“Bird Flu Is a National Embarrassment“ and particularly as we try and convince others to share critical data to better address zoonotic-origin pathogens 🧪🌍 Great piece by @katherinejwu.com for @theatlantic.com url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/AGtBC4xwM0…
— Chris Walzer (@cwalzer.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
San Francisco reports H5N1 avian flu in child
Officials are still investigating how the child contracted the virus. In other developments, the USDA today confirmed the first outbreak in Puerto Rico's poultry.https://t.co/ddJNShBQXo
Photo: NIAID/Flickr cc pic.twitter.com/Ya6PFCLkIN
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) January 13, 2025
15 more states are joining #USDA's National Milk Testing Strategy; 28 states are now taking part. (It's eventually going to be national.) These states produce ~65% of the US milk supply.
So far the NMTS has not identified additional states with #H5N1 #birdflu in cows. www.usda.gov/about-usda/n…— Helen Branswell (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) January 8, 2025 at 2:22 PM
California reports that 103 of the 707 dairy herds in the state that have tested positive for #H5N1 #birdflu have been released from quarantine. www.cdfa.ca.gov/AHFSS/Animal…
— Helen Branswell (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
1. I spoke Friday to Tim Boring, director of the Michigan Dept of Agric & Rural Devmt about this latest case in MI, which is the state's 31st herd infected with #H5N1 #birdflu.
This farm was detected through #USDA's National Milk Testing Strategy — the first such detection I've heard of.— Helen Branswell (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) January 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
H5N1 confirmed in more cats as probe into raw pet food widens
Tests results are pending for additional commercial raw pet food samples.https://t.co/VjcAI9Lqjq pic.twitter.com/i210r8pACW
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) January 14, 2025
From a short thread:
🧵 Why isn’t H5N1 (avian flu) included in seasonal flu vaccines?
1/ H5N1 primarily circulates in birds and rarely infects humans. Most cases result from direct contact with infected birds/livestock, not human-to-human spread. It’s not currently a significant risk for seasonal outbreaks. 🦜➡️🧍— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) January 11, 2025 at 8:57 AM
6/ If H5N1 evolves to spread more easily between people, vaccine strategies would likely change quickly. For now, it’s monitored closely while seasonal vaccines focus on strains causing annual epidemics. Please get your seasonal flu vaccine. #Flufacts
— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) January 11, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Six critical steps that the health authorities should be taking now to mitigate the risks and prepare for avian flu pandemic by @cbarbermd. A wider range of antiviral medications (both broad and specific) is needed to combat all respiratory infections https://t.co/bq56DNikaF
— Prof. Akiko Iwasaki (@VirusesImmunity) January 14, 2025
Jan 13th update:
At about January 1st we likely hit the holiday peak, and infections should be decreasing by now. Tracking the model well so far. Midwest far above the rest.
🔸605,000 new infections/day
🔸Midwest: 1 in 34 people currently infected
🔸Other regions: ~1 in 71— JPWeiland (@jpweiland.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
%ED visits for Covid is starting to decline in the first week of Jan.
Only 4 states had (slightly) higher %ED peaks in their December waves than their summer peaks:
🔸️Michigan
🔸️Maine
🔸️New Hampshire
🔸️South Dakota
Most were significantly below. Florida was 90% lower than Aug.— JPWeiland (@jpweiland.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Last night's update: More than 260,000 new cases https://t.co/cMS1mKEDul
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) January 13, 2025
======
5 years ago today: WHO's most infamous tweet, saying China found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission pic.twitter.com/rnbDZ96nRr
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) January 14, 2025
"Every [Covid] Story Matters"
The UK is a standout country capturing the experience from over 53,000 people, 9,500 conversations
"Without these human stories, what was the pandemic? It was statistics: how many people died, how many infectious we've got every day."
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan…— Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) January 14, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I often get comments like "how can you say Covid is low when there's no testing"… there is testing in hospitals & testing protocols haven't changed really since Apr 2023, so covid admissions are comparable over last yr.
Plus Scottish wasterwater consistent with lowest Covid winter so far. 1/2— Prof Christina Pagel (@chrischirp.bsky.social) January 12, 2025 at 7:24 AM
======
4 in 10 Minnesota #COVID survivors report having at least one lingering symptom
Participants who received at least one COVID-19 vaccine booster dose had a 30% lower risk of long-COVID symptoms than their unvaccinated peers. https://t.co/ASqAZIa372 pic.twitter.com/6nFN7Axtxl
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) January 14, 2025
Increased post-Cøvid gut issues in 37%.
www.nature.com/articles/s41…— Dr David Joffe MB BS(Hons), PhD, FRACP (@davidjoffe64.bsky.social) January 14, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Today I started a Long COVID antiviral clinical trial. Excited to help research! If you're in NYC and interested in participating, see below.
