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Európa Europe
Magyarország
2024.04.26. Járványok mindig voltak és lesznek, de olyan mértékű pusztításokat nem végeztek, mint a középkorban – fogalmazott Hankó, a Magyar Gyógyszerész Kamara elnöke Covid-tanulságokat megvitató kerekasztal-beszélgetésen, a XXI. Század Intézetben tartott konferencián. Az infektológus megjegyezte, a karantén a pestis- vagy a kolerajárványok idején szinte az egyetlen védekezési eszköz volt a fertőzés terjedése ellen. Kötelező maszkhasználatot pedig több mint száz éve, a spanyolnátha idején már bevezettek, a Covid-járvány idején még erről is meg kellet győzni az embereket. „Az oltásszkepticizmussal hasonló a helyzet, pedig az egyik legsikeresebb népegészségügyi program Magyarországon a kötelező gyermekkori védőoltások protokollja mutatott rá az eseményen Szlávik infektológus, a Belvárosi Orvosi Centrum infektológus szakorvosa". A kanyaró ellen így értük el a 95 százalékos átoltottságot, amivel hazánkban a fertőzést sikerült kiiktatni. "Egészen biztosan lesz következő járvány, kérdés hogy az emberiség meg tudja-e akadályozni, hogy a koronavírushoz hasonló mértékű legyen” – fogalmazott. Szavai szerint a következő, egyelőre állatról emberre ritkán terjedő, kockázatosnak tartott vírus a madárinfluenza, ami ellen már megvan a lehetséges, nagy mennyiségben létrehozható védőoltás, ami abban az esetben jelent segítséget, ha a vírus emberről emberre is terjedne. „Egyelőre még itt nem tartunk, de már átlépett egy olyan határt, hogy bizonyos emlősöket megfertőz” – magyarázta. Hozzátette: a Sars-Covidnál a legnagyobb gondot az jelentette, hogy nem tudtunk olyan gyorsan hatalmas mennyiségben védőoltást kifejleszteni, mint ahogy szükség lett volna erre. A fekete himlő vagy a tbc terjedését is oltásokkal sikerült felszámolni, mégsem lehetett a koronavírus-járvány idején mindenkit meggyőzni az oltások hasznosságáról. A lakosság 60-70 százaléka kapott meg egy oltást, az idősek 70-80 százaléka legalább két oltást. A szakember szerint 80 százalék általános teljes oltottság elérése lett volna ideális. Ennek ellenére nem igaz, hogy a magyar emberek nagyobb arányban haltak meg, mint a szomszédos országokban. Nincsenek erre érvényes adatok – emelte ki. Hankó egyetlen magyar gyógyszerész házaspárról tud, akik áldozatul estek a fertőzésnek, annak ellenére, hogy a legszigorúbb korlátozások idején folyamatosan dolgoztak a patikusok. Mint mondta, nemcsak a hatósági korlátozások betartásával igyekeztek óvni kollégáikat, a szakmán belül központilag is hoztak bizonyos szabályokat. Az egyik, hogy a nagy forgalmú patikáknál a különböző műszakokban dolgozó gyógyszerészek nem találkoztak egymással, hogy ha az egyik csoportból valaki elkapta volna a fertőzést, a másik csoport tagjaira ne terjedjen át. Szlávik kedvezőtlenebb adatokról számolt be: a koronavírus áldozatainak 10 százalékát világszerte az egészségügyben dolgozók tették ki, mivel mind az orvosok, mind az ápolók a frontvonalban dolgoztak, már az oltóanyag megérkezése előtt is. „A járványügyi intézkedéseket lehet utólag kritizálni, csak nem szabad elfelejteni, hogy szükségállapotban a közegészségügynek félkatonai szervezetként kell működnie” – húzta alá. Hozzátette: infektológusként az oltások hasznosságát nem kérdőjelezte meg. Hankó is ezt támasztotta alá: 'amit a gyógyszerhatékonyság engedélyez, az megfelelő hatékonysággal bír'. A koronavírus-oltóanyag esetében ez a betegség súlyosabb lefolyásának megakadályozást jelenti, nem azt, hogy nem fertőződik meg az ember. Ő is elismerte, hogy vészhelyzetben gyors döntéseket kell hozni, de a szakmákkal intenzívebb párbeszédre lett volna szükség. A 2020-as időszakra visszaemlékezve elmondta, volt, hogy tollat sem lehetett biztosítani a recept aláírásához, vagy csak ablakon keresztül szolgálhatták ki a betegeket. Az intézkedések olyan gyorsan követték egymást, hogy az aktuális rendelet elolvasásával zárta a napot. Negyedévente írtuk át a protokollokat a koronavírus-járvány idején, mert az ismeretek változtak, születtek újabb és újabb kutatások – erősítette meg Szlávik, aki épp azt nevezte meg a járvány egyik pozitív hozadékának, hogy a közegészségügyi intézkedések gyorsabbá váltak. „A védekezéshez szükséges eszközök beszerzése mellett a tapasztalatok átadásának a gyorsasága is fontos volt, az első hatékonynak ítélt gyógyszereket rögtön beépítettük a kezelési gyakorlatba, csakúgy, mint az oltóanyagoknál” – mondta. Hankó szerint az ENSZ járványügyi paktuma üdvözlendő, de a lokális szempontokat nem szabad mellőzni, például, hogy adott helyzetben Magyarországon ezt hogyan lehetne alkalmazni. A konferencia korábbi felszólalóival egyetértett abban, hogy a kritikus anyagok gyártását, előállítását országhatáron belül meg kell oldani. Készül ezt illetően egy gyógyszerlista, amit szakmailag indokoltnak tart. (Forrás: index)
