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☆ Bird flu was detected in a pig, and it could be a tipping point threatening more human transmission
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A pig has tested positive for H5N1 bird flu in a backyard farm in Oregon. The H5N1 bird flu was detected in a pig in Oregon, the first instance of a swine infection in the US, officials announced on Wednesday. Pigs get both bird flu viruses and human flu viruses, making them a genetic mixing bowl where H5N1 could gain genetic mutations that help it spread between humans. AdvertisementWhy pig infection could be a tipping pointPigs play host to both bird flu viruses and human flu viruses. Inside a pig, the H5N1 bird flu virus could pick up genetic mutations that help it adapt to better infect human bodies.

Persons: —, Stacey Schultz, Cherry, Jude Children's, Jeremy Farrar, Diego Vara, Florian Krammer, Cynthia Goldsmith, Jackie Katz, Schultz, Richard Webby, Jude, Robert Giroux Organizations: Service, St, Jude Children's Research, World Health Organization, Reuters, US Department of Agriculture, USDA, Icahn, of Medicine, STAT, CDC, AP, WHO Locations: Oregon, South America, Sao Jose, Norte, Brazil, New York, St, New York City

☆ New cervical cancer treatment cuts risk of death from disease, according to trial results
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-16 | by ( Sam Tupper | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

All had locally advanced cervical cancer, although none had tumors that had spread to other organs. This discovery led to the development of an HPV vaccine that can help prevent cervical cancer in women. Brawley stressed the importance of routine cervical screening as advanced-stage cervical cancer rises among White and Black women in the US. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cervical cancer screenings typically test for signs of HPV that can cause cell changes on the cervix. “Of the 4,400 deaths from cervical cancer, none of them get screened every year.”Chemotherapy to treat cervical cancer can come with unpleasant side effects like nausea, vomiting and hair loss, Brawley noted.

Persons: ” Dr, Mary McCormack, “, ”, Otis Brawley, Harald zur Hausen, Brawley, White, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, It’s, ” Brawley, “ We’re Organizations: CNN, Mary McCormack of University College Hospital, Cancer Research, Johns Hopkins University, American Cancer Society, US Centers for Disease Control, CNN Health, US Food and Drug Administration Locations: Brazil, India, Italy, Mexico, United States

Chin-Hong said the variant is a so-called recombinant of two other strains — KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 — meaning that genetic information was exchanged between them to form a third strain, XEC, Chin-Hong said. Is the XEC variant more contagious? Chan School of Public Health, said there’s no evidence yet that the XEC variant is much more transmissible than what’s currently circulating. The variant is closely related to KP.2, the strain targeted by the updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Bright, however, cautioned that clinical data is ultimately needed to determine how well the updated vaccines work against the XEC variant.

Persons: “, ”, Peter Chin, ” XEC, we’re, Rick Bright, Hong, Bill Hanage, ” Hanage, It’s, XEC, Hanage, “ It’s, Marc Johnson, Johnson, There’s, ” Chin, ” Johnson, ” Bright Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, University of California, Biomedical, Research, Development Authority, Department of Health, Human Services, CDC, Harvard, of Public Health, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Pfizer, Moderna Locations: United States, San Francisco, Europe, Chin, U.S, Chan, Germany, Netherlands, France

“The second clue,” she said, “is that the time of year is right.”Historically, September has been the biggest month for AFM cases. “We saw the virus that was previously driving the AFM cases, but we didn’t see the AFM cases associated with it,” said Dr. Kevin Messacar, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, who treated some of the earliest AFM cases in 2014. So far in 2024, 13 AFM cases have been confirmed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vishnu Kagolanu as a young child with his father; Vishnu as a young man. Even the doctors couldn’t find out what was going on," said Saila Kagolanu, Vishnu's mother.

Persons: ”, who’s, Kevin Messacar, It’s, “ We’re, ” Messacar, Vishnu Kagolanu, Vishnu, couldn’t, Saila Kagolanu, Vishnu's, He'd, Buddy Creech, ” Creech, ” Kagolanu Organizations: Children’s Hospital, Centers for Disease Control, Monopoly, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Locations: U.S, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Los Altos , California, Nashville

The U.S. is in what may end up being its biggest summer wave of Covid, with no end yet in sight. This year’s summer wave also began earlier than last year’s, Jha said. “Besides that, there’s not much that we can sort of put our finger on to say this is what’s driving this summer surge," Pekosz said. Jha said that what happens this winter is impossible to predict but that there could be a silver lining to a large summer wave. “A big summer wave tends to lead to a little bit of a smaller winter wave and vice versa, just because there’s a little bit more immunity in the population,” he said.

