Diseases & Outbreaks News and Discussions

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[firestar464]

More on that by Euronews:

https://www.euronews.com/health/2024/12 ... icials-say

This could be multiple illnesses. Who knows? Hope we get more info soon.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

A single mutation in avian influenza in cows could enable human-to-human transmission

The authors of a study published in ‘Science’ emphasize the importance of monitoring mutations in both avian and bovine strains of the virus to prevent a potential future pandemic

DEC 05, 2024 - 20:10 WET

When early humans domesticated animals and began living alongside them, they could not have foreseen that, in addition to providing meat and skins, these animals would also bring devastating epidemics. Coexistence with animals facilitated the transmission of pathogens between species, and the cities that flourished due to agriculture and livestock were periodically decimated by outbreaks. These epidemics changed the course of history. The Cyprian plague of the third century spurred the rise of Christianity, the Justinian plague weakened the empires of the Near East and contributed to the rapid expansion of Islam, and the Mexican empire fell to a small group of Spaniards who were immune to smallpox.

As the global population has surged in the last century, the frequency of outbreaks has increased. A paper published in Science on Thursday warns that a single mutation in the H5N1 avian flu virus, which currently infects cows, could alter its affinity from animal cells to human cells. Although human-to-human transmission has not yet been reported, the virus has already been detected in at least 282 dairy herds in the U.S. The study suggests that a small change in the hemagglutinin (the “H” in H5N1) could mark the beginning of a more dangerous situation.

The influenza virus infects its host by attaching to cell receptors via hemagglutinin. This protein normally binds to receptors on bird cells, but not typically on human cells. However, viruses have spread globally on migratory birds, jumping between animals, and sometimes mutating to infect new hosts. This occurred when the H5N1 avian influenza, first identified in 1996, reached cows, becoming a bovine disease. In January 2024, the first known case of a human infected with “cow flu” was reported in Texas.

Until now, it was thought that at least three mutations were required for a bird flu virus to infect humans and spread between them. However, in the Texas case, a single mutation in an amino acid of the hemagglutinin allowed the virus to bind to human cell receptors.

https://english.elpais.com/science-tech ... ssion.html

[caltrek]

While the Plague Doesn’t Affect Humans Like it Did in the 1300s, it Can Still wreak Havoc on Animal Populations
December 4, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The plague is one of the deadliest bacterial infections in human history. An estimated 50 million Europeans died from it in the mid-1300s when it was known as the “Black Death.”

Thanks to improved sanitation, public health measures and antibiotics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now reports an average of only seven human cases of plague in the U.S. each year. While humans are largely safe from it, particularly in the eastern half of the U.S., the disease continues to wipe out prairie dog colonies and infect other rodents in the western half of the U.S.

Additional extract:

In 2009, the plague killed more than 80% of the remaining population of black-footed ferrets — one of the most endangered mammals in the world — who eat prairie dogs as their main food source….[/quote

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1067127

For a presentation of study results as presented in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51668-0

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[firestar464]

https://www.reuters.com/business/health ... 024-12-06/

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https://www.azfamily.com/2024/12/06/hea ... u-arizona/

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[firestar464]

It just means the disease vector's unknown. Anything else is just speculation.

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[caltrek]

Bird Flu is Racing Through Farms, but Northwest States are Rarely Testing Workers
by Rachel Spacek
December 3, 2024

Introduction:

(Investigate Midwest) On a recent Monday morning, workers began their week on a large poultry farm in Franklin County, Washington, home to over 800,000 chickens.

By the end of the day, avian flu had been discovered among some of those chickens. By the end of the week, four workers came down with the illness, which had infected only a handful of other people in the U.S. And after two more days of testing by the Benton Franklin Health District, another 10 workers at the farm tested positive.

That outbreak, initially detected Oct. 14, represented the first human cases this year of the avian flu in the Pacific Northwest. The first human case in Oregon was confirmed Nov. 15, adding to mounting evidence that the flu is spreading to farmworker populations across the Western U.S. But efforts to test and monitor the disease among workers are spotty and inconsistent and leave the responsibility for getting tested on the laborers themselves, many of whom are undocumented and can’t afford to take time off if they test positive.

Meanwhile, the virus is spreading rapidly among cows and chickens, raising concerns among epidemiologists that the avian flu could merge with the regular flu and cause a pandemic, making it even more urgent to try to limit the spread among people.

Regular testing helps health officials better understand how the virus is being transmitted and how to protect workers. Without it, dozens of positive workers could be undetected, leaving them to handle symptoms on their own.

Read more here: https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/12 ... -workers

As Rakilian has observed

This has the potential to be another pandemic. Under Trump, no less

One might add with RFK Jr. headed toward confirmation as head of Health and Human Services and Elon Musk likely to insist on defunding health protection programs...

[caltrek]

Experts Warn of Bird Flu Pandemic as Signals of Mutation Mount
by Daniel Lawler
December 12, 2024

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Health experts have been sounding the alarm about the potential pandemic threat posed by bird flu, which has been showing signs of mutating as it spreads among cows and infects people in the United States.

There is no guarantee that bird flu will ever begin transmitting between humans, and US health authorities have emphasised that the risk to the general public remains low.

The deadly bird flu variant H5N1 first emerged in China in 1996, but over the last four years it has spread more widely than ever before, reaching previously untouched regions such as penguin-haven Antarctica.

More than 300 million poultry birds have been killed or culled since October 2021, while 315 different species of wild birds have died across 79 countries, the World Organisation for Animal Health told AFP.

Mammals that ate the infected birds, such as seals, have also experienced mass-die offs.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/experts-w ... ion-mount

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Avian flu reported in 108 countries across five continents, says UN health agency

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158286
Stopping avian flu in its tracks is only possible if poultry producers understand how to prevent its introduction and spread, working with
17 December 2024 Health

Avian influenza has caused the deaths of more than 300 million birds worldwide and the virus “is increasingly crossing species barriers”, according to UN health officers.

In an update on the mutating virus - known as H5N1 – Dr. Madhur Dhingra from the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, said that it had “spilled over into wildlife”.

More than 500 bird species have been infected along with at least 70 mammalian species, including the endangered California condor and polar bears.

In regions that are heavily reliant on poultry as a primary source of protein, the FAO medic insisted that avian influenza “poses a serious threat to food and nutrition security”.
Economic damage

Dr Dhingra warned that hundreds of millions of people’s livelihoods have been affected by the virus – an economic burden on farmers that could prevent them from investing in adequate biosafety measures.

Following the emergence of H5N1 influenza virus in dairy cattle, the WHO has joined calls for strengthened surveillance and biosecurity on farms, to keep animals and people safe.

The UN health agency said that in 2024, 76 people have been infected with the H5 avian influenza strain, and most were farm workers. More than 60 cases originated in the US, which has also reported outbreaks of H5 in wildlife and poultry and, more recently, in dairy cattle.

There have also been cases reported in Australia, Canada, China, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

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