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The bird flu strain found in cows in the United States is not easily transmitted through the air among ferrets, a new study shows, although the scientist who led the work said it had shown some ability to spread this way.
Ferrets are considered to be the best small mammal for studying influenza virus infection and transmission, and are often used to inform assessments of the public health risk of emerging viruses.
In the experiment led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, ferrets infected with a sample of the H5N1 bird flu strain were placed near healthy animals, but not close enough for physical contact.
BIRD FLU-INFECTED COWS HAVE DIED IN 5 STATES AS EXPERTS CLOSELY MONITOR THE DISEASE
None of the four healthy ferrets exposed in this way became ill, and no virus was recovered from them during the study.
However, one of the ferrets had produced antibodies to the virus, the researchers later found, suggesting it had been infected.
"It is good news that the virus does not have extensive transmissibility between ferrets through the air, but it is concerning that it has the ability to transmit (at all in this way)," said study author and flu virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka.
Cows stand in their pen at a cattle farm in Rockford, Illinois, U.S., April 9, 2024. Fact (Reuters/Jim Vondruska/File Photo)
A virus that can spread easily through the air between humans would pose a greater pandemic threat than H5N1 currently does.
That risk is currently assessed by public health agencies worldwide as low, as there is no evidence yet of any human-to-human transmission.
Four human cases have been reported in the U.S. since avian flu was confirmed in dairy cows in March. All have recovered.
The study, published on Monday in Nature, also showed the bird flu virus in cows can bind to human-type receptors under lab conditions. These receptors are how flu viruses typically enter and infect human cells in the real world.
Bird flu prefers to bind to avian-type receptors only, which are scarce in humans. The lab results need further study to assess their real-world implications, scientists said, as in the past flu viruses that developed the ability to bind to both types have caused human pandemics.
The study also confirmed that the virus, isolated from the milk of an infected cow in New Mexico, made both mice and ferrets sick after exposure to the unpasteurized milk.
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It also spread through the body to muscles and mammary glands in infected mice, as it appears to do in cows.
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said it was a relief to see the virus had not yet acquired the capability to cause a human pandemic, but this did not mean it would never do so, particularly if the spread among cows goes unchecked.
"It's always better to stop a pandemic before it starts than to respond to it once it has started. We should heed this warning and take action now," she said via email.
Nearly 1 in 10 people infected with the coronavirus during pregnancy developed long covid, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Thursdays study, which highlights the consequences of the virus during pregnancy, suggests long covid is more prevalent among people infected while pregnant than in the population overall. As many as 7 percent of Americans report having symptoms associated with long covid, according to a 2022 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some surveys suggest a far higher incidence of long covid in the general population.
Long covid has been a confounding subject for researchers since the coronavirus began spreading more than fours year ago. The syndrome is blamed for a range of persistent symptoms that sometimes vary among patient groups, and the virus can present a particular threat to pregnant people, who are already a vulnerable population.
Still, medical experts say this study is a stark reminder of pregnancys effect on the immune system and the impact it has on the body, highlighting that more research needs to be conducted. The study was funded as part of the National Institutes of Health Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery Initiative, widely known as RECOVER.
I was initially surprised at the prevalence of long covid in this population, said Torri Metz, one of the studys lead authors and a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at University of Utah Health. It really drew my attention to the fact I need to have this on my radar when I am seeing patients.
As part of the 1,500-person study, researchers analyzed individuals infected with the coronavirus during pregnancy; half of the participants, who were mainly in their 30s, were fully vaccinated when they were enrolled. They evaluated the study participants for long covid symptoms 10 months after the initial infection.
The most common symptoms reported included malaise, fatigue and gastrointestinal issues, some of which can also be hallmark signs of pregnancy.
The researchers wanted to make certain the symptoms being reported were associated with covid rather than being attributable to pregnancy or the postpartum period. They found that the effects persisted and were still evident when evaluated 10 months after the initial infection. That indicated to the researchers that the study participants symptoms, such as fatigue and aches, did not stem from pregnancy but were instead the hallmark of long covid.
This is another opportunity to really draw attention to the fact that its important for patients after pregnancy to continue to have ongoing care [if they have] chronic conditions that require specialty care and require handoffs to people who can really manage them, Metz said.
Cynthia Abraham, an associate professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York who was not involved in the study, said the research highlights the threat posed by respiratory illness during pregnancy, with the potential for worse outcomes.
A lot of the data we have is from nonpregnant populations so this paper hones in on a significant population thats been understudied, said Abraham, who is also a fellow with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
This year, more federal dollars were allotted to studying the impact of long covid. The Biden administration announced it would invest an additional $515 million during the next four years to research the condition. It remains unclear how much will be spent researching pregnancy and covid. So far, RECOVER has recruited more than 30,000 people, including children and those who are pregnant.
Monica Longo, an OB/GYN researcher on NIHs RECOVER team and a maternal-fetal medicine expert, emphasized the importance of understanding how the disease affects pregnancy and its potential impacts on a fetus.