2024. április 25. Légúti figyelőszolgálat adatok - 2024. évi 16. hét: 2024. április 15 - 21. A légúti figyelőszolgálat keretében kijelölt 24 kórház adatai alapján e héten 72 beteget vettek fel kórházba súlyos, akut légúti fertőzés (SARI) miatt, közülük 7-en részesültek intenzív/szubintenzív ellátásban. A 72 SARI beteg közül 7 betegnél RSV, 2-nél SARS-CoV-2 vírus okozott megbetegedést. Az RSV-pozitív betegek közül 5-en 2 évesek vagy annál fiatalabbak, a COVID-19 fertőzöttek közül egy 0 éves és egy 60 év feletti. A figyelőszolgálatban résztvevő orvosok jelentései alapján végzett becslés szerint az országban 9 200-an fordultak orvoshoz influenzaszerű, 132 800-an pedig akut légúti fertőzés tüneteivel. Influenzaszerű megbetegedés esetén a betegek közel 32%-a 0-14 éves gyermek, több mint 33% 15-34 éves fiatal felnőtt, több mint 24% a 35-59 évesek, közel 11% pedig a 60 éven felüliek korcsoportjába tartozik. Influenzás tünetekkel orvoshoz fordulás gyakorisága nyolc közigazgatási területen nőtt, hét közigazgatási területen csökkent, 5 közigazgatási területen nem változott az előző hét adataihoz viszonyítva. Laboratóriumi vizsgálattal igazolt, influenzavírus által okozott megbetegedéseket három vármegyében - Hevesben, Somogyban és Szabolcs-Szatmár-Beregben - diagnosztizáltak. Akut légúti fertőzés esetén a betegek korcsoport szerinti megoszlása: közel 48%-uk 0-14 éves gyermek, több mint 25% 15-34 éves fiatal felnőtt, több mint 17% a 35-59 évesek, közel 10% a 60 éven felüliek korcsoportjába tartozó. Akut légúti megbetegedés halmozódásáról nem érkezett jelentés. Légúti minta 140 betegtől érkezett a Nemzeti Népegészségügyi és Gyógyszerészeti Központ (NNGYK) Nemzeti Influenza Referencia Laboratóriumába. A sentinel kórházak által beküldött 12 minta közül 4 betegnél RSV-t azonosítottak. A sentinel orvosok által beküldött 102 minta közül 2 betegnél az influenza B, 4 betegnél az RSV, 8 betegnél a human metapneumovírus kóroki szerepét igazolták. Az influenza pozitivitási arány 2,0%, az RSV pozitivitási arány 3,9%, a HMPV pozitivitási arány 7,8%. Hagyományos diagnosztikus célú vizsgálat keretében érkezett 26 légúti minta közül 1 influenza A(pdm09), 1 RSV, 1 adenovírus, 3 parainfluenza vírus, 1 rhinovírus, 1 bocavírus és 1 SARS-CoV-2 vírus pozitív. A 2023. év 40 – 2024. 16. hete között összesen 6 827 vizsgálati anyagot dolgoztak fel az NNGYK Nemzeti Influenza Referencia Laboratóriumban. Kilencszáznegyvenkilenc influenza A[759 influenza A(H1pdm09), 188 influenza A(H3), 2 influenza A(NT)], 75 influenza B, 356 RSV, 1 071 COVID-19 fertőzést igazoltak. Ötvenhét megbetegedést rhinovírus, 12-t parainfluenza, 8-at adenovírus, 167-et human metapneumovírus, 6-ot bocavírus okozott. Az NNGYK - összevetve szennyvíz alapú vizsgálataival az Országos Mentőszolgálat sürgősségi ellátás adatait - egységesített felügyeleti rendszee keretében követi a szennyvízben az influenza és COVID-19 vírusterhelést és a sürgősségi ellátási igényt az Országos Mentőszolgálat oldaláról. Szennyvíz vizsgálatával olyan kórokozók is vizsgálhatók, amelyek nem képesek szennyvíz közvetítésével terjedni, mint például a SARS-CoV-2 vagy az influenza vírusok. A szennyvízvizsgálatok eredményei előre jelezhetnek irányzatokat az emberi megbetegedésekben, így hatékonyan kiegészíthetnek egyéb járványkövetési rendszereket. A koronavírus (SARS-CoV-2) örökítőanyag-terhelés emelkedését 1 héttel követi a mentőszolgálat hívásszámának növekedése. Az influenza szennyvízben mért vírusterhelésének emelkedését 2 héttel követi a sürgősségi ellátási igény növekedése. Minden szennyvízmintában kimutatási határ alatti tartományban maradt az Influenza A vírusterhelése. Országos átlagterhelést tekintve pangás tapasztalható. Influenza esetszámok emelkedése a közeljövőben nem várható. Országosan a szennyvíz SARS-CoV-2 örökítőanyag-terhelése e héten is alacsony értékű, pang, a minták többségénél a kimutatási határnál alacsonyabb. Minden helyszínen megrekedt áramlat jellemző. COVID-19 esetszámok emelkedése a közeljövőben nem várható. (Forrás: nnk *)
* "Nemzeti Népegészségügyi Központ"
2024. április 25. Denevérvirológiai kutatás indul a Pécsi Tudományegyetemen, melynek Virológiai Nemzeti Laboratóriuma (VNL) az egyre ritkuló és szigorú természetvédelmi oltalom alatt álló denevérek vírusait kutató konzorciumhoz csatlakozott. Az „OneBAT” kutatási téma a Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium irányítása alá tartozó Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Alapból nyújtott, 126,6 millió forint vissza nem térítendő támogatásból valósul meg. A denevérek számos olyan vírust hordoznak, amelyek kiváló modellek lehetnek a különböző, állatról emberre terjedő vírusok elleni küzdelemben, fontos információkhoz juttathatva kutatókat járványok elleni felkészüléshez. A kutatás tizenhárom nemzetközi partner összefogásával valósul meg. A konzorcium célja az európai denevérekben előforduló vírusok vizsgálata, feltárni a természetes