H5N1

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Bird Flu Found in US Pig for the First Time
Oregon Pig Has Bird Flu
Oct 30, 2024 7:30 PM CDT

Oregon Pig Has Bird Flu

First infection in US swine raises concerns about potential threat to humans from H5N1

(Newser) - A pig at an Oregon farm was found to have bird flu, the US Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. It's the first time the virus has been detected in US swine and raises concerns about bird flu's potential to become a human threat, the AP reports.
  • The infection
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US Will Pay Moderna $176M to Develop a Bird Flu Vaccine

Funds will pay for continued development of same mRNA technology used in COVID vaccines

(Newser) - The US government will pay the vaccine maker Moderna $176 million to develop a pandemic vaccine that could be used to treat bird flu in people as cases in dairy cows continue to mount across the country, federal officials announced Tuesday. The funds are targeted for release through the US...

First Country Rolls Out a Bird Flu Vaccine

Authorities in Finland are worried about possible infections at fur farms

(Newser) - Finland hasn't reported a single case of bird flu in humans yet, but the country isn't taking any chances. The country has become the first to roll out a vaccination campaign for workers at risk of infection, especially those at mink farms, reports Reuters . "The conditions in...

Bird Flu Found in Beef for First Time

USDA says it's confident meat supply is safe

(Newser) - In what the US Department of Agriculture sees as a sign that its protocols are working, bird flu has been found in beef tissue for the first time at a federally inspected meat processing plant. The virus was found in tissue from a dairy cow that had been sent to...

Bird Flu Vaccines Could Be Available Within Weeks

Researchers say milk from infected cows killed more than half of farm's cats

(Newser) - If the bird flu outbreak affecting America's dairy herds starts spreading more easily to—or between—humans, large quantities of vaccines could be ready within weeks, federal health authorities said Wednesday. Officials said studies suggest two vaccines already in the national stockpile "offer good cross-protection against cattle outbreak...

Milk Tests Suggest Bird Flu Outbreak Has Spread Widely

FDA says 1 in 5 samples in nationwide study had traces of virus

(Newser) - Bird flu has been confirmed in 33 dairy herds in eight states, officials say, but the results of a nationwide Food and Drug Administration analysis suggest the virus is far more widespread. In an update Thursday, the agency said inactive fragments of the virus were found in one in five...

Texas Dairy Worker Contracts Bird Flu

It's the first human case this year as illness spreads through cattle

(Newser) - A dairy worker in Texas has contracted bird flu, and while the case appears to be a mild one, its rare nature has health officials taking notice.
  • The unidentified worker has eye inflammation as the only symptom and is being treated with the antiviral drug oseltamivir, reports CBS19 . The person
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'Hundreds' of Dead Seals Block Antarctic Explorer's Grave

Virus has taken a heavy toll on South Georgia's wildlife

(Newser) - Passengers who'd hoped to walk with penguins on a cruise around the Antarctic Peninsula and the island of South Georgia weren't allowed to go ashore, but they witnessed distressing scenes of animals that had been killed by a bird flu outbreak in the region. Passenger Astrid Saunders tells...

Nasty Bird Flu Hits Antarctic Mammals
An Unwanted First
in Nasty Bird Flu
Jan 30, 2024 1:19 PM CST

An Unwanted First in Nasty Bird Flu

It's been found in sub-Antarctic animals for the first time

(Newser) - An unfortunate milestone has been logged in the continuing spread of a lethal form of bird flu, which has wreaked havoc from continent to continent since it first appeared in 2020. For the first time, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strain of H5N1 has been confirmed in sub-Antarctic mammals,...

Bird Flu's Deadly Touch Has Now Reached Polar Bears

First death in the species is reported in Alaska

(Newser) - The "unprecedented" behavior of H5N1, the highly pathogenic avian influenza that has been causing a global outbreak since 2020 , has become even more so. The New York Times reports the strain has been found in a dead polar bear in far northern Alaska. It signifies the first known case...

US Getting Back Into Virus-Hunting Business

Stop Spillover to take over for Predict program, which was allowed to die right before the pandemic

(Newser) - For a decade, a US program spent hundreds of millions of dollars to train scientists in dozens of countries around the world to search for threatening new animal viruses. The initiative sussed out more than 1,000 new viruses over its life span, but the Trump administration let the program...

WHO on 'High Alert' Over Bird Flu
WHO on 'High Alert'
Over Bird Flu
Jan 26, 2017 2:37 AM CST

WHO on 'High Alert' Over Bird Flu

Worrying strains are spreading fast

(Newser) - The World Health Organization says it's on high alert over outbreaks of bird flu that have killed people in China and caused large-scale slaughtering of birds elsewhere. "The rapidly expanding geographical distribution of these outbreaks and the number of virus strains currently co-circulating have put WHO on high...

Scientists: Just 5 Mutations and Bird Flu Goes Airborne

But it's not known if those mutations could happen outside a lab

(Newser) - H5N1 has killed 60% of the 650 humans it's known to have infected in nearly two decades, making it an incredibly deadly but difficult to transmit virus. A new study tries to answer the question of how little it would take to make bird flu easily spreadable. The conclusion:...

Scientists: Time to Make Our Own Bird Flu

Call to study a strain perhaps more dangerous to humans

(Newser) - Concerns about the H7N9 bird flu virus are heating up, with a report this week detailing an apparent transmission of the disease between two people. Typically, humans are only infected by poultry, USA Today notes, but a study suggests a 60-year-old man who died after getting the disease gave it...

China Scrambles to Track Mystery Bird Flu

New outbreaks as officials fear H7N9 may have mutated

(Newser) - Four more people in coastal China are hospitalized with the new H7N9 strain of bird flu, China announced yesterday. H7N9 has already killed two people and left a third in critical condition; the four new patients, aged 32 to 83, are also critically ill, the New York Times reports. Chinese...

Scientists Revive Bird Flu Research Amid Contagion Fear

But US funding not quite ready

(Newser) - Bird flu experts decided to shut down their research last year over government concerns that samples could cause contagion outside the lab. Now, some 40 scientists—in countries which have set up research guidelines—are set to dive back into their investigations, they say. The US hasn't established its...

Bird Flu Jumps to Seals, Could Threaten Humans

Scientists studying new strain that moves from seal to seal

(Newser) - A new strain of bird flu you should be worried about? Maybe: In New England last fall, 162 harbor seal pups were killed by H3N8, a flu subtype that has crossed over from birds to dogs and horses in the past. Other strains of flu have previously crossed over from...

Study Made Bird Flu More Contagious

Report finally out, despite government terrorism fears

(Newser) - The journal Nature has published a controversial paper describing how University of Wisconsin scientists created an airborne strain of H5N1—aka "bird flu"—that was transmissible in mammals. A federal panel had asked Nature not to publish the study, and a similar one from a Dutch virologist, fearing...

Bird Flu Research OK to Publish
Bird Flu Research
OK to Publish
Mar 31, 2012 6:38 AM CDT

Bird Flu Research OK to Publish

Scientific panel gives approval to papers on deadly virus

(Newser) - Some controversial research on bird flu is safe to publish after all, reports the New York Times . A panel of scientists yesterday reversed its December decision and concluded that two revised papers on the H5N1 virus were good to go. The board created controversy last year when it asked two...

Bird Flu Studies to Go Public Over Bioterror Fears

US warns of risk, but scientists say flu is bigger danger

(Newser) - Two months after leading science journals decided to self-censor articles about experiments to alter the bird flu virus and make it more dangerous, the WHO is recommending the journals publish the research after all, reports the New York Times . Well, publish it some time. The moratorium is in place for...

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