Persons: ”, Ashish Jha, “ It’s, ” It's, There's, Maria Van Kerkhove, Van Kerkhove, Rosem Morton, Jha, Andrew Pekosz, “, there’s, Pekosz, Michael Phillips, epidemiologist, ” Phillips Organizations: Brown University School of Public Health, White, Covid, World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, The Washington, Getty, Food and Drug Administration, CDC, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, didn't, NYU Langone Health Locations: U.S, Europe, Washington, Western U.S, Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Covid, New York City

Nearly 4% of clade 1b mpox cases are deadly, compared to less than 1% of the 2022 subtype, called clade 2b. Is the U.S. at risk for a similar mpox outbreak? The Jynneos mpox vaccine, given in two doses, is effective for both clade 1 and clade 2 of mpox, according to the CDC. Despite the dismal uptake, those vaccines are abundant in the U.S., compared to African countries. “I’m a lot more concerned for the people in African countries where those vaccines are not available,” she said.

Persons: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, ”, Angela Rasmussen, “ Organizations: Democratic, Centers for Disease Control, CDC, NBC News, World Health Organization, WHO, Central African, U.S, “, University of Saskatchewan Locations: Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, United States, Congo, Kenya, Central African Republic, U.S, Canada

☆ Halting the Bird Flu Outbreak in Cows May Require Thinking Beyond Milk
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the bird flu outbreak in dairy cows has ballooned, officials have provided repeated reassurances: The virus typically causes mild illness in cows, they have said, and because it spreads primarily through milk, it can be curbed by taking extra precautions when moving cows and equipment. Some farms have reported a significant spike in cow deaths, according to the paper, which investigated outbreaks on nine farms in four states. The virus, known as H5N1, was also present in more than 20 percent of nasal swabs collected from cows. And it spread widely to other species, infecting cats, raccoons and wild birds, which may have transported the virus to new locations. It has also jumped into poultry farms and infected at least 10 farmworkers exposed to infected cows or poultry.

Persons: There’s, ”, Diego Diel Organizations: Cornell University, Department of Agriculture Locations: Nature

☆ How Does Bird Flu Spread in Cows? Experiment Yields Some ‘Good News.’
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Carl Zimmer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Ever since scientists discovered influenza infecting American cows earlier this year, they have been puzzling over how it spreads from one animal to another. An experiment carried out in Kansas and Germany has shed some light on the mystery. Scientists failed to find evidence that the virus can spread as a respiratory infection. In an interview, Dr. Richt said that the results offered hope that the outbreak could be halted before the virus evolved into a form that could spread readily between humans. “I think this is good news that we can most likely control it easier than people thought,” Dr. Richt said.

Persons: Juergen, Richt, ” Organizations: Kansas State University Locations: Kansas, Germany

☆ A Bird-Flu Pandemic in People? Here’s What It Might Look Like.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle has so far spilled over to just three farmworkers in the United States, as far as public health authorities know. But that does not guarantee that the virus, called H5N1, will remain benign if it begins to spread among people. Accumulating evidence from the animal world and data from other parts of the globe, in fact, suggest the opposite. Infected cats went blind, walking in circles; two-thirds of them died. “I definitely don’t think there is room for complacency here,” said Anice Lowen, a virologist at Emory University.

Persons: “, ”, Anice Lowen Organizations: Emory University Locations: United States

☆ Why 4 new bird flu developments have experts worried about the virus
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Read previewBird flu is flying wild, and it has many infectious disease experts more worried now than ever. The H5N1 avian influenza virus has killed tens of millions of birds across the planet and more than 40,000 sea lions and seals. Most people seem to have very little chance, if any, of catching H5N1 avian influenza right now. Jim Vondruska/ReutersBut infectious disease experts are increasingly concerned that the H5N1 virus could make a sustained jump into humans and start spreading among us. This virus is a leading candidate for the next pandemic, and four developments in the past month have experts worried.

