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☆ Bird flu virus isolated from hospitalized Canadian teen shows signs of human adaptation
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-21 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The avian flu virus isolated from a hospitalized teenager in Vancouver has mutations in key areas that could help the virus spread more easily in humans, scientists say. But scientists say the genetic changes are a reminder of what the virus is capable of if it continues to spread. The H5N1 bird flu virus that infected the teen, who is in critical but stable condition, is not the same strain that is transmitting in dairy cattle in the United States. The three mutations are at positions in the virus’ genome that Bloom and other scientists have determined would allow it to attach more easily to human cells. Most of the human H5N1 infections reported in the United States have had red, inflamed eyes as an early symptom, suggesting that’s where the virus entered the body.

Persons: ” Dr, Bonnie Henry, we’ve, ”, Jesse Bloom, “ It’s, Scott Hensley, immunologist, Hensley, Bloom, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, ” Bloom Organizations: CNN, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, CNN Health Locations: Vancouver, British Columbia, United States, Pacific Northwest, ARDS, Canadian, Washington

☆ Bird flu suspected in four Washington farm workers, CDC sends team
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-22 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

CHICAGO — The CDC is deploying a team to Washington state to assess the health of farm workers who culled poultry suffering from bird flu after four workers are presumed to have been infected by the virus, U.S. and state health officials said on Monday. The cases fuel growing concern among public health experts, as infections of U.S. dairy cattle and more than two dozen farm workers have worried scientists and federal officials about the risks to humans. California and Washington have said they are seeking to administer seasonal flu vaccines to farm workers to reduce their risk of being infected with both bird flu and seasonal influenza. “We don’t have evidence yet of transmission between people,” said Roberto Bonaccorso, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is awaiting specimens for testing from Washington and sending a team to support the state’s assessment of farm workers, an agency spokesperson said.

Persons: ”, Roberto Bonaccorso Organizations: CHICAGO, CDC, Washington State Department of Health, Disease Control, Nationwide Locations: Washington, California

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

Opinion Guest Essay Why the Pandemic Probably Started in a Lab, in 5 Key Points Illustration by Mike McQuade. Here’s what we now know:1 The SARS-like virus that caused the pandemic emerged in Wuhan, the city where the world’s foremost research lab for SARS-like viruses is located. Wuhan China Taiwan Laos South China Sea Thailand The pandemic started roughly 1,000 miles away, in Wuhan, home to the world’s foremost SARS-like virus research lab. Wuhan China East China Sea india Taiwan Myanmar Laos South China Sea philippines Thailand The pandemic started roughly 1,000 miles away, in Wuhan, home to the world’s foremost SARS-like virus research lab. In the United States, virologists generally use stricter Biosafety Level 3 protocols when working with SARS-like viruses.

Persons: Mike McQuade, Anthony Fauci, —, Shi Zhengli, Shi’s, Sarah Temmam et, Shi, coronavirus, EcoHealth, Peter Daszak, Biden, Daszak, Baric, Jesse Bloom, Fauci Organizations: Getty Images, National Institute of Allergy, Wuhan Institute of Virology, China East China, U.S, New York, Facebook Locations: United States, Wuhan, China, Yunnan, Southeast Asia, Laos, Yunnan province Taiwan Laos, Laos South China, Thailand, China East China, Taiwan Myanmar Laos South China, Laos philippines Thailand, Taiwan Laos South China, China East, philippines Thailand, Wuhan China Taiwan Laos South China, Wuhan China East China, China Wuhan East China, Covid, MERS

CNN —Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified on Monday at a House subcommittee hearing about the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the origins of the virus. The hearing was Fauci’s first public testimony on Capitol Hill since his retirement from government service. It turned contentious at times as Republicans grilled Fauci over a wide range of topics, including the basis for public health recommendations during the pandemic and email use by public health officials. Fauci said there was a “disconnect between the health-care system and the public health system” during Covid-19 in the US. That’s in large part why public health agencies emphasized the importance of people wearing masks to reduce the number of germs that could float in the air and make people sick.

