get it?
Science U.S. travelers at risk of getting the disease are first in line. The first vaccine against the mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya will likely come to market next month. With the debilitating disease now afflicting more than half the countries in the world and threatening to spread further, the imminent U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]
Nov 1, 2023
It’s Covid Season. What Are the New Rules for Staying Safe?
NYT A primer on how to minimize your risk and know when you’re in the clear after an exposure. We want to be done with Covid. But the virus isn’t done with us. While cases are not as high as they were at the end of this summer, newer variants are spreading, and experts predict that the patterns often […]
Oct 31, 2023
Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Monitoring Project
SCAR Avian Influenza is a highly contagious viral disease, that comprises the avian strains of the influenza A virus, which comprises both low pathogenicity (little to no disease) and high pathogenicity strains (causes high levels of morbidity and mortality in poultry and wild birds). Since 2021, a highly pathogenicity strain of avian influenza known as […]
Oct 31, 2023
What to Know About the New Covid Variants
New York Times HV.1 has overtaken EG.5 as the leading variant in the U.S. Two closely related variants, EG.5 and HV.1, now comprise roughly half of the Covid-19 cases in the United States. EG.5 became the dominant variant nationwide in August. At that time, the World Health Organization classified it as a “variant of interest,” meaning it […]
Oct 31, 2023
Neurotropic Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Red Foxes, Northern Germany
CDC In a 1-year survey of wild terrestrial predators in northern Germany, we found that 5 of 110 foxes were infected with contemporary avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses, forming a temporal cluster during January‒March 2023. Encephalitis and strong cerebral virus replication but only sporadic mammalian-adaptive viral polymerase basic 2 protein E627K mutations were seen. Since emergence […]
Oct 31, 2023
Three states report more avian flu outbreaks, pushing total past 60 million bird mark
CIDRAP Highly pathogenic avian flu outbreak struck poultry and commercial flocks in three more states, as the number of affected birds since the events began in early 2022 topped the 60 million mark, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said its latest updates. In Alabama, the virus was […]
Oct 31, 2023
Is Nipah Virus A New Outbreak To Watch Out For?
Modern Diplomacy Another virus is currently making headlines after the havoc the COVID-19 virus has brought — the Nipah virus or NiV. While it’s not a recent pathogen, its emergence has caused fear and apprehension among the masses still recovering from the recent pandemic. If you’re one of those wondering about the scale of a […]
Oct 24, 2023