Persons: —, Jim Vondruska, That's, Dr, Monica Gandhi, Bird, WHO —, Christopher Dye, Dye, David L, Ryan, Gandhi, Tayfun, Rick Bright, Cynthia Goldsmith, Jackie Katz, Richard Webby, Jude, Talita, Lima Freitas, Amanda Perobelli, Marko Geber, Terry Chea, they've Organizations: Service, CDC, Business, Global Medicine, University of California, Health Organization, WHO, University of Oxford, Boston Globe, Getty, US Department of Agriculture, Anadolu Agency, The Telegraph, Biomedical, Research, Development Authority, AP, Centre, Studies, Reference Laboratory, World Organization for Animal Health, Vaccines, University of Pennsylvania Locations: Luz, Monee , Illinois, San Francisco, Australia, Kolkata, India, New Mexico, New York, St, Michigan, Campinas, Brazil

☆ 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

☆ The 3rd human case of bird flu in the US has 2 new and troubling symptoms
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The H5N1 virus has become a pandemic among animals, raging through worldwide bird populations and now through US cattle herds. There, the H5N1 virus can continue operating as an avian virus, grabbing avian receptors with no need to adapt to human receptors. Two previous one-off human cases of H5N1 — one in Chile and one in Ecuador — featured respiratory symptoms. Even with its current monitoring, the CDC would probably detect sustained human spread, he said. Correction — June 4, 2024: An earlier version of this story misstated the nature of genomic sequencing of the H5N1 virus.

Persons: —, Jude virologist Richard Webby, Diego Vara, Rick Bright, Amanda Perobelli, John Harper, Nirav Shah, farmworkers, Shah, Bright, Bill Powers, Nathan Howard, Department of Agriculture hadn't Organizations: Service, US Centers for Disease Control, Business, CDC, Reuters, World Health Organization, Studies, New York Times, Stock, Drug Administration, STAT, Webby, Department of Agriculture Locations: Texas, Michigan, Americas, Norte, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Campinas, Townsend , Delaware

☆ Milk Containing Bird-Flu Virus Can Sicken Mice, Study Finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

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: At least a half-dozen cats have died after consuming raw milk containing the virus. But the new data add to evidence that virus-laden raw milk may be unsafe for other mammals, including humans. “Don’t drink raw milk — that’s the message,” said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who led the study. Officials have not found signs of infectious virus in those samples and have said that pasteurized milk is safe to consume.

Persons: ”, Yoshihiro Kawaoka Organizations: University of Wisconsin, Drug Administration, Officials Locations: Madison, United States

☆ FLiRT variants threaten a summer Covid wave, but experts say the risk remains uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

FLiRT variants are offshoots of the JN.1 variant — all part of the broader Omicron family — that caused this winter’s wave. The mutations of the FLiRT variants make increased transmissibility — and a possible summer wave — a real threat. “We learned from the laboratories that FLiRT variants appeared, so far, to be as transmissible as the other Omicron subvariants, which means they’re really quite contagious. As of May 1, the requirement for all hospitals to report Covid-19 data to the federal government has expired. While the FLiRT variants pose some risk this summer, experts remain focused on what might happen in the fall.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Andy Pekosz, “ We’ve, William Schaffner, ” Schaffner, it’s, ” Pekosz, “, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, we’ve Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, Data, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Vanderbilt University, Schaffner’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center, CDC, JAMA, CNN Health, JN, US Food Locations: United States, Covid

☆ Zhang Yongzhen: Chinese virologist shared crucial Covid-19 data. Then his research hit hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Yong Xiong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The ordeal is just the latest hindrance to Zhang’s research since 2020, according to a colleague who has been in contact with the Chinese scientist in recent years. The “institute always respects … and supports scientific researchers and students in carrying out normal research work,” the statement said. The earlier post by Zhang’s students said the two days originally allocated by the center for them to move their scientific work was insufficient. Following the release of the data, Zhang’s lab had limitations placed on it, which barred it from isolating the Covid virus, Holmes said. That included imposing restrictions by April 2020 on the publication of academic research on the origins of the novel coronavirus.

Persons: Zhang Yongzhen’s, Zhang, ”, hadn’t, Hector Retamal, Edward Holmes, Holmes, ” Holmes, “, He’s, Zhang Yongzhen, ” Zhang, “ He’s, It’s, virologist Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Shanghai, Health, Weibo, Zhang’s, Chinese Center for Disease Control, CNN, Fudan University, Health Clinical, Getty, World Health Organization, Nature, University, Sydney, CDC, China’s National Health Commission, Oxford University Press, Shanghai Public Health Center, Natural Science Foundation of China Locations: China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Wuhan, AFP, Beijing

