Category: Featured Headlines
CDC preparing for ‘possibility of increased risk to human health’ from bird flu
CBS The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a summary on Friday that it is preparing for the “possibility of increased risk to human health” from bird flu following an outbreak among dairy cows and two confirmed human cases. However, the federal health agency also said the risk of bird flu, also known […]
May 28, 2024
Bird flu detected in tissue samples of US dairy cow sent to slaughter, USDA says
Reuters Bird flu virus particles were found in tissue samples taken from one dairy cow sent to slaughter at a U.S. meat processing plant, but none were detected in samples from 95 other cattle, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Friday. Meat from the animals was prevented from entering the nation’s food supply, […]
May 28, 2024
Cows in the US have bird flu – is it inching closer to humans?
BBC The long-feared leap The H5N1 strain of avian flu has been around since 1996, but until now its been largely confined to animals. But it has now jumped to cattle in America and some think it means we are inching towards eventual human-to-human infection, with potentially serious consequences. Infected cows have started infecting each […]
May 22, 2024
We Don’t Know How Bad Bird Flu Is Getting
NY Magazine Intelligencer he H5N1 influenza has killed tens of millions of birds over the last few years, and it’s not slowing down. Instead, it has confounded expectations by spreading into animals once thought immune, and even to at least one person in the United States. (There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, and risk to the public is still considered low.) […]
May 22, 2024
CDC asks states and cities to keep flu surveillance at peak levels because of bird flu threat
STAT The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked local and state health officials Tuesday to maintain flu surveillance operations at peak-season levels over the summer in a bid to remain watchful for any signs of human-to-human spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus. Flu surveillance activity is generally conducted at low levels during the […]
May 21, 2024
Public Health Preparedness for Bird Flu Varies Widely Across the U.S.
MedPageToday Survey responses not always in line with CDC recommendations. U.S. states and territories varied widely in their capacity to monitor people exposed to the H5N1 avian influenza virus, and in how they would recommend use of antivirals and the H5N1 vaccine, according to a joint survey from the CDC and the Council of State […]
May 21, 2024
Move over, wastewater. Store-bought milk could be another way to track the bird flu outbreak in cows
STAT Scientists from the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center have managed to generate a full genetic sequence of H5N1 virus from milk, a development they suggest means commercially purchased milk products could be used to monitor the progress of the bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle and to check for important […]
May 21, 2024
How fast is bird flu spreading in US cows? ‘We have no idea’
The Hill Avian flu is spreading rapidly among cattle, but public health and infectious disease experts are concerned the United States is too limited in its testing, leaving an incomplete picture of the virus’s spread. The threat to the general public is currently low, health officials say, and the country’s milk supply is safe. Just […]
May 15, 2024
TB-COVID co-infections increasingly common, tied to worse outcomes, data show
CIDRAP A new meta-analysis of 17 studies reveals that tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 co-infection are becoming increasingly prevalent around the world, with death rates gradually declining but remaining higher than COVID-19 infection alone. The study was published yesterday in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The 17 studies were conducted in 38 countries or regions, spanning both high- and low-TB […]
May 15, 2024
CDC This page provides information on how CDC systems that monitor national, state, and local level influenza data are being used during the current avian influenza A(H5N1) situation
May 14, 2024