More info on CoRE's long COVID clinic, here: thesicktimes.org/2024/10/15/n… @thesicktimes.bsky.social @putrinolab.bsky.social @polybiorf.bsky.social— Katie Holten (@katieholten.bsky.social) January 8, 2025 at 6:14 PM
======
Florida grand jury investigating COVID-19 vaccines finds no evidence of criminal activity https://t.co/LqUNe7E0Kx
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 8, 2025
It won’t end with COVID: Countering the next phase of American antivaccine activism 2025–29 | my latest @PLOS @PLOSGPH on 4 steps we should take to slow the antivaccine monster in U.S. and prevent the return of catastrophic child illnesses https://t.co/TyePjeifMx
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) January 12, 2025
Trump threatening to jail Mark Zuckerberg is just Trump being Trump. The Biden Administration trying to curb health misinformation during a pandemic is potential tyrannyhttps://t.co/fZj1vIbERC
— Nick Field (@nick_field90) January 11, 2025
Catturd is correct, which is why I worked so hard in the 2000s to provide tens of millions of people access to ivermectin for treatment of lymphatic filariaisis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), scabies, and strongyloidiasis (papers attached):
But it does nothing for Covid https://t.co/dHCkzt1rk8
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) January 14, 2025
I prescribe ivermectin more than most doctors.
Because I am an infectious diseases specialist so I use it for a range of parasitic infections in patients referred to me.
I never use it to treat cancer because a) I'm not an oncologist and b) it doesn't treat cancer
— Neil Stone (@DrNeilStone) January 12, 2025
On The Road – Captain C – Road Trip, April 2024 Part 16: Hall of Fame Plaques Part 2
Baud
The con that right wingers are more supportive of free speech and other freedoms than liberals gets outshadowed by right wingers economic cons, but it’s just as bad.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
I concur. And threats by our soon-to-be-President to jail or use the legal system against his critics and political opponents are somehow not seen as an attack on free speech. Ditto the way the RW mob harasses and threatens everyone down to local officials that they disagree with.
satby
That last tweet by Dr. Stone! Yesterday, an old guy who brings his dog to the farmers market was talking to someone else and I heard the word “mange”. So I joined the conversation (aka butted in). I’ve had dogs with demodendic mange, and this did look like it; and since the woo was beginning to get overwhelming (baby oil, no coconut oil!) I strongly suggested he bring the dog to a vet. But if his finances didn’t allow for it, I suggested as a test he could get ivermectin at Tractor Supply and give it to the dog for a week to see if it helped, because it would kill the mites responsible for the mange if it was that. And the lady he was talking to got very enthused and told him “oh yes, that’s a miracle drug, my friends are taking it for cancer and it’s shrinking their tumors”.
This country is a lost cause.
New Deal democrat
Biobot has not updated in the past week. The CDC did, finding COVID wastewater levels at 5.66 per mL as of January 4. That compares with 12.63 one year ago, and about 1.23 at the all time low this past summer. As JP Weiland says, we are probably close to or even slightly after the Holiday peak. His forecasts have been spot on.
But the biggest news of all is that for the 52 weeks through the last full update for December 14, there were only 49,900 deaths. For all of 2024 including the last two preliminary weeks, there were only 47,500 deaths. This brings COVID into the range of a normal flu season.
There has been no variant update for almost 4 weeks. One is due this Friday.
The next question is whether COVID will continue to subside into spring, or whether the subdued winter wave is leaving lots of dry tinder for a renewed outbreak in the next few months.
Since this is the last update before the T—-p Administration takes office, I wanted to extend everyone my best wishes, and hopes for your good luck during the next four years.
Baud
Oh Anne Laurie…
You should consider hiring staff.
p.a
Well who’s forming up to protest if he really does jail Zuck? Not saying there shouldn’t be protests since Zuck would just be the foot in the door, but fascism 101 is “first attack the unpopular, then…”
TBone
This right here by the Rolling Stones! GAH.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=1DWiB7ZuLvI
MomSense
In Maine we are having a really hard time testing for H5N1 at dairy and poultry farms. A major factor in this is that the EPA and state agricultural officials recommended the use of sludge,-a byproduct of wastewater treatment, as free fertilizer. It was used for decades. Now that we know that it created a massive PFAS contamination, the willingness of farmers to trust state officials when they want to test is close to zero.
Some of the farmers turned their land into solar farms. Now there is a widespread fear that the state poisoned the farms on purpose so they could take their land and – you get the picture. In my town we passed a moratorium on large solar projects. This is ridiculously stupid but it does have that kernel of legitimate distrust of experts, especially government experts. I was recently talking with some public health professionals and brought this up as an obstacle to cooperation on testing. I got really surprised looks like they had never considered this breach of confidence might be a factor.
