Cats suffer H5N1 brain infections, blindness, death after drinking raw milk - Mammal-to-mammal transmission raises new concerns about the virus's ability to spread.(arstechnica.com)
Bird flu virus has been spreading in US cows for months, RNA reveals - Genomic analysis suggests that the outbreak probably began in December or January, but a shortage of data is hampering efforts to pin down the source.(nature.com)
Vietnam records first patient of avian flu A/H9(e.vnexpress.net)
Monkey Attack Leads to First Human Case of B Virus in Hong Kong(bloomberg.com)
Rare human case of bird flu contracted in Texas following contact with dairy cattle: "The CDC said this is only the second time that a person in the U.S. has contracted the bird flu, which typically infects wild birds but can spread to domestic species."(cbsnews.com)
Thailand steps up border control of livestock after anthrax outbreak is reported in neighboring Laos: "... 54 people in Laos have been infected with the disease"(apnews.com)
Alaska: First person dies from Alaskapox virus, officials confirm - Officials said the source of the victim's exposure to the virus was "unclear" - although he had reported caring for a stray cat at his home which had scratched him, possibly causing the transmission.(news.sky.com)
Bird flu wipes out over 95% of southern elephant seal pups in 'catastrophic' mass death - Over 17,000 southern elephant seal pups were found dead on Argentina's Valdés Peninsula in a horrific mass die off attributed to the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus.(livescience.com)
SOTP: State-of-the-Pandemic - The pandemic's 2nd biggest wave of infections and what the JN.1 variant is telling us(erictopol.substack.com)
‘Zombie deer disease’ epidemic spreads in Yellowstone as scientists raise fears it may jump to humans - The prions cause changes in the hosts’ brains and nervous systems, leaving animals drooling, lethargic, emaciated, stumbling and with a telltale “blank stare”...(theguardian.com)
Spike in cases of ‘100-day-cough’ that’s quickly spreading across the UK: "Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows more than 700 people may have been infected in England and Wales between July and the end of November – up from 217 over the same period last year."(metro.co.uk)
Child Pneumonia Cases Surge in Europe — As Fears Rise Over Outbreak in China: "The Netherlands is experiencing a bizarre uptick in pneumonia cases among children, marking the second country to report an outbreak of this type this week."(themessenger.com)
Bacterial infection causing concern in China detected in Ireland - First Irish outbreak of mycoplasma pneumoniae in a number of years occurred in October, Health Protection Surveillance Centre warns(irishtimes.com)
Respiratory infection clusters in China not caused by novel virus, says the country’s health ministry: "Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenovirus ..."(theguardian.com)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked China for more information on "clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia" reportedly spreading among children in the north of the country. Non-state media reports say children's hospitals in parts of the country are overwhelmed with sick children.(bbc.com)
China's Inner Mongolia reports two cases of bubonic plague(reuters.com)
Woman in Japan dies of Oz virus in world 1st, possibly tick-borne(mainichi.jp)
A man in Namibia has died of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, prompting the country to declare an outbreak of the viral tick-borne disease ... Also known as Congo fever, the disease has a high fatality rate of up to 40 percent, according to the World Health Organization.(medicalxpress.com)
CDC warns of Marburg virus after deadly Africa outbreak - The CDC is sending personnel to assist with the outbreak of the Marburg virus in Guinea and Tanzania(foxnews.com)
Deadly Ebola-like Marburg virus spreads to Equatorial Guinea's commercial capital of Bata: "There have been nine laboratory-confirmed cases, of which seven are dead and two are undergoing treatment. There have been another 20 suspected cases, all of whom are now dead."(thenationalnews.com)
Tanzania announces outbreak of deadly Marburg virus disease - Five deaths and three further cases of the Ebola-like virus have been reported in the country’s north-west(theguardian.com)