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As the United States eased into spring, only two states — Kansas and Texas — had increases or likely increases in coronavirus infections as of March 30, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Searing, 4/8)

Respiratory virus activity in the United States is still elevated but continues to decline, with only 6 jurisdiction reporting high levels, down from 10 the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its data updates. Flu markers declined for the third week in a row, following a prolonged rise after the winter holidays, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections remain low and declining in most parts of the country, except for a very small rise in the Northeast. For respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), activity continues to decrease across the country, and 8 of 10 regions are now below the 3% test-positivity threshold, suggesting that the RSV season is ending in those areas. (Schnirring, 4/5)

Recommendations that people with long COVID, or post-COVID condition (PCC), should avoid vigorous exercise are probably too strict, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open from researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Many long-COVID patients are told to avoid activities that exacerbate symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and pain, and many report exercise intolerance, or a "flare" in symptoms following exercise. (Soucheray, 4/5)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health alert Friday to inform clinicians, state health departments and the public of a case of avian influenza — aka bird flu — in a person who had contact with dairy cows in Texas. A farmworker on a commercial dairy farm in Texas developed conjunctivitis last week, and subsequently tested positive for bird flu, the agency said.The positive bird flu diagnosis came after milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas tested positive for the disease. (Rumpf-Whitten, 4/5)

Animal health officials in Vietnam and with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today urged countries to be on alert for a new highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 reassortant virus in chickens and mescovy ducks, which was found during active surveillance. In a statement, the FAO said the virus is a reassortant between the older H5N1 clade (2.3.2.1c) that is still circulating in parts of Asia and a newer H5N1 clade (2.3.4.4b) that began circulating globally in 2021. (Schnirring, 4/5)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: Journalists Assess The Risks Of Bird Flu And The Impacts Of Medicaid 'Unwinding'

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (4/6)