We often look at issues in isolation but it’s important to consider how issues may be interrelated.
One of my friends is close with a local dairy farm owner so we are going to try to do some testing based on that relationship. Fingers crossed that we can repair the relationship and get some data on H5N1.
TBone
@MomSense: thank you for your important efforts!
Geo Wilcox
@Baud: 8 out of 9 of those ill with Marburg died. 89% fatality rate.
Anne Laurie
@Baud: Dammit, Baud, stop scaring the children!
Seriously, though: Yes I did see that story, but at the moment it’s only of concern to people in Tanzania & the immediate area. One of the ‘good’ things about Marburg & its viral relatives is that victims go from ‘infected’ to ‘excreting from every orifice’ very quickly — there’s not a lot of time for them to get on a plane & travel to a different continent. Hopefully, the cluster will remain a cluster, with proper isolation & ‘ring-fencing’ vaccination.
Matt McIrvin
The MWRA posted some update, from Biobot through Jan. 9, that show the winter peak in the Boston area being shorter in height than previous ones but also weirdly drawn-out, with what looks like a second peak in January. It looks like it will end up with just as many infections as the past couple of seasons overall. I’ve been masking up on mass transport.
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: To them “free speech” means “I can say whatever I want with no pushback and no consequences, and I can control what you say”. It doesn’t really mean free speech. Check out what alleged “free speech warrior” Bill Maher thinks is and isn’t free speech. Nazis wanting to give speeches on college campuses – free speech, how dare you suppress it. College students demonstrating against the war in Gaza – terrorist sympathizers, suppress them at all costs. He doesn’t seem to care much about book banning, either.
Soprano2
@satby: People are so desperate for simple, easey cures for things doctors can’t help them with (or where the treatment is almost as bad as the disease) that they’re susceptible to that kind of crap. I can kind of sympathize on days when my pain is bad, since no doctor has been able to help me with it, including ones at three different pain clinics.
Soprano2
@New Deal democrat: So our large treatment plant shows a peak almost as big as the one from the beginning of August. That was on December 30th, there was a decline from there. Must be the Christmas peak.
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: Kind of like the libertarian definition of “freedom” being “you can do whatever you want with sufficient cash“–if it’s priced out of your range, or your boss tells you that you’ll get fired if you do it, you’re still “free” to do it; if you can’t that’s your fault for not being independently wealthy and self-sufficient.
CliosFanBoy
Why the peaks in Aug-Sept? School starting??
cmorenc
I thought Zuck had bought himself a primal spot at Trump’s inauguration? Maybe we get to see our dear leader denounce and arrest Zuck from the podium just two minutes after becoming POTUS and watch Zuck being dragged away in chains as an object lesson to Elon and Bezos.
Matt McIrvin
@CliosFanBoy: I think it was just new, more contagious variants emerging. That said, for the past few years there’s been a rough pattern of a winter wave followed by a lull of almost no infection in the spring, then a modest wave in the late summer-early fall as immunity from the winter wave wanes. That subsides and then we have the next winter wave. The timing and severity varies though.
New Deal democrat
@Soprano2: Yeah, the Midwest had it the worst this Holiday season. In the South the increase was mild, and in the West there was barely any increase at all.
Those frigid outdoor temps and resulting indoor gatherings make all the difference.
Jay
Thank you, Anne Laurie.
MazeDancer
“Catturd is correct.” Hope the valiant and remarkable Dr. Hotez at least got a moment of smiling while he typed that.
wenchacha
I think both CIDRAP and Flutrackers may have reports about MERS being found in Jordan camel herders. If I have the basics, tests were done in a group, just to get a picture of disease prevalence, and there was an asymptomatic case in one young man.
MERS is no picnic, maybe 30% fatality, and the greater fear is swapping of stuff in a COVID patient, which would potentiate SARS Covid in a bad way.
I don’t know how easily MERS is spread, and perhaps not many camel herders are hopping flights either, but damn.
I still wish COVID had been accompanied with some obvious visible signs like rashes or hair falling out or something that would make people anxious to avoid catching it.
academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/35/Supplement_1/i55/7951904
Matt McIrvin
@wenchacha: A more severe disease probably gets a more robust response. I think one of the big problems with COVID, especially in the first wave, was that it was in this maddening zone of lethality where it could kill vast numbers of people but wasn’t consistently serious enough to be taken seriously.
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: In the Northeast, I think in hindsight this is going to turn out to be on about the same level as the last two winter seasons for total infections (judging from wastewater), but the impacts get less and less every season.
(That’s not counting long COVID, which is still something of a mystery–I’ve heard scary stories about long COVID impacts being essentially independent of short-term lethality or severity, and some even claiming it’s completely unaffected by vaccination, though I don’t know how credible they are. They’re consistently circulated by my most alarmist “lock down the whole world forever” friends.)