Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ebola Experts Stunned After Tests Show Recent Cases Linked To 2014 Outbreak
The New York Times: Ebola Survivor Infected Years Ago May Have Started New Outbreak
An Ebola outbreak now occurring in Guinea was almost certainly started by someone who survived West Africa’s historic 2014-16 epidemic, harbored the virus for at least five years and then transmitted it via semen to a sex partner, researchers reported on Friday. The finding, based on genetic sequencing of virus samples taken from patients in the current outbreak, shocked researchers. Until now, the longest the virus had been known to persist in a survivor was 500 days. “It’s a stunner,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the research, said in an interview. “This is an extraordinary phenomenon.” (Grady, 3/12)
Stat: Stunning Analysis Traces New Ebola Outbreak To Survivor Of W. Africa Crisis
A survivor of the massive 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak almost certainly triggered an outbreak currently underway in Guinea, according to a new genetic analysis, news that has landed like a bombshell in the community of researchers who study the dangerous virus. The analysis suggests that a survivor of the historic Ebola outbreak continued harboring the virus at least five years after being infected, eventually transmitting it to someone. Previously, the longest an Ebola survivor was believed to have shed the virus was about 500 days. (Branswell, 3/12)
Axios: Ebola Outbreak In Guinea May Be Linked To 2014 Epidemic
The virus driving the recent Ebola outbreak in Guinea is genetically similar to the virus that ravaged West Africa during the 2014 epidemic, World Health Organization emergencies chief Michael Ryan said at a press briefing on Friday, according to AP. It suggests the current Ebola outbreak sickening people in Guinea may have been caused by a survivor of the epidemic that ended roughly five years ago. (Knutson, 3/13)
In other global news —
Bloomberg: Covid's End Could Be Deadly Beginning For New Measles Outbreaks
Here’s a worrying statistic: We’re just a few months into 2021, and in the U.K., public-health authorities have yet to detect any cases of flu. The reason, experts believe, is that the mask wearing, social distancing and lockdowns designed to slow the spread of coronavirus have essentially wiped out the flu virus. Flu numbers are down all over the world. This is good news, of course. So why is it also worrying? If these measures have also kept the flu at bay, they may have kept other infectious agents under control as well, including some that are far more dangerous. And when we emerge from the Covid crisis and start to relax public-health measures — in particular, allowing international air travel to resume — these more dangerous agents could surprise us with a violent resurgence. (Buchanan, 3/13)
Bloomberg: Global Baby Drought Of Covid-19 Crisis Risks Population Crunch
Major economies from Italy to Singapore, already afflicted by dire demographics, are seeing that phenomenon accelerate after measures limiting social contacts and the worst growth crisis in generations combined to prevent or dissuade people from having babies. While workplace closures and forced isolation might have encouraged couples to spend time together productively, the number of newborns has been dwarfed by plunging fertility emerging in national data for 2020. They range from France’s lowest birth rate since World War II, to Chinese authorities receiving 15% fewer registrations for babies. (Bosley and Jamrisko, 3/14)
