ETIDIOH - NEW

Abstract Influenza virus pandemics and seasonal epidemics have claimed countless lives. Recurrent zoonotic spillovers of influenza viruses with pandemic potential underscore the need for effective countermeasures . In this study, we show that pre-exposure prophylaxis with broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) MEDI8852 is highly effective in protecting cynomolgus macaques from severe disease caused by aerosolized highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus infection. Protection was antibody dose–dependent yet independent of Fc-mediated effector functions at the dose tested. Macaques receiving MEDI8852 at 10 milligrams per kilogram or higher had negligible impairment of respiratory function after infection, whereas control animals were not protected from severe disease and fatality. Given the breadth of MEDI8852 and other bnAbs, we anticipate that protection from unforeseen pandemic influenza A viruses is achievable. Source: Science,  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado64...

Abstract In late 2023 an H5N1 lineage of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) began circulating in American dairy cattle.  Concerningly, high titres of virus were detected in cows’ milk , raising the concern that milk could be a route of human infection . Cows’ milk is typically pasteurised to render it safe for human consumption, but the effectiveness of pasteurisation on influenza viruses in milk was uncertain . To assess this, here we evaluate heat inactivation in milk for a panel of different influenza viruses. This includes human and avian influenza A viruses (IAVs), an influenza D virus that naturally infects cattle, and recombinant IAVs carrying contemporary avian or bovine H5N1 glycoproteins . At pasteurisation temperatures of 63 °C and 72 °C , we find that viral infectivity is rapidly lost and becomes undetectable before the times recommended for pasteurisation ( 30 minutes and 15 seconds, respectively ). We then show that an H5N1 HPAIV in milk is effectively i...

Brazzaville/Kampala – Following the confirmation of an outbreak of Sudan virus disease – which belongs to the same family as Ebola virus disease – in Uganda today, World Health Organization (WHO) is mobilizing efforts to support the national health authorities to swiftly contain and end the outbreak .  WHO is deploying senior public health experts and mobilizing staff from the country office to support all the key outbreak response measures. In addition, the Organization has allocated US$ 1 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to help accelerate early action, and is readying medical supplies, including personal protective equipment to deliver to Uganda from its Emergency Response Hub in Nairobi.  While there are no licensed vaccines for the Sudan virus disease , WHO is coordinating with developers to deploy candidate vaccines as an addition to the other public health measures. The vaccines will be deployed once all administrative and regulatory approvals are obtai...

A tiger and three leopards in the Widlife Rescue Centre, Gorewada Zoo, Maharashtra State. Source: WOAH,  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/6218 _____

Abstract Wild waterfowl are considered to be the reservoir of avian influenza , but their distinct annual life cycle stages and their contribution to disease dynamics are not well understood. Studies of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus have primarily focused on wintering grounds, where human and poultry densities are high year-round, compared with breeding grounds, where migratory waterfowl are more isolated. Few if any studies of avian influenza have focused on the molting stage where wild waterfowl congregate in a few selected wetlands and undergo the simultaneous molt of wing and tail feathers during a vulnerable flightless period. The molting stage may be one of the most important periods for the perpetuation of the disease in waterfowl, since during this stage, immunologically naïve young birds and adults freely intermix prior to the fall migration. Our study incorporated empirical data from virological field samplings and markings of Swan Geese (Anser cygnoides)...

NASA analysis of a near-Earth asteroid, designated 2024 YR4, indicates it has a more than 1% chance of impacting Earth on Dec. 22, 2032 – which also means there is about a 99% chance this asteroid will not impact. Such initial analysis will change over time as more observations are gathered .   Currently, no other known large asteroids have an impact probability above 1% .  Asteroid 2024 YR4 was first reported on Dec. 27, 2024, to the Minor Planet Center– the international clearing house for small-body positional measurements – by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System station in Chile.  The asteroid, which is estimated to be about 130 to 300 feet wide , caught astronomers’ attention when it rose on the NASA automated Sentry risk list on Dec. 31, 2024.  The Sentry list includes any known near-Earth asteroids that have a non-zero probability of impacting Earth in the future.   An object that reaches this level is not uncommon ; there have been several obj...

