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☆ Bird flu is rampant in animals. Humans ignore it at our own peril
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Then, three healthy ferrets were placed in the same enclosures with three of the sick animals. These animals could touch, nose and lick the sick animals, and all of them became ill.Next, the CDC tested airborne transmission by putting three healthy ferrets into an enclosure where they could breathe the same air as sick animals but couldn’t touch them. In her lab, ferrets with previous exposures to seasonal flu strains didn’t get as sick when exposed to new flu viruses compared to those with no prior exposure to seasonal strains. How much help we might get from past exposures to flu viruses is difficult to predict, however, which is why vaccination would still be important to tune up our immunity. They never spread the virus to any of the other animals in the facility — including themselves.

Persons: Mark Naniot, Naniot, “, ”, It’s, Jeremy Farrar, Jesse Bloom, Fred Hutch, ” Naniot, Naniot hadn’t, Scott Weese, Weese, there’s, Covid, Rick Bright, Sanjay Gupta, Bright, Erin Sorrell, Zahl, Seema Lakdawala, hasn’t, ” Bright, Dr, Richard Webby, Jude Children’s, “ It’s, Ducks, Michael Osterholm, “ I’ve, he’s Organizations: CNN, Swiss Army, World Health Organization, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, University of Guelph, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Research, Development Authority, CNN Chief, Bright Global Health, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Getty, Emory University, STAT, Administration, Strategic Preparedness, USDA, Jude Children’s Research, Infectious Disease, University of Minnesota, CNN Health Locations: Wisconsin’s, United States, Seattle, Canada, Texas, Vadso, Finnmark, Norway, AFP, Finland, St, Wisconsin

☆ Analysis: Why public health officials are not panicked about bird flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They say the attributes that have made this virus thrive in wild birds likely make it less infectious to people. Although the exact changes required for a bird flu virus to become easily transmissible in people are not known, a pair of landmark studies done a decade ago offer some clues. Mink have both avian and human-type receptors, but avian receptors are scarce in humans and located deep in the lungs. That change is a must if a bird flu virus is to spread easily in people. None of the experts discounted the possibility that H5N1 or another avian flu virus could mutate and spark a pandemic, and many believe the world has not seen its last flu pandemic.

☆ China’s Covid wave threatens another snarl of U.S. medical supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

“We’re looking a lot for potential early warning signs in the medical supply chain for any kinds of disruptions,” said an administration official. “One major concern throughout the entire pandemic has been that because of China’s zero Covid policy, shutdowns greatly reduced manufacturing capacity in China. Despite efforts over the past two years by the Biden administration to bolster the country’s domestic medical supply chain, the complexity, costs and regulations involved in health care manufacturing has limited companies’ ability to shift production. I think that would be a natural response,” said Douglas Kent, executive vice president of corporate and strategic alliances at the Association for Supply Chain Management. Health care officials say they hope that the U.S. is in a better place to withstand any shocks from China.

☆ German health minister voices concern over new COVID variant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Germany's health minister has expressed concern over a new COVID-19 subvariant linked to growing hospitalisations in the northeastern United States, adding that Berlin was watching the situation closely. As much of the world looks to rising COVID cases in China, infectious disease experts have also been increasingly worried about the highly contagious Omicron XBB.1.5, which made up more than 40% of U.S. cases, official data showed last week. "Hopefully we get through the winter before such a variant can spread among us," the minister, Karl Lauterbach, wrote on Twitter late on Wednesday. "We are monitoring whether, and to what extent, XBB.1.5 occurs in Germany." Writing by Rachel More; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The CDC is considering testing airline poop and toilet waste for COVID-19 as anxieties rise about China's virus spread
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The US is considering testing airline wastewater for COVID-19 to track the virus. Wastewater tests showed the presence of COVID-19 variants up to two weeks before people tested positive using nasal swabs. Three infectious disease experts told Reuters that testing wastewater collected on airplanes would be more effective at tracking the virus than testing travelers on entry. According to the South China Morning Post, the Malaysian government has announced that they will start screening toilet water on flights from China to track the virus. They will not, however, be testing travelers upon arrival to Malaysia.

Although many public health experts are expressing concern about the rising COVID cases in China, infectious disease experts have been increasingly worried about the XBB.1.5 variant. Recombinants of the BA.2 variant, XBB and XBB.1.5, together accounted for 44.1% of the total cases in the country for the week ended Dec. 31. For the week ended Dec.24, XBB.1.5 had made up 21.7% of the total cases. The XBB variant has been driving up cases in parts of Asia, including Singapore. It accounted for 3.6% of the total cases in the U.S. this week compared with 4.2% in the previous week.

