Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
New bird flu infections: Here’s what you need to know
MIT Tech Review New cases in cows and a dairy worker in Texas highlight the need for vigilance and better strategies to protect animals and people. A dairy worker in Texas tested positive for avian influenza this week. This new human case of bird flu—the second ever reported in the United States—isn’t cause for panic. […]
Apr 5, 2024
Bird flu may be spreading in cows via milking and herd transport
Science New data challenge assumed transmission route and some call for restricting cattle. The bird flu virus spreading through dairy cattle in the United States may be expanding its reach via milking equipment, the people doing the milking, or both, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) representatives reported today at an international, virtual meeting held to […]
Apr 5, 2024
Why a leading bird flu expert isn’t convinced that the risk H5N1 poses to people has declined
STAT News that H5N1 avian influenza has breached another mammalian species — this time dairy cows — has taken the flu science community aback. Though cows previously had been seen to be susceptible to human flu viruses, and could be experimentally infected with H5 in a lab, the absence of cow involvement until now in H5’s nearly 30-year […]
Apr 5, 2024
Scientists investigate thousands of dead Antarctic penguins for bird flu
Reuters Has bird flu already killed hundreds, if not thousands of penguins in Antarctica? That’s what researchers are seeking to find out after a scientific expedition last month found at least 532 dead Adelie penguins, with thousands more thought to have died, according to a statement from Federation University Australia. While the researchers suspect the […]
Apr 5, 2024
England’s Measles Outbreak Nears 10 Year Peak
Precision Vaccinations Measles outbreaks are an ongoing health risk worldwide, including in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The U.K.’s health agency recently confirmed a significant increase in measles cases across England, primarily in the West Midlands, driven by cases in Birmingham. The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported data from October 2023: 868 laboratory-confirmed measles cases had been reported in England […]
Apr 2, 2024
Bird flu strain raises alarm as H5N1 virus kills South American wildlife
Reuters The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has spread more aggressively than ever before in wild birds and marine mammals since arriving in South America in 2022, raising the risk of it evolving into a bigger threat to humans, according to interviews with eight scientists. Of more immediate concern is evidence the disease, once largely confined […]
Apr 2, 2024
Mpox is on the rise: Who’s eligible for a vaccine, and do you need a booster?
ABC News Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, cases are on the rise here in the U.S., with nearly double the number of infections compared to the same time last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. While the magnitude of the outbreak experienced in 2022 – where national cases topped 32,000 – is largely […]
Apr 2, 2024
Rare bacterial illnesses that can cause meningitis prompts advisory in NYC.
CBS News There’s a warning of an increase in rare bacterial illnesses that can lead to meningitis, and even death, around the country. In New York City, there were: The New York City Department of Health issued an advisory to doctors following one from the CDC warning of an increase in cases of “invasive meningococcal disease,” […]
Apr 2, 2024
Large dairy in Michigan tests positive for HPAI
Farm Progress Dairies in Michigan and Idaho confirm HPAI-positive cows with a virus strain similar to one in Texas and Kansas. For more than two years, backyard flocks and the commercial poultry industry have been combating highly pathogenic avian influenza. Now, the virus has infected dairy cows in five states, including Michigan. The Michigan Department […]
Apr 2, 2024