ETIDIOH - NEW

  {Summary} Situation at a glance In early May 2025, the International Health Regulations National Focal Point (IHR NFP) for Thailand notified WHO of four cases of cutaneous anthrax .  One of the affected individuals died as a result of disease complications, while the remaining three cases were hospitalized and received appropriate medical care .  All reported cases had direct contact with cattle suspected to be infected with anthrax.  A rapid field investigation and response was conducted by the national health authorities.  All potentially exposed individuals were identified, and all high-risk contacts received post-exposure prophylaxis .  On 28 May, an additional case was announced who was associated with the slaughtering of cattle .  Disease control measures , including animal quarantine, and vaccination campaign targeting cattle withing five km radius, public awareness campaigns, and enhanced surveillance, were implemented in the affected area....

  Summary -- What is already known about this topic? - Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic virus transmitted sporadically from camels to humans , with limited subsequent human-to-human transmission . Most reported human cases of MERS have occurred in or near the Arabian Peninsula . Standardized clinical and epidemiologic criteria are used to determine who in the United States should be tested for MERS-CoV. In the United States , the last identified and confirmed MERS cases occurred in 2014 . -- What is added by this report? - Global reported MERS cases have declined substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Numbers of travelers entering the United States from in or near the Arabian Peninsula declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now have returned to prepandemic levels. U.S. MERS-CoV testing declined during 2017–2023 and remains low relative to prepandemic years. Clinical and epidemiologic criteria to guide U.S. testing were updated in ...

Highlights •  Different immune responses in mice vaccinated with influenza A(H5N1) than with other subtypes. •  Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1)-vaccinated mice had altered germinal center responses. •  A(H5N1)-vaccinated mice had fewer dLN germinal centers and more extrafollicular B cells. •  A(H5N1)-vaccinated mice had more dLN follicular helper and regulatory T cells. •  Our study represents a timely assessment of A(H5N1) risk to human health. Abstract Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus vaccines typically yield lower neutralizing antibody titers in animals than influenza A virus (IAV) vaccines derived from other viral subtypes. To understand these differences, we compared the cellular immune responses in the draining lymph nodes (dLNs) of mice vaccinated with an inactivated whole H5N1 vaccine to those in mice vaccinated with seasonal H1N1pdm09, H7N9, or H9N2 IAV vaccines . H5N1-vaccinated mice exhibited reduced serum neutralizing ant...

Abstract In late 2023, H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAIV) started circulating in dairy cattle in the USA . High viral titres were detected in milk from infected cows , raising concerns about onwards human infections . Although pasteurisation was shown to effectively inactivate influenza viruses in milk, unpasteurised milk still poses a risk of infection, both from occupational exposure in dairies and from the consumption of raw milk. We therefore assessed how long influenza viruses could remain infectious for in milk without heat inactivation. We examined the stability of a panel of influenza viruses in milk , including a contemporary H5N1 HPAIV and a variety of other influenza A and D viruses. We incubated viruses in cows' milk under laboratory conditions : at room temperature to simulate exposure in dairies and at 4°C to simulate exposure to refrigerated raw milk. Following an isolated report of H5N1 viral RNA being detected in milk from a sheep in the UK , we also c...

Abstract Avian influenza H9N2 viruses cause significant economic losses to the poultry industry and pose a public health risk due to their potential to reassort with other avian influenza viruses, generating strains with zoonotic and pandemic potential . Two major H9N2 lineages dominate globally: the G1 lineage (genotype G1-B), prevalent in the Middle East, Africa and the Indian subcontinent , and the BJ/94 lineage (predominantly genotype G57), dominant in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Far East . We investigated replication, transmission, and pathogenicity of representatives of these two lineages, linking genotype to phenotype. The G57 strain A/Ck/Vietnam/H7F-14-BN4-315/2014 (Vietnam/315) was more lethal to chicken embryos than the G1-B strain A/chicken/Pakistan/UDL-01/2008 (Pakistan/UDL-01). Vietnam/315 exhibited higher replication in both directly infected and contact chickens, with increased virus shedding from the oropharynx and cloaca. In contrast, Pakistan/UDL-0...