In the latest measles developments, health officials in Washington’s Whatcom County reported their first measles patients of the year, two family members in the same household, one of whom may have exposed others at an urgent care facility in Lynden on June 18. 

The county announced the first case on June 20, involving a patient who was isolating at home. Officials said investigation is under way, and so far it's not clear how the patients were exposed to the virus. 

Elsewhere, the health department in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, today reported a measles outbreak, based on the confirmation of a third case yesterday. All of the patients are linked to each other. 

Officials reported the initial case on June 18, the county's first since 2019. The resident was exposed to an out-of-state traveler who had a confirmed infection. The second case was reported on June 20, along with a warning about possible public exposure at an apartment complex and a Walmart store, both in Traverse City.

Cases taper in West Texas outbreak

New illnesses continue to decline in the West Texas outbreak, and no new cases were reported today in updates from Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Kansas reported one more case linked to an outbreak in the southwestern part of the state, an event that had previously been linked to the larger outbreak.

The total in Texas held steady at 750 cases, and only two counties—Gaines and Lamar—have ongoing transmission.

The US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) late last week announced it will provide $12 million to state and tribal governments, research institutions, and universities to control and prevent chronic wasting disease (CWD).

The money will boost surveillance, testing, management, and response activities for the fatal prion disease, which affects cervids such as deer, elk, and moose. Approximately $6 million will be for projects to control CWD in farmed cervids and will be based on the state's CWD status and the number of herds and cervids participating in their CWD Herd Certification Program. The other $6 million will support research and management of CWD in wild cervids. 

"Specifically, these funds will allow for State departments of agriculture, State animal health agencies, State departments of wildlife or natural resources, federally recognized Native American Tribal governments and organizations, and research institutions and universities to further develop and implement CWD research, management, and response activities," APHIS said in an agency press release.

CWD is a slow and progressive disease caused by misfolded prions, which affect animals' brains and ultimately leads to their death. It spreads through cervid-to-cervid contact and environmental contamination. Although no human cases of CWD have been reported, health officials warn the public not to eat the meat of infected animals.

CWD was first identified in captive deer in Colorado in the late 1960s and in wild deer in 1981. The disease has been confirmed in 36 states. 

Cambodia has reported another human H5N1 avian flu case, the second in a week, according to a health ministry Facebook post translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease news blog.

It is the seventh case of the year and is part of an overall rise in H5N1 infections in Cambodia since late 2023. The patient is a 41-year-old woman from Siem Reap province in the northwest whose samples tested positive yesterday at the country's National Institute of Public Health. She is listed in critical condition. 

Latest cases both tied to poultry

Investigators found that there were sick and dead poultry at her home and that of her neighbors and that she had handled and cooked them 5 days before she became ill.

A few days ago, Cambodia reported its sixth case and its fifth death of the year, involving a 52-year-old man from Svay Rieng province who had handled sick poultry 2 days before his symptoms began.

Some of Cambodia's recent cases have been linked to a novel reassortment between an older 2.3.2.1c clade known to circulate in Southeast Asia's poultry and genes from the newer 2.3.4.4b clade spreading globally. So far, it's not known what clade infected the latest two patients.