By David Malakoff “A 15% indirect cost rate will now apply to all new and existing grants, NIH said in a memo from its Director’s office. Typically, about 30% of an average NIH grant to an institution is earmarked for indirect costs, according to NIH, but some universities get much higher rates. In 2023, NIH, the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, spent nearly $9 billion on indirect costs; the change would likely leave research institutions needing to find billions of dollars from other sources to support laboratories, students, and staff. “It is… vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead,” NIH wrote in the memo. The new rate brings NIH into line with the maximum indirect costs rates allowed by private foundations, NIH stated, and is higher than the minimum 10% indirect cost payment NIH says it is required to provide. “This rate will allow grant recipients a reasonable and realistic recovery of indirect costs,” the memo stated.” to read the full story go to https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-slashes-overhead-payments-research-sparking-outrage
“Trump Administration Cuts Put Medical Progress at Risk, Researchers Say By Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg “The leading category of study at the National Institutes of Health is cancer research, an area that has produced breakthrough drugs that have significantly extended survival for people with certain blood cancers and skin cancers. Close behind is infectious disease research, an area that produced the mRNA technology that rapidly produced vaccines against Covid in 2020.” to read the full story go to https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/us/politics/medical-research-funding-cuts-university-budgets.html
“Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. The data appear to have been mistakenly posted but includes crucial information about the risks of bird flu to people and pets.” to read the full article go to https://bioethics.com/archives/96116
“CDC Weekly Report Back After 2-Week Halt But No H5N1 Bird Flu Info” By Bruce Y. Lee “With the H5N1 bird flu’s spread among different animals in the U.S. and the risk it will jump to humans, you’d expect the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to be an important source of up-to-date information….But for the past two weeks, for first time since 1952, the MMWR was a mm-not-this-week report. That coincided with the Trump administration’s halt on communications from federal agencies that began on Jan. 21 and was supposed to end on Feb. 1. After a two-week hiatus, new MMWR articles finally did appear on Feb. 6. But noticeably missing was anything about the bird flu. “What was striking was the lack of any information on the bird flu or the new strain of mPox that’s been going around.” to read the full article go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2025/02/07/cdc-mmwr-back-after-2-week-halt-but-without-h5n1-bird-flu-studies/
“The U.S. Is Not Ready for Bird Flu in Humans” By Megha Satyanarayana
“Right after President Donald Trump took office, amid the flurry of executive orders and agency upheavals, the administration told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not to release any reports or communications until one of Trump’s people could take a look at them. Among the many reports not released that week was a study on how many veterinarians had gotten bird flu.” “This virus is versatile. This virus is mutating. And it is surely infecting more people than we think.” to read the full article go to https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-us-is-not-ready-for-bird-flu-in-humans/
“The U.S. Is Having Its Mildest Covid Winter Yet” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/upshot/covid-illnesses-mild-winter.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
“President Trump has selected Gerald Parker, a veterinarian and former top-ranking federal health official, to head the White House’s pandemic office, two U.S. officials tell CBS News. “”I’ve not been a fan of every choice that Donald Trump has made. And I’ve been very critical of many of them. This one is a very good choice,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID-19 response coordinator under President Biden. Jha said he had consulted with Parker many times, describing him as widely known within the public health community as “deeply knowledgeable, serious, not particularly partisan, but really just very focused on important issues.”” to read the full article go to https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-head-pandemic-office-gerald-parker/
“Tracking Bird Flu Is Largely Left to States. Under Trump, the Federal Government Might Step Even Further Back.” by Nina B. Elkadi ““I’m sure that this administration does not want another pandemic as it moves forward. My concerns are that we might be taking our focus off of infectious disease in general, and then off of H5N1, when we actually need a lot more focus,” she says. “We need to remember that there are really important roles that government plays in protecting human health.”” to read the full article go to https://sentientmedia.org/tracking-bird-flu-trump-federal-government/
“Travelers and health-care providers should be on alert due to Ebola disease outbreak in Uganda, CDC warns” By Jen Christensen https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-warning-ebola-disease-outbreak-uganda/index.html?cid=ios_app