vírusgazdák, valamint az alkalmi gazdaszervezetek, a kórokozók és a környezet közötti összetett kölcsönhatásokat, amelyek meghatározzák a fertőző betegségek felbukkanását. A kutatási téma megvalósítása során olyan megújuló módszerek és eljárások kifejlesztése a cél, amelyekkel lehetővé válik az új fertőző betegségek gyors megismerése, az ellenük való védekezés kidolgozása. A kutatásba bevont állatok szerológiai és molekuláris biológiai vizsgálatára szolgáló gyors szabványok kifejlesztésén túl, Európa-szerte összhangba hozott hosszútávú betegség-környezettani felmérések is zajlanak. A OneBAT kutatás során vevőantennákat is telepítenek Magyarországon is, amelyek segítenek a repülő állatok viselkedésének, vonulásának vizsgálatában. (Forrás: portfolio)
Felvidék
2024. április 21. Hiány mutatkozik oltóanyagból. Kelet-Szlovákiában megjelent a sárgaság, már nem csak a falvakban, hanem a városokban, így Felsővízközön is. A higiénikusok a legtöbb esetet a város szélén található három lakóházban igazolták. A hepatitis A vírus széklettel ürül, és érintkezés útján terjed. Az esetek száma folyamatosan emelkedik. A helyiek elmondása szerint a járvány húsvétkor tört ki. Az év eleje óta 47 beteget regisztráltunk – mondta Senajová, járványügyi szakember. A betegség lappangási ideje ötven nap, így azok, akik kapcsolatba kerültek a fertőzöttekkel, közel két hónapig orvosi felügyelet alá kerülnek. Az orvosok az óvodás és iskolás korú gyermekek között azonosítják a legtöbb fertőzöttet. Fontos a személyes higiénia - nem szabad egy pohárból inni, és ugyanazt a szál cigarettát szívni – figyelmeztetett Senajová. (Forrás: ujszo)
Germany
(Friday), 26 April 2024 The spring festival, on the banks of the Neckar river, in Stuttgart, south-west Germany, opened last Saturday and runs for 23 days into next month, with a variety of rides, stalls, snack bars and marquees offering refreshments and entertainment. Last year it attracted 1.4 million visitors. Last weekend a norovirus outbreak has affected more than 800 people. They caught the vomiting bug in a marquee. The scale of infection has increased during the week. Visitors quickly complained of vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea. Rise in norovirus could put pressure on hospitals. By today afternoon, Stuttgart health officials said the number of people infected had reached 815. They believe it was not linked to food or drink served in the festival tent as marquee staff, as well as dishes and water used for washing them up have all tested negative. Officials said it was possible that some visitors may have passed the virus on through secondary infection. They are assuming the virus was passed from person to person, possibly through the air. There is no evidence of hygiene rules being broken. The main symptoms of norovirus are: Feeling sick (nausea); diarrhoea; being sick (vomiting). You may also have: A high temperature; a headache; aching arms and legs. (Source: bbc *)
* British Broadcasting Corporation
United Kingdom
25 April 2024 Two-million people across England and Scotland are still suffering from long Covid-19 symptoms, of whom 381,000 have had their day-to-day activities limited a lot, according to an official study published today. Data produced with the UK Health Security Agency, based on a sample of 139,000 participants show 3.3% of people surveyed between February 6 and March 7 reported having Covid-19 symptoms that had lasted more than four weeks since an initial infection and were not explained by another medical condition, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. This was up slightly from the 2.9% of people who reported long Covid-19 in a similar ONS survey in March 2023 which covered the whole UK, although the ONS said the two surveys' methods were not exactly comparable. Of the people reporting long Covid-19 symptoms, 51% said they started more than two years ago, and 71% said they had lasted at least a year. People aged 45-54 were most likely to report long Covid-19 symptoms, at 5% of the age group, and women were 20% more likely to report symptoms than men. The data showed that 9.1% of people who were not working or looking for work reported long Covid-19 symptoms, nearly triple the rate among the population as a whole. In Britain labour force participation has fallen since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, troubling the government and employers. Britain recorded more than 230,000 Covid-19 deaths. A big factor has been an increase in the number of working-age people who are long-term sick, which has risen by around 700,000 since the pandemic. (Source: timeslive * / Reuters)
* from South Africa
Africa
Nigeria
