Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

A consequence of cucumbers

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.

Books are my comfort food!

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

He really is that stupid.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

I was promised a recession.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus & H5N1 Updates: September 25, 2024

COVID-19 Coronavirus & H5N1 Updates: September 25, 2024

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A more comprehensive version of the story, from Joel Achenbach at the Washington Post [gift link]:

An international team of scientists published a peer-reviewed paper Thursday saying genetic evidence indicates the coronavirus pandemic most likely originated with a natural spillover from an animal or animals sold in a market in Wuhan, China, where many of the first human cases of covid-19 were identified.

The paper, which appears in the journal Cell, does not claim to prove conclusively that the pandemic began in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, and it is unlikely to end the acrimonious and politicized debate over the coronavirus’s origin…

The new report bolsters the natural spillover theory, but it does not rule out other origins. A key limitation of the research is that the genetic data, obtained by Chinese investigators in the early days of the pandemic after the market was closed, cannot reveal whether any animal was actually infected with the virus…

Much of the report is familiar territory. Many of the 23 authors of the paper are known to have long supported a market origin for the virus. In an informal report in March 2023, they presented a central feature of the genetic data — the confirmation that animals potentially capable of triggering a pandemic were in the market.

That early report, which was not peer-reviewed or published in a journal, had a scientifically awkward provenance. It was written over the course of about 10 days, Débarre said, after she noticed that Chinese researchers had posted some of their genetic data from the market on GISAID, a public database regularly scanned by pandemic researchers…

Both the earlier and the new reports document that traces of the virus were found clustered in a section of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market where genetic traces of animals were also found. Several of those species — raccoon dogs, rabbits and dogs — are known to be susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid. Raccoon dogs have also been shown experimentally to be capable of transmitting the virus.

A significant element of the new paper is an analysis of when the pandemic began. Scientists can study mutations of the coronavirus, which evolves at a relatively steady rate, to estimate when the millions of genomes deposited in databases had the most recent common ancestor. That genetic evidence points to mid-November 2019 as the most likely time the virus spilled into humans and began spreading, and there could have been two or more spillover events, the researchers said…

The genetic evidence, the new report contends, supports the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 emerged in the same way that SARS-CoV-1 — which sickened people in 2002-2003 but was extinguished before it could cause a full-blown pandemic — is widely believed to have started, from animals sold in a market. The authors contend the world needs to take more aggressive action to shut down the illegal trade in wildlife to lower the risk of another catastrophic pandemic…

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Since a commentor asked questions… I sincerely hope this is a one-time addition to the weekly roundup:

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    29Comments

    3. 3.

      Suzanne

      Russell Brand?! Rob Schneider?! Some band I’ve never heard of called “Skillet”?!

      Looks like an event for guys who haven’t learned how to shower or eat a vegetable.

      Reply
    4. 4.

      ColoradoGuy

      One guess who is funding “Rescue the Republic” … our nemesis in Moscow, who’d love to see Americans sicken and die at minimal cost to him. I have to admit, this is a really cheap way for the KGB/FSB to carry out warfare against the USA.

      Come to think of it, funding the NRA and their allies is also a really cheap way to randomly kill off Americans.

      Reply
    6. 6.

      Matt McIrvin

      @ColoradoGuy: Of course, one of the countries whose COVID response was even more lackadaisical than ours is his–they effectively did it to themselves too. Nationalist fearmongering about other countries’ vaccines just led Russians to mistrust their own as well.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      Mai Naem mobile

      Is there no way that Biden can sharpee his way into sending Helene’s hurricane eye to exactly where this Rescue the Rally will be? He’s got full immunity to do whatever he wants from SCOTUS, so no worries on that end.

      Also has anybody asked Dollar Store Jackie if she’s skipping the boosters with her recent history of breast cancer etc.?

      Reply
    10. 10.

      Ian R

      @MattF: It’s been “late September” on the website for at least a month. I’d be much more impressed by that if they were actually available, since it’s already late September.

      Also, they should just be free all the time, but most of this country’s attitude to disease spread is basically a living shrug emoji.

      Reply
    11. 11.

