ETIDIOH - NEW

Abstract Influenza A(H5N1) viruses have been detected in US dairy cow herds since 2024 . We assessed the pathogenesis, transmission, and airborne release of A/Michigan/90/2024, an H5N1 isolate from a dairy farm worker in Michigan , in the ferret model. Results show this virus caused airborne transmission with moderate pathogenicity , including limited extrapulmonary spread , without lethality. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b viruses have displayed unprecedented global spread among wild birds leading to numerous spillover infections in mammalian species. Of note, outbreaks in dairy cattle and gallinaceous birds have resulted in human infections in the United States during 2024–2025 (1). Increased frequency of H5N1 viruses crossing species barriers has caused concern that the avian influenza viruses are adapting to mammals . A critical component of influenza pandemic preparedness is early identification of emerging novel influenza viruses that cause disease and t...

Abstract Avian influenza A(H5N1) poses a public health risk due to its pandemic potential should the virus mutate to become human-to-human transmissible. To date, reported influenza A(H5N1) human cases have typically occurred in the lower respiratory tract with a high case fatality rate . There is prior evidence of some influenza A(H5N1) strains being a small number of amino acid mutations away from achieving droplet transmissibility , possibly allowing them to be spread between humans. We present a mechanistic within-host influenza A(H5N1) infection model, novel for its explicit consideration of the biological differences between the upper and lower respiratory tracts. We then estimate a distribution of viral lifespans and effective replication rates in human H5N1 influenza cases. By combining our within-host model with a viral mutation model, we determine the probability of an infected individual generating a droplet transmissible strain of influenza A(H5N1) through mutation. For thr...

  Ann Intern Med BILINSKI A, Emanuel N, Ciaranello A Sins of Omission: Model-Based Estimates of the Health Effects of Excluding Pregnant Participants From Randomized Controlled Trials. Ann Intern Med. 2025 Apr 29. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-24-00689. PubMed           Abstract available YEK C, Mancera AG, Diao G, Walker M, et al Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Antibiotic Resistant Infection Burden in U.S. Hospitals : Retrospective Cohort Study of Trends and Risk Factors. Ann Intern Med. 2025 Apr 29. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-24-03078. PubMed           Abstract available RIDDLER SA, Moodie Z, Clark J, Yen C, et al High Frequency of Chronic Urticaria Following an Investigational HIV-1 BG505 MD39.3 Trimer mRNA Vaccine in a Phase 1, Randomized, Open-Label Clinical Trial (HVTN 302). Ann Intern Med. 2025 Apr 29. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-24-02701. PubMed           Abstract available KIM...

  Arch Virol SVYATCHENKO SV, Boldyrev ND, Panova AS, Kolosova NP, et al Seroprevalence of anti-influenza antibodies in humans and characterization of seasonal influenza viruses isolated in Russia during the 2023-2024 flu season. Arch Virol. 2025;170:118. PubMed           Abstract available Biochem Biophys Res Commun CHU X, Yang Y, Guo H, Ji X, et al SARS-CoV-2 NSP2 specifically interacts with cellular protein SmgGDS. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2025;764:151828. PubMed           Abstract available ZHANG YH, Su AM, Hou XM Structural and functional insights into the SARS-CoV-2 SUD domain and its interaction with RNA G-Quadruplexes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2025;764:151817. PubMed           Abstract available Epidemiol Infect STERIAN M, Naganathan T, Corrin T, Waddell L, et al Evidence on the associations and safety of COVID-19 vaccination and post COVID-19 conditi...

Abstract Influenza remains a global public health concern, and although the antiviral drug oseltamivir is widely used to treat infections , questions regarding its actual antiviral efficacy and clinical benefits remain. Here, we evaluated the effects of oseltamivir on viral shedding dynamics in the context of experimental influenza infection . We analyzed individual participant data, including viral load, time to symptom alleviation, and laboratory test measurements, obtained from three publicly available clinical trials involving experimental infections with influenza A and B viruses. We applied mathematical modeling and estimated parameters using a nonlinear mixed-effects model to capture viral infection dynamics. Our analysis revealed that, compared with placebo groups, the oseltamivir-treated groups tended to have lower values in terms of viral load area under the curve , duration of infection, peak viral titer, and time to peak; however, most of these differences were not signific...

Abstract The ongoing panzootic of H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) has caused the deaths of over half a billion wild birds and poultry , and has led to spillover events in both wild and domestic mammals , alongside sporadic human infections . A key driver of this panzootic is the apparent high viral fitness across diverse avian species, which facilitates an increased interface between wild and domestic species. Columbiformes (pigeons and doves) are commonly found on poultry premises and are highly connected to humans in urban settlements, yet relatively little is known about their potential role in contemporary HPAIV disease ecology. Here we investigated the epidemiological role of pigeons (Columba livia) by determining their susceptibility using decreasing doses of clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 HPAIV (genotype AB). We investigated infection outcomes and transmission potential between pigeons and to chickens for each dose. Following direct inoculation, pigeons did not develo...