April 28, 2024 Measles outbreak kills 42 children in Adamawa State, Northeast Nigeria. The outbreak of the disease was recorded in the Mubi North (23 deaths) and Gombi (19 deaths) local government areas. So far, there are over 200 infected children. There's also a suspected polio case in Gombi. A team of medical workers has been discharged to the affected communities to tackle the two outbreaks. When contacted, the state health commissioner, Tangwami confirmed the outbreak but said that "details, including mortalities will be given tomorrow at a press briefing to be addressed by the deputy governor". (Source: saharareporters *)
* Sahara Reporters, based in New York City
Asia
China
April 30, 2024 Chinese scientist Zhang who published first sequence of COVID virus in China in early January 2020 protests after being evicted from lab. Yesterday he wrote the post on Chinese social media platform Weibo that he and his team were suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab, the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters. The post was later deleted. Source: (Source: apnews *)
* Associated Press, headquartered in New York City.
April 22, 2024 Secrecy clouds the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. When Chinese authorities first started searching for the virus’ origins is unclear. WHO officials heard of an inspection of the Wuhan market on Dec. 25, 2019. According to a recording of a confidential WHO meeting, WHO’s top virus expert, Ben Embarek, told colleagues that Chinese officials that day were “looking at what was on sale in the market, whether all the vendors have licenses (and) if there was any illegal (wildlife) trade.” Ben Embarek said the probe was “not routine” and WHO would “try to figure out what happened.” Such a probe has never been publicly mentioned by Chinese authorities or WHO. Feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began. The first publicly known search took place for the coronavirus on Dec. 31, 2019, when Chinese Center for Disease Control scientists visited the Wuhan market where many early COVID-19 cases surfaced. Early on, Chinese scientists were silenced and politicians took control. Zhang was the first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus. One day after he wrote a memo urging health authorities to act quickly, China’s top health official ordered his lab closed. “They used their official power against me and our colleagues,” Zhang wrote in an email provided by Holmes, an Australian virologist. The government opened investigations into top health officials. China CDC staff were encouraged to report colleagues who mishandled the outbreak to the Communist Party’s disciplinary bodies. As criticism of China grew, the Chinese government deflected blame. They declared their virus response a success and closed investigations into the officials with few job losses. There were no real reforms, because doing reforms means admitting fault. As WHO negotiated with China for a mission to investigate COVID-19 in early 2020, it was China’s Foreign Ministry, not scientists, that decided the terms. China refused a visa for WHO’s Ben Embarek, then the agency’s top animal virus expert. The itinerary dropped nearly all the items linked to an origins search, according to draft agendas. Taking charge of the WHO visit was Liang, an epidemiologist close to top Chinese officials who was widely seen as pushing the party line, not science-backed policies. Liang ordered the Wuhan market disinfected before samples could be collected and promoted a theory that COVID-19 originated from frozen food imported into China. On a train ride with Dr. Aylward, a senior adviser to WHO chief Tedros, Liang lobbied the U.N. agency to praise China’s response in its public report. The new section was so flattering that colleagues emailed Aylward to suggest he “dial it back a bit.” By the time WHO led another visit to Wuhan in January 2021, the origins hunt had become highly politicized. Liang, the Chinese official in charge of two earlier WHO visits, 'organized market workers to tell WHO experts no live wildlife was sold and cut recent photos of wildlife at the market from the report'. The WHO team concluded a lab leak was “extremely unlikely.” Months later, WHO chief said it was “premature” to dismiss the lab leak theory and pressed China to be more transparent, infuriating Chinese officials. China told WHO any future missions to find the origins of COVID-19 should be 'elsewhere'. 'Since then', global cooperation has ground to a halt. Chinese scientists are still under heavy pressure. Researchers who published papers on the coronavirus ran into trouble with Chinese authorities. Others were barred from travel abroad for conferences and WHO meetings. The head of the China CDC Institute of Viral Disease was forced to retire 'over the release of sensitive market data', according to a former China CDC official. “It has to do with the origins, so they’re still worried,” the official said. “If you try and get to the bottom of it, what if it turns out to be from China?”