By Brenda Goodman, CNN “This is the second known instance of avian flu being introduced into cattle herds by birds, and experts say it marks a turning point in the nation’s efforts to contain the virus. “It’s much easier to control virus spread when you’re talking about a virus spreading from cow to cow than controlling spread from birds to cows,” said Dr. Scott Hensley, a microbiologist who studies the evolution of flu viruses at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.” to read the full article go to https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/05/health/bird-flu-cattle-nevada/index.html
“US officials detect second bird flu strain in dairy cattle” ““If this turns out to have been something that crossed into cattle a couple months ago, a couple months is a long time not to detect it,” said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona who has studied the H5N1 virus in cattle. He added that it’s important for federal officials to share promptly information about a virus that has the potential to trigger a pandemic that could “make Covid seem like a walk in the park”.” to read the full article go to
“USDA confirms spillover of 2nd H5N1 avian flu genotype into dairy cattle’ By Lisa Schnirring ‘University of Minnesota epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, said, “We shouldn’t be surprised about a new spillover to cattle, given the very significant activity in waterfowl across much of the United States.” He added that the virus is not going away, contrary to those who thought B3.13 would burn itself out. Osterholm is director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, which publishes CIDRAP News.’ to read the full article go to
By Alice Park “One promising method is sampling wastewater. The technique continues to prove useful for monitoring COVID-19; since most people now self-test and formal data collection has diminished, wastewater is the most reliable way of tracking upticks and changes in infections since it doesn’t require people to report results. Scientists are now figuring out how to apply the same principle to test wastewater on farms for H5N1, the avian influenza virus.” to read the full article go to https://time.com/7212477/wastewater-testing-farms-bird-flu/
‘‘US reports 1st outbreak of ‘highly pathogenic’ H5N9 virus in poultry. Should we worry?’’ By Emily Cooke ‘A strain of bird flu never seen before in the United States has been detected among poultry at a California farm. The virus, called highly pathogenic H5N9, is a type of avian influenza, otherwise known as “bird flu.” This is not the same type of bird flu that’s already been spreading on dairy cow and poultry farms in the U.S., causing at least several dozen infections in humans. That virus is called H5N1. So what is H5N9? How does it differ from H5N1, and should we be equally concerned about it?’ to read the full article go to https://www.livescience.com/health/flu/us-reports-1st-outbreak-of-highly-pathogenic-h5n9-virus-in-poultry-should-we-worry
By Adriel Bettelheim “Dozens of newly confirmed cases of avian influenza in wild birds and the first verified U.S. case of a new strain of the virus are raising concern the bird flu crisis may be entering a troubling new phase. Why it matters: While the developments don’t necessarily raise the risk of a pandemic, they could create more havoc for farmers, exacerbate egg shortages and expose more gaps in government disease surveillance.” to read the full article go to https://www.axios.com/2025/02/03/bird-flu-crisis-new-phase
“Understanding the H5N1 Threat” By Stephanie Vine “With new cases of avian influenza appearing, what does this mean for global health and what are drug developers doing about it?” “Scientists are calling for tests, vaccines, and drugs that can control the spread of the virus in poultry and livestock, as well as close surveillance. Efforts are also ongoing across the industry to develop pandemic influenza vaccines and therapeutics.” to read the full article go to https://themedicinemaker.com/manufacture/understanding-the-h5n1-threat
“Could the Bird Flu Become Airborne?” “Scientists were slow to recognize that Covid spreads through the air. Some are now trying to get ahead of the bird flu.’ By Carl Zimmer to read the full article go to https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/health/bird-flu-airborne-covid.html
“Skepticism About Vaccines and Response and Response to Bird Flu” By Irving Washington and Hagere Yilma “In addition to misrepresenting data, online narratives often raise concerns about vaccine ingredients, reiterate resistance to bird flu vaccines, and oppose future public health measures. Some users also share anecdotes about alleged vaccine injuries from COVID-19 vaccines to argue that bird flu vaccines would cause similar harm.” to read the full article go to https://www.kff.org/the-monitor/skepticism-about-vaccines-and-response-to-bird-flu/
By KFF Health News “The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States. One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have infected their pet cats. The studies were slated to appear in the official journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The distinguished journal has been published without interruption since 1952.” to read the full article go to https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250130/Trump-administratione28099s-halt-of-CDCe28099s-weekly-scientific-report-stalls-bird-flu-studies.aspx
“Will bird flu spark a human pandemic? Scientists say the risk is rising” By Max Kozlov https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00245-6