Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As 'Disease Detectives' Lose Their Jobs, Worry Escalates Over Bird Flu, Measles
The Washington Post: Trump Cuts Threaten U.S. Ability To Respond To Health Threats
In Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was told Friday to lay off an estimated 10 percent of its staff, including nearly an entire class of “disease detectives” — the infectious-disease experts charged with helping spot the next epidemic. In West Texas, local officials warned about the spreading risk of measles, saying that an outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease had doubled to 48 cases since early last week. (Diamond and Sun, 2/15)
More measles cases in Texas —
AP: Texas Measles Outbreak Rises To 48 Cases. It's The State's Worst In Nearly 30 Years
The ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas has doubled in size to 48 cases, mostly in children and teens, making it the state’s worst in nearly 30 years. State health officials said Friday in a news release that those who are infected are either unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. Thirteen people have been hospitalized. (Murphy and Shastri, 2/14)
More on the bird flu threat —
KFF Health News: Urgent CDC Data And Analyses On Influenza And Bird Flu Go Missing As Outbreaks Escalate
Sonya Stokes, an emergency room physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, braces herself for a daily deluge of patients sick with coughs, soreness, fevers, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms. She’s desperate for information, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a critical source of urgent analyses of the flu and other public health threats, has gone quiet in the weeks since President Donald Trump took office. (Maxmen, 2/14)
CIDRAP: Wyoming Reports Its First Human H5N1 Avian Flu Infection
A woman living in Platte County has contracted Wyoming's first case of H5N1 avian flu and is the fourth American to be hospitalized for the virus, the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) confirmed late last week. The infected woman is hospitalized in another state, is older, has underlying medical conditions, and was likely exposed to H5N1 through contact with her infected backyard poultry flock. (Van Beusekom, 2/17)
CBS News: U.S. Bird Flu Hospitalizations Rise To 4 After Ohio Discloses Case
Ohio's health department confirmed Saturday that a farmer in the state was discharged from the hospital after being sickened by bird flu, marking the fourth American to have been hospitalized with the H5N1 virus. "The individual had respiratory symptoms. He was previously hospitalized and has since been released," a spokesperson for Ohio's health department told CBS News in an email Saturday. (Tin, 2/15)
CIDRAP: Third Avian Flu Spillover Reported In Arizona Dairy Herd; Raw Pet Food Sickens Oregon Cats
For the second time in just over a week, national milk testing has identified another spillover of H5N1 avian influenza into dairy cows, with investigators linking detection to a herd in Arizona’s Maricopa County. In other developments, agriculture officials in Oregon and Washington warned pet owners about the risk of raw pet food after tests on sick domestic cats from different households in Multnomah County linked the infections to contaminated food from the same company.(Schnirring, 2/17)
The Wall Street Journal: First Cows, Now Cats. Is Bird Flu Coming For Humans Next?
Bird flu is here to stay. The H5N1 avian influenza is proliferating among U.S. cows and there are now two strains circulating among mammals and birds. Though there are only 68 confirmed cases in people—largely dairy workers—public-health officials think bird flu is likely more widespread. Last week, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report documented three asymptomatic cases in veterinarians who took care of cattle they didn’t know had H5N1. (Reddy, 2/17)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘On Air’: Journalists Talk Southern Health Care: HIV Drug Access, Medicaid Expansion, Vaccination Rates
KFF Health News contributor Sarah Boden discussed cats and bird flu on KVPR’s “Central Valley Daily” on Feb. 12. KFF Health News South Carolina correspondent Lauren Sausser juxtaposed the increasing trendiness of rural health care and the lack of Medicaid expansion in the South on America’s Heroes Group on Feb. 12. (2/15)
