Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Flesh-Eating Fly Larvae Found In US Cattle For First Time Since 1960s
The New York Times: Flesh-Eating Pest Confirmed In U.S. Cattle
The New World screwworm — a fly whose larvae feed on the tissue of livestock, wildlife and pets — has been detected in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, the Agriculture Department confirmed on Wednesday night. It is the first case found in cattle in the United States since the insect was eradicated from the country in the 1960s. “We are taking immediate action this afternoon and evening already to deploy, to contain and to eradicate this case of the New World screwworm in South Texas,” Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said at a news conference. If more screwworms are found beyond the single case, the infections, which can kill if left untreated, could devastate the American cattle industry. (Draper, 6/3)
The latest about the Ebola outbreak —
The New York Times: As Ebola Outbreak Widens, Trump Has Yet To Outline A Plan
Even as the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo appears poised to become the largest on record, Trump administration officials have not articulated a clear plan for caring for Americans at risk of the disease. Hundreds of Americans, including federal officials, aid workers and journalists, are expected to be in parts of Congo, where the disease is rampant, in the coming months. ... The United States does not have the authority to quarantine Americans elsewhere in the world, and cannot prevent them from re-entering the country. (Mandavilli, 6/3)
CIDRAP: WHO Chief Says Response Is ‘Catching Up’ To Ebola Outbreak
After visiting health officials and frontline responders in the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in recent days, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that, despite numerous challenges, he feels hopeful about stopping the outbreak. In a press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanam Ghebreyesus, PhD, said there have been 344 confirmed Ebola cases and 60 confirmed deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the outbreak began, along with 15 confirmed cases and one death in neighboring Uganda. (Dall, 6/3)
AP: As Ebola Surges In Congo, Women Face The Greatest Risks As Caregivers
Every day for the past week, Aline Kasiwa has fed her sick mother, helped her drink and washed her clothes, all while fearing she could catch the Ebola virus as eastern Congo is plagued by one of the fastest-spreading outbreaks of the disease on record. “She is the only family I have left. I cannot abandon her,” Kasiwa told The Associated Press, adding that she is too afraid to take her mother to the hospital where an infection could be confirmed. “These days we hear that many people are dying there, even nurses,” she said. (Kabumba and Banchereau, 6/4)
Bloomberg: Ebola Burial Team Attacked As 11 Patients Flee Care In Congo
A burial team was attacked and 11 Ebola patients fled isolation facilities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as the outbreak spread to another health zone in the country’s hardest-hit province. A team attempting to safely bury an Ebola victim was assaulted in the South Kivu town of Katana, forcing workers to abandon the coffin and allowing community members to handle the body, an incident health officials warned could spark new chains of transmission. (Gale, 6/4)
Bloomberg: Ebola Patient From Congo Traveled To UAE And Uganda: WHO
An individual with Ebola traveled to the United Arab Emirates and then to Uganda, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The Congolese resident is one of 15 confirmed positive Ebola cases in Uganda, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing. The WHO is working with Uganda and the UAE to “gather additional information, assess the risk of exposure during travel and to facilitate contact tracing,” Tedros said. WHO said that as part of contact tracing, 16 people in the UAE and 58 in Uganda who might have been exposed are isolated for monitoring. (Furlong and Tarek, 6/3)
Regarding brucellosis, hantavirus, and covid —
CIDRAP: Report Warns International Travelers, Hunters Of Brucellosis Risks
Hunters and globetrotters experiencing fever, headache, or joint pain might want to get checked out for a bacterial infection called brucellosis, according to a new paper in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by researchers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and their state partners. The zoonotic disease is caused by bacteria of the Brucella genus. The authors seek to raise awareness of brucellosis, particularly among clinicians, public health workers, and people who engage in activities that put them at higher risk of infection. (Boden, 6/3)
AP: Deadly Cruise Ship Outbreak Renews The Push For Hantavirus Treatments And Vaccines
When a rare but deadly rodent-borne virus struck passengers on a cruise ship and seemed to be spreading, there were no treatments for those who fell ill and no vaccines to protect others. That was the case even though it wasn’t a novel germ that the world had never seen before, like the virus that caused the coronavirus pandemic. It was a hantavirus, one of a family of viruses that have been known for decades and are thought to exist around the world. (Batschke and Montoya Bryan, 6/4)
The Boston Globe: ‘Superdodgers’: The Rare Group Still Untouched By COVID
More than six years since the pandemic, COVID-19 infections have become a near-universal experience. Most people have tested positive at least once. Many have had it multiple times. And yet, a small, persistent group insists they’ve never had it at all. Who are these so-called superdodgers, sometimes dubbed “NOVIDs”? Are they outliers of behavior, beneficiaries of luck, or do they hold clues to something deeper in human biology? Last month, The Boston Globe asked readers who believe they’ve never caught the coronavirus to share their experiences. (Rahal, 6/3)
