ETIDIOH - NEW

  {Excerpt} 26 January 2026 Situation at a glance On 26 January 2026, the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia declared the end of the Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak .  This declaration came after two consecutive incubation periods (a total of 42 days) since the last person confirmed with MVD died and was given a safe and dignified burial, in accordance with WHO recommendations on 14 December 2025.  As of 25 January 2026, a cumulative total of 19 cases, including 14 confirmed (including nine deaths ) and five probable cases ( all deaths ), were reported.  A total of 857 contacts listed for monitoring all had completed their 21-day follow-up as of 25 January 2026.  WHO, through its country office and partners, provided technical, operational and financial support to the government to contain this outbreak. Description of the situation On 14 November 2025, after the laboratory confirmation of suspected viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) cases in Jinka town, South Ethio...

  A wild Greylag Goose in Świętokrzyskie Region. Source:  Link:  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/7224 ____

  DH follows up on Nipah virus infection cluster in India In light of reports indicating a cluster of a Nipah virus infection in a certain region of India, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) said today (January 26) that it has proactively sought further information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian health authorities .  The CHP is also conducting health screenings on inbound travellers from the affected area who exhibit suspected symptoms, with an aim of promptly referring suspected cases to hospitals for investigation.  Currently, there are no imported or local cases of Nipah virus infection in Hong Kong. Preliminary information indicated that a hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, has recorded five confirmed cases of Nipah virus infection since mid-January of this year.  The cluster was mainly due to nosocomial transmission and primarily involved healthcare workers , with no reported deaths or cross-border ...

  Backyard birds in Chernihiv Region. Source:  Link:  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/7223 ____

  Public Domain. Source:  Link:  https://www.wikiart.org/en/david-wilkie/pitlessie-fair-1804 _____

  Antiviral Res HEDSKOG C, Rodriguez L, Hu Y, Li J, et al SARS-CoV-2 Resistance Analyses From the Phase 3 BIRCH Study of Obeldesivir in High-Risk Nonhospitalized Participants With COVID-19. Antiviral Res. 2026 Jan 19:106351. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2026.106351. PubMed           Abstract available BMJ HIGGS J Help me piece my story together. BMJ. 2026;392:r2624. PubMed          RUSSELL MD, Schaffer A, Bechman K, Gibson M, et al Time trends in newly recorded diagnoses of 19 long term conditions before, during, and after the covid-19 pandemic: population based cohort study in England using OpenSAFELY. BMJ. 2026;392:e086393. PubMed           Abstract available Clin Infect Dis WINOKUR P, Diya O, Fitz-Patrick D, Dever M, et al Safety and Immunogenicity of a Fourth Dose of Omicron-BA.1-Adapted BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccines in Adults 18?55 Years Old. Clin Infect Dis. 2026 Jan 21...

  Ann Intern Med SACKS HS In older adults, RSV prefusion F vaccine reduced hospitalization for RSV-related respiratory tract disease vs. no vaccine. Ann Intern Med. 2026 Jan 6. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-25-05113. PubMed           Abstract available SOUMARE A, Kapfer T, Botrel T, Adda L, et al Systemic Corticosteroids, Mortality, and Infections in Pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome : A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2025 Dec 2. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-25-03055. PubMed           Abstract available Arch Virol LAI QR, Chen W, Yu GF, Guo YJ, et al Molecular epidemiology and clinical characteristics of human adenovirus in children in Hangzhou (2022-2023). Arch Virol. 2026;171:60. PubMed           Abstract available Biochem Biophys Res Commun WU X, Bhatt V, Liu JJ, Hong L, et al Single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis reveals differential expr...

  Par Paebi — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1054053 Source:  Link:  https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zentralbahn ____

{Automatic translation from Dutch to English} Date : January 23, 2026  Regarding : Dairy cow with antibodies against bird flu  Dear Chair , Through this letter, I am informing the House, also on behalf of the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, about the situation surrounding a dairy cow with antibodies against bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI).  No evidence has been found of active virus circulation of bird flu among the dairy cows on this farm in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân (province of Friesland).  There are also no signs of bird flu spreading at other dairy farms .  I am currently conducting follow-up investigations and have asked all involved parties to be alert to any potential signs.  Situation :  The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) received a report on December 24, 2025 , about two sick cats .  One of these cats tested positive for bird flu.  The cat in question died on Decem...

  Abstract Clade 2.2 H5N1 influenza viruses have caused an unusually high number of human infections , providing a unique opportunity to investigate early molecular steps associated with host adaptation . Although most work has focused on hemagglutinin (HA), the contribution of neuraminidase (NA) to these early adaptive events has remained unclear. By analyzing publicly available sequences from clade 2.2-infected patients , we identified 20 NA mutations and compared their phenotypes to 20 mutations acquired during diversification in primary human airway cells under drug-free conditions. Most patient-derived NA mutations resulted in modest reductions in sialidase activity , keeping activity within a functional range that supported improved replication in α2,6 sialylglycan (α2,6 Sia)-dominant environments , whereas excessive reduction impaired fitness . Notably, the phenotypes of culture-selected and patient-derived mutations were highly concordant , suggesting that these NA changes ...

