Category: Featured Headlines
STAT wenty-seven years ago today, a 3-year-old boy in Hong Kong developed a sore throat, spiked a fever, and started to cough. Six days later, he was hospitalized; six days after that, he died of acute respiratory distress caused by viral pneumonia. Testing showed the toddler, who’d had contact with sick chickens before becoming ill, had […]
May 14, 2024
Bird Flu (H5N1) Explained: U.S. Pledge Nearly $100 Million To Protect Beef, Milk Supplies
Forbes Here’s the latest news about a global outbreak of H5N1 bird flu that started in 2020, and recently spread among cattle in U.S. states and marine mammals across the world, which has health officials closely monitoring it and experts concerned the virus could mutate and eventually spread to humans, where it has proven rare […]
May 14, 2024
If Pigs Get Bird Flu, We Could Be In for a Real Nightmare
Bloomberg H5N1 has already spread to an alarming number of mammals. If it reaches pigs, it’s more likely to mutate into something that could threaten humans. The bird flu outbreak among dairy cows continues to generate alarm, despite reassuring news that pasteurized milk is unlikely to infect anyone with H5N1. Scientists can’t stop worrying about a nightmare scenario: that the […]
May 14, 2024
CDC A(H5N1) Bird Flu Response Update
CDC CDC continues to respond to the public health challenge posed by a multistate outbreak of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus, or “A(H5N1) virus,” in dairy cows and other animals in the United States. CDC is working in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state public health and animal health […]
May 14, 2024
Raw milk sales spike despite CDC’s warnings of risk associated with bird flu
PBS Newshour Sales of raw milk appear to be on the rise, despite years of warnings about the health risks of drinking the unpasteurized products — and an outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows. Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of […]
May 14, 2024
Dozens of Colorado dairy farm workers monitored for bird flu symptoms
CBS News The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment confirmed Friday that approximately 70 dairy farm workers are currently being monitored for possible symptoms of avian flu. The 70 workers were recently exposed to the virus while employed at two Colorado dairy farms. Neither the farms or the workers have not been identified. None […]
May 14, 2024
Flu season is over, but there is a viral surge in California wastewater. Is it avian flu?
Los Angeles Times An unusual surge in flu viruses detected at wastewater treatment plants in California and other parts of the country is raising concerns among some experts that H5N1 bird flu may be spreading farther and faster than health officers initially thought. In the last several weeks, wastewater surveillance at 59 of 190 U.S. […]
May 14, 2024
Farmers will now get paid to test their dairy cows for bird flu
NBC News The federal government is putting up nearly $200 million to stop the spread of the virus and help experts get a better handle on just how widespread it is. Federal authorities on Friday pledged nearly $200 million in an attempt to control the spread of bird flu on dairy farms. Some of that money […]
May 14, 2024
Future Pandemics Will Have The Same Human Causes As Ancient Outbreaks
Discovery Magazine The changes that came with the transition from foraging to farming paved the way for disease. The last pandemic was bad, but COVID-19 is only one of many infectious diseases that emerged since the turn of this century. Since 2000, the world has experienced 15 novel Ebola epidemics, the global spread of a 1918-like influenza […]
May 14, 2024
Just One Human Is Infected by Bird Flu in the US. More Cases Are Likely
Bloomberg It’s spreading rapidly among cows. It’s also infecting skunks, mountain lions and red foxes. Yet as the highly contagious avian flu affects mammals across the US, just one human case has been reported so far. But that’s probably only because there is extremely limited testing of people underway to detect it. State governments and farm owners […]
May 8, 2024