Latest news with #USCentresforDiseaseControl
The Independent
03-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Two-year-old girl dies from bird flu after eating raw chicken
A two-year-old girl in southern India died from bird flu after eating raw chicken, the first fatality linked to the H5N1 strain since 2021. The toddler, from Palnadu district in Andhra Pradesh state, died on 15 March after developing fever, breathing difficulties and diarrhoea. Authorities said the child contracted the virus after consuming raw chicken. It was not clear if she had been deliberately fed the meat or accidentally eaten it. She was initially admitted to a local health centre but taken to a city hospital on 4 March after her condition deteriorated. A sample test for avian influenza of H5N1 strain at the hospital returned positive, and the patient eventually died despite receiving appropriate medical treatment, the hospital said in a statement. Damodar Naidu, director of animal husbandry in Andhra Pradesh, said the child was admitted to hospital two-three days after consuming the raw chicken, according to Down To Earth. Following the death, he said authorities conducted physical surveillance of all poultry farms in the region, but found no signs of bird flu among poultry. 'There were isolated outbreaks in February but effective control measures were implemented promptly,' Mr Naidu said. 'No traces of the virus were found in the surveyed areas.' However, he urged the public to consume only properly cooked chicken and eggs. 'Poultry should be cooked to at least 70C. Eggs should be boiled and not eaten raw,' he said. No one in the girl's family tested positive for the flu. The federal health ministry deployed an outbreak response team to Andhra Pradesh to assist in the case. Bird flu is caused by a virus that infects birds and sometimes foxes, otters and seals. It rarely infects humans, but a major strain known as H5N1 has caused global health concern. Only five cases of H5N1 and H9N2 strains have been detected in India over the past five years, the Andhra government reported in a statement. An 11-year-old in the northern Haryana state died in the last confirmed human fatality from H5N1 in 2021. The boy died after developing multiorgan dysfunction. According to the WHO, the first human outbreak of the virus took place in 1997 in Hong Kong. There have been a little more than 900 known cases globally since 2003 with nearly 50 per cent proving fatal. in an area where the disease had been confirmed in captive birds. Last year, the strain spread rapidly in dairy cow herds in the US and the US Centres for Disease Control described it as an "ongoing multi-state outbreak".
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas children poisoned after RFK Jr touts vitamin A as measles treatment
Texas hospitals are treating children with vitamin A poisoning after Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, promoted the supplement as a treatment for measles. The Covenant Children's hospital in Lubbock, a city in north west Texas, is looking after a small number of patients who all required treatment for measles but who also had elevated levels of vitamin A that was causing abnormal liver function, Texas Public Radio reported. There have also been reports of measles patients with abnormal liver function in neighbouring New Mexico. Both states have been hit hard by the worst US measles outbreak in years, even though the disease was declared eliminated in the country at the turn of the millennium. Almost 500 measles cases across 21 states have been confirmed by the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) as of March 28 – a 360 per cent increase from the week before. Dr Ashish Jha, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator and dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, told ABC news on Monday that the US was 'on track to have the worst measles outbreak of this century'. Some 97 per cent of those infected had not been vaccinated and two people have died – the first measles deaths in 10 years. Mr Kennedy has been promoting vitamin A as a treatment for measles, writing in an article for Fox News that the supplement 'can dramatically reduce measles mortality'. He has also said the US government is 'delivering vitamin A' to West Texas to fight the outbreak., claiming that doctors are getting 'very, very good results'. Protection from measles is already readily available in the US in the form of the two-dose MMR vaccine – a preventative treatment with 97 per cent efficacy according to the CDC. While Mr Kennedy has voiced support for vaccines to protect both individuals and communities, he maintains that they are a 'personal decision'. Experts now fear that his endorsement of alternative treatments is confusing parents on how to keep their children safe. 'If people have the mistaken impression that you have an either-or choice of MMR vaccine or vitamin A, you're going to get a lot of kids unnecessarily infected with measles,' said Dr Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development. 'That's a problem, especially during an epidemic,' he told CNN. 'And second, you have this unregulated medicine in terms of doses being given and potential toxicities.' Reports in Texas of heightened demand for cod liver oil, which is high in vitamin A, suggest that children are being given the supplement at home in an effort to treat the disease. Taking too much of the supplement can lead to vitamin A toxicity, which can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting and, in extreme cases, liver damage. Excess vitamin A in pregnant women can also cause birth defects. While health officials are concerned that the public is being misled, vitamin A, when administered in a hospital setting, can help reduce the severity of a measles infection. 'Like much of what RFK says, there's always a kernel of truth, which he sort of manipulates to legitimise the things he's saying,' Dr Anita Patel, a paediatric critical care doctor in Washington DC, told the Huffington Post. 'The kernel of truth is that he's right. Vitamin A at very high doses – high doses that you would never administer by yourself at home – but high-dose vitamin A administered in the hospital has shown to reduce both mortality and duration and severity of [measles] illness.' A CDC advisory recently said that vitamin A supplements could be used as a therapy for measles, but reaffirmed the importance of vaccination. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