☆ U.S. considers airline wastewater testing as Covid surges in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The United States this week also expanded its voluntary genomic sequencing program at airports, adding Seattle and Los Angeles to the program. "Previous Covid-19 wastewater surveillance has shown to be a valuable tool and airplane wastewater surveillance could potentially be an option," she wrote. French researchers reported in July that airplane wastewater tests showed requiring negative Covid tests before international flights does not protect countries from the spread of new variants. They found the omicron variant in wastewater from two commercial airplanes that flew from Ethiopia to France in December 2021 even though passengers had been required to take Covid tests before boarding. Osterholm and others said mandatory testing before travel to the United States is unlikely to keep new variants out of the country.

The United States this week also expanded its voluntary genomic sequencing program at airports, adding Seattle and Los Angeles to the program. "Previous COVID-19 wastewater surveillance has shown to be a valuable tool and airplane wastewater surveillance could potentially be an option," she wrote. French researchers reported in July that airplane wastewater tests showed requiring negative COVID tests before international flights does not protect countries from the spread of new variants. They found the Omicron variant in wastewater from two commercial airplanes that flew from Ethiopia to France in December 2021 even though passengers had been required to take COVID tests before boarding. Osterholm and others said mandatory testing before travel to the United States is unlikely to keep new variants out of the country.

☆ U.S. records 100 million Covid cases, but more than 200 million Americans have probably had it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The U.S. officially recorded more than 100 million cases as of Tuesday, just under one-third of the total population, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Covid-19 has easily infected more than 200 million in the U.S. alone since the beginning of the pandemic — some people more than once. "There are have been at least 200 million infections in the U.S., so this is a small portion of them," Frieden said. The estimate was based on a survey of commercial lab data that found about 58% of Americans had antibodies as a result of a Covid infection. The more than 21 million additional confirmed cases on top of the CDC's February estimate of about 187 million total infections gives a low-end estimate of more than 208 million infections since the pandemic began.

[1/2] People line up at a makeshift fever clinic set up inside a stadium, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Beijing, China December 19, 2022. "We stand ready to help any country in the world with vaccines, treatments, anything else that we can be helpful with," he said. "We want China to get COVID right," Blinken said earlier this month. “China faces a very challenging system in reopening,” Powell said, adding that its manufacturing, exporting and supply chain remain critical. Officials set up health centers and apps that told people with symptoms how to avoid infecting others, he said.

☆ New subvariants, family gatherings may bring more Covid-19 after holiday, but experts don’t expect severe surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Experts expect that Thanksgiving gatherings will stir up social networks and give new coronavirus subvariants fresh pockets of vulnerable people to infect. And we are concerned that after holiday gathering, lots of people coming together, that we may see increases in Covid-19 cases as well,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday on CNN. For the week ending Nov. 19, the CDC estimates that BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were causing about half of all new Covid-19 cases in the US. Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have remained flat for the past four weeks. “It’s probably got a bit more of a fitness advantage, so what we’re seeing is gradual replacement without a massive change in the total number of Covid-19 cases,” he said.

☆ Fact Check-Monkeypox, polio and new COVID variants are not ‘planned’ as ‘scare tactics’ to affect the U.S. midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Monkeypox and polio outbreaks, or new COVID-19 variants, have not been “planned” or orchestrated as “scare tactics” to manipulate the Nov. 8 midterm elections in the United States. As laid out in a Reuters explainer (here), experts agree that the major driver behind both vaccine-derived and wild polio outbreaks remains an under-vaccinated population. “Monkeypox is nothing more than a scare tactic to make you stay home and not vote in the November elections. Experts contacted by Reuters dismissed claims that these disease outbreaks are connected to election cycles and said they would not disrupt the upcoming electoral process. There is no evidence that monkeypox and polio outbreaks or new COVID-19 variants have been orchestrated as “scare tactics” to manipulate the U.S. midterm elections.

☆ Study tries to see if child vaccines and asthma are linked
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Even if a link were ever found, the life-saving benefits of the vaccines are still likely to outweigh the asthma risk, said Dr. Matthew Daley, the study’s lead author. But it’s possible that if the results are confirmed, it could prompt new work to redesign vaccines, he added. Dr. Paul Offit, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, worried that the flawed study will needlessly scare some families away from proven vaccines. Several previous studies didn’t find a link between aluminum-containing childhood vaccines and allergies and asthma. About 4% of U.S. children under 5 have persistent asthma.