☆ One in Five Milk Samples Nationwide Shows Genetic Traces of Bird Flu
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Emily Anthes | Noah Weiland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Federal regulators have discovered fragments of bird flu virus in roughly 20 percent of retail milk samples tested in a nationally representative study, the Food and Drug Administration said in an online update on Thursday. Samples from parts of the country that are known to have dairy herds infected with the virus were more likely to test positive, the agency said. Regulators said that there is no evidence that this milk poses a danger to consumers or that live virus is present in the milk on store shelves, an assessment public health experts have agreed with. But finding traces of the virus in such a high share of samples from around the country is the strongest signal yet that the bird flu outbreak in dairy cows is more extensive than the official tally of 33 infected herds across eight states. “It suggests that there is a whole lot of this virus out there,” said Richard Webby, a virologist and influenza expert at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Persons: ”, Richard Webby, Jude Children’s Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, Regulators, St, Jude Children’s Research

☆ Neil Young Will Return to Spotify After Joe Rogan Protest
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Following Young’s protest, the singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell also removed her music from Spotify, and the R&B singer India.Arie circulated clips showing Rogan using a racial slur repeatedly on the show. Rogan apologized for his use of the word, and Spotify quietly removed dozens of episodes of his show. Spotify signed Rogan to a deal in 2020, worth at least $200 million, that made his show exclusive to that platform. Last month, the company announced a new, multiyear arrangement with Rogan in which Spotify would also distribute “The Joe Rogan Experience” to other podcast platforms, as well as YouTube. In his statement on Tuesday, Young didn’t give a timeline for when his music would return to Spotify, and a representative of Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Robert Malone, ”, Joni Mitchell, India.Arie, Rogan, Daniel Ek, Joe Rogan, Young didn’t, Mitchell Organizations: Spotify, Street Journal Locations: Covid

☆ The Measles Outbreak in Europe is a Warning to America - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2022, there were 941 reported cases of measles in the World Health Organization’s European region. And it appears even more significant compared to recent years, when efforts to limit Covid also resulted in almost entirely eliminating measles in Europe in 2021. But as the year drew to a close, the European measles outbreak kept growing. Almost certainly, the virologist Rik de Swart of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam tells me, these official case totals are significant underestimates. The epidemiologist Bill Hanage, also at Harvard, lamented it to me as a “chronicle of an outbreak foretold.”

Persons: Rik de Swart, Michael Mina, Bill Hanage, ” Organizations: Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Harvard Locations: Europe, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Britain, West Midlands, Rotterdam, Harvard

☆ US House Committee says China delayed releasing COVID-19 information for weeks and lied about sharing it immediately
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China had a gene sequence of COVID-19 weeks before sharing it with the world, US lawmakers said. AdvertisementChina likely obtained COVID-19's first known gene sequence weeks before publicly releasing it, contrary to Beijing's claim that it immediately shared the information, the US House Energy & Commerce Committee said on Wednesday. Related storiesThe committee said this contradicted China's repeated claims that it released the gene sequence as soon as it obtained the information. The House committee said this example shows that China has been forthcoming with sharing vital medical information for fighting COVID-19. AdvertisementThe committee also raised concerns that the NIH had received a COVID-19 gene sequence but "apparently had no idea."

Persons: —, Lili Ren, Ren, China's, Biden, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Morgan Griffith, Brett Guthrie Organizations: Service, US, Energy, Commerce, National Institutes of Health, EcoHealth Alliance, of Health, Human Services, World Health Organization, CCP, NIH, HHS, Energy & Commerce Committee, Oversight, Rep Locations: China, Washington, Virginia, Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Washington , DC

☆ Will Smith Will Revive 'I Am Legend' Character for Upcoming Sequel
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Eve Crosbie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Will Smith is returning for the 'I Am Legend' sequel, despite being killed off in the original film. AdvertisementWill Smith has shared details about the sequel to "I Am Legend," including how his character, who dies in the original film, will be resurrected for the new thriller. "You have to be a real 'I Am Legend' buff, but in the first one, in the theatrical version, my character died." "I Am Legend" saw Smith take on the role of one of the only survivors after a virus decimates mankind. But it's a really, really cool concept, and he was a part of creating the idea," Smith said.

