Latest news with #pandemic
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Avian flu steamrolls at penny-grabbing Uncle Sam
NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - There's more to defending the United States than supplying the military, but the country's budget priorities have been thrown badly out of whack. The Trump administration just canceled a $770 million contract with Moderna (MRNA.O), opens new tabto develop, opens new tab an avian flu vaccine and the rights to buy the jabs. For the price of seven F-35 fighter jets, the government is taking a big risk against a formidable foe. Pandemics are no longer the long-shot threat that many politicians once believed. The last one killed more Americans than all the country's wars combined. It also cost some $14 trillion, mostly from lost business revenue, according to research, opens new tab from the University of Southern California. Lingering health effects add $4 trillion to the tab, Harvard University economist David Cutler estimated, opens new tab. The H5N1 virus already has caused egg prices to rise. Flu is also notorious for its ability to mutate and spread to humans. A deadly infectious disease similar to the one in 1918 might lead to 70 million deaths worldwide. Yanking money for Moderna's research follows a bad pattern. Trump appointed a man who champions debunked anti-vaccine science to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He also has proposed slashing the already shrunken, opens new tab $45 billion budget for the National Institutes of Health by about 40%. Moreover, the president cut billions of funding for Harvard University, one of the world's biggest medical researchers. Other curious decisions abound. The government, for example, recently awarded $500 million to develop so-called universal vaccines that target multiple strains of a virus, but it's all going to a single project linked, opens new tab to Trump's former NIH chief, according to CBS News. It also uses old technology, clinical trials won't start until next year, and the target for Food and Drug Administration approval is 2029. Moderna's use of messenger RNA to trigger immune responses is far more promising and more easily put into wider production. The company was aiming for a greenlight on its H5 vaccine by early 2026. From there, it's easier to match a circulating strain and produce millions of doses. The effort probably will be slowed rather than stopped. Moderna might secure funding from abroad or use its own cash. Even so, if an avian flu starts to spread, the United States may have to get in line behind other countries scrambling for limited production. As far as cost-benefit analyses go, this one is dangerously bird-brained. Follow Robert Cyran on Bluesky, opens new tab.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Scientists SOLVE the mystery of the Black Death's prolonged reign of terror - as they pinpoint a single gene that allowed it to endure across centuries
The Black Death remains the single deadliest pandemic in recorded human history. The deveastating pandemic wiped out up to half of the populations of Europe, Western Asia and Africa, killing tens of millions of people. Now, the mystery of the Black Death's prolonged reign of terror has finally been solved. Research has revealed that the evolution of a single gene in Yersinia pestis - the bacterium that causes bubonic plague - allowed it to adapt and survive for so long. The study addresses key questions about how pandemics enter human populations, cause immense sickness, and evolve different levels of virulence. And in the future, the findings could help us to pre-empt another pandemic. 'This is one of the first research studies to directly examine changes in an ancient pathogen, one we still see today, in an attempt to understand what drives the virulence, persistence and/or eventual extinction of pandemics,' said co-senior author Professor Hendrik Poinar. The new study was conducted by researchers at McMaster University in Canada and France's Institut Pasteur. The bacteria that cause the plague evolved to become less deadly over time, allowing it to continue infecting people in three separate pandemics over more than a thousand years, their research revealed. The first pandemic - the plague of Justinian - struck in the 500s at the start of the Middle Ages and lasted for around 200 years. The Black Death began in the mid-1300s and would become the deadliest pandemic in human history, killing up to half of the people in Europe, western Asia and Africa, with outbreaks continuing for centuries. The third bubonic plague pandemic broke out in China in the 1850s and continues today, with some cases still being recorded in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. 'The plague bacteria have a particular importance in the history of humanity, so it's important to know how these outbreaks spread,' said Javier Pizarro-Cerda, co-author of the study. The researchers examined samples of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that cause the plague, dating back to each pandemic. In all three cases, the genes of each plague bacteria evolved to become less virulent and less deadly over time, according to the study. By causing less severe infections, the bacteria are thought to have extended the length of the pandemics because it gained more opportunities to spread between people. The researchers confirmed this theory by infecting rats with recent plague samples, showing that the disease lasted longer when the virulence decreased. While antibiotics can now effectively fight off the plague, the research could shine a light on how other pandemics might evolve. 'This allows us to gain a comprehensive understanding of how pathogens can adapt to different situations,' Pizarro-Cerda said. 'We finally better understand what the plague is - and how we can develop measures to defend ourselves,' he added. THE CAUSE BEHIND EUROPE'S BUBONIC PLAGUES The plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, was the cause of some of the world's deadliest pandemics, including the Justinian Plague, the Black Death, and the major epidemics that swept through China in the late 1800s. The disease continues to affect populations around the world today. The Black Death of 1348 famously killed half of the people in London within 18 months, with bodies piled five-deep in mass graves. When the Great Plague of 1665 hit, a fifth of people in London died, with victims shut in their homes and a red cross painted on the door with the words 'Lord have mercy upon us'. The pandemic spread from Europe through the 14th and 19th centuries - thought to come from fleas which fed on infected rats before biting humans and passing the bacteria to them. But modern experts challenge the dominant view that rats caused the incurable disease. Experts point out that rats were not that common in northern Europe, which was hit equally hard by plague as the rest of Europe, and that the plague spread faster than humans might have been exposed to their fleas. Most people would have had their own fleas and lice, when the plague arrived in Europe in 1346, because they bathed much less often.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
