Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Reports 2 Cases Of Bird Flu In People; EEE Risk Lessens In Mass.
California health officials said Thursday they have confirmed two cases of H5N1 avian flu in people who had contact with infected dairy cattle in the Central Valley.聽They mark the first human cases of bird flu in the state and bring the total聽in the country to 16 since the current outbreak began in 2022. Other human cases have been found in Colorado, Michigan, Texas and Missouri. ... The two California cases are not related to each other, which means officials think transmission is not happening between people, but rather from animal to human. (Ho, 10/3)
Researchers have been working on mRNA flu vaccines since before the Covid-19 pandemic, but we may get one for bird flu first. (Baraniuk, 10/3)
Bird flu appears to have devastated big cats living at two zoos in South Vietnam. At least 47 tigers, three lions, and a panther at these zoos are thought to have died from the bird flu throughout August and September. Officials believe that the cats may have contracted the infection through contaminated chicken meat. (Cara, 10/3)
On the spread of EEE 鈥
The risk level of contracting Eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, in several towns in three Massachusetts counties has lowered, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced. "Communities previously at high or critical risk are now at moderate risk,鈥 the department said in a statement on Wednesday. (Mancini, 10/2)
A fifth human case of Eastern equine encephalitis has been confirmed in New Hampshire. The Department of Health and Human Services reported that an adult in Danville tested positive for the virus in early August and later died. (Ketschke, 10/4)
With cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis on the rise in the Northeast, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for increased coordination between local and federal agencies. Following the first human EEE death in New York in more than a decade last month, the powerful Democrat appeared in Glens Falls to announce a two-pronged approach to controlling the mosquito-borne illness. Schumer called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and local health officials to survey and track mosquitoes. (Shellow-Lavine, 10/3)
In response to outbreaks of West Nile virus and EEE, cities spray chemicals to kill mosquitoes. Is there a better way? (Kruzman, 10/1)
