By Michaela Simoneau, Sophia Hirshfield, and Maclane Speer
“Since the turn of the century, every presidential administration has highlighted gaps in U.S. public health capabilities, and every Congress has left them underfunded. The H5N1 outbreak has revealed the resulting and dangerous shortcomings in U.S. pandemic preparedness: lagging data, incomplete surveillance, sluggish coordination, considerable mistrust, and insufficient planning and stockpiling of vaccines and therapies. That poor performance cuts across political parties, the federal interagency, and state leadership. Multiple players have sought to downplay the threat: the dairy industry fears further economic setbacks, state leaders are wary of federal intervention, and the Biden administration did not want to aggravate relations during the 2024 election cycle.”
to read the full article go to https://features.csis.org/US-bird-flu-response/
“Why scientists say we are fighting H5N1 bird flu with one hand tied behind our backs” By Susanne Rust and Karen Kaplan “Gain-of-function research became controversial during the COVID-19 pandemic. But without it, “we’re just flying in the dark” when it comes to H5N1, said Felicia Goodrum, a molecular virologist at the University of Arizona. But when, where and how that could come to pass is hard to predict — in part, some researchers say, because of guardrails the federal government has placed around gain-of-function research. The term describes experiments that seek to understand a virus’ potential to adapt to new hosts, spread more easily, survive longer in the environment and cause those infected to become sicker. Though many scientists view the approach as a critical tool for conducting biological research, other experts have long complained that it’s unacceptably risky — a reputation exacerbated by persistent speculation that the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was created in gain-of-function experiments in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.” to read the full article go https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-12-24/restrictions-on-gain-of-function-research-have-hobbled-h5n1-bird-flu-fight
“MPOX: Five Ways Children are More at Risk from the Virus” https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/mpox-virus-ways-children-are-at-risk
“Mpox: Belgium Detects First Case Of Clade 1b Strain; WHO Tags It As ‘Especially Concerning’” https://www.thehealthsite.com/news/mpox-belgium-detects-first-case-of-clade-1b-strain-who-tags-it-as-especially-concerning-1166586/
“Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots” By Rosemary Westwood “A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop.”
“To better understand the geography of bird flu’s spread, scientists are monitoring wastewater for fragments of the virus.
“We’ve seen detections in a lot more places, and we’ve seen a lot more frequent detections” in recent months, said Amy Lockwood, the public health partnerships lead at Verily, a company that provides wastewater testing services to the CDC and a program called WastewaterSCAN.
Earlier this month, about 19% of the sites in the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System — across at least 10 states — reported positive detections.
“The election of Donald J. Trump, with his mistrust of international institutions and his history of proposing deep cuts to foreign aid, has complicated a perilous landscape for global health organizations that were already in a frantic competition for sharply reduced funds.”
“Their demands for support reflect mounting health challenges: Rates of infection with dengue fever are exploding in Latin America. The mutated mpox virus is increasingly transmissible between people, and there are fears that H5N1, avian influenza, is also evolving to spread between humans. Deaths from cholera, an ancient scourge, and measles are rising. The parasite that causes malaria is increasingly resistant to the drugs to treat it, and an invasive malarial mosquito is threatening African cities.”
By Janet Loehrke https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/12/21/bird-flu-h5n1-avian-influenza-maps/77100793007/
“US has first severe bird flu case. When should we start to worry?” By Eduardo Cuevas and Adrianna Rodriguez https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/12/21/first-severe-bird-flu-case-pandemic/77103005007/
“Kennedy Wants to Overhaul the F.D.A. Here’s How Experts Would Change It. While some agree with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the agency needs reform, their ideas for fixing it are v ery different from his.” By Dana Smith https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/22/well/fda-rfk-jr-scientists-reform.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
“Experts say they have lost faith in the government’s ability to contain the outbreak. “We are in a terrible situation and going into a worse situation,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “I don’t know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.” To understand how the bird flu got out of hand, KFF Health News interviewed nearly 70 government officials, farmers and farmworkers, and researchers with expertise in virology, pandemics, veterinary medicine, and more.”
to read the full story go to https://www.news-medical.net/news/20241220/How-America-lost-control-of-the-bird-flu-setting-the-stage-for-another-pandemic.aspx
“Rapid spread of H5N1 bird flu through California dairy herds suggests unknown paths of transmission” By Megan Molteni “In the ongoing outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among the nation’s dairy cattle, federal officials have consistently expressed confidence that they know enough about how the virus is spreading to put a stop to it. But among epidemiologists and other infectious disease experts, there has been skepticism that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s theory of viral transmission is telling the whole story. And perhaps there is no greater cause for scrutiny than what’s currently happening in California.”
to read the full story go to https://www.statnews.com/2024/12/20/california-h5n1-bird-flu-emergency-declaration-avian-flu-spread-dairy-cattle/
“The case in Louisiana reveals little new information about the virus: H5N1 has always had the capacity to make individuals very sick. The more birds, cows, and other animals exposed people to the virus, and the more people got sick, the greater the chance that one of those cases would look like this. That an infected teenager in British Columbia was hospitalized with respiratory distress last month only emphasized that not every human case would be mild. Now here we are, with a severe case in the United States a little over a month later.”
