Category: Featured Headlines
Study shows ‘not surprising’ fatal spread of avian flu in ferrets
CIDRAP Late last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a study showing that the current strain of H5N1 (A/Texas/37/2024) avian flu was fatal in six ferrets used as part of an experimental infection study. The findings caused waves across the country, as ferrets are frequently used as an animal model stand-in for […]
Jun 11, 2024
As FDA urges crackdown on bird flu in raw milk, some states say their hands are tied
CBS News Officials in two of the three states probing their first cases of bird flu in dairy cattle this month said their hands are tied after the Food and Drug Administration pleaded with states to ramp up testing and restrictions on potentially infectious raw milk being sold to consumers within their borders. Wyoming, Iowa and Minnesota announced their […]
Jun 11, 2024
Raw Milk Containing Bird-Flu Virus Can Sicken Mice, Study Finds
NYT The results bolster evidence that virus-laden raw milk may be unsafe for humans. Unpasteurized milk contaminated with H5N1, the bird-flu virus that has turned up in dairy herds in nine states, has been found to rapidly make mice sick, affecting multiple organs, according to a study published on Friday. The findings are not entirely surprising: […]
Jun 5, 2024
Why the New Human Case of Bird Flu Is So Alarming
NYT/Opinion The third human case of H5N1, reported on Thursday in a farmworker in Michigan who was experiencing respiratory symptoms, tells us that the current bird flu situation is at a dangerous inflection point. The virus is adapting in predictable ways that increase its risk to humans, reflecting our failure to contain it early on. The solutions […]
Jun 5, 2024
Assessing avian influenza in dairy milk
NIH Certain influenza viruses are found in wild and domestic birds, earning the disease they cause the name “bird flu.” Over the last two decades, about 900 people have been infected with an avian influenza virus called H5N1. Most of them have had close contact with infected birds. Past H5N1 strains have proven deadly for […]
Jun 4, 2024
Two chickens test positive for bird flu at San Francisco live bird market
CBS News Health officials said Monday that the H5N1 avian flu was detected last month in two asymptomatic chickens at a live bird market in San Francisco, but there is no sign that the public has been exposed. The bird flu virus was found as part of routine tests at live bird markets around the […]
Jun 4, 2024
The 3rd human case of bird flu in the US has 2 new and troubling symptoms
Business Insider The H5N1 bird-flu virus has once again infected a human. But this time, the unlucky patient had a cough and a sore throat, which is a new milestone for the virus’s spread in the US. The H5N1 virus has become a pandemic among animals, raging through worldwide bird populations and now through US cattle herds. This […]
Jun 4, 2024
Bird flu detected in San Francisco wastewater and chickens
Los Angeles Times As federal and state health officials expand their avian flu surveillance, the San Francisco Department of Public Health has reported that avian flu has been detected in wastewater samples collected in May. The samples were collected after two chickens at a live bird market in the city tested positive for the disease […]
Jun 4, 2024
‘Uncertainty’ Isn’t a Bad Word: U.S. Agencies Must Tighten Up H5N1 Communications
MedPageToday More effective and efficient public messaging is the need of the hour. Less than a month ago, we published a pieceopens in a new tab or window suggesting that H5N1 bird flu could pose an even thornier health communications challenge than COVID-19. We offered a three-point prescription for how the U.S. government agencies most responsible for […]
Jun 4, 2024
Alpacas test positive for H5N1 bird flu for the first time
CNN Highly pathogenic avian influenza, sometimes called bird flu, has been confirmed in alpacas for the first time, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories. The animals that tested positive were on a farm in Idaho where poultry had tested positive for the virus and were culled in May. The alpacas […]
May 29, 2024