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​<strong>Cyber attack surge in 2024: what you need to know</strong>​

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study found hundreds of unique viruses called bacteriophage on toothbrushes and shower heads.</li><li>Phage target bacteria, not humans, and could be a useful tool against disease.</li></ul><p>The next big breakthrough in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disease-prevention-ideas-us-could-learn-from-uk-israel-canada-2022-12">disease-fighting innovation</a> could be no further away than your bathroom.</p><p>A recent study found hundreds of viruses on samples from toothbrushes and shower heads, including many that have never been seen before, let alone examined.</p><p>But this specific kind of viruses, known as bacteriophage, aren't concerning for human health because they target and infect bacteria, not us, according to Erica Hartmann, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University who led the study.</p><p>"It's still a big deal; it's just not scary. It's actually really exciting," Hartmann told Business Insider.</p><p>Understanding how these infectious particles work could be a valuable step in protecting us from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/conditions-symptoms/what-is-the-difference-between-bacteria-and-virus">harmful pathogens and bacteria</a>, including those that cause tuberculosis and other serious diseases.</p><p>"The more we know about what's in shower heads and what's on toothbrushes with regard to viruses and microbes, the more we can advance in understanding how we get sick and even devise new tools to fight those pathogens," Miryam Wahrman, a professor of Biology at William Paterson University of New Jersey who was not involved with the study, told Business Insider.</p><h2 id="cfd924b0-3be2-4e3b-8329-12a9c8ebdb95">Unexplored ecosystems are living on your household items</h2><p>Researchers from Northwestern University were inspired to investigate toothbrushes because of a previous study investigating whether <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-droplets-aerosols-emerge-when-flush-toilet-2022-12">flushing the toilet could release aerosols</a> that might contaminate a toothbrush left out on the countertop.</p><p>The good news is that the study, nicknamed "Operation Pottymouth," found no evidence of poop-related germs on toothbrushes.</p><p>"Overwhelmingly, we find that microbes on your toothbrush come from your mouth," Hartmann said.</p><p>The research team decided to put all those used toothbrushes to good use and took a closer look at what's hanging out there.</p><p>In a previous study, they also analyzed samples taken from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/home/how-to-clean-shower-head">shower heads</a> to offer even more insight into our bathrooms' microscopic occupants.</p><p>The researchers weren't surprised to find that these household items were home to many germs because of their warm, moist environments.</p><p>But they were blown away by how many different kinds of viruses were present. There was so much diversity that there was almost no overlap between the samples, meaning each toothbrush and shower head was host to its own unique microscopic world.</p><p>The findings were published October 9 in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiomes/articles/10.3389/frmbi.2024.1396560/full">Frontiers in Microbiomes</a>.</p><p>"I'd encourage people to look at things they see every day and think of these as places where we could be making exciting discoveries for new biotechnology," Hartmann said.</p><h2 id="a5e9a1f5-fb1b-4af8-9e10-a9a211c4ecf9"><strong>Phages could be the new frontier in disease-fighting biotech</strong></h2><p id="a5e9a1f5-fb1b-4af8-9e10-a9a211c4ecf9">There's no reason to be grossed out by the tiny inhabitants sharing our homes.</p><p id="a5e9a1f5-fb1b-4af8-9e10-a9a211c4ecf9">"I don't think there's any need to change behavior or enhance cleaning. These are not viruses that are going to infect you, these are viruses that are potentially cool," Hartmann said.</p><p id="a5e9a1f5-fb1b-4af8-9e10-a9a211c4ecf9">It's a common misconception to think of all germs and microorganisms as potential threats, but plenty of microbes are neutral, beneficial, and sometimes <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/foods-better-than-probiotics-for-gut-health-2023-8">necessary for human health</a>.</p><p id="a5e9a1f5-fb1b-4af8-9e10-a9a211c4ecf9">Bacteria and viruses have sparked groundbreaking innovations in science, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/longevity-stem-cell-biotech-reverse-aging-cellular-reprogamming-2024-9">biotechnology</a>, and healthcare that we benefit from every day, such as penicillin and DNA research.</p><p id="a5e9a1f5-fb1b-4af8-9e10-a9a211c4ecf9">"Microbes are everywhere all the time, and the vast majority of them won't make you sick," Hartmann said. "If we approach with wonder and curiosity instead of fear, we can work with microbes instead of against them."</p><p>Phage are exciting because they specialize in attacking and replicating inside bacteria, including bacterial pathogens. These pathogens make us sick and can become resistant to our current protective strategies, like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/treatments/how-long-does-it-take-for-antibiotics-to-work">antibiotics</a>.</p><p>"The enemy of our enemy is our friend. They are potentially a very helpful tool for us," Wahrman said.</p><p>Researchers have known about the existence of phage for more than a century, but antibiotics have gotten most of our attention. Now that some pathogens have outsmarted antibiotics, phage are a wide-open frontier for innovation.</p><p>In the future, phage might be a rich source of biotech innovations like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ampliphi-phage-therapy-treatment-bacterial-infections-2017-10">phage therapy,</a> in the same way pharmaceuticals have developed medicines from plants or animals. Rather than scouring remote reaches of the planet, these discoveries could come from digging deeper into what surrounds us every day.</p><p>"There are a lot of things waiting to be discovered just under our noses or on our toothbrushes," Hartmann said.</p>

Your toothbrush is home to hundreds of new viruses. They could be the future of biotech.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The H5N1 <keyword id="753637" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bird-flu-virus" source="Orion">bird flu virus</keyword> is spreading through US cattle herds for the first time.</li><li>The mammal-to-mammal transmission has scientists worried the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-hiv-had-coronavirus-216-days-virus-mutated-2021-6">virus could mutate</a> to spread between humans.</li></ul><keyword id="95867" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bird-flu" source="Orion">Bird flu</keyword> is flying wild. In recent months the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-avian-influenza-outbreak-us-h5n1-wiping-out-everything-2023-4">highly pathogenic H5N1 virus</a> has been spreading through US cattle herds for the first time ever.<br /><br />The cow-to-cow transmission is the latest escalation in a global <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egg-prices-poised-to-spike-again-thanks-to-avian-flu-2023-12">outbreak</a> that began when the virus reemerged in Europe in 2020. It has since killed tens of millions of birds and more than 40,000 sea lions and seals in South America.<br /><br />World Health Organization chief scientist Jeremy Farrar <a target="_blank" href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148696">called</a> this an "<keyword id="20925201" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="animal-pandemic" source="Orion">animal pandemic</keyword>" on April 18.<br /><br />Genetic fragments of the virus, discovered in grocery store milk on Tuesday, suggest the <keyword id="21439799" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cattle-outbreak" source="Orion">cattle outbreak</keyword> is more widespread than officials believed, The Washington Post <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04/23/bird-flu-virus-milk/">reported</a>.<br /><br />Experts told the Post that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-eggs-meat-milk-dairy-safety-during-outbreak-2024-4">drinking pasteurized milk is probably still safe</a>. Pasteurization deactivates pathogens, probably including H5N1, according to the Food and Drug Administration. However, no studies have specifically tested whether pasteurizing milk deactivates H5N1. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/health/bird-flu-usda-cattle.html">the New York Times</a>, the FDA is testing that now.<br /><br />  <div type="image" title="row of cows sticking their heads through metal bars to eat hay feed" height="1500