to read the full article go to https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/12/america-bird-flu-severe-case/681115/
“How Worried Should We Be About Bird Flu?” By Dani Blum
“There isn’t any evidence so far that the virus can spread between humans. Every time the virus infects another person or animal, however, it has an opportunity to mutate, and scientists are closely watching whether the virus will gain mutations that make it more easily able to spread from human to human. “I’ve been sleeping with one eye open about this virus for many years,” Dr. Osterholm said. It’s important to track the virus and be prepared for the possibility that it could spread between humans, he said.”
to read the full article go to https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/well/bird-flu-health-risks.html
“What to Know About Bird Flu in the U.S. After CDC Announces First ‘Severe’ Human Case” By Chad de Guzman and Rebecca Schneid
“….it is also important to get the seasonal human influenza vaccine. They say if there were to be a case of a person with simultaneous bird flu and human flu infection, it could lead to a “reassortment” and thus a virus that could be more easily spread”
to read the full article go to https://time.com/7203290/bird-flu-united-states-severe-case-h5n1-explainer/
“Avian Flu Has Hit Dairies So Hard That They’re Calling It ‘Covid for Cows’” By Soumya KarlamanglaOrlando Mayorquín and Jesus Jiménez “A fast-growing outbreak of avian flu has upended California’s dairy industry, the nation’s largest producer of milk, infecting most of the state’s herds and putting thousands of farmworkers at risk for contracting the virus.”
to read the full article go to https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/us/bird-flu-california-covid-cows.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare#:~:text=Avian%20Flu%20Has,contracting%20the%20virus.
First human case of bird flu found in Wisconsin By Corey Moen https://www.channel3000.com/news/first-human-case-of-bird-flu-found-in-wisconsin/article_59e56bc6-bd7b-11ef-bee6-3b528b191b81.html
At least 1 human case of bird flu reported in Texas in latest US outbreak, CDC says By Marley Malenfant https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/12/19/bird-flu-texas-2024-cases-deadly-severe-symptoms/77083509007/
“America’s first severe case of bird flu confirmed in Louisiana”
By Jamie Gumbrecht and Brenda Goodman
“A patient in Louisiana has been hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 bird flu, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, the first such case in the United States. The agency said Wednesday that the person was exposed to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks; this is the first US bird flu case linked to a backyard flock. “It is believed that the patient that was reported by Louisiana had exposure to sick or dead birds on their property. These are not commercial poultry, and there was no exposure to dairy cows or their related products,”…
to read the full article go to https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/18/health/severe-bird-flu-louisiana-first-us-case/index.html
“California declares state of emergency over bird flu” by Joseph Choi
““Building on California’s testing and monitoring system — the largest in the nation — we are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information,” he added.”
to read the full story go to https://doctordidyouwashyourhands.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=12502&action=edit
“Bird flu is a real pandemic threat. Are we prepared for the worst?”
By Devi Sridhar
“Looking forward, it wouldn’t be wise to just assume it won’t further mutate or will be a mild strain. If I worked in a government health department, I would be preparing plans for how best to respond to more avian flu cases in humans, including GP and hospital guidance, vaccine and antiviral testing and stockpiling and containment plans.”
to read the full article go to https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/16/bird-flu-pandemic-threat-prepared
“When asked in an interview for TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year whether he would approve of an end to childhood vaccination programs, Trump said he would have a “big discussion” with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine skeptic he has tapped to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible,” Trump continued. “If you look at things that are happening, there’s something causing it.” Trump did not explicitly say in the interview that vaccines cause autism, a false claim that traces back to a retracted study from the 1990s. When pressed on the issue, Trump said his administration will complete “very serious testing,” after which “we will know for sure what’s good and what’s not good.” But merely by suggesting that there may be a connection between vaccines and autism, Trump has reaffirmed his alignment with the misinformation that has for years fueled anti-vaccine movements.”
to read the full story go to https://time.com/7201582/donald-trump-vaccines-fact-check-2024/
“Kennedy’s Lawyer Has Asked the F.D.A. to Revoke Approval of the Polio Vaccine” By Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg
“The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people from a virus that can cause paralysis or death. That campaign is just one front in the war that the lawyer, Aaron Siri, is waging against vaccines of all kinds. Mr. Siri has also filed a petition seeking to pause the distribution of 13 other vaccines; challenged, and in some cases quashed, Covid vaccine mandates around the country; sued federal agencies for the disclosure of records related to vaccine approvals; and subjected prominent vaccine scientists to grueling videotaped depositions.”
to read the full article go to https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/health/aaron-siri-rfk-jr-vaccines.html
“Biden administration has no current plans to authorize a bird flu vaccine for humans” By Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
“Biden administration officials said Wednesday they have no current plans to authorize a stockpiled bird flu vaccine, despite an escalating outbreak among livestock in the U.S. and at least 58 human infections across seven states.” The move means any decisions about a bird flu vaccine will likely be left to health officials in the incoming Trump administration, who may be led by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump has picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.” “The virus’s spread in mammals that have close contact with humans is concerning for public health experts, because it gives the bird flu many opportunities to jump to people and potentially mutate to spread effectively from person to person.”
to read the full article go to https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/biden-administration-no-current-plans-authorize-bird-flu-vaccine-human-rcna183848
Cats in L.A. County die after drinking recalled raw milk By Susanne Rust https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-12-12/cats-in-la-county-die-after-drinking-recalled-raw-milk
Six Childhood Scourges We’ve Forgotten About, Thanks to Vaccines By Emily Baumgaertner https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/health/childhood-diseases-vaccines-preventable.html
McConnell blasts ‘effort to undermine’ polio vaccine linked to RFK Jr.