Trump administration yanks Moderna's bird flu vaccine research funding even as company reports promising test results
Scientists warn what future bird flu mutations could mean for people | 60 Minutes The Trump administration has canceled $766 million awarded to drugmaker Moderna Inc. to develop a vaccine against potential pandemic influenza viruses, including the H5N1 bird flu. The company said it was notified Wednesday that the Health and Human Services Department had withdrawn funds awarded in July 2024 and in January to pay for development and purchase of its investigational vaccine. The funds were awarded through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, a program that focuses on medical treatments for potential pandemics. The new vaccine, called mRNA-1018, used the same technology that allowed development and rollout of vaccines to fight COVID-19 in record time. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed deep skepticism regarding mRNA vaccines, despite real-world evidence that the vaccines are safe and saved millions of lives. The cancelation came as Moderna announced positive interim results from an early-stage trial of the vaccine that targeted H5 bird flu virus, tested in 300 healthy adults. "While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis," CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement. He added that Moderna would "explore alternatives" for funding the development and manufacturing of the vaccine, according to French news agency AFP. "These clinical data in pandemic influenza underscore the critical role mRNA technology has played as a countermeasure to emerging health threats," AFP cited Bancel as saying. In a statement in March, Moderna told CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News Dr. Céline Gounder that, "Researchers have been exploring mRNA's potential in medicine for over 30 years, leading to the rapid deployment of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines that transformed the course of the pandemic. With more than a billion doses distributed worldwide and an unprecedented amount of real-world safety and efficacy data, the benefits of mRNA vaccination ... are well established." Dr. Ashish Jha, a public health expert who served as former President Joe Biden's COVID-19 response coordinator, remarked about the funding withdrawal on X, saying, "This move puts the lives of Americans at risk. The attack on mRNA vaccines is beyond absurd. It was President Trump's Operation Warp Speed that gave us mRNA vaccines. ... If Bird Flu starts spreading from people to people, we will come to regret this as the day we decided to put the lives of the American people at grave risk. " H5N1 bird flu viruses spilled from wild bird into cattle in the U.S. last year, infecting hundreds of animals in several states. At least 70 people in the U.S. have been sickened by bird flu infections, mostly mild. One person died. Scientists fear that continued mutation of the virus could enable it to become more virulent or more easily spread in people, with the possibility that it could trigger a pandemic. Moderna received $176 million in July 2024 and $590 million in January. The January award would have supported a late-stage clinical trial that could have determined the vaccine's efficacy against pandemic viruses, including bird flu, a company spokesman said.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Beloved NYC Cheese Shop Is Closing Its Final Location
We've seen dozens of restaurants close their doors over the last few years, and the closures have happened for a variety of reasons. The pandemic, rising costs, a shifting desire in customer palates and remodeling have all led to a number of different closures in major American cities. One beloved cheese shop, facing the ever-changing restaurant business, is closing its doors at its last location in New York City. The Bedford Cheese Shop will shut down its location at 67 Irving Place in Gramercy, citing "an extensive, multi-year renovation" at the location. "This challenge, coupled with other forces outside our control — rising costs of doing business in New York City, increasing prices of products and supplies, and broader economic uncertainty — has made a path forward unfeasible at this time.' The first Bedford Cheese Shop - a female-owned and operated business - was established on Williamsburg's Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. The pandemic forced it to close in 2020, ending a 17-year stint for the flagship location. The shop was so popular that it expanded the Brooklyn location in 2016 to include a wine bar and an expanded menu that proved popular with locals. "We know that change is a constant, and with every challenge comes the possibility of new beginnings," the shop said on Instagram, announcing the closure of the Manhattan location this week. "For now, closing the Shop is a necessary step that will give us the space and time to reassess and reimagine what the next chapter of Bedford Cheese Shop might look like." Fans and others in the industry sent well wishes and condolences in the comment section. "So sorry to hear this! This is a hell of a time to be a small business! Sending y'all lots of love & light!," one fan said. Sad news! We stopped by last year while in NYC. Loved meeting everyone and seeing this wonderful gem in the cheese world," another fan noted. The restaurant closed its message with a salute to the artisanal cheese makers who helped stock the shop's shelves, and it urged fans to visit in the weeks ahead of its impending closure. We'll see what the future holds for the Bedford Cheese Shop and for small restaurants and eateries all around an ever-changing New York City. Beloved NYC Cheese Shop Is Closing Its Final Location first appeared on Men's Journal on May 29, 2025
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump administration cancels $766 million Moderna contract to fight pandemic flu
The Trump administration has canceled $766 million awarded to drugmaker Moderna Inc. to develop a vaccine against potential pandemic influenza viruses, including the H5N1 bird flu. The company said it was notified Wednesday that the Health and Human Services Department had withdrawn funds awarded in July 2024 and in January to pay for development and purchase of its investigational vaccine.
