Latest news with #EmergingInfectiousDiseases
NDTV
3 days ago
- Health
- NDTV
Aspergillus Fumigatus, A Deadly Drug-Resistant Fungus Spreading Fast Across US: What We Know So Far
A deadly, drug-resistant fungus is spreading fast across the United States. Scientists have warned that it is fatal enough to rot human tissues from within and the threat could get worse with rising temperatures. Known as Aspergillus fumigatus, a dangerous fungus that can lead to serious health complications, especially in people with weakened immune systems. What is Aspergillus fumigatus? Aspergillus fumigatus is an airborne fungus that releases microscopic spores called conidia. These spores are so tiny that they are nearly impossible to avoid and can cause serious lung infections, including aspergillosis. It can also be found throughout the environment, including in soil, plant matter, and household dust. Who is at a higher risk? Individuals with a healthy immune system can fight off spores without any complications. However, inhaling Aspergillus fumigatus can lead to severe infection in some individuals, particularly those with weekend immunity or pre-existing health conditions like cancer, asthma, HIV, or other chronic illnesses. According to a study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common cause of invasive aspergillosis, a life-threatening fungal infection that primarily affects immunocompromised persons, including those with hematologic malignancies or stem cell or solid organ transplants or those receiving immunosuppressive medications. Why is it spreading in the US? According to experts, the fungus is rapidly spreading in warm, humid parts of the US such as Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and California. Additionally, densely populated cities like New York, Houston, and Los Angeles are also at a higher risk due to ageing infrastructure and increased exposure to mould in old buildings.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
H5N1 bird flu ‘capable of airborne transmission'
H5N1 bird flu is capable of spreading through the air, a new animal study from the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) has found. H5N1 was believed to spread primarily through direct contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids, but the new findings suggest it can also be transmitted through respiratory droplets and aerosol, raising concerns about its ability to cause a future pandemic. The study, published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, was based on a sample of H5N1 extracted from a dairy worker in Michigan who contracted the virus last year. The CDC scientists then used this sample to infect a group of ferrets, which are considered a 'gold standard' in flu research due to the similarity between their respiratory system and that of human. The infected animals were placed in close proximity to six other healthy ferrets and observed for three weeks. Within 21 days, three of the previously uninfected ferrets had contracted H5N1 – without any direct physical contact – indicating that the virus can travel through the air through a 'respiratory droplet transmission model'. The researchers also collected aerosol samples from the air surrounding the ferrets, and found infectious virus and viral RNA to be present, indicating that H5N1 can, like Covid-19, be transmitted through both respiratory droplets and aerosols – smaller particles that can travel longer distances and remain suspended in the air for extended periods. Respiratory droplets, on the other hand, are larger and do not travel as far in the air, requiring closer contact with an infected person for transmission. Since 2024, at least 70 people in the US have been infected with H5N1, the majority of them workers on poultry or dairy farms where the virus was present. Bird flu has spread to more than 1,000 dairy farms across the country over the past year and is now endemic among US cattle. 'This study is important as it provides yet more evidence that the H5N1 influenza virus that is circulating in dairy cattle in the USA is, in principle, capable of respiratory transmission,' Prof Ed Hutchinson, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Virology, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research told The Telegraph. '[The study] does this using experimental animals that experience and transmit influenza in similar ways to humans, so it warns us of what the virus could do in humans under the right circumstances,' Prof Hutchinson added. The study's authors warned that their findings underline the 'ongoing threat to public health' H5N1 poses, emphasising the need for 'continual surveillance and risk assessment… to prepare for the next influenza pandemic'. Most human cases reported in the US so far have resulted from direct physical contact with sick animals or their fluids, including cow's milk. But experts have warned that, as H5N1 continues to infect animal populations and 'jump' to humans, it is only a matter of time before the virus undergoes the mutations necessary to spread effectively from person to person. 'Because avian H5N1 viruses cross the species barrier and adapt to dairy cattle, each associated human infection presents further opportunity for mammal adaptation,' the study's authors said. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
10-06-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
H5N1 bird flu ‘capable of airborne transmission'
