Animal virology

In November of 2019, less than a month before the covid-19 pandemic took off and spread to nations all over the world, several scientists working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China fell seriously ill from an unknown virus. One of the researchers was Ben Hu, a scientist who had received significant funding from the U.S. government and whose research has focused on “how coronaviruses infect humans,” new reporting by the Wall Street Journal shows. Apple's Bigger-Screen 15-inch MacBook Air | Gizmodo ReviewAt WIV, Hu…

As a highly pathogenic variant of avian influenza continues to cause mass outbreaks and mortality in wild and domestic birds worldwide, another unfortunate animal casualty has emerged. A pet dog died of bird flu in Ontario, Canada this month, the country’s public health and food inspection authorities confirmed in a Tuesday statement.Mental Health Apps Are a Privacy NightmareThe family pet tested positive for the virus on April 1, developed “clinical signs” of infection, and died shortly thereafter, the release said. A…

At least eight people have been infected and five are dead (including one healthcare worker) in a new outbreak of the Marburg virus in Tanzania, according to a Monday statement from the World Health Organization. It is Tanzania’s first-ever confirmed outbreak of the deadly disease.Yet even so, the country has quickly sprung into action to respond to the Marburg emergence, said the WHO. Tanzania’s National Public Health Laboratory was able to test and confirm all eight cases. Officials identified 161 contacts of the…

A new outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus has infected a suspected 25 people and potentially killed nine in the Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, the World Health Organization announced this week. There have been 15 previously confirmed Marburg outbreaks, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the current one, with a beginning that dates back to early January, is Equatorial Guinea’s first.Following the WHO’s official confirmation of the outbreak on Monday, neighboring…

An illustration of monkeypox viruses, the germs that cause mpox.Illustration: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)The World Health Organization is officially renaming the emerging viral disease known as monkeypox. On Monday, WHO announced that it will now use the term “mpox” instead, which is likely to be adopted widely by doctors, public health agencies, and others. The change was prompted by criticism from scientists that the old name was inaccurate and potentially stigmatizing.The campaign to change monkeypox’s name began…

A man wearing a protective face mask walks past an illustration of a virus outside Oldham Regional Science Centre on November 24, 2020 in Oldham, United Kingdom.Photo: Christopher Furlong (Getty Images)The World Health Organization is creating an updated list of the globe’s most dangerous microbes. The public health agency will recruit over 300 scientists to work on the list. They will consider known germs across dozens of virus and bacteria families. One automatic inclusion willbe “Disease X,” the moniker given to a…

A highly infectious strain of avian influenza has been raging across the U.S. for months now, claiming the lives of thousands of wild birds and tens of millions of domestic poultry, according to the latest estimates from the CDC.And now, the bird flu has reportedly come to one of TikTok’s most famous farm’s: Knuckle Bump Farms in Florida, home to Emmanuel the Emu. The bird, who became a viral sensation for his video-bombing tendencies, has now gone viral in the bad way. Emmanuelcontracted avian flu, according to multiple…

Photo: tamara321 (Shutterstock)Over 100 black vultures were found dead on the Sussex Branch Trail in Lafayette, Sussex County, New Jersey. The deaths have apparently been occurring since early August, and avian influenza (also known as bird flu) was the confirmed cause of death.In a statement, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife said that black vultures seem to be very susceptible to bird flu. The reason, their innate tendency to scavenge. For this case in Sussex County, the vultures would scavenge on the carcasses of previously…