Public Health

CDC continues to respond to the public health challenge posed by a multistate outbreak of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus, or “A(H5N1) virus,” in dairy cows and other animals in the United States. CDC is working in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state public health and animal health officials, and other partners using a One Health approach. USDA is now reporting that 51 dairy cattle herds in nine U.S. states have confirmed cases of A(H5N1) virus infections in cattle. There have been no additional human cases detected since the one recent case from Texas was reported on April 1, 2024. ^[1][2] 

Hospital COVID patients 35% more likely to die than flu patients last winter, study suggests During the 2023-24 respiratory virus season, hospitalized US COVID-19 patients were at a 35% higher risk for death from any cause than those admitted for influenza, compared with a 61% higher risk the winter before, estimates a research letter published today in JAMA. CIDRAP

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New virus variants threaten a summer Covid-19 wave, but experts say the risk remains uncertain | CNN Covid-19 levels are about the lowest they’ve ever been in the United States, but another new crop of virus variants once again threatens to disrupt the downward trend as the country heads into summer. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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The mutations of the FLiRT variants make increased transmissibility — and a possible summer wave — a real threat. Covid-19 is settling into some seasonal patterns, which have included a summer bump in years past, but the exact level of risk for this year is unclear.

Extreme heat will put millions more older adults at risk in the future By 2050, as many as an additional 246 million adults 69 and older could experience temperature extremes that exceed 37.5° Celsius. Aimee Cunningham Science News

The new projection suggests that more than 23 percent of the global population of these older adults — largely concentrated in Africa and Asia — will encounter this intense heat, compared with 14 percent today.

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