  {Excerpt} Time Period: January 11, 2026 - January 17, 2026 -- H5 Detection :  6 site(s) ( 1.1% ) -- No Detection :  519 site(s) ( 98.9% ) -- No samples in last week:  78 site(s) (...) Source:  Link:  https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/wwd-h5.html ____

  Abstract The continuous evolution and global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 viruses , particularly clade 2.3.4.4b, pose major challenges for pandemic preparedness . This study evaluates a low-dose inactivated split-virus vaccine derived from H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, formulated with an Alum/CpG adjuvant , in a preclinical female mouse model . The vaccine induces strong humoral and cellular immunity , generating high titers of cross-reactive antibodies against diverse H5 hemagglutinin (HA) and across different N1 neuraminidase (NA) glycoproteins. The Alum/CpG adjuvant supports substantial antigen dose sparing and promotes a balanced Th1/Th2 profile. Functional assays show potent virus neutralization , neuraminidase inhibition , and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity , alongside robust antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, efficient control of lung viral replication, and reduced lung inflammation . Vaccinated mice are fully protected from lethal...

  Highlights • All clades of monkeypox virus (MPXV) continue to circulate.  - Unless mpox outbreaks are rapidly contained and human-to-human transmission is interrupted, there is a risk of sustained community transmission .   • At the time of reporting, data from the WHO European Region for December 2025 had not yet been submitted; therefore, the information presented below does not include the European Region .  • In December 2025 , 31 countries across five WHO regions (European Region excluded) reported a total of 1040 new confirmed mpox cases , including six deaths (case fatality ratio [CFR] 0.6%).  - Of these cases, 78% were reported in the African Region .  - Four regions observed a decline in confirmed cases in December, compared to November 2025, while the Eastern Mediterranean Region reported more cases than the previous month.      • Fifteen countries in Africa reported active transmission of mpox in the last six weeks (7 Decemb...

  {England, Suffolk}  10,532 bird duck breeder flock. Samples taken were positive for HPAI H5N1. Birds presented clinical signs prior to testing. Source:  Link:  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/7217 ____

  Eight wild mute swans in Vaslui Region. Source:  Link:  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/7218 ____

  A wild whooper swan in Pomoravski Region. Source:  Link:  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/7220 ____

  Abstract In November 2024, an adolescent female in British Columbia was hospitalized presenting with severe symptoms including respiratory failure due to infection with a novel H5N1 subtype influenza strain (BC24). Using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), we show here that the N169 α2,3-linked auto-glycan that is found in the sialic acid binding site of previously studied H5 hemagglutinin (HA) proteins is absent in purified BC24 HA protein , suggesting greatly reduced affinity for α2,3-linked sialosides . Glycan microarray analysis shows that the BC24 HA protein displays reduced or no binding not just to most α2,3-linked sialosides, but also to α2,6-linked sialosides . Full-length BC24 HA expressed in A549 lung alveolar carcinoma cells drives membrane fusion, albeit at significantly lower levels than previous H5 HA proteins, and post-infection sera from the patient display strong binding to BC24 HA and HA proteins from other influenza subtypes. The high virulence of the BC2...

  Abstract The risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza infection to humans is challenging to estimate because many human avian influenza virus (AIV) infections are undetected as they may be asymptomatic , symptomatic but not tested , and as contact tracing is difficult because human-to-human spread is rare. We derive equations that consider the evolutionary mechanisms that give rise to pandemics and are parameterized to be consistent with records of past pandemics. We estimate that thousands of human AIV infections occur worldwide in an average year and estimate the infection fatality ratio as 32 deaths per 10,000 infections (95% confidence interval: [9.6, 75]). We estimate that preventing 20% of animal-to-human influenza spillovers annually would delay pandemic emergence by an average of 9.4 years . There is a high level of uncertainty in our estimates due to the few records of past pandemics, but even so this infection fatality ratio is comparable to SARS-CoV-2 during the recen...

  ABSTRACT The outbreak of highly pathogenic avian H5 influenza (HPAI) clade 2.3.4.4b in cattle has spread across the United States . Mice with pre-existing immunity to H1N1 virus or with a live-attenuated influenza vaccine showed protection against a lethal bovine-derived HPAI H5N1 viral challenge . Notably, ferrets with mixed immunity also demonstrated protection against a feline-derived H5N1 virus, independent of cross-reactive neutralization titers , but antibodies to whole virus were observed. To investigate protective factors, we conducted T cell epitope mapping using published H1N1 viral sequences and found high conservation of key T cell epitopes in the bovine HPAI H5N1 strain . Depletion of T cells in mice prior to and during primary H1N1 infection impacted cross-protective antibodies to H5N1 virus, with CD4 depletion increasing mortality and CD8 depletion mildly impacting morbidity upon H5N1 viral challenge. This underscores the need to investigate memory T cell responses...