Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Michigan Health Department Reports Human Case Of Swine Flu
An Ingham County resident has been infected with swine flu despite no known exposure to a sick pig or other animal. The infected person tested positive for the influenza A H3N2 variant in late July, state health officials announced Friday afternoon, Aug. 9, after confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The person has since recovered. Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state鈥檚 chief medical executive, said officials believe this is an isolated case and risk to the general public is low. It鈥檚 the first confirmed case in Michigan this year. (Hicks, 8/9)
On mpox, bird flu, and rabies 鈥
Global health authorities are sounding an alarm about surging mpox infections in Africa that have left hundreds dead, thousands sick and inflicted suffering in nations previously spared from the viral disease. Cases in Africa have surpassed 15,000 this year, exceeding the toll in all of 2023. Infections are concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mpox has been endemic for decades, reaching record highs and infecting and killing mostly children. The virus has spilled into countries that have never recorded outbreaks, including Kenya and the Ivory Coast. (Nirappil, 8/9)
As a large mpox outbreak in Africa has set off alarm bells in the global health community, Americans' knowledge of the virus and risk factors surrounding transmission has dropped compared to just 2 years ago, according to new survey from researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. (Soucheray, 8/9)
Already, 4.8 million doses of a potential vaccine are sitting in an undisclosed Seqirus distribution center, ready for delivery if needed. 鈥淎n exercise like this gives our partners a chance to exercise that muscle, to make sure that the manufacturing鈥檚 there,鈥 Dawn O鈥機onnell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told USA TODAY during an exclusive tour of the vaccine factory in late July. (Cuevas and Weintraub, 8/12)
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is contacting people who attended a puppy adoption event last month in one Colorado city. The health department is screening attendees after a puppy tested positive for rabies on Wednesday. CDPHE says the rabies-positive puppy came from Texas and has since been euthanized. (Mason, 8/10)