Persons: Will Smith, Michael B, Jordan, —, Smith, … I'm, virologist Robert Neville, Robert Neville, Smith —, hadn't Organizations: Service, Red Sea, Warner Bros ., Warner Bros, Entertainment Locations: Saudi Arabia, …

☆ Northern China hospitals overwhelmed with surge in respiratory illnesses among children
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —Hospitals in Beijing and northern China are grappling with a surge of children with respiratory illnesses as the country enters its first winter since relaxing stringent Covid-19 controls nearly one year ago. Wait times to see doctors stretch for hours, with hundreds of patients queuing at some children’s hospitals in major cities across northern China, according to CNN reporting and Chinese state and social media. The surge in cases across northern China comes amid a rise in seasonal respiratory infections around the northern hemisphere, including in the United States, where RSV is spreading at “unprecedented” levels among children. Children receive intravenous drips at a children's hospital in Beijing on November 23, 2023. It’s unclear if there’s been an increase in respiratory illnesses or severe cases among children relative to pre-pandemic years because of limited public data released by China.

Persons: “, Jin Dongyan, ” Catherine Bennett, ” Bennett, Jade Gao, drips, ”, there’s, Jin, that’s, Christine Jenkins Organizations: Hong Kong CNN — Hospitals, CNN, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Health, World Health Organization, WHO, Wednesday, “, University of Hong Kong’s, of Biomedical Sciences, Deakin University, Getty, Weibo, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, National Health Commission, NHC, ”, China’s, Hong Kong University, UNSW Sydney Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tianjin, United States, Australia, AFP, Beijing’s

Among his sexual contacts, five later tested positive for mpox, WHO said. “This is the first definitive proof of sexual transmission of monkeypox in Africa,” Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on several WHO advisory groups, said. The agency described the recent mpox outbreak as “unusual” and said it highlighted the risk the disease could spread widely among sexual networks. Those figures are roughly double the mpox toll in 2020, making it Congo's biggest-ever outbreak, WHO said. “Sexual transmission of monkeypox is likely established here, but (gay) communities are hiding it because of the draconian (anti-LGBTQ+) laws in several countries,” he added.

Persons: Oyewale, Mpox, Virologist Tomori, ”, Tomori Organizations: World Health Organization, WHO, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Congo, Belgium, Africa, Nigerian, Europe, Kinshasa, South Kivu, North America

LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Leading scientists urged caution over fears of another pandemic on Thursday after the World Health Organization requested more information from China on a rise of respiratory illnesses and pneumonia clusters among children. It called for more information about "undiagnosed pneumonia - China (Beijing, Liaoning)". The standard wording of the alert echoed the first-ever notice about what would become COVID-19, sent on Dec. 30 2019: "Undiagnosed pneumonia - China (Hubei)." Both the WHO and China have faced questions over transparency during the early days of COVID. In China itself, there has been a lot of recent coverage of a rise in respiratory illnesses, including among children.

Persons: Marion Koopmans, COVID lockdowns, Brian McCloskey, Virologist Tom Peacock, Jennifer Rigby, Jo Mason, Christina Fincher Organizations: World Health Organization, WHO, COVID, International Society for Infectious, FTV News, Reuters, Imperial College London, Thomson Locations: China, Dutch, Beijing, Liaoning, Hubei, Taiwan

☆ Omicron, Now 2 Years Old, Is Not Done With Us Yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Carl Zimmer | More About Carl Zimmer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

By November 2021, nearly two years after the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan and spread across the world, the surprises seemed to be over. Researchers in Botswana and South Africa alerted the world that a highly mutated version of the virus had emerged and was spreading fast. Omicron, as the World Health Organization called the variant, swiftly overtook other forms of the virus. In the two years since its emergence, Omicron has proved to be not only staggeringly infectious, but an evolutionary marvel, challenging many assumptions virologists had before the pandemic. “It was almost like there was another pandemic,” said Adam Lauring, a virologist at the University of Michigan.

Persons: virologists, ”, Adam Lauring Organizations: Alpha, World Health Organization, University of Michigan Locations: Wuhan, Botswana, South Africa

☆ What to Know About the New Covid Booster Shots
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Knvul Sheikh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

How are the new Covid shots different from the last ones? Unlike the bivalent shots from last fall, the latest mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna are monovalent, meaning they are designed to protect against just one variant: XBB.1.5, a recent descendant of Omicron that emerged earlier this year. Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna have also announced that, according to their initial research, the new Covid vaccines provide good protection against both EG.5 and BA.2.86. The new shots do not include protection against the original virus, which may actually help broaden protection against new variants. “Our immune system, when we have seen something, is biased to seeing that again,” Dr. Ho said.

Persons: David Ho, “, ”, ” Dr, Ho Organizations: Pfizer, Moderna, Columbia University, Vaccine, EG, Regulators, XBB

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