Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
World’s Failure to Wipe Out Covid Bodes Badly for Next Pandemic
(Bloomberg) Virus elimination has fallen from grace, leaving experts divided on how best to contain infectious diseases. For much of the past century, a strategy known as elimination was the gold standard for dealing with deadly new viruses. But China’s abrupt reversal of its Covid Zero policy, which took it to an extreme, has cast doubts over […]
Feb 21, 2023
Bird flu kills sea lions and thousands of pelicans in Peru’s protected areas
(Reuters) Bird flu has killed tens of thousands of birds, mostly pelicans, and at least 716 sea lions in protected areas across Peru, the authorities said, as the H5N1 strain spreads throughout the region. Peru recorded its first case of the virus in November in birds in the north of the country. Since then it […]
Feb 21, 2023
COVID-19 Immunity: Catching a Disease to Prevent a Disease?
(Infection Control Today) Catching COVID-19 to prevent a more severe case is not a good strategy, says Kevin Kavanagh, MD. I had to stop and read the Seattle Times news article “UW study: Catching COVID gives protection from its worst effects.” The title appears to advocate catching a dangerous virus so you will not have to worry […]
Feb 21, 2023
Unprecedented avian flu outbreak continues to wreak havoc in Canadian flocks and around the world
(Globe and Mail) An unprecedented avian flu outbreakthat has wreaked havoc on flocks around the world has forced the cull of millions of birds in Canada, with the federal government paying out tens of millions of dollars in compensation. There have been about 7.2 million domestic birds affected by H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, […]
Feb 21, 2023
Case studies expose deadly risk of mpox to people with untreated HIV
(Science) Analysis of hundreds of mpox patients suggests it is “a different disease” in those with compromised immune systems In June 2022, a young man in his 30s severely sick with mpox, the viral disease formerly known as monkeypox, was admitted to the Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Health Sciences and Nutrition hospital in Mexico […]
Feb 21, 2023
Seventh Ecuador layer flock hit by avian influenza
(Watt Poultry) Four new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Ecuador, including one commercial egg laying operation, are identified in a new report from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). In the hamlet of Zumbalica, a commercial layer flock had been experiencing high mortalities, with 9,050 hens in a flock of nearly 17,000 had […]
Feb 21, 2023
This week, Dr. Joseph Fauver, Assistant Professor at UNMC’s College of Public Health provides us with SARS-CoV-2 updates and informs us of the accelerated evolution of Covid-19 in free-ranging white tailed deer.
Feb 21, 2023
How scientists are protecting themselves from COVID-19
(The Age) I spent the past couple of days reporting on federal parliament’s long COVID inquiry. Amid the discussion of science and policy and just how we are going to care for all these sick people, one small detail caught my eye: a box sitting on the desk in front of Burnet Institute director Professor Brendan […]
Feb 21, 2023
Why a bird flu outbreak at a mink farm is reigniting public health concerns
(PBS Newshour) A recent bird flu outbreak at a mink farm in Spain has reignited worries about the virus spreading more broadly to people. Scientists have been keeping tabs on this bird flu virus since the 1950s, though it wasn’t deemed a threat to people until a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong among visitors to […]
Feb 19, 2023
An ICU Doctor on How This COVID Wave Is Different
(The Atlantic) It’s hard to tell from the data who’s still getting hospitalized with COVID. One frontline worker shares her observations. Last week, 3,171 COVID deaths were reported in the United States. In the past seven days, an average of 13 COVID deaths were reported each day in Los Angeles County, California, the country’s most populous county. […]
Feb 19, 2023