PLoS One: Structural and Functional Studies of Influenza Virus A/H6 Hemagglutinin

Flu Virus binding to Receptor Cells – Credit CDC   #10,378   Although ubiquitous in birds, until a couple of years ago, avian H6 viruses as human health threats were essentially flying under the radar.  While implicated in the creation of H5N1 (see Hatta & Kawaoka, 2002), its history suggested that it posed little or no direct threat to human health –...

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Live Markets & Novel Flu Risks In The United States

     #10,377   Last week’s FluView report on 1 Novel (H3N2v) Flu Case Reported In Minnesota marked the 375th known swine variant flu infection of a human over the past decade in the United States.  As surveillance and testing is very limited, this number likely represents a small fraction of actual infections (see CID Journal: Estimates Of Human Infection...

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WHO: World On Verge Of An Effective Ebola Vaccine

Credit WHO   #10,376   Fresh off of its 12:00 GMT embargo, we have an article appearing in The Lancet detailing the results of a a Phase III clinical trial of the rVSV-ZEBOV candidate Ebola vaccine - and while preliminary - the results are very encouraging.   Utilizing a `ring vaccination’ strategy – where relatives and neighbors of known Ebola cases...

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USGS: New Madrid Simulation Shows Risks For Memphis & Little Rock

Seismic Hazard Map – Credit USGS   #10,375   In 2011 – during the bicentennial of the four great New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 – FEMA and other federal agencies mounted the largest National Level Exercise (NLE) to that date, revolving around a catastrophic earthquake occurring in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) that would involve eight Central U.S. States:...

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Defra: Preliminary Analysis Of Germany’s HPAI H7N7 Outbreak

Credit Defra    # 10,374   The announcement earlier this week of highly pathogenic H7N7 Reported At Emsland Poultry Farm comes on the heels of several low path (LPAI) H7N7 detections in recent months in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. Of particular interest, this latest HPAI outbreak was detected less than a kilometer away from a farm that had reported...

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WHO MERS Update – Saudi Arabia July 29th

  #10,373     The World Health Organization has published a new MERS update describing eight recent MERS cases, and their likely route of infection (if known).  All but one are from Riyadh City (#8 is from Hofuf), and three of the cases are listed as contacts or family members of known cases.  A fourth case (#3) is listed as a possible nosocomial...

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CDC Study: Pathogenesis & Transmissibility Of HPAI H5 In Mice & Ferrets

  # 10,372   Its effects on poultry are well established, but determining the pathogenesis (progression of disease) and degree of transmissibility of our recently arrived HPAI H5 viruses among mammals is a  high priority.  While it’s been encouraging that we’ve seen hundreds of poultry outbreaks over the past 18 months without seeing any human cases,...

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