Category: Featured Headlines
Respiratory virus activity remains ‘high’ in US and will ‘continue for several more weeks’: CDC
ABC News Respiratory viruses are continuing to spread across the United States, sickening millions of Americans. Overall respiratory illness activity — including flu, COVID-19 and RSV — continues to be listed as “high” nationwide and is causing people to seek health care “at a high level,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of […]
Jan 22, 2025
Tanzania Declares Marburg Outbreak: Africa CDC Mobilizes Immediate Response
Africa CDC ADDIS ABABA, January 20, 2025 – Tanzania has declared a Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak after confirming one case and identifying 25 suspected cases in the Kagera Region of Northwestern Tanzania. The Marburg virus, a highly infectious and often fatal disease, is similar to Ebola and is transmitted to humans from fruit bats and […]
Jan 22, 2025
New suspected Marburg outbreak in Tanzania kills eight – WHO
BBC The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned of a suspected new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in north-west Tanzania, saying that at least eight people have already been killed by the disease. On Tuesday, the WHO said that nine suspected cases of Marburg were reported in the region of Kagera over the last […]
Jan 15, 2025
Bird Flu Is Raising Red Flags Among Health Officials
Johns Hopkins H5N1 is a dynamic virus that poses an increasing threat in terms of spillover and pandemic potential. On January 6, the Louisiana Department of Health announced that a patient hospitalized last month for H5N1 avian influenza had died, becoming the first U.S. death from the virus. To make matters worse, samples taken from the […]
Jan 14, 2025
Avian influenza confirmed in Puerto Rico
Watt Poultry The virus was detected in a backyard flock in the U.S. territory, as well as in commercial poultry in Maryland and two Canadian provinces. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has made its way to Puerto Rico. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the presence of HPAI […]
Jan 14, 2025
B.C. doctor reflects on treating teen with H5N1 for 2 months
CBC A British Columbia doctor who treated a 13-year-old avian flu patient says the case has made him concerned about the potential for more human H5N1 infections. While the patient was recently discharged from hospital with her case deemed rare, the two-month ordeal is being examined to better understand the path of avian flu from wild birds and […]
Jan 14, 2025
Eight dead in suspected Marburg outbreak in Tanzania: WHO
HUM The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Tuesday that a suspected outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in Tanzania had killed eight people, warning that the risk of further spread in the country and region was “high”. The United Nations health agency said it had informed its member states on Monday of “an outbreak of […]
Jan 14, 2025
1st presumptive case of bird flu identified in San Francisco juvenile, officials say
ABC 7 News San Francisco Department of Public Health announced its first presumptive case of H5N1 bird flu on Friday, which was found in a juvenile resident. The department said the child experienced symptoms of fever and conjunctivitis but did not need to be hospitalized and has since fully recovered. SFDPH said the child “initially […]
Jan 14, 2025
What We Know About HMPV, the Common Virus Spreading in China
NYT While cases are climbing in China, the situation is very different from what it was when Covid-19 emerged five years ago, medical experts say. HMPV has circulated in humans for decades. Reports of a surge in cases of a respiratory virus in China have evoked dark echoes of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic […]
Jan 14, 2025
Mongolian horses are contracting H5N1 under the radar, says new study
Telegraph Scientists find ‘conclusive’ evidence of spillover infections from wild birds in the east Asian country – home to five million horses. Horses are silent carriers of H5N1 bird flu, a new study from the University of Glasgow has found. Testing of horses in Mongolia found that several had antibodies for H5N1, indicating prior infection. […]
Jan 14, 2025