(Source: apnews)
Note: Original article 'by Kang, a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting in China who covers Chinese politics, technology and society from Beijing' and 'Cheng, who reported from Geneva'.
North America
United States
Apr 29, 2024 A Florida dolphin was discovered with "highly pathogenic" avian influenza virus, also known as HPAIV, isolated virus detected in the dolphin's brain tissue, according to a study made by University of Florida researchers, detailed in a paper in the online journal Communications Biology. A global outbreak of bird flu started in 2020. The virus was first detected in North America in 2021. The dolphin was first found "in distress" in March 2022 after it became stuck in a Dixie County canal. It died shortly after a rescue team arrived. The samples were found in a postmortem exam which showed many severe health problems, including inflammation of the brain and leptomeninges disease. It's not known how the dolphin may have contracted the flu, said Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The researchers also said that in 2022 there had also been harbor seals and gray seals dying from the virus. A small amount of those that died also had neurological symptoms. In the U.S., the disease has been particularly widespread in marine mammals in Maine. It has also been detected in seals in Puget Sound, Washington state. It has been spreading particularly quickly in South America. (Source: newsweek)
April 26, 2024 In an update published this week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that about 1 in 5 samples of retail milk contain traces of highly contagious bird flu, though these findings may not be indicative of an infectious risk to consumers. "The agency continues to analyze this information; however, the initial results show about 1 in 5 of the retail samples tested are quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-positive for [Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza] viral fragments, with a greater proportion of positive results coming from milk in areas with infected herds". The FDA noted that additional testing will be required to determine if intact pathogens are actually present in the milk and if consuming these products poses a risk of infection. "To date, the retail milk studies have shown no results that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe," the agency shared, citing the pasteurization process that retail milk undergoes as well as the diverting and destroying of milk from infected cows. The agency also reiterated its long-standing warning against drinking raw milk. (Source: thestate *)
* The State, USA
April 26, 2024 2:46 PM Three women likely were infected with HIV after undergoing 'vampire facials' at an unlicensed New Mexico spa, the first known instance of the virus being transmitted through cosmetic injection services. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released today, the investigation began in summer 2018 when a woman with no known HIV risk factors was diagnosed. HIV is transmitted via contact with bodily fluids from an infected person, which is why it is most often contracted through sex or the sharing of needles. The patient reported no injection drug use, recent blood transfusions, or recent sexual contact with anyone other than her current sexual partner, who received a negative HIV test result after the patient's diagnosis. However, the patient said she underwent a so-called 'vampire facial,' a cosmetic procedure that draws a client's blood, separates the platelets, and then reinjects the platelet-rich blood into their face through microneedles. Proponents of vampire facials say it helps plump sagging skin and reduces the appearance of acne scars or wrinkles. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) said there's little evidence to support it. The facials seem safe as long as blood is handled properly. Investigators compiled and cross-referenced names and telephone numbers from client consent forms, handwritten appointment records, and telephone contacts to create a list of potentially affected clients.. Investigators found five patients with confirmed spa-related HIV infections, including one who had tested positive for HIV two years before getting a vampire facial in 2018, and a sexual partner of the woman. The other three patients identified had no known social contact with one another, and the only thing they had in common was the procedure done at the spa. Two of the five patients had previously received a positive rapid HIV test result during routine evaluations for life insurance. In 2022, the spa's owner pleaded guilty to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license and is now serving a 3 1/2-year prison sentence Within months of the positive test, the Albuquerque salon was shut down. One patient was diagnosed after hospitalization with an AIDS-defining illness in fall 2021, and another after being hospitalized in spring 2023. The New Mexico Department of Health said it had "identified practices that could potentially spread blood-borne infections, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C to clients.' Investigators found a rack of unlabeled tubes containing blood and medical injectables, such as Botox and lidocaine, stored in the kitchen refrigerator along with food. Unwrapped syringes were found in drawers, on counters, and discarded in regular trash cans. There was no steam sterilizer, and equipment that was meant to be single use, like disposable electric desiccator tips, was being reused. The spa's owner operated without appropriate licenses at multiple locations and did not have an appointment scheduling system that stored client contact information. (Source: thestate *)
* The State, USA
