Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

RSS feed

News Scan for Dec 09, 2020

Italian child had COVID back in December 2019

A 4-year-old boy living outside of Milan with no travel history is now the earliest confirmed SARS-CoV-2 case in Italy, a team based in Italy reported in a research letter to Emerging Infectious Diseases yesterday.

  • Earliest Italian COVID case
  • COVID and essential workers
  • WHO global health estimates
  • More avian flu in Europe

News Scan for Dec 08, 2020

Study suggests childcare workers not at higher risk for COVID-19

A large study of childcare providers in Pediatrics today found that childcare staff were not at higher risk for COVID-19 during the early months of the US pandemic.

  • COVID-19 in childcare workers
  • Binge drinking during COVID lockdown
  • Early promise for universal flu vaccine
  • Avian flu in Europe

News Scan for Dec 07, 2020

CDC report shows declines in healthcare-associated infections

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows some encouraging declines in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) across four US healthcare settings, including one linked to antibiotic use.

  • Drop in healthcare-related infections
  • Avian flu outbreaks in 4 nations

News Scan for Dec 04, 2020

Extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains detected in Italy

Two extensively drug-resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae identified in two patients at an Italian hospital in May appear to be a dangerous variant of a strain that caused an outbreak in Tuscany in 2018 and 2019, Italian scientists reported yesterday in Eurosurveillance.

  • XDR Klebsiella strains in Italy
  • Polio in 3 countries
  • More avian flu outbreaks

News Scan for Nov 30, 2020

Experts develop research agenda for pediatric infections, stewardship

A group of clinicians and researchers with expertise in pediatric healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial stewardship has developed a list of high-priority research topics for improving health outcomes in children.

  • Pediatric infections and stewardship
  • Avian flu outbreaks expand

News Scan for Nov 24, 2020

CWD slowly spreading in Montana and Virginia

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurologic prion disease that affects members of the deer family, was detected in two cervids in Montana and Virginia. In 2019, 144 cases of CWD were reported in Montana and 1 case was reported in Virginia.

  • CWD in Montana, Virginia
  • More E coli outbreak cases
  • Baloxavir for flu prevention
  • H5N8 avian flu in 6 nations

News Scan for Nov 17, 2020

Study links COVID restrictions to increased UK dental antibiotic use

A study published late last week in the British Dental Journal suggests that restricted access to dental care in England during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sharp rise in dental antibiotic prescribing.

  • UK dental antibiotic prescribing
  • Gaps in global TB progress
  • More H5N8 avian flu in Europe
  • Chapare virus transmission

News Scan for Nov 16, 2020

Voluntary CWD testing lower than desired after Minnesota deer opener

While the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hoped that 50% of firearm hunters in the state's five chronic wasting disease (CWD) management zones would submit deer for voluntary testing, opening weekend saw well below 30% participation, according to a story last week in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

  • CWD testing in Minnesota
  • Avian flu in 3 countries
  • Rift Valley fever in Mauritania

News Scan for Nov 13, 2020

Pharmacist-led stewardship linked to improved antibiotic prescribing

An antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) intervention led by ambulatory care pharmacists was associated with improvements in guideline-concordant antibiotic prescribing in a family medicine residency clinic, researchers reported today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

  • Pharmacist-led stewardship
  • COVID-19 and antibiotic use
  • Polio in 3 countries
  • More H5N8 avian flu in poultry
  • US food outbreaks

News Scan for Nov 12, 2020

Measles deaths rise 50% worldwide since 2016, topping 200,000

The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that worldwide measles deaths climbed 50% from 2016 to 2019, to an estimated 207,500 fatalities in 2019 alone, and cases that year rose to 869,770—the highest total in 23 years.

  • Deadly global measles surge
  • Avian flu in 3 countries

Our underwriters