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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases

Bolivia battles avian flu outbreaks at layer farms

Watt Poultry Over 50,000 birds have died due to the disease in the past month. March saw even more outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) at Bolivian commercial layer farms, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

Apr 18, 2023

Disease forecasters are convinced there’s a 27% chance of another COVID-like pandemic within 10 years—but experts believe there’s a silver bullet

Fortune Climate change, international travel, and a growing global population are all among the factors scientists are citing for the increased likelihood of a severe pandemic occurring again within the next decade. London-based disease forecasting company Airfinity’s latest risk modeling suggests that there is a 27.5% chance that a pandemic as deadly as COVID-19 could occur by […]

Apr 18, 2023

Mobile Lab Detects Marburg Virus

Rapid Microbiology Marburg Virus (MARV) has been wreaking havoc in Africa, with 5 deaths reported from Tanzania in the last 24 hours. Earlier this year, Equatorial Guinea reported an outbreak of MARV with 9 fatalities. This Ebola-like hemorrhagic virus is characterized by symptoms of high fever, followed by bleeding and organ failure. Something that can […]

Apr 18, 2023

USDA announces avian influenza vaccine trials

Ag Daily As producers prepare for the peak highly pathogenic avian influenza season in the spring and summer months, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that they’re testing a number of potential vaccines.  The announcement came during an April 13 roundtable discussion with poultry industry stakeholders.  Initial data from the animal study with a single dose of the vaccine are […]

Apr 18, 2023

Neuroscientists Find Long COVID Smell Loss Linked to Changes in the Brain

Science Tech Daily People living with long COVID who suffer from loss of smell show different patterns of activity in certain regions of the brain, a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers has found. The research used MRI scanning to compare the brain activity of people with long COVID who lost their […]

Apr 18, 2023

A Possible Explanation for Long COVID Gains Traction

NPR Link to audio at the link While the country seemingly moves on from the pandemic, an estimated 15 million U.S. adults are suffering from long COVID. Scientists are trying to understand what causes some people to develop long COVID while others do not. NPR’s Will Stone spoke with researchers and reports on a growing […]

Apr 18, 2023

Argentina battles major dengue outbreak with atomic radiation

Reuters Argentine, fighting one of its worst outbreaks of dengue in recent years, is sterilizing mosquitoes using radiation that alters their DNA before releasing them into the wild. The South American country has this year recorded over 41,000 cases of the disease transmitted by mosquitoes, far above the equivalent level in previous years of major […]

Apr 18, 2023

Bird flu infects a dozen mammals as outbreak in Montana continues

Montana Standard Officials are warning Montanans to keep themselves and their pets away from dead birds, as a bird flu outbreak now in its second year starts to infect more mammals. In Montana, close to 82,500 domestic birds have been culled from the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, since the state saw its […]

Apr 18, 2023

Bird Flu in Chilean Man Shows Virus Adapting to Human Spread

Physicians Weekly Tests done on a Chilean man infected with bird flu showed signs that the virus has partially adapted to spread between mammals. However, the public health risk still remains low, U.S. health officials say. “Those genetic changes have been seen previously with past H5N1 infections, and have not resulted in spread between people,” […]

Apr 18, 2023

Bird flu kills thousands of waterbirds in West Africa

Bird Guides Thousands of waterbirds have reportedly died in Senegal and The Gambia in recent weeks as both countries are hit hard by an outbreak of bird flu (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza; HPAI). More than 1,700 birds have been reported as killed by the virus in Senegal, where the victims have included Great White Pelicans, Great Cormorants, Grey-headed Gulls and […]

Apr 18, 2023