Category: Science and Tech
Do Our Flu Antivirals Work on H5N1?
MedPage Today With avian influenza A (H5N1) infecting more mammals than ever before — including U.S. dairy cattleopens in a new tab or window — infectious disease experts are paying close attention to whether current influenza antivirals would be effective should H5N1 adapt to humans. All influenza viruses have extremely similar internal mechanisms for reproduction, William Schaffner, […]
Apr 30, 2024
Deforestation pushes animals in Uganda forest to eat virus-laden bat poo
BBC Animals in a Ugandan forest have been eating bat poo laden with viruses after tobacco farming wiped out their usual food source, a study has found. A virus linked to Covid-19 was among the 27 identified in the poo eaten by chimpanzees, antelopes and monkeys. Researchers say this finding sheds light on how new […]
Apr 24, 2024
Utah researchers collect samples to map spread of respiratory illness through dirt, dust
KSL.com A team of University of Utah researchers is studying a fungal respiratory infection they say is spreading through the soil and dust in Utah. Researchers don’t yet know exactly which areas of the state have valley fever, but professor of epidemiology Katharine Walter said the fungus could spread further as the climate changes. An […]
Apr 16, 2024
Upper Respiratory Tract Disease in a Dog Infected by a Highly Pathogenic Avian A/H5N1 Virus
Emerging Viral Zoonoses In summer 2023, during an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in cats in Poland, a 16-year-old dog was presented to the veterinary clinic with persistent, debilitating, dry cough, submandibular lymphadenomegaly, mild serous nasal discharge, and left apical heart murmur. A preliminary diagnosis of kennel cough was made and the treatment […]
Apr 16, 2024
Nature One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. […]
Apr 10, 2024
New bird flu infections: Here’s what you need to know
MIT Tech Review New cases in cows and a dairy worker in Texas highlight the need for vigilance and better strategies to protect animals and people. A dairy worker in Texas tested positive for avian influenza this week. This new human case of bird flu—the second ever reported in the United States—isn’t cause for panic. […]
Apr 5, 2024
Cornell scientists identify bird flu infecting dairy cows
Cornell University Cornell virology experts are sequencing the bird flu virus that struck cows in the Texas panhandle last week, after work at Cornell and two other veterinary diagnostic laboratories found the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus in cattle samples, a first for this species. Sequencing of the virus may help scientists understand why […]
Apr 3, 2024
F.D.A. Authorizes New Drug to Protect High-Risk Patients From Covid
New York Times Pemgarda, available in the coming weeks, is intended for immunocompromised people who are unlikely to mount an adequate response after vaccination. The Food and Drug Administration has greenlit a new medicine to protect some of the people most at risk from Covid. The agency granted emergency use authorization for Pemgarda, a monoclonal […]
Apr 2, 2024
Zoonotic Viruses: Humans More Often a Source Than a Sink
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News Zoonotic viruses fill us with dread—and rightly so. Such viruses have been known to spread from animals to human hosts, transmitting deadly diseases such as Ebola, rabies, and bird flu. And according to virologists and other scientists with relevant expertise, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the source of the COVID-19 pandemic, is […]
Mar 27, 2024
People more often are origin of infectious diseases in animals than vice versa, data suggest
CIDRAP People pass twice as many viruses to domestic and wild animals than animals pass to people, concludes a study today in Nature Ecology & Evolution. University College London (UCL) researchers analyzed genomic data on nearly 12 million viruses in 32 viral families using network and evolutional analyses to characterize the mutations behind recent vertebrate species jumps. Most emerging and re-emerging […]
Mar 26, 2024