Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
California: Avian flu confirmed among 3 dead geese in Sacramento’s William Land Park
CBS News The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported Tuesday that three birds that were previously found dead around the ponds in Sacramento’s William Land Park in October have tested positive for the avian flu. Fish and Wildlife said in a statement that the Eurasian strain of the avian influenza H5N1, which was first […]
Nov 7, 2023
Down With Dengue
Science Today’s post is not exactly chemical per se, but it’s very promising news on the anti-infectives front. Dengue fever is a viral disease whose range has been extending in recent years, very likely as a result of changes in the climate (it was formerly considered more of a tropical disease). It’s yet another mosquito-carried […]
Nov 7, 2023
I Just Got Over Covid but Still Feel Awful
New York Times Symptoms can linger for days or weeks after testing negative, even for those who don’t develop long Covid. Q: It’s been a week since I tested negative for Covid, but I don’t feel totally better. Why am I still sick? The rapid test is finally, blissfully, negative after a week of dark […]
Nov 7, 2023
Dengue is spreading. Can new vaccines and antivirals halt its rise?
Nature Dengue is on the march. This year, more than 4.2 million cases of the disease, which is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes, had been reported by 2 October, compared with half a million in 2000. And the disease, which was once confined to the tropics, is spreading to new locations around the world, including southern […]
Nov 7, 2023
Ending TB Is Within Reach — So Why Are Millions Still Dying?
New York Times Tuberculosis has passed Covid as the top infectious disease killer, despite new medicines and better diagnostic tools. At Kaneshie Polyclinic, a health center in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Accra, the capital of Ghana, there is a rule. Every patient who walks through the door — a woman in labor, a construction worker […]
Nov 7, 2023
Brazil extends avian flu health emergency for 180 days
Reuters Brazil’s agriculture ministry has extended a national health emergency for another 180 days due to more detections of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus in wild birds, according to a statement on Tuesday. The highly infections virus has not yet reached commercial flocks, meaning Brazil’s status as an avian influenza-free country before the […]
Nov 7, 2023
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