      Yarrow

      Thanks, AL. RE: mpox:

      Amid new mpox outbreak, study suggests waning protection of Jynneos vaccine Vaccine-generated mpox antibodies largely waned after 6 to 12 months.

      That’s discouraging. I wonder why that is.

      I personally think Covid vax has a similar length of effectiveness but don’t have data to back it up. Just observational. If you get Covid and several months later get vaccinated that seems to provide higher and longer-lasting immunity. Again, just observational.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      Ironcity

      Not much notice of bird flu in the mainstream media that I have seen.

       

      We did annual flu jab and a COVID booster (Pfizer) Sunday afternoon.  Some injection site soreness 24 hours later and about 12 hours of kind of blah/low grade flu-ish feel to 36 hours out then nothing today.

      With any luck the super spreader events planned can provide up close and personal experience to the wing nuts, though the leaders/instigators seldom seem effected.  Darn it.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      p.a.

      @Matt McIrvin: IIRC, Stalin’s USSR took longer for their own A-bomb production than necessary because Uncle Joe was so paranoid  they didn’t believe the info provided by their own spies, and made several development attempts from the ground up based on multiple assumptions on how to design & build, instead of just copying the info provided by their, I believe mostly British, moles.

      Reply
    15. 15.

      Kristine

      Thanks for these updates, AL.

      Flu and Covid vaccines scheduled for this weekend. Waited until the annual mammogram cleared b/c I’ve read that lymph nodes can overreact to the Covid vaccine and complicate matters.

      Reply
    16. 16.

      lowtechcyclist

      From the Politifact link:

      In what has become a pattern of spreading vaccine misinformation, the Florida health department is telling older Floridians and other people at highest risk from COVID-19 to avoid most booster shots, saying they are potentially dangerous.

      Clinicians and scientists denounced the message as politically fueled scaremongering that also weakens efforts to protect against diseases like measles and whooping cough.

      A prominent Florida doctor expressed dismay that medical leaders in the state, leery of angering Gov. Ron DeSantis, have been slow to counter antivaccine messages from Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, including the latest COVID-19 bulletin. Ladapo is a DeSantis appointee and the state health department’s top official.

      DeathSantis is really earning that title.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      Matt McIrvin

      @sab: China, what an own goal– they executed the best COVID lockdown in the world and fucked up by NOT using that time to vaccinate the elderly, apparently under the assumption that lockdown conditions would last forever.

      Reply
    18. 18.

      bluefoot

      I got the COVID booster a couple of weeks ago – low energy and headache for two and half days, plus injectino site redness and swelling that took maybe a week to subside. Typical for me for the Moderna vax. I am happy I did it – I have some professional and social events coming up in October so I wanted the extra protection.

      Re brain effects of COVID and long COVID – I think I’ve said this here before, but I wouldn’t be surprised by lot of early onset Alzheimer’s-like cases in 10-20 years as a result of COVID. This isn’t based on a whole lot more than the emerging long-COVID brain data so far, my professional experience in neurological disease, and the existing published data (which is sparse) on infections as one potential cause of AD. So kind of vibes on my part. However, all this is to say, we need more work done on understanding causes and finding ways to treat long COVID and other post-viral syndromes.

      Reply
    19. 19.

      jonas

      Welp, our youngest spawn tested positive for Covid on Friday. She had told us a while back that tons of people at school have it, so it was just a matter of time. They just come to school anyway because, hey, just a mild cough, etc. so wevs. It’s actually her first time with Covid; she missed the delta, omicron and all the other major waves the past 3 years. She was current on all her boosters (except this most recent updated one), so symptoms are mild — some sniffles and an occasional cough. She’s annoyed at having to miss school and stay in her room most of the time. I’m scheduled to get my new booster in about two weeks, unless of course I catch it at home first!

      Sigh. O tempora, o mores!

      Reply
    20. 20.

      New Deal democrat

      The latest wastewater data from the CDC shows a decline nationwide and in all four census regions, of about 15% from the summer wave peaks. But current particle levels remain just over 50% of the wintertime peak, and about 7.5x their late spring lows.

      Deaths for the week for which there is complete data, August 24, topped 1,000 for the first week since March at 1,139. Preliminary data for the next week has been running about 5%-10% higher, so the peak for the summer wave will probably be about 1,250 deaths before starting to subside, as preliminary data from the weeks of September 7 and 14 show a significant decline.