(Thursday), 4/25/2024 'The virus reemerged in Europe in 2020'. It has since killed tens of millions of birds and more than 40,000 sea lions and seals in South America. World Health Organization chief scientist Farrar called this an 'animal pandemic' on April 18. The H5N1 bird flu virus is spreading through US cattle herds for the first time. The cow-to-cow transmission is the latest escalation in a global outbreak. Genetic fragments of the virus, discovered in grocery store milk on April 23, suggest the cattle outbreak is more widespread than officials believed. Experts told that drinking pasteurized milk is probably still safe. Pasteurization deactivates pathogens, probably including H5N1, according to the Food and Drug Administration. However, no studies have specifically tested whether pasteurizing milk deactivates H5N1. The FDA is testing that now. The mammal-to-mammal transmission has scientists worried the virus could mutate to spread between humans. There has been no known human-to-human transmission. Dr. Adams, a former surgeon general and the director of health equity at Purdue University, is getting deja vu. He fears the US is making the mistakes of 2020 all over again. "If it keeps spreading in animals, then it is eventually going to cause problems for humans, either because we don't have food because they've got to start exterminating flocks, or because it starts to make a jump in humans," Adams, who served under former President Trump and was on the administration's initial COVID-19 task force, told. "The more it replicates, the more chances it has to mutate." Though he agrees with the CDC's assessment that the current risk to humans is low, Adams fears the US is repeating many mistakes it made in the early days of COVID-19. Who is in charge of an animal pandemic in the US? The CDC? The US Department of Agriculture? The FDA? The answer is, sort of, all of them. So far, the USDA has only been testing cattle herds when an animal appears sick. That means asymptomatic spread could be flying under the radar. "An animal can't tell you, 'Hey, I feel a little under the weather today.' So they're literally waiting until an animal is collapsing or showing fatigue or showing severe symptoms,' Adams said. "We need a testing strategy that is proactive and allows true surveillance, and not reactive." The USDA took a step forward yesterday, ordering that all lactating dairy cows must be tested for H5N1 before they're moved across state lines and that all positive test results must be reported. New York Times columnist Tufekci reported that same day that, until now, the USDA has not been keeping track of positive test results in cattle. The decentralized responsibility could be behind the lack of widespread, clear public messaging so far. For example, Adams says he hasn't changed anything about his diet, since pasteurization and proper cooking procedures should kill any live virus present. But he isn't sure everyone is getting the message. He compared it to the development of COVID-19 vaccines, when people distrusted a process they didn't understand. "The public needs good consistent communication from the White House, from the USDA, helping reassure them what the process is to keep them safe," Adams said. 'The Biden administration, particularly the White House, has been incredibly quiet on this bird flu situation. Why? To me, it looks like they very much don't want to scare the public and spook the economy in an election year,' Adams said. Just like the lockdowns of COVID-19 were devastating for the restaurant and hospitality industries, a crackdown on avian flu can be devastating 'to the chicken industry'. "We're seeing the same tension between business interests and public health interests,' Adams said. Rather than consumers, the people most at risk are agricultural workers or anyone with close or prolonged exposure to chickens or cattle. It's those groups who need strong, targeted guidance right now, Adams said. What's more, many of the workers who handle chickens and cattle are undocumented immigrants. That can make them and their bosses hesitant to call in authorities over diseased animals. Many vulnerable groups were hesitant to report illness in the early COVID days, too, including migrant workers and people who didn't have sick leave from work. "My concern is we keep making the same mistakes over and over again,' Adams said. 'Because we keep focusing on the wrong things instead of focusing on the root causes." (Source: msn * / Business Insider)
* Microsoft
(Thursday), 4/25/2024 This strain of avian flu has been circulating for more than 20 years, but its leap into cows is of significant concern. While avian flu has infected humans - especially in Asia - the virus has yet to prove able to spread efficiently in people. But the more the virus jumps animal to animal, the greater the chance mutations will emerge that allow sustained person-to-person transmission, the required next step for a pandemic. As bird flu spreads in cows, fractured U.S. response has echoes of early covid. Federal agencies with competing interests are slowing the country’s ability to track and control an outbreak of highly virulent bird flu that for the first time is infecting cows in the United States. “This requires multiple agencies to coordinate and communicate internally, but most importantly externally, which doesn’t seem to be happening due to different cultures, priorities, legal responsibilities, scientific expertise, and agility,' said Jetelina, an epidemiologist who writes a weekly infectious-diseases newsletter and has closely tracked the avian flu outbreak. “Mix that in with the usual challenges of scientific uncertainty, complexity and, quite frankly global pressure, and you got yourself an utterly, unacceptable mess.' The response has echoes of the early days of 2020, when the coronavirus began its deadly march around the world. Today, some officials and experts express frustration that more livestock herds aren’t being tested for avian flu, and that when tests and epidemiological studies are conducted, results aren’t shared fast enough or with enough detail. They point, in particular, to a failure to provide more details publicly about how the H5N1 virus is spreading in cows and about the safety of the milk supply. They said the lack of clear and timely updates by some federal agencies responding to the outbreak recall similar communication missteps at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. They fear that the delays could allow the pathogen to move unchecked - and potentially acquire the genetic machinery needed to spread swiftly among people. One dairy worker in Texas has already fallen ill amid the outbreak, the second U.S. case ever of this type of bird flu. A senior administration official said there have been “no competing interests.” The White House’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy is coordinating the outbreak response with relevant agencies “that are working quickly and methodically.” The government is “committed to sharing results as soon as possible,” said the official. “This work is an urgent priority as we work to ensure the continued effectiveness of the federal-state milk safety system and reinforce [the Food and Drug Administration’s] current assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the administration official said. Until yesterday, testing for H5N1 in dairy herds was voluntary and limited to cows with certain symptoms. The number of tests per farm was limited, too. That protocol provoked sharp criticism from public health experts. With growing evidence that the virus is more widespread than feared among