ETIDIOH - NEW

7 January 2025  A day after the United States reported its first human death from avian flu, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) insisted on Tuesday that the risk to the wider population remains “low”.  WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva that the H5N1 virus causing the disease is “ not circulating in humans but jumping into humans ” who are exposed to poultry or dairy cattle. “ We’re not seeing sustained circulation ,” she insisted. Underlying conditions The man who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions, Dr. Harris said.  According to the health authorities , he had been exposed to chickens and wild birds . Several dozen people in the US have contracted avian influenza – commonly referred to as bird flu – during the current outbreak, mainly farmworkers in close contact with poultry flocks and cattle herds. Dr. Harris stressed that WHO’s assessment of the risk to the general population “i...

 {Summary} Misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories gain traction in times of uncertainty when little is known about a disease and when trust in government and public institutions is low . Amidst uncertainty, public health-related memes act as a sort of coping mechanism. Memes images, text, or video that serve as a shorthand form of communication—have the potential to spread quickly and widely on social media. While memes can be humorous, perhaps harmless, they can have serious effects at other times, as during the COVID-19 pandemic. One thing they have in common, however, is their transportability from user to user and platform to platform.  Frame analysis of Internet memes is useful for categorizing what we call frames of meaning in digital space. Unlike the agenda-setting function of mass media, in which gatekeepers (e.g., news editors) set the agenda regarding public issues, framing theory in the digital age is more dynamic, as content may take on different ...

Abstract In early 2024, an unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza was detected in dairy cattle in the USA . The epidemic remains uncontrolled , with spillbacks into poultry , wild birds and other mammals including humans . Here, we present molecular and virological evidence that the cattle B3.13 genotype H5N1 viruses rapidly accumulated adaptations in polymerase genes that enabled better replication in bovine cells , as well as cells of other mammalian species including humans and pigs . We find evidence of several mammalian adaptations gained early in the evolution of these viruses in cattle including PB2 M631L , which is found in all cattle sequences, and PA K497R, which is found in the majority. Structurally, PB2 M631L maps to the polymerase-ANP32 interface, an essential host factor for viral genome replication. We show this mutation adapts the virus to co-opt bovine ANP32 proteins and thereby enhances virus replication in bovine and primary human airway c...

January 6, 2025 -- CDC is saddened by Louisiana's report that a person previously hospitalized with severe avian influenza A(H5N1) illness ("H5N1 bird flu") has passed away .  While tragic, a death from H5N1 bird flu in the United States is not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death.  As of January 6, 2025, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the United States since 2024 and 67 since 2022.  This is the first person in the United States who has died as a result of an H5 infection.  Outside the United States , more than 950 cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organization; about half of those have resulted in death. CDC has carefully studied the available information about the person who died in Louisiana and continues to assess that the risk to the general public remains low .  Most importantly, no person-to-person transmission spread has been ...

{Edited} January 06, 2025 The Louisiana Department of Health reports the patient who had been hospitalized with the first human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or H5N1, in Louisiana and the U.S. has died .  The patient was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions .  The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.  LDH’s extensive public health investigation has identified no additional H5N1 cases nor evidence of person-to-person transmission . This patient remains the only human case of H5N1 in Louisiana.  The Department expresses its deepest condolences to the patient’s family and friends as they mourn the loss of their loved one. Due to patient confidentiality and respect for the family, this will be the final update about the patient.  While the current public health risk for the general public remains low, people who work with birds, poultry or c...

 {Excerpt, edited, original article in Bahasan} KOMPAS.com - The United States recorded its first death from bird flu ( H5N1 ), as recorded by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Monday (6/1/2025) local time. Quoted from the Washington Post , Tuesday (7/1/2025), this case occurred in Louisiana, involving a patient over 65 years old who had comorbidities . (...) Source: Kompas,  https://health.kompas.com/read/25A07073728468/as-laporkan-kasus-kematian-pertama-flu-burung-pada-manusia# ____