      There was no variant update last week, but the KP.x variants probably hit 90% saturation, which is consistent with when previous waves started to ebb.

      Reply
    21. 21.

      Yarrow

      @bluefoot:

      I wouldn’t be surprised by lot of early onset Alzheimer’s-like cases in 10-20 years as a result of COVID.

      I wouldn’t be surprised either. We are barely beginning to understand the longer term effects of it.

      On a more positive note, I think Covid, then the understanding that Long Covid is a thing, has helped jump start the medical community’s and general population’s understanding, of the relationship between viral infections and long term chronic conditions. Things like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, where patients (often women) were told “it’s all in your head” are beginning to be seen in a different light. Increased research into long Covid can only help with any long term hard-to-explain chronic condition.

      Circling back, now idly wondering if Alzheimer’s/dementia in general are somehow related to post-infection…. Hmmm…

      Reply
    22. 22.

      Momentary

      What’s really maddening about bird flu here in the UK is that we can’t seem to shut down the massive numbers of pheasant and grouse released into the countryside for shooting every year.  Even when every back yard chicken keeper was told to put their birds into total lockdown, the pheasant and grouse releases were allowed to continue.  The pheasants especially, they’re non-native, half tame, and an absolute plague.

      Keeping wild birds away from livestock is pretty challenging.  There’s always bits of spilled feed, water troughs etc.  With poultry you can keep them inside fine mesh covered enclosures, but anything bigger that you want to let graze on pasture is going to be at risk.  Needs vaccine.

      Reply
    23. 23.

      VOR

      I am on the tail end of a bout of COVID. No fun. I’ve had 4 vax shots, to which I give credit for reducing the severity of the illness. I was planning to get a booster update, which probably has to wait a few weeks now. My sister the nurse tells me something like 20% of the patients at her hospital are positive. It is definitely still circulating, folks.

      Reply
    24. 24.

      Bill Arnold

      @ColoradoGuy:

      I have to admit, this is a really cheap way for the KGB/FSB to carry out warfare against the USA.

      They’re differentially killing (pro-Russia) GOP voters, though,
      Antivaxxers (SARS-CoV-2 vaccine refusers, at least) skew GOP, and older people skew GOP.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      bluefoot

      @Yarrow: Post-viral syndromes are definitely a thing, and up until COVID not well studies. Women in general get more autoimmune disease than men.  I have a not-based-in-any-research-I’ve-done theories about it, but it’s not something I’ve ever dug into.

      There is some data out there linking infection to later Alzheimer’s.  The first paper I remember reading about it came out of Rudi Tanzi’s lab in 2012ish.

      Reply
    27. 27.

      StringOnAStick

      @bluefoot: Do you think the AD connection will be more associated with severe Covid cases (hospitalized) or Covid in general?  If it’s the latter, then that looks like the final collapse of elder care in the US.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      Gretchen

      That brain-aging part is really scary, and hasn’t seemed to penetrate the public at all. We’re letting all the kids get it over and over with no thought of what it might do to their little brains.

      One of the scariest parts of a Trump administration would be turning RFK Jr. loose on the FDA.

      That article in Cell was really interesting. The scientists isolated the early viruses and sequenced them and placed them in the market. The two early isolates differed by 2 nucleotides. They have a timeline and they know how long it takes for the virus to mutate by 2 nucleotides. But we have idiots like Nate Silver sure that they know better, because there’s a virus lab in Wuhan (miles away and across a river.) Don’t they know about the lab? Huh? Huh? He’s sure he knows enough to assert that it’s a lab leak and the scientists are hiding the truth.

      Thanks again for doing this, Anne Laurie. It’s much appreciated.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      Gretchen

      Looking at the comments to the Washington Post article about the origins article in Cell is depressing. The article even says that the Chinese kept trying to find a way to blame it on someone else than their carelessness in the animal trade, and comment after comment is “why should we believe scientists and their granular reasoning about the sequencing of nucleotides, when there’s a lab over there!” The stupidity and susceptibility to propaganda is just depressing.

      Reply

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