Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Four Years In, California Had Its First Day With Zero Covid Deaths
The Mercury News: A Day With No Covid Deaths? It Finally Happened In California
It was a regular Tuesday in spring, sunny and warm, and a little foggy at the coast. But as April 2, 2024 came to a close, a silent victory emerged: the day had passed without a single Californian dying from COVID. Over the next several weeks, as death certificates were filed and processed, it would become the first day without an official COVID death since March 18, 2020, the day before Governor Gavin Newsom announced a statewide stay-at-home order. (Blair Rowan, 5/21)
San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego COVID-19 Test Maker Cue Health — Once Worth $2.3B — Lays Off Entire Company And Shuts Down
Cue Health, the once high-flying San Diego biotech supplying rapid COVID-19 test kits to the NBA and Google, is laying off all employees and shutting down on Friday. Cue’s closure comes a week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to throw away its COVID-19 test kits because they could give false results. The San Diego firm said on Thursday it stopped selling the COVID-19 tests, its only fully FDA-approved commercial product. (Rocha, 5/21)
Minnesota Public Radio: New Research Hub At The U Of M Would Provide Data To Guide Public Health Emergencies
The University of Minnesota has launched a new center to help leaders make informed decisions the next time there's a pandemic emergency. The Midwest Analytics and Disease Modeling Center (MADMC) will work within a national network of research centers across the country, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Crann and Alvarez, 5/20)
On bird flu —
Stat: Citing H5N1 Threat, CDC Urges Peak Flu Monitoring This Summer
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked local and state health officials Tuesday to maintain flu surveillance operations at peak-season levels over the summer in a bid to remain watchful for any signs of human-to-human spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus. (Branswell, 5/21)
CIDRAP: Wastewater Testing For H5 Avian Flu Virus Could Provide Early Warning, Outbreak Insights
In new results published yesterday, scientists from WastewaterSCAN detected significant levels of H5 influenza in three treatment plants in communities where H5N1 has been detected in cattle. (Schnirring, 5/21)
CIDRAP: Survey: States And Territories Able To Test For Highly Pathogenic H5N1
Today JAMA published a research letter noting that public health authorities in nearly all states and territories surveyed (50 of 55) said they had the ability to monitor and test people exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza A (HPAI) H5N1.Jurisdictions varied, however, in their capacity to monitor exposed people, in their recommendations for when to use antivirals, and in their potential use of H5N1 vaccines, if available, among first responders. (Soucheray, 5/21)
Stat: Questions And Answers About Ramping Up H5N1 Bird Flu Vaccine
If the H5N1 bird flu virus ever acquires the ability to transmit easily to and among people — keep your fingers crossed that it doesn’t — the world is going to need serious amounts of vaccine. Like, lakes of the stuff. Some manufacturers have been working with H5N1 viruses for years, producing small batches of doses that have undergone preliminary human testing. Some millions of doses — in the low double digits — have even been stockpiled by the U.S. government. (Branswell, 5/22)