H5N1 bird flu is capable of spreading through the air, a new animal study from the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) has found. H5N1 was believed to spread primarily through direct contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids, but the new findings suggest it can also be transmitted through respiratory droplets and aerosol, raising concerns about its ability to cause a future pandemic. The study, published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, was based on a sample of H5N1 extracted from a dairy worker in Michigan who contracted the virus last year. The CDC scientists then used this sample to infect a group of ferrets, which are considered a 'gold standard' in flu research due to the similarity between their respiratory system and that of human. The infected animals were placed in close proximity to six other healthy ferrets and observed for three weeks. Within 21 days, three of the previously uninfected ferrets had contracted H5N1 – without any direct physical contact – indicating that the virus can travel through the air through a 'respiratory droplet transmission model'. The researchers also collected aerosol samples from the air surrounding the ferrets, and found infectious virus and viral RNA to be present, indicating that H5N1 can, like Covid-19, be transmitted through both respiratory droplets and aerosols – smaller particles that can travel longer distances and remain suspended in the air for extended periods. Respiratory droplets, on the other hand, are larger and do not travel as far in the air, requiring closer contact with an infected person for transmission. Since 2024, at least 70 people in the US have been infected with H5N1, the majority of them workers on poultry or dairy farms where the virus was present. Bird flu has spread to more than 1,000 dairy farms across the country over the past year and is now endemic among US cattle. 'This study is important as it provides yet more evidence that the H5N1 influenza virus that is circulating in dairy cattle in the USA is, in principle, capable of respiratory transmission,' Prof Ed Hutchinson, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Virology, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research told The Telegraph. '[The study] does this using experimental animals that experience and transmit influenza in similar ways to humans, so it warns us of what the virus could do in humans under the right circumstances,' Prof Hutchinson added. The study's authors warned that their findings underline the 'ongoing threat to public health' H5N1 poses, emphasising the need for 'continual surveillance and risk assessment… to prepare for the next influenza pandemic'. Most human cases reported in the US so far have resulted from direct physical contact with sick animals or their fluids, including cow's milk. But experts have warned that, as H5N1 continues to infect animal populations and 'jump' to humans, it is only a matter of time before the virus undergoes the mutations necessary to spread effectively from person to person. 'Because avian H5N1 viruses cross the species barrier and adapt to dairy cattle, each associated human infection presents further opportunity for mammal adaptation,' the study's authors said.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Will norovirus surge early again this year? Here's what scientists say
Will the upcoming norovirus season be just as early and active as the past year? While the answer may be anyone's guess right now, federal health officials recently warned that the dominant strain of the contagious virus — the leading cause of vomiting, diarrhea, and foodborne illness in the U.S. — has changed between the 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 seasons. 'GII.17 has caused 75 percent of all norovirus outbreaks during the 2024–25 season so far, thereby replacing GII.4 as the predominant norovirus outbreak strain in the United States,' Centers for Disease Control researchers wrote in an article published this month by the agency's Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. This past season also started at the earlier date of October, as opposed to December. GII.17 also drove a record wave of outbreaks. But, what all of this might mean going forward needs further research. 'Additional sequence analysis of complete GII.17 genomes and identification of cross-protective neutralizing antibodies of GII.17 compared with GII.4 viruses could help clarify whether GII.17 viruses will persist. Continued surveillance is needed to determine if this genotype remains the dominant genotype, as well as whether the norovirus season continues to start earlier than previous years,' they wrote. A spokesperson for the agency told CBS News that there are 'currently insufficient historic data to predict whether norovirus GII.17 will remain the dominant genotype and lead to an earlier onset of the norovirus season later this year.' They pointed to a surge of GII.17 strains in Asia and Europe in 2014 that was followed by no reports of a change to seasonality, and noted that there has been no clear evidence to prove that GII.17's emergence was the cause of a change to the norovirus season last year. Still, this past season reached the worst levels in a decade. There were 91 suspected or confirmed outbreaks during the first week of December, which Yale Medicine said exceeded the number of outbreaks during the same week in any year since 2012. The majority were the GII.7 strain. In years when there is a new strain of the virus, there can be 50 percent more norovirus illness. Cases continued to tick up months into this year. By May 7, there were 2,571 outbreaks. During the same time last year, there were only 1,358. 'The total number of outbreaks reported during the 2024 to 2025 seasonal year is above the range reported during the same period during the 2012 to 2020 and 2021 to 2024 seasonal years,' the CDC said. Cases have fallen markedly since January, and are now at low levels. While the outbreaks occur throughout the year, they are the most common from November to April as people head indoors and it's easier to spread norovirus through infected particles. Anyone who consumes raw shellfish is also at risk of contracting it. Infection can be deadly largely among adults aged 65 and up, but anyone can get sick. Children younger than 5 years old and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop severe infections. There are 900 deaths on average each year and between 19 and 21 million illnesses. There's no specific treatment for norovirus, but most people recover with a period of up to three days. 'The norovirus can spread so quickly, but also, as we already talked about, norovirus can be very — it's usually very fast. So yeah, if people are taking care of themselves, we leave them alone,' explained Dr. Joanna Bisgrove, a family physician at Rush University Medical Center. 'But if it keeps going, we're like, maybe this isn't norovirus, and we need to do other things.'
