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The outdoor temperature flirted with 100 degrees and heat advisories blanketed the region earlier this month as workers arrived at a commercial poultry operation in Weld County to start killing chickens. Of the 1.8 million egg-laying hens inside the operation’s barns, at least some were infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza — bird flu. (Ingold, 7/22)

Public health experts who’ve been following the surprising spillover of H5N1 bird flu into America’s dairy cattle herds now have all eyes on Colorado, waiting to see if a cluster of human cases there might balloon into something bigger. (Molteni, 7/22)

Regardless of how the COVID-19 pandemic started, it's clear that deadly diseases can jump from animals to humans ‒ and a new report from Harvard Law School and New York University finds we're not doing enough to prevent another animal-borne virus from becoming the next global pandemic. The study, which looked at common forms of animal-human interactions in 15 countries including the United States, found dozens of examples where viruses could make the leap. Researchers argued that simple policy changes could dramatically reduce the risk of such disease crossover. (Weintraub, 7/21)

As many people look to enjoy the warmer summer months, COVID cases are rising across the United States. Although the KP.3 COVID-19 variant continues to lead as the dominant variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows that another variant, KP.3.1.1, is not too far behind the leading strain. (Forbes, 7/20)

The Chinese embassy in the Philippines said on Monday the United States should give an explanation to the Filipino people as soon as possible for its false propaganda against China's COVID-19 vaccine. The remarks centered around a Reuters investigative report that said the U.S. military launched a clandestine programme during the COVID pandemic to discredit China's Sinovac inoculation in the Philippines. (7/21)

A new study adds to the growing body of literature demonstrating the safety of COVID-19 vaccine use in pregnant women. The study, published in BMJ, showed no connection between COVID vaccination or infection in the first trimester of pregnancy and congenital birth defects. The study is based on outcomes seen among 343,066 live-born single infants in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway with an estimated first trimester of pregnancy occurring from March 1, 2020, to February 14, 2022. (Soucheray, 7/19)

A Boston Children's Hospital–led study reveals that COVID-19 vaccine uptake lagged among US children with more social vulnerability, lower socioeconomic status (SES), and greater household composition and disability (HCD) as of July 2022. The study, published today in Pediatrics, also identified longer travel times to vaccination sites for rural, uninsured, White, and Native American families. (Van Beusekom, 7/19)