Category: Featured
There’s a New Covid Variant. What Will That Mean for Spring and Summer?
NYT For most of this year, the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus accounted for an overwhelming majority of Covid cases. But now, an offshoot variant called KP.2 is taking off. The variant, which made up just one percent of cases in the United States in mid-March, now makes up over a quarter. KP.2 belongs to a […]
May 14, 2024
To stop a pandemic before it starts, protect dairy workers from H5N1
Washington Post Opinion Failure to shield farmworkers could allow the H5N1 virus to become a greater threat. The discovery of bird flu virus particles in milk has moved the federal government to take more aggressive action to prevent the further spread of H5N1 on dairy farms. The Agriculture Department has rightly issued new testing recommendations meant to […]
May 7, 2024
Are We Testing Enough for H5N1?
MedPage Today With H5N1 avian influenza causing unprecedented outbreaks in mammals around the world — including U.S. dairy cattle — infectious disease experts are raising concerns that the U.S. isn’t doing enough to get ahead of any potential problems. “We really need to be moving quickly to get our heads around what’s happening in the animal […]
Apr 30, 2024
Bird flu virus found in grocery milk as officials say supply still safe
Washington Post Viral fragments of bird flu have been identified in samples of milk taken from grocery store shelves in the United States, a finding that does not necessarily suggest a threat to human health but indicates the avian flu virus is more widespread among dairy herds than previously thought, according to two public health officials and […]
Apr 23, 2024
USDA shares recent H5N1 avian flu sequences amid more dairy herd outbreaks
CIDRAP The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) last night announced that it has shared 239 recent genetic sequences of the H5N1 avian flu virus from poultry, wild birds, and dairy cows, which will help scientists look for new clues about the spread of the virus. In related developments […]
Apr 23, 2024
Detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) inDairy Herds: Frequently Asked Questions
USDA APHIS Since late March 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state veterinary and public health officials have been investigating the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy cows, with one human infection. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is maintaining resources, […]
Apr 17, 2024
ContagionLive Video at the link – The origins of the recent H5N1 (avian flu) case in Texas remain unknown, but a researcher offers insights into transmission between animals and humans, the likelihood of more cases, vaccine availability, and treatment. Earlier this month, the first human case of avian influenza A (H5N1 this year) in the United States […]
Apr 9, 2024
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Detections in Livestock
USDA The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and State veterinary and public health officials are investigating an illness among dairy cows. As we learn more about this evolving situation, APHIS will continue to provide confirmatory testing for samples from livestock as well as guidance for producers, […]
Apr 5, 2024
How prepared the U.S. is for a bird flu pandemic
Washington Post Federal officials are preparing for the possibility of additional human cases of bird flu,testing components to create a vaccine after a Texas dairy worker was infected with the highly virulent virus, even as they stress theUnited States remains far from needing to activate a full-blown emergency response Two candidate vaccine viruses— essentially the building blocks […]
Apr 2, 2024
Bird Flu Spreads to Dairy Cows
New York Times U.S. regulators confirmed that sick cattle in Texas, Kansas and possibly in New Mexico contracted avian influenza. They stressed that the nation’s milk supply is safe. A form of avian influenza that is highly fatal in birds has been confirmed in U.S. dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas, the Department of Agriculture announced on […]
Mar 26, 2024