Those nine months are crucial for the developing fetus, and any changes in their environment can significantly alter their development, Longo said. So it is essential to examine the effects of covid exposure on the fetus.
Longo suggested that future studies could explore the consequences of the virus on the fetus and explore the implications after birth for the baby, especially regarding developmental outcomes.
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Actor Akshay Kumar wont be attending Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants wedding in Mumbai on Friday, as he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Akshay previously tested positive in the early days of the pandemic, and then again in 2022. The actor will skip not only the Ambani wedding, but also the final leg of promotions for his latest release, Sarfira, a source confirmed to indianexpress.com.
Akshay attended the Ambanis pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar earlier this year, where he delivered a power-packed dance performance. Akshay felt unwell after some crew members of his promotions team contracted the virus. He tested positive on Friday morning. Anant Ambani had personally invited him to his wedding, which Akshay wont be able to attend as he has isolated himself. In an interview with HT after the Jamnagar event, Akshay had said, It happened around 3 in the morning. It was grand of course, but besides that the Ambani family was so loving and caring, they left no stone unturned to make everyone feel included. Anant and Radhika were very gracious hosts, may Mahakaal bless the happy couple.
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Also read Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding LIVE UPDATES: John Cena reaches India, Ambani wedding to start at 5 pm
Akshay first tested positive for the coronavirus in 2021. I wish to inform everyone that, earlier this morning, I have tested positive for Covid-19. Following all the protocols I have immediately isolated myself. I am under home quarantine and have sought necessary medical care, hed written in a note shared on X (formerly Twitter). Akshay was filming Ram Setu at the time, and it was said that several crew members had tested positive as well. Akshay contracted the virus again in 2022, just before he was supposed to represent India at the Cannes Film Festival. Was really looking forward to rooting for our cinema at the India Pavilion at #Cannes2022, but have sadly tested positive for Covid. Will rest it out. Loads of best wishes to you and your entire team, @ianuragthakur. Will really miss being there, he wrote on social media.
In an interview with Connect FM Canada in 2023, the actor said that he suffered from heavy COVID, and that he was still struggling to regain lost stamina. Some years ago, I got Covid. It was heavy Covid, and because of that, I lost quite a lot of my strength and stamina, he said. The actor donated Rs 25 crore to the PM-Cares relief fund during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, and participated in one of the earliest rounds of filming when lockdowns were lifted.
Click for more updates and latest Bollywood news along with Entertainment updates. Also get latest news and top headlines from India and around the world at The Indian Express.
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First uploaded on: 12-07-2024 at 14:38 IST
CLEVELAND, Ohio The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio jumped up by more than 1,000 cases, moving from 2,049 last week to 3,153 this week, the state reported Thursday.
It was the sixth consecutive weekly increase since early June, when the weekly case number climbed over the 1,000-case mark for the first time since early May.
Due to the July Fourth holiday, the Ohio Department of Health COVID-19 dashboards were updated on Wednesday, instead of the usual Thursday schedule. The weekly trends data on the July 3 update were calculated based on six days instead of the usual seven days
The state resumed its regular Thursday updates, and retroactively recalculatedthe previous weeks data based on seven days.
At least 1,377,594 Ohioans have received the updated one-dose COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of 1,172 people from the prior week, the state reported. This represents 11.7% of the states population.
The total COVID-19 case count since early 2020 in Ohio has reached 3,760,282.
There were 108 Ohioans newly hospitalized in the last week, raising the total since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 to 152,004. Three people were admitted into the ICU, raising the total since 2020 to 15,824.
The state health department reported an additional two deaths from COVID-19, raising the total to 44,020. Death reporting sometimes lags by weeks.
July 11 recap
July 3 recap
Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.
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What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) is a disease caused by a respiratory virus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. This was a new virus that had not caused illness in humans before. Worldwide, COVID-19 has resulted in over 270 million human infections, causing illness and hundreds of thousands of deaths. The widespread virus, which has caused over 800,000 United States deaths, has been reported in Anne Arundel County, Maryland with more than 55,000 cases and over 750 deaths.
The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is a global pandemic. Federal, state and local governments have taken a comprehensive approach to keep Marylanders safe. For Maryland and Anne Arundel County confirmed COVID-19 cases to date,check the Maps. To slow the spread of COVID-19 and get the country back to normal, individuals will need to get vaccinated and practice healthy hygiene measures including frequent handwashing.
Unvaccinated people are at higher risk for COVID-19 than fully vaccinated individuals.
Unvaccinated older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19.*
Based upon available information to date, those most at risk are listed atMedical Conditions and COVID-19.
COVID-19 is spread just like colds or flu through:
The following symptoms may appear214 days after exposure:
There are other symptoms for COVID-19, including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and skin rashes.
NOTE: Symptoms usually appear within 214 days from time of exposure. Sometimes there are no signs or symptoms. Infected people without symptoms can still spread the disease. If you have concerns about any symptoms or possible exposure, call your health care provider or get tested. The Department of Health offers free rapid testing kits.
Viruses are constantly changing, including the virus that causes COVID-19. These changes occur over time and can lead to new strains of the virus or variants of COVID-19. Getting vaccinated can help slow new variants from developing.