cows, the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) announced yesterday that lactating dairy cows must be tested for bird flu before moving across state lines, starting Monday. Responsibility for monitoring and containing the outbreak is divided among three agencies. USDA leads the investigation into the virus in cows, the FDA oversees food safety, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring risks to people. For weeks, key federal agencies have expressed confidence in the safety of the commercial milk supply, including pasteurized products sold at grocery stores. But it was two weeks before the FDA responded directly to questions about whether the agency was testing milk on grocery store shelves for H5N1. On April 23, the agency confirmed that viral particles had been found “in some of the samples,” but it declined to provide details. Yesterday, an FDA official confirmed fragments were found in milk on shelves but declined to say how many samples the agency has tested, how many had virus fragments and where the milk originated. The testing does not indicate whether genetic traces of the virus are active or dead. Yesterday marked the first time since bird flu was detected in cows four weeks ago that CDC, FDA and USDA, along with other agencies, held a news briefing jointly. During the yesterday webinar, Prater, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said early results showed 1 of 5 samples had viral fragments, “maybe with some preponderance for areas with known [infected dairy] herds.” He did not say how many samples were tested, or from what parts of the country. Additional tests must be done to check whether the virus is infectious. Even with these results, the agency has seen nothing to change its assessment that the commercial milk supply remains safe, Prater said. Officials are seeking answers to other key questions: They want to know whether the virus is spreading among cows through mechanical means, such as milking equipment, as evidence suggests, or through the air, which would be more dangerous and lead to more sustained spread. They are also interested in knowing how long livestock will shed virus in their milk once they have recovered from an infection. And, crucially, they will seek to ascertain the risks for human exposure and whether protocols are in place at the state level if additional people test positive. “Given this is a novel outbreak, testing needs to be done widely and rapidly, investigators need to be on affected farms, and scientists and policymakers need to be bringing it all together to set a coordinated plan of action,” Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said last week. He was the White House testing czar during the Biden administration’s coronavirus response. “This is about protecting human health, protecting farmworkers that may be in harm’s way and preventing another pandemic from happening,” said Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health. Nearly three dozen livestock herds in eight states have been infected in the last month. The virus has also spread from dairy farms to poultry farms and infected barn cats. Epidemiologists fear that indicates cows can pass the virus to birds, and possibly other animals, broadening the potential for spread. Worobey, a University of Arizona virologist who led a team of scientists who analyzed 239 genetic sequences released Sunday by the USDA, said the evolutionary tree of the virus “resoundingly indicates that this outbreak had a single origin and that it had been circulating under our noses for months before it was noticed.” All of these outbreaks in at least eight different states traced back to a common ancestor that had been around probably since late 2023. The USDA was too slow in sharing critical genetic data initially, and when “a big dump” of 239 genetic sequences arrived Sunday, it was not comprehensive. “Like what samples they are coming from, when exactly they were collected … and where exactly they were collected,” said Rasmussen, a virologist and principal research scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Public health and veterinary experts say they also want more epidemiological data - including information on the movement of animals, their feed sources and how many workers are on-site - to understand how and where the virus is circulating. USDA officials may be constrained by their mission to promote new markets for farmers and protect animal health and welfare. They’ve got two missions that are, in this instance, pointing in different directions. “USDA’s top priority is containing this emerging animal health issue,” USDA spokeswoman Perry said. While H5N1 is typically fatal in poultry, the disease in infected cows has been relatively mild, and animals have recovered in a week to 10 days, according to agriculture officials. The agency has been testing sick and healthy cows in affected herds, and in recent days began testing in unaffected herds, she said last week. The biggest challenge so far has been identifying farms willing to share samples, said Sifford, the USDA’s chief veterinary officer. “Lots of farms aren’t raising their hands to be tested because they don’t want to be known as having an infected herd,” said Poulsen, director of the veterinary diagnostic lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The virus appears to be spreading in cows that are producing milk “and the place that those animals are most closely congregated, have the most contact, would be as they’re moving through the milking parlor,” Sifford said. “We are not seeing this virus moving outside the lactating herd.” The lack of more aggressive testing of livestock and transparent data-sharing has frustrated officials at the Department of Health and Human Services. State health officials have tested at least 23 people; only the dairy worker in Texas, who has since recovered, was confirmed positive. Ongoing surveillance of emergency department visits and flu testing results in regions with bird flu have not identified any unusual or concerning patterns, the CDC’s principal deputy director, Shah, said yesterday. The risk to the public from bird flu remains low. But milk producers are waiting for the USDA’s detailed guidance to know how many tests may need to be performed on milk cows, estimated to number about 8 million, Jonker, chief science officer for the National Milk Producers Federation said. At highest risk are farmworkers, who, like many in the agriculture sector, are undocumented or do not wish to interact with the government, Shah said. In an emergency call three weeks ago with state health and lab officials, Shah laid out a detailed list of operational questions state officials needed to answer to prepare for potential exposures in people. “What nurse and what epidemiologist have you trained up to do this? Do you have the [nasal] swabs ready? Do they know how to approach that conversation in a culturally competent and linguistically competent manner? … Is the lab ready to go?” (Source: msn * / The Washington Post)
