Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
1 Death Reported In Iowa From Lassa Fever, An Ebola-Like Virus
Stat: U.S. Death From Lassa Fever, An Ebola-Like Virus, Is Reported In Iowa
A person from Iowa who recently returned to the United States from West Africa has died after contracting Lassa fever, a virus that can cause Ebola-like illness in some patients. State health officials reported the case on Monday. (Branswell, 10/28)
CIDRAP: Report Details Locally Acquired Malaria Case In Arkansas Last Fall
For the first time in 20 years, the United States recorded locally acquired malaria cases last year. A report published late last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report details the 10th US case, in Arkansas. The previous cases were in Florida, Texas, and Maryland. Since the 1970s, cases of travel-associated malaria have ticked upward in the United States, with 2,048 such cases recorded in 2019 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Soucheray, 10/28)
NBC News: After Eating At McDonald’s, Teen With E. Coli Battles Kidney Failure
In the days before Kamberlyn Bowler became ill, she went to McDonald’s several times for her favorite meal: a Quarter Pounder with cheese and extra pickles. The previously healthy, active 15-year-old is now hospitalized and battling kidney failure — a rare and potentially life-threatening complication of E. coli poisoning. Kamberlyn, of Grand Junction, Colorado, is one of dozens of people who say they became sick after having eaten McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. (Romans, Chuck and Allenbaugh, 10/29)
USA Today: Respiratory Illnesses On The Rise In Young Children, CDC Reports
Respiratory infections among young children have been on the rise since the school year began in August, according to reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over the past six months, emergency rooms have discharged an increasing number of patients with a Mycoplasma pneumoniae diagnosis, which is typically associated with "walking pneumonia," or acute bronchitis. Discharges peaked in late August, the CDC reported on Oct. 18. (Cross, 10/28)
On bird flu —
CIDRAP: H5N1 Avian Flu Isolate From Dairy Worker Is Transmissible, Lethal In Animals
In experiments designed to learn more about the threat from the H5N1 avian flu virus spreading from cows to people, researchers found that an isolate from a sick dairy worker may be capable of replicating in human airway cells, is pathogenic in mice and ferrets, and can transmit among ferrets by respiratory droplets. The team, based at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Japan, reported its findings today in Nature. Working in a high-containment lab, the researchers used an H5N1 isolate grown from the eye of a dairy worker who had experienced conjunctivitis after exposure to infected cows. (Schnirring, 10/28)
Merced Sun-Star: First Human Case Of H5N1 Bird Flu Confirmed In Merced County
Merced County, California, has seen its first case of H5N1 bird flu, according to the Merced County Department of Public Health. The county said that the infected individual had direct contact with cattle at a Merced County dairy farm and laboratory tests confirmed the case after symptoms were detected following the direct exposure. (Kuhn, 10/28)
Bloomberg: Bird Flu Cases In Dairy Cows Roil California Farmers
Dairy farmers in California are grappling with a steadily advancing outbreak of avian flu in their herds – a problem few of them want to talk about publicly, but that none of them can afford to ignore. Bird flu has been reported in more than 170 herds in California since late August, with the state accounting for nearly half of all US cases detected in dairy cows since the outbreak began in March. (Peng, 10/28)