Persons: Anthony Fauci, Fauci, ” Fauci, Morens, David Morens, ”, — Jeremy Farrar, Kristian Andersen, “, Debbie Dingell, “ They’re Organizations: CNN, National Institute of Allergy, Capitol, US Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, NIH, FOIA, Wellcome, Scripps Research, World Health Organization, Wuhan Institute of Virology, US Department of Energy, Democratic, CDC Locations: Covid, “, China

☆ U.S. Suspends Funding for Group at Center of Covid Origins Fight
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Benjamin Mueller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration, under acute pressure from House lawmakers, moved on Wednesday to ban funding for a prominent virus-hunting nonprofit group whose work with Chinese scientists had put it at the heart of theories that Covid leaked from a lab. Republicans went further, demanding that Peter Daszak, the president of the nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance, be criminally investigated. For EcoHealth, which relied on federal funding to study the threat of wild animal viruses, the loss of funding is another twist in a saga that has long dominated discussions of how the pandemic began. In April 2020, under orders from the Trump administration, the National Institutes of Health terminated a grant to EcoHealth amid President Donald J. Trump’s feud with China over the origin of the coronavirus. had failed to give a proper cause for ending the grant, which supplied an average of roughly $625,000 per year.

Persons: Peter Daszak, Trump, Donald J, Trump’s Organizations: Biden, Department of Health, Human Services, Republicans, EcoHealth Alliance, National Institutes of Health Locations: Wuhan, China

☆ 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

☆ Inside the germy, sneeze-filled meeting between Morgan Stanley's CEO and the Saudi crown prince at the onset of COVID-19
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Liz Hoffman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley, met with the Saudi crown prince at the onset of the pandemic. The young royal kept sneezing during the meeting — and Gorman's fear of a deadly pathogen began to grow. He was in the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, seated to the right of the country's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Given their recent experience with a deadly virus, Gorman took the caution of his Kuwaiti hosts as a sign that the West was underestimating the dangers of this one. And now, as Gorman chatted with the controversial 34-year-old crown prince about ways Saudi Arabia could diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on oil, the young royal kept sneezing.

☆ China spent years angrily trying to shut down the theory that COVID-19 came from its labs. It failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China has pushed another theory, suggesting the COVID-19 may have jumped to humans from frozen food shipped from elsewhere in the world. Lab leak theory initially dismissedThe suspicion that COVID-19 may have leaked from a Wuhan lab has circulated since the earliest days of the pandemic. Trump sought to use the pandemic to discredit China, using the xenophobic term "China virus" to describe the disease. A group of scientists criticised the WHO for dismissing the lab leak thesis too hastily, and pointed to gaps in the report's evidence. Yet the lab leak theory has continued to gain credibility, despite China's efforts, and scientists who once dismissed it now think it's a credible explanation.

Wray's comments Tuesday came after Baier noted that the Energy Department had cited the FBI's earlier findings in its report. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said earlier Tuesday that China has "always been open and transparent" about Covid. In its assessment, the Energy Department also described the "likely" laboratory-related leak as an "accident," the official added. The Energy Department is one of 18 government departments and agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said, "China obviously is very threatened by this," but "the lab leak story is not anti-Chinese.

☆ 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.

Two new omicron subvariants have overtaken BA.5 as the prevailing versions of the coronavirus in the U.S.BA.5 became dominant in July, then consistently accounted for the majority of new Covid infections until last week. The two together make up around 44% of new Covid infections, whereas BA.5 makes up just 30%. BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 cases are also rising in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. Both of the subvariants are considered part of the BA.5 family — they're sublineages that evolved from BA.5. "There’s nothing in the signature of the clinical cases that are being reported that suggests that anything is changing in terms of symptoms with these omicron subvariants," Pekosz said.

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