Summary Background The COVID-19 pandemic has been on a downward trend since May, 2022, but it continues to cause substantial numbers of hospital admissions and deaths . We describe this burden in the 2 years since May, 2022, and compare it with the burden of influenza in Denmark. Methods This observational cohort study included residents in Denmark from May 16, 2022, to June 7, 2024. Data were obtained from national registries, including admissions with COVID-19 or influenza (ie, having a positive PCR test for either virus from 14 days before and up to 2 days after the hospital admission date), deaths, sex, age, COVID-19 and influenza vaccination status, comorbidities , and residence in long-term care facilities. Negative binomial regression was used to estimate adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs) to compare rates of hospital admissions between COVID-19 and influenza. To compare the severity of COVID-19 versus influenza among patients admitted to hospital, we used the Kaplan–Meier e...

Situation at a glance Between 1 January and 31 December 2024, a cumulative total of 151 Zika virus disease (ZVD) cases were reported from three states in India ( Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra states). Maharashtra State reported a cumulative total of 140 ZVD cases through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). Additionally, Karnataka and Gujarat states reported ten and one cases , respectively, in 2024. As of 31 December 2024, no cases of microcephaly and/or Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) associated with this outbreak have been reported. Zika virus (ZIKV) is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito . Zika virus is also transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy, as well as through sexual contact, transfusion of blood and blood products, and possibly through organ transplantation. There is no specific treatment available for Zika virus infection or disease. Description of the situation Between 1 January and 31 December 2024, a cumulative ...

Abstract Viral infections are characterized by dispersal from an initial site to secondary locations within the host. How the resultant spatial heterogeneity shapes within-host genetic diversity and viral evolutionary pathways is poorly understood. Here, we show that virus dispersal within and between the nasal cavity and trachea maintains diversity and is therefore conducive to adaptive evolution , whereas dispersal to the lungs gives rise to population heterogeneity . We infected ferrets either intranasally or by aerosol with a barcoded influenza A/California/07/2009 (H1N1) virus . At 1, 2, or 4 days postinfection, dispersal was assessed by collecting 52 samples from throughout the respiratory tract of each animal. Irrespective of inoculation route, barcode compositions across the nasal turbinates and trachea were similar and highly diverse, revealing little constraint on the establishment of infection in the nasal cavity and descent through the trachea. Conversely, infection of the ...

Abstract Early investigation revealed a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among social contacts of COVID-19 vaccinated individuals, referred to as indirect protection. However, indirect protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection-acquired immunity and its comparative strength and durability to vaccine-derived indirect protection in the current epidemiologic context of high levels of vaccination, prior infection, and novel variants are not well characterized. Here, we show that both vaccine-derived and infection-acquired immunity independently yield indirect protection to close social contacts with key differences in their strength and waning. Analyzing anonymized SARS-CoV-2 surveillance data from 9,625 residents in California state prisons from December 2021 to December 2022, we find that vaccine-derived indirect protection against Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection is strongest within three months of COVID-19 vaccination [30% (95% confidence interval: 20–38%)] with subsequent modest protection....

ABSTRACT The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity has been a major focus of attention. However, the determinants of pathogenicity are still unclear. Various hypotheses have attempted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the evolution of viral pathogenicity , but a definitive conclusion has yet to be reached. Here, we review the potential impact of all proteins in SARS-CoV-2 on the viral pathogenic process and analyze the effects of their mutations on pathogenicity evolution. We aim to summarize which virus-encoded proteins are crucial in influencing viral pathogenicity, defined as disease severity following infection. Mutations in these key proteins, which are the virulence factors in SARS-CoV-2, may be the driving forces behind the evolution of viral pathogenicity. Mutations in the S protein can impact viral entry and fusogenicity . Mutations in proteins such as NSP2, NSP5, NSP14, and ORF7a can alter the virus’s ability to suppress host protein synthesis and innate immunity . Mutat...

The State Food and Veterinary Service of the Republic of Lithuania would like to inform you about an outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) on a laying hens establishment in total 9 aviaries, 246,387 in total. On the same day then suspicion was received, officially appointed veterinarians visited the farm, samples of dead hens were taken monitoring for Avian influenza, and Newcastle disease and sent to the National Institute for Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment (National Reference Laboratory) for avian influenza testing. Temporary restrictions were imposed on the farm immediately, pending laboratory results. Highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed in all samples and the H5N1 subtype was identified. {Farm is located in Klaipedos Region.} Source: WOAH,  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/6220 _____

Abstract Influenza A viruses (IAV) are likely candidates for pandemics . This report summarizes the results of the Swiss national program for surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs and transmissions to humans between 2010 and 2022. Challenges and optimization options in the program are discussed. Nasal swabs or lung tissue samples from pigs with influenza-like signs (e.g. fever, cough) were screened by real-time RT-PCR for swine influenza virus (SIV) genomes, including that of the 2009 pandemic strain A(H1N1)pdm09; positive samples were subtyped for H1, N1, H3 and N2 by RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. In parallel, humans with influenza-like symptoms and recent contact to diseased pigs were asked to self-sample themselves with a nasal swab. Human swabs were tested for IAV and positive swabs further subtyped to identify potential cross-species transmission between swine and humans. In the pigs, SIV was detected in 375 of 674 farm visits . H1N1 is the only subtype detected in Swiss pigs ...

