H7N9 avian flu replicates well in finches, sparrows, and parakeets experimentally inoculated with the pathogen, and the birds shed the virus in high numbers and show few signs of disease, scientists reported today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The bill provides increases for the CDC, DHS, and FDA and funds for pandemic readiness.
The victim of the first human H5N1 infection reported in the Americas was a woman in her 20s from Red Deer, Alta., who was a nurse at a hospital there, according to reports in the local newspaper, the Red Deer Advocate.
A serologic survey from British Columbia suggests that preschool children and working-age adults are the groups most susceptible to the pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, by far the most common strain in North America so far this flu season.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today recognized four Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases recently reported by Saudi Arabia, including one death, raising the agency's global count to 170 cases and 72 deaths.
In an epidemiologic assessment today, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that H7N9 avian flu in China continues to pose a significant health risk.
An exhaustive 2-year effort gives the US an overall score of 7.2 out of 10.
Authorities are monitoring incoming travelers for disease and have quarantined 17 close contacts of the first H7N9 avian flu patient identified in Hong Kong, its Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said today in a statement.
Data show H1N1 deaths skewed toward young and reflect wide regional variance.
The FDA approves the first adjuvanted H5N1 flu vaccine to aid in pandemic preparedness.