Most people recover from this infection. Close to 80 percent will have mild or moderate symptoms. People with any symptoms can use testing as an additional prevention strategy to assist in making decisions to further protect yourself and others. To lessen the severity of symptoms, people who have COVID-19 should get medical advice.
Some COVID-19 infections can lead to serious illness, and in some cases death. If someone has a more serious illness from COVID-19, they may be admitted to the hospital. Older people and those with pre-existing medical problems have a greater risk for serious illness. Examples of pre-existing medical problems are cancer, diabetes, heart disease, COPD or other conditions impacting the immune systems ability to fight germs.
Follow the CDCs recommendations for respiratory virus guidance.
The CDC recommends that all people use core prevention strategies to decrease the spread of respiratory viruses. These are important steps you can take to protect yourself and others:
Additional prevention strategies you can choose to further protect yourself and others include:
Face mask recommendations and other COVID prevention recommendations are based on the countys COVID-19 hospitalization level as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Per CDC recommendations, a well-fitting face mask is recommended to be worn at the end of isolation when testing positive for COVID-19 or after being exposed to COVID-19. Face masks provide extra protection from COVID-19 and its variants for both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Here are guidelines on face coverings.
Anne Arundel County residents can be tested by primary care providers, pharmacies. The Department of Health offers free rapid testing kits.
The CDC states that at this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading COVID-19. Human transmission of COVID-19 to animals is considered to be low.
NIH-funded analysis of health record data shows severe reinfections often follow severe first infections
What: Using health data from almost 213,000 Americans who experienced reinfections, researchers have found that severe infections from the virus that causes COVID-19 tend to foreshadow similar severity of infection the next time a person contracts the disease. Additionally, scientists discovered that long COVID was more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Healths (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, is published in Communications Medicine.
The analysis used data from electronic health records of 3.1 million Americans who are part of the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). Researchers focused on 212,984 people who reported a reinfection. Those individuals were originally infected between March 1, 2020-Dec. 31, 2022, and experienced a second infection by March 2023. Most participants (203,735) had COVID-19 twice, but a small number (478) had it three times or more. COVID-19 vaccines, though not available during the entire study period, correlated with a protective effect.
About 27% of those with severe cases, defined as receiving hospital care for a coronavirus infection, also received hospital care for a reinfection. Adults with severe cases were more likely to have underlying health conditions and be ages 60 or older. In contrast, about 87% of those who had mild COVID cases that did not require hospital care the first time also had mild cases of reinfections.
Reinfections were defined as having occurred at least two months after a first infection. They were found to occur most frequently when omicron variants were circulating in late 2021 and early 2022. Waning immunity and increased exposure to the coronavirus, including the highly-infectious variants, likely accounted for the uptick.
Scientists also discovered that regardless of the variant, long COVID cases were more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection. Long COVID was defined in the review as those experiencing long-term COVID-19 symptoms, such as feeling tired, coughing, or having problems sleeping, breathing, or thinking, after an acute coronavirus infection.
Researchers also found that lower levels of albumin, a protein made by the liver, may indicate a higher risk for reinfection. This finding could indicate lower albumin as a possible risk marker for reinfection. Scientists believe this deserves further attention, such as by considering trials to test if nutritional interventions may prevent reinfection or its severity.
The study is funded by NIHs RECOVER Initiative. Additional support came from the N3C Data Enclave, which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, also part of NIH.
Who: David C. Goff, M.D., Ph.D., a senior scientific program director for the RECOVER Observational Consortium Steering Committee and director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH, is available for interviews on this paper.
Study: Hadley E, Yoo YJ, Patel S, et al. Insights from an N3C RECOVER EHR-based cohort study characterizing SARS-CoV-2 reinfections and Long COVID. Commun Med. 2024; doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00539-2.
Infographic: https://recovercovid.org/sites/default/files/docs/analysis_of_electronic_health_records_infographic.pdf
(WXMI) The state is seeing a slight increase in COVID-19 cases this summer.
Local hospitalizations are up slightly, according to the Kent County Health Department (KCHD). Hospitalizations and ER visits are likely the best method of collecting case data as positive tests along may be inaccurate.
"We don't have a great sense for how much COVID is in the community. So I think what matters to us is how severe are people, also really sick are people, getting from COVID? says KCHD Medical Director Dr. Nirali Bora. And I think the best indication for that is how many people are having to get hospitalized because of COVID."
Dr. Bora says new variants are forming but the latest vaccines should be able to manage them. She tells us it's hard to identify what caused recent trends but its still important to remain considerate around other people if youre feeling under the weather.
"I think it's really paying attention to those who are most vulnerable to COVID, says Dr. Bora. If I'm not feeling well, I want to make sure that I'm not going to infect those who can get very sick from this. The people I want to really think about in my circle are people who are young children, infants under the age of 6 months, older people, people older than 65, especially older than 75, people who have a weakened immune system for any reason, people who are living with disabilities and people who are pregnant."
State data shows deaths went down from the previous week. Visits to the ER are up but they are still relatively low.
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