Abstract We present a stochastic metapopulation transmission model that simulates the spread of H5N1 avian influenza through individual dairy cows in 35,974 dairy herds in the continental United States . Transmission is enabled through the movement of cattle between herds , as indicated from Interstate Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (ICVI) data. We estimate the rates of under-reporting by state and present the anticipated rates of positivity for cattle tested at the point of exportation over time. We investigate the likely impact of intervention methods to date on the underlying epidemiological dynamics, demonstrating that current interventions have had insufficient impact , preventing only a mean 175.2 reported outbreaks. Our model predicts that the majority of the disease burden is, as of January 2025, concentrated within West Coast states , due to the network of cattle movements and distribution of the respective dairy populations . We quantify the extent of uncertainty in th...

 A wild mute swan in Alytaus Region. Source: WOAH,  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/6219 _____

ABSTRACT Current influenza vaccination approaches protect against specific viral strains, but do not consistently induce broad and long-lasting protection to the diversity of circulating influenza viruses. Single-cycle viruses delivered to the respiratory tract may offer a promising solution as they safely express a diverse array of viral antigens by undergoing just one round of cell infection in their host and stimulate broadly protective resident memory T-cell responses in the lung. We have previously developed a vaccine candidate called S-FLU , which is limited to a single cycle of infection by inactivation of the hemagglutinin signal sequence and induces a broadly cross-reactive T-cell response and antibodies to neuraminidase, but fails to induce neutralizing antibodies to hemagglutinin after intranasal administration. This study describes the development of CLEARFLU , a derivative of S-FLU, which is designed to add a neutralizing antibody response to hemagglutinin. In contrast to ...

New human cases {2}:  From 13 December 2024 to 20 January 2025, the detection of influenza A(H5) virus in five humans , influenza A( H9N2 ) virus in two humans , and influenza A( H10N3 ) virus in one human were reported officially. Additionally, five human cases of infection with influenza A(H5) viruses were detected.   Circulation of influenza viruses with zoonotic potential in animals :  High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) events in poultry and non-poultry continue to be reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).{3} The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also provides a global update on avian influenza viruses with pandemic potential.{4}   Risk assessment {5}:  Based on information available at the time of the risk assessment , the overall public health risk from currently known influenza viruses at the human-animal interface has not changed remains low . Sustained human to human transmission has not...

FAO calls for increased vigilance and preparedness for avian influenza (AI) during the traditional New Year festivities that will take place across Asia on the week of 27 January 2025 . In the past year, outbreaks of AI have continued to be reported in domestic poultry, wild birds and mammals in Asia . Several AI virus subtypes including H5N1, H5N2, H5N3, H5N5, H5N6, H5N8, H7N3, H7N6, H7N8, H7N9, H10N5 , and H3N2 are currently well-established in both wild and domestic bird populations in the region. In addition, subtype H5N1 subclade 2.3.4.4b continues to circulate in both wild and domestic birds worldwide. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) can lead to heavy losses for the poultry industry, in particular to the livelihoods of vulnerable small-scale producers . Poultry trade and related activities play a key role in AI spread and amplification in domestic bird populations, including the trade of infected live poultry and their products, handling or slaughtering infected poultry,...

 Wild Cranes in Rajasthan State. Source: WOAH,  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/6217 _____

UKHSA has confirmed a case of influenza A(H5N1) in a person in the West Midlands region. Bird-to-human transmission of avian influenza is rare and has previously occurred a small number of times in the UK . The person acquired the infection on a farm , where they had close and prolonged contact with a large number of infected birds. The risk to the wider public continues to be very low. The individual is currently well and was admitted to a High Consequence Infectious Disease (HCID) unit. The birds were infected with the DI.2 genotype , one of the viruses known to be circulating in birds in the UK this season. This is different to strains circulating among mammals and birds in the US. Although there has been no demonstrated human-to-human transmission despite extensive recent surveillance of influenza A(H5N1), UKHSA has been tracing all individuals who have been in contact with the confirmed case of avian influenza. Those at highest risk of exposure have been offered antiviral treatmen...