02-04-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Texas children poisoned after RFK Jr touts vitamin A as measles treatment
Texas hospitals are treating children with vitamin A poisoning after Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, promoted the supplement as a treatment for measles. The Covenant Children's hospital in Lubbock, a city in north west Texas, is looking after a small number of patients who all required treatment for measles but who also had elevated levels of vitamin A that was causing abnormal liver function, Texas Public Radio reported. There have also been reports of measles patients with abnormal liver function in neighbouring New Mexico. Both states have been hit hard by the worst US measles outbreak in years, even though the disease was declared eliminated in the country at the turn of the millennium. Almost 500 measles cases across 21 states have been confirmed by the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) as of March 28 – a 360 per cent increase from the week before. Dr Ashish Jha, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator and dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, told ABC news on Monday that the US was 'on track to have the worst measles outbreak of this century'. Some 97 per cent of those infected had not been vaccinated and two people have died – the first measles deaths in 10 years. Mr Kennedy has been promoting vitamin A as a treatment for measles, writing in an article for Fox News that the supplement 'can dramatically reduce measles mortality'. He has also said the US government is 'delivering vitamin A' to West Texas to fight the outbreak., claiming that doctors are getting 'very, very good results'. Protection from measles is already readily available in the US in the form of the two-dose MMR vaccine – a preventative treatment with 97 per cent efficacy according to the CDC. While Mr Kennedy has voiced support for vaccines to protect both individuals and communities, he maintains that they are a 'personal decision'. Experts now fear that his endorsement of alternative treatments is confusing parents on how to keep their children safe. 'If people have the mistaken impression that you have an either-or choice of MMR vaccine or vitamin A, you're going to get a lot of kids unnecessarily infected with measles,' said Dr Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development. 'That's a problem, especially during an epidemic,' he told CNN. 'And second, you have this unregulated medicine in terms of doses being given and potential toxicities.' Reports in Texas of heightened demand for cod liver oil, which is high in vitamin A, suggest that children are being given the supplement at home in an effort to treat the disease. Taking too much of the supplement can lead to vitamin A toxicity, which can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting and, in extreme cases, liver damage. Excess vitamin A in pregnant women can also cause birth defects. While health officials are concerned that the public is being misled, vitamin A, when administered in a hospital setting, can help reduce the severity of a measles infection. 'Like much of what RFK says, there's always a kernel of truth, which he sort of manipulates to legitimise the things he's saying,' Dr Anita Patel, a paediatric critical care doctor in Washington DC, told the Huffington Post. 'The kernel of truth is that he's right. Vitamin A at very high doses – high doses that you would never administer by yourself at home – but high-dose vitamin A administered in the hospital has shown to reduce both mortality and duration and severity of [measles] illness.' A CDC advisory recently said that vitamin A supplements could be used as a therapy for measles, but reaffirmed the importance of vaccination.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Farm workers avoiding bird flu testing because of deportation threat, officials fear
US dairy workers at risk of catching bird flu are avoiding tests because of worries they will be deported amid Donald Trump's migration crackdown, public health officials believe. Seventy human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported in the United States since April 2024, 41 of them associated with exposure to sick dairy cows, according to the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC). But as the virus sweeps the country, so have federal crackdowns on farms where undocumented workers often find casual employment, leaving the individuals most vulnerable to the disease fearful to get tested. 'For symptomatic employees, we worry about some of them coming forward because of the current political milieu and fear of whatever their immigration status is,' San Joaquin County Public Health Officer Dr Maggie Park told local news outlet, The Merced Focus. 'We really want to reassure people who work on farms that public health agencies are here to help them. We are not here to check on their immigration status,' Dr Park added. More than 79 per cent of the milk produced in the US comes from farms that employ migrant workers, including many who are undocumented. Reports suggest that the threat of immigration raids has struck fear into farm workers, with some immigrants reluctant to engage with government agencies out of fear of harassment, and epidemiologists concerned that cases may be being missed. 'The fear among undocumented workers – especially in the current climate – is real and can significantly impact public health efforts' said Dr Krutika Kuppalli, associate professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern. 'If people don't feel safe coming forward for testing or care, we risk missing early signs of spread, especially in high-risk populations like dairy farm workers,' she added. When the bird flu strain currently circulating among US cattle infects a person, symptoms include eye redness or irritation, a temperature, cough, sore throat, breathing difficulty, headaches, runny or stuffy nose, aches, or diarrhoea. 'In humans it causes really quite minor symptoms,' said David Heymann, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, but he warned that 'might be passed off as conjunctivitis, a viral infection of some type or another flu type virus'. Although the strain circulating in the US is mild, H5N1 has infected almost 900 people since it first emerged in the late 1990s, all of which have caught the virus directly from animals. Roughly half of those who have caught the virus have died. El Concilio, a non-profit organisation, provides healthcare support for Hispanic communities in the San Joaquin Valley including bird flu testing and flu vaccinations. They say they have seen a drop in requests for their services. 