☆ The Covid-19 emergency may end, but there’s no rule to say when the pandemic is over
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

For now, it remains a public health emergency in the United States, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, and it’s still a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, according to WHO. Each country, in turn, declares its own public health emergency – declarations that carry legal weight. In the United States, for example, the end of the public health emergency will have ramifications for health care coverage and cost-sharing of Covid-19 tests and treatments. At this point, WHO is not saying whether it will recognize an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, he said, WHO will continue to assess the need for the public health emergency, and an expert committee meets every three months to do that.

☆ Biden's comments about pandemic widen public health split over how US should respond to Covid-19
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Some public health experts worry that political motives are driving the President's desire to declare the pandemic over, rather than protection of the public's health. It's a 9/11, week after week after week," said Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health. The World Health Organization recognizes a global health threat as something different: a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC. The US also recognizes a public health emergency. Covid-19 is still considered to be a public health emergency both domestically and around the world.

☆ Joe Biden spune că nu va impune carantină naţională pentru că "Ar fi contraproductiv"
▼ + stars: | 2020-11-20 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Preşedintele ales al SUA, Joe Biden, a declarat joi că nu va impune ''carantină naţională'' în pofida evoluției rapide a pandemiei de COVID-19 în Statele Unite în ultimele săptămâni, relatează AFP. ''Nicio circumstanţă nu ar putea justifica în opinia mea o carantină naţională totală. Peste 200.146 de noi cazuri de contaminare cu noul coronavirus au fost identificate în acelaşi timp în ţară, cel mai grav afectată din lume. În 12 noiembrie, consilierul lui Joe Biden din echipa epidemiologică privind Covid, Michael Osterholm, spunea că un lockdown național în SUA, timp de patru-șase săptămâni, ar putea să țină pandemia sub control, așa cum s-a întâmplat în Noua Zeelandă și Australia. Osterholm, care ocupă funcția de director al Centrului de Cercetare și Politică a Bolilor Infecțioase de la Universitatea din Minnesota, declara că țara se îndreaptă spre "iadul Covid".

Persons: Joe Biden, Universitatea Johns Hopkins, Michael Osterholm Organizations: Albă, Agerpres SUA, Universitatea, Universitatea din Locations: SUA, Statele Unite, Agerpres, ţară, Noua Zeelandă, Australia, Universitatea din Minnesota

,,Nicio circumstanţă nu ar putea justifica în opinia mea o carantină naţională totală. Cred că ar fi contraproductiv'”, a declarat democratul, care urmează să se instaleze pe 20 ianuarie la Casa Albă. SUA au înregistrat în 24 de ore, de miercuri până joi, 2.239 de decese cauzate de Covid-19, potrivit bilanţului prezentat de Universitatea Johns Hopkins. Peste 200.146 de noi cazuri de contaminare cu noul coronavirus au fost identificate în acelaşi timp în ţară, cel mai grav afectată din lume. În 12 noiembrie, consilierul lui Joe Biden din echipa epidemiologică privind Covid, Michael Osterholm, spunea că un lockdown național în SUA, timp de patru-șase săptămâni, ar putea să țină pandemia sub control, așa cum s-a întâmplat în Noua Zeelandă și Australia.

Persons: Universitatea Johns, Joe Biden, Michael Osterholm Organizations: Albă, Universitatea, Universitatea Johns Hopkins Locations: SUA, ţară, Noua Zeelandă, Australia

☆ Dupa alegerile prezidențiale, SUA...
▼ + stars: | 2020-11-12 | by ( ) www.realitatea.md time to read: +2 min

Medicul a adăugat că vremea rece îi face pe oameni să stea mai mult în spații închise, unde virusul se poate răspândi mai ușor. Dacă am face asta, atunci am putea să ne închidem timp de patru până la șase săptămâni", a spus el. Osterholm a adăugat că un astfel de blocaj ar ajuta țara să controleze virusul, "așa cum au făcut-o Noua Zeelandă și Australia". În ceea ce privește evoluția pandemiei, Osterholm a spus că SUA se îndreaptă spre o perioadă întunecată până când vaccinul va deveni disponibil. El a adăugat că vine cea mai neagră perioadă a pandemiei pentru Statele Unite și că spitalele din unele oraşe deja nu mai fac faţă numărului de infectări.

Persons: Joe Biden, Michael Osterholm, Medicul, Osterholm Organizations: Universitatea din Locations: lockdown, SUA, Noua Zeelandă, Australia, Universitatea din Minnesota, Statele Unite

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