TB-Infected Pennsylvania Teen Returns To School, Putting Contacts On Notice
The student, who was awaiting clearance from a doctor to return to normal activities, was promptly isolated and sent home, officials assured. Meanwhile, as flu and RSV cases remain high across the country, covid ramps up. Also, Chinese scientists are studying a potentially novel tickborne virus.
CBS News:
Pennsylvania High School Student Positive For Tuberculosis Returns To Class Without Doctor's Clearance, Superintendent Says
The Charleroi Area School District superintendent is notifying the families of high school students after a teen recovering from tuberculosis returned to class on Monday without clearance from doctors, the district said. ... The student was "diagnosed with tuberculosis a couple of weeks ago," the superintendent said. However, they returned to the school building Monday morning without clearance from a doctor. (Lang and Hoffman, 1/13)
On flu, covid, RSV, bird flu, and listeria —
CIDRAP:
US Respiratory Disease Markers Remain High For Flu, COVID, RSV
Respiratory virus activity across the nation remains high, with COVID-19 levels rising across much of the country, flu indicators still elevated, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity very high in many regions, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest illness updates. For the most recent flu reporting week, some markers remained stable or decreased, which the CDC said could reflect changes in health-seeking behaviors over the holidays rather than that the seasonal peak has passed. (Schnirring, 1/13)
CIDRAP:
Captive Deer In Texas Show Evidence Of Widespread COVID Exposure
Today in Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers from Texas A&M University published evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB.1.41.1 antibodies in captive whitetail deer and found more mutations than expected compared to the same virus in humans. SARS-CoV-2 has been found repeatedly in whitetail deer, and the animal may serve as a reservoir for the virus across North America, the authors said. (Soucheray, 1/13)
CBS News:
U.S. Egg Industry Sees Record Chicken Deaths From Bird Flu Outbreak
More than 20 million egg-laying chickens in the U.S. died last quarter because of bird flu, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows, marking the worst toll inflicted on America's egg supply since the outbreak began. The record number of chicken deaths, which includes those birds culled when infection is discovered in a flock, come as figures show egg prices have soared to the highest they have been in years, driven in large part by the virus. (Tin, 1/13)
CIDRAP:
USDA Notes Several Food Safety Lapses Tied To Boar's Head Listeria Outbreak
Today the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service published its investigation findings into the Boar's Head deli meat Listeria monocytogenes outbreak, noting multiple food safety lapses at a Boar's Head facility in Jarratt, Virginia. The outbreak occurred last summer and fall and sickened at least 61 people from 19 states. Sixty of the 61 patients were hospitalized, and 10 died. Liverwurst processed at the Jarratt plant was identified as the source of the outbreak. (Soucheray, 1/13)
In global developments —
CIDRAP:
Chinese Researchers Describe Novel Tickborne Virus
Chinese scientists say they have identified a potentially novel tickborne virus among patients at a hospital in northeastern China. In a letter published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team led by researchers with Mudanjiang Forestry Central Hospital and the State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity say the virus was identified through metatranscriptomic sequencing of serum samples obtained from 252 patients with fever and recent tick bites from May through July 2023. (Dall, 1/13)
CIDRAP:
Fixed-Dose Tablet Shows Promise Against Intestinal Worms
A randomized controlled trial has found that a single, mango-flavored tablet combining two of the most widely used treatments for neglected tropical diseases could help control an intestinal worm infection that affects an estimated 1.5 billion people a year, researchers reported late last week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The trial, conducted in school-aged children in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique, found that a fixed-dose combination (FDC) of ivermectin and albendazole was more effective in treating Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and other worms that cause soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections than albendazole alone, with a similar safety profile. (Dall, 1/13)