'There have been less people coming out, but one of the things that we're trying to do is create a sense of normalcy and let people know that our events are safe and secure,' said Jose Rodriguez, president and CEO of El Concilio. Since the election, they have also faced harassment, 'it started right after Trump got elected, in terms of harassing calls,' Mr Rodriguez said. 'We had somebody drop off a Trump manifesto to us. We get harassing phone calls. We get harassing messages on Facebook. It's just the climate. There's an anti-immigrant climate and some people are taking it further than they should.' In February 2025, a CDC study reported that two separate dairy farmers in Michigan may have given bird flu to their pet cats but refused testing. Neither cat had known direct exposure to the farms and both farm workers had experienced symptoms. In one case, the worker had reported getting 'splashed in the face and eyes by unpasteurised milk,' a known vector of the disease. Despite their animals having tested positive for bird flu, neither of the dairy workers agreed to testing, with one saying they feared losing their job for implicating their dairy farm. As a result, the study's authors couldn't conclude whether they had passed the virus onto their pet cats. With cases continuing to rise – there are now 995 infected herds across 17 states – experts warn that tracking the transmission of the virus is vital. 'It's important to watch this virus,' said Prof Heymann, 'It's already changed, and it could change in other ways. The virus can mutate either to more virulent or less virulent, more transmissible or less transmissible in humans, so it must be watched.' Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
02-04-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Farm workers avoiding bird flu testing because of deportation threat, officials fear
US dairy workers at risk of catching bird flu are avoiding tests because of worries they will be deported amid Donald Trump's migration crackdown, public health officials believe. Seventy human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported in the United States since April 2024, 41 of them associated with exposure to sick dairy cows, according to the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC). But as the virus sweeps the country, so have federal crackdowns on farms where undocumented workers often find casual employment, leaving the individuals most vulnerable to the disease fearful to get tested. 'For symptomatic employees, we worry about some of them coming forward because of the current political milieu and fear of whatever their immigration status is,' San Joaquin County Public Health Officer Dr Maggie Park told local news outlet, The Merced Focus. 'We really want to reassure people who work on farms that public health agencies are here to help them. We are not here to check on their immigration status,' Dr Park added. More than 79 per cent of the milk produced in the US comes from farms that employ migrant workers, including many who are undocumented. Reports suggest that the threat of immigration raids has struck fear into farm workers, with some immigrants reluctant to engage with government agencies out of fear of harassment, and epidemiologists concerned that cases may be being missed. 'The fear among undocumented workers – especially in the current climate – is real and can significantly impact public health efforts' said Dr Krutika Kuppalli, associate professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern. 'If people don't feel safe coming forward for testing or care, we risk missing early signs of spread, especially in high-risk populations like dairy farm workers,' she added. When the bird flu strain currently circulating among US cattle infects a person, symptoms include eye redness or irritation, a temperature, cough, sore throat, breathing difficulty, headaches, runny or stuffy nose, aches, or diarrhoea. 'In humans it causes really quite minor symptoms,' said David Heymann, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, but he warned that 'might be passed off as conjunctivitis, a viral infection of some type or another flu type virus'. Although the strain circulating in the US is mild, H5N1 has infected almost 900 people since it first emerged in the late 1990s, all of which have caught the virus directly from animals. Roughly half of those who have caught the virus have died. El Concilio, a non-profit organisation, provides healthcare support for Hispanic communities in the San Joaquin Valley including bird flu testing and flu vaccinations. They say they have seen a drop in requests for their services. 'There have been less people coming out, but one of the things that we're trying to do is create a sense of normalcy and let people know that our events are safe and secure,' said Jose Rodriguez, president and CEO of El Concilio. Since the election, they have also faced harassment, 'it started right after Trump got elected, in terms of harassing calls,' Mr Rodriguez said. 'We had somebody drop off a Trump manifesto to us. We get harassing phone calls. We get harassing messages on Facebook. It's just the climate. There's an anti-immigrant climate and some people are taking it further than they should.' In February 2025, a CDC study reported that two separate dairy farmers in Michigan may have given bird flu to their pet cats but refused testing. Neither cat had known direct exposure to the farms and both farm workers had experienced symptoms. In one case, the worker had reported getting 'splashed in the face and eyes by unpasteurised milk,' a known vector of the disease. Despite their animals having tested positive for bird flu, neither of the dairy workers agreed to testing, with one saying they feared losing their job for implicating their dairy farm. As a result, the study's authors couldn't conclude whether they had passed the virus onto their pet cats. With cases continuing to rise – there are now 995 infected herds across 17 states – experts warn that tracking the transmission of the virus is vital. 'It's important to watch this virus,' said Prof Heymann, 'It's already changed, and it could change in other ways. The virus can mutate either to more virulent or less virulent, more transmissible or less transmissible in humans, so it must be watched.'
