Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways

As a recent example of what may ensue, Pitesky points to the repeated African swine fever outbreaks across various Asian countries in the past decade, which decimated the pig farming industry to the extent that pork was briefly usurped by poultry as the most widely consumed animal protein on the planet. Pitesky argues, however, that […]

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Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways

As a recent example of what may ensue, Pitesky points to the repeated African swine fever outbreaks across various Asian countries in the past decade, which decimated the pig farming industry to the extent that pork was briefly usurped by poultry as the most widely consumed animal protein on the planet. Pitesky argues, however, that […]

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Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways

As a recent example of what may ensue, Pitesky points to the repeated African swine fever outbreaks across various Asian countries in the past decade, which decimated the pig farming industry to the extent that pork was briefly usurped by poultry as the most widely consumed animal protein on the planet. Pitesky argues, however, that […]

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The Long Quest for a Universal Flu Vaccine Finally Takes Its First Steps

To work better than current formulas, a superior vaccine would need to anticipate the genetic drift of mutation and protect against more strains than circulate in a single season, plus confer protection for more than a handful of months. In a research agenda it first set in 2018, the NIH defined the goal of a […]

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Bird Flu Reaches the Antarctic for the First Time

This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Avian flu has reached the Antarctic, raising concerns for isolated populations of penguins and seals that have never been exposed to the deadly H5N1 virus before. The full impact of the virus’s arrival is not yet known, but scientists are […]

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History Says the 1918 Flu Killed the Young and Healthy. These Bones Say Otherwise

In the last hard days of World War I, just two weeks before world powers agreed to an armistice, a doctor wrote a letter to a friend. The doctor was stationed at the US Army’s Camp Devens west of Boston, a base packed with 45,000 soldiers preparing to ship out for the battlefields of France. […]

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These Gene-Edited Chickens Were Made to Resist Bird Flu

The gene edit also helped limit the spread of the virus. Four ordinary chickens were placed in the same incubator with the gene-edited birds that had already been exposed to high levels of the virus. Out of the four, only one became infected. Researchers monitored the gene-edited birds over the course of two years and […]

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It’s Time for a Flu Vaccine—for Birds

The wave of avian influenza H5N1—which so far has hit 76 countries, triggered national emergencies, and created the worst animal-disease outbreak in US history—keeps roaring through wild birds and commercial poultry. More than 140 million poultry worldwide have died from the virus or were slaughtered to keep it from spreading, according to the World Organization […]

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The Bird Flu Outbreak Has Taken an Ominous Turn

This week, Argentina and Uruguay declared national health emergencies following outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, the fast-moving virus that destroys poultry flocks and wild birds, and for decades has been feared as a possible spark for a pandemic among people. That makes 10 South American countries that have recently marked their first-ever encounter with the […]

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Covid Can Boost Your Response to Flu Vaccines—if You’re a Man

While the whole blood transcriptomics was helpful, it only provided a general picture of what was going on. Next, the scientists turned to a technique called CITE-seq. This allowed them to find out which cells were expressing which genes differently across males and females, and what specific proteins they were creating. The best part was […]

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A Smart Way to Get Ahead of the Next Flu Surge

Singh says a smart thermometer reading is particularly useful for people who have only mild symptoms and can be spared a visit to the doctor, as well as those who can’t access or afford medical care. That means the thermometers can catch people that health departments miss, and provide a more accurate picture of how […]

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A Brutal Wave of Bird Flu Spotlights the Need for a Poultry Vaccine

As of last week, the fast-moving pathogen had been found in poultry and adjacent species 182 times in 27 states, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture. It has invaded every type of bird-growing operation—turkeys, broilers, egg-laying farms, and breeders that produce eggs for hatching—as well as […]

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