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Will norovirus surge early again this year? Here's what scientists say
Will the upcoming norovirus season be just as early and active as the past year? While the answer may be anyone's guess right now, federal health officials recently warned that the dominant strain of the contagious virus — the leading cause of vomiting, diarrhea, and foodborne illness in the U.S. — has changed between the 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 seasons. 'GII.17 has caused 75 percent of all norovirus outbreaks during the 2024–25 season so far, thereby replacing GII.4 as the predominant norovirus outbreak strain in the United States,' Centers for Disease Control researchers wrote in an article published this month by the agency's Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. This past season also started at the earlier date of October, as opposed to December. GII.17 also drove a record wave of outbreaks. But, what all of this might mean going forward needs further research. 'Additional sequence analysis of complete GII.17 genomes and identification of cross-protective neutralizing antibodies of GII.17 compared with GII.4 viruses could help clarify whether GII.17 viruses will persist. Continued surveillance is needed to determine if this genotype remains the dominant genotype, as well as whether the norovirus season continues to start earlier than previous years,' they wrote. A spokesperson for the agency told CBS News that there are 'currently insufficient historic data to predict whether norovirus GII.17 will remain the dominant genotype and lead to an earlier onset of the norovirus season later this year.' They pointed to a surge of GII.17 strains in Asia and Europe in 2014 that was followed by no reports of a change to seasonality, and noted that there has been no clear evidence to prove that GII.17's emergence was the cause of a change to the norovirus season last year. Still, this past season reached the worst levels in a decade. There were 91 suspected or confirmed outbreaks during the first week of December, which Yale Medicine said exceeded the number of outbreaks during the same week in any year since 2012. The majority were the GII.7 strain. In years when there is a new strain of the virus, there can be 50 percent more norovirus illness. Cases continued to tick up months into this year. By May 7, there were 2,571 outbreaks. During the same time last year, there were only 1,358. 'The total number of outbreaks reported during the 2024 to 2025 seasonal year is above the range reported during the same period during the 2012 to 2020 and 2021 to 2024 seasonal years,' the CDC said. Cases have fallen markedly since January, and are now at low levels. While the outbreaks occur throughout the year, they are the most common from November to April as people head indoors and it's easier to spread norovirus through infected particles. Anyone who consumes raw shellfish is also at risk of contracting it. Infection can be deadly largely among adults aged 65 and up, but anyone can get sick. Children younger than 5 years old and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop severe infections. There are 900 deaths on average each year and between 19 and 21 million illnesses. There's no specific treatment for norovirus, but most people recover with a period of up to three days. 'The norovirus can spread so quickly, but also, as we already talked about, norovirus can be very — it's usually very fast. So yeah, if people are taking care of themselves, we leave them alone,' explained Dr. Joanna Bisgrove, a family physician at Rush University Medical Center. 'But if it keeps going, we're like, maybe this isn't norovirus, and we need to do other things.'