* Microsoft
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 The bird flu outbreak in American dairy cattle may have begun in January, or even as early as December, a new analysis of genetic data suggests. Some farmers in Texas had been reporting sick cows since at least February. It has since reported cases in dozens of herds in eight states. The most likely source is feces or other secretions from a wild bird infected with the virus. The Department of Agriculture announced in late March that dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas had tested positive for the virus, called H5N1. It is highly lethal in birds, but so far has led to mostly mild symptoms in cattle and in one farmworker in Texas who became infected. Infected dairy cows seem to carry large amounts of virus in their milk, which turns thick and yellowish. Cows are not usually infected with this type of influenza, and federal officials spent weeks trying to identify the cause of the outbreak. Scientists have criticized federal agencies for withholding key information about the outbreaks, including genetic sequences of the virus from infected cows. On Sunday, the department published 239 genetic sequences, but it omitted some details regarding the locations from which they were obtained and the dates. Yesterday, federal health officials said they had discovered fragments of H5N1 in milk samples obtained at various sites across the nation. The fragments pose no threat to consumers, the officials said. The sequences all carried the same set of mutations that allow the virus to infect mammals - which would be unlikely had the virus jumped from birds to cows more than once, Dr. Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona said. But the Department of Agriculture has released little information on other aspects of the outbreak, including how long cows remain ill and how long it takes them to clear the virus from their bodies, said Dr. Bhadelia, director of the Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases. “If this really is something that’s been going on for this long, it seems quite plausible that it’s moved already out of the U.S.,” Dr. Worobey said. Canada imports cattle from the United States, he noted. Federal scientists are just beginning to analyze more samples from cows without symptoms to learn whether the outbreak may be more widespread than initially thought. But rather than research each potential pathogen, officials could have turned to a technique called metagenomic sequencing, in which samples can be tested for nearly all known pathogens at once. That technique is more expensive but would save valuable time in situations like this, Dr. Worobey said. (Source: dnyuz / The New York Times)
Globalizáció Globalization
2024.04.28. Az Egészségügyi Világszervezet (WHO) szeptemberben felülvizsgálja egyes országok kanyaró megbetegedéses helyzetét – mondta O’Connor, a WHO munkatársa az European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) globális kongresszusán Barcelonában április 27-én. Most az Egyesült Királyság is kanyarós vészhelyzettel néz szembe, mivel idén csaknem 900 esetet tartanak nyilván a 2023. évi 368 esethez képest. Tavaly West Midlands-ben járvány kezdődött, amely mára az ország minden régiójára átterjedt. Kanyarós megbetegedések többsége alacsony és alsó-közepes jövedelmű országokban fordult elő - a legmagasabb arányban Azerbajdzsánban, Kirgizisztánban és Jemenben. Világszerte 321 582 megbetegedés volt 2023-ban – ez 88%-os növekedés az előző évhez képest, amikor 171 153 esetet tartottak nyilván. A folyamat 2024-ben tovább erősödhet. (Forrás: index)
Saturday, 27 April 2024 Antibiotics saw “extensive overuse” globally among hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the pandemic without improving clinical outcomes, while also potentially increasing the already serious and growing threat of antimicrobial resistance from "superbugs", the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said today. Their ystematic prescription 'might create harm for people without bacterial infection, compared to those not receiving antibiotics,” WHO said. The findings were based on data from the WHO Global Clinical Platform for COVID-19, a database of anonymous clinical data from patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Data came from 450,000 patients in 65 countries from January 2020 to March 2023. Antibiotic use ranged from 33 per cent for patients in the Western Pacific Region to 83 per cent in the Eastern Mediterranean and the African Regions. Between 2020 and 2022, prescriptions decreased over time in Europe and the Americas, but they increased in Africa. Most antibiotics were given to critically ill COVID-19 patients at a global average of 81 per cent. Antibiotic use in mild or moderate infections showed considerable variation across regions, with highest use in Africa, at 79 per cent. The most frequently prescribed bacteria-busting antibiotics globally were those with higher potential for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to antibiotics. When they are unnecessary, they offer no benefit while posing risks, and their use contributes to the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, said Dr Bertagnolio, WHO Unit Head for Surveillance, Evidence and Laboratory Strengthening, Division for AMR. WHO noted that although just eight per cent of hospitalized coronavirus patients also had bacterial infections which can be treated with antibiotics, a staggering three in four were given them on a 'just in case' basis. The UN health agency report maintained that antibiotic use “did not improve clinical outcomes for patients with COVID-19”. “The advice was very clear from the start, that this was a virus. So it wasn’t that there was any guidance or any recommendation that that clinicians go in this direction, but perhaps because people were dealing with something completely new, they were looking for whatever they thought might be appropriate.” Antimicrobials - including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics - are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”. Antimicrobial resistance threatens the prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. It occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others. (Source: scoop *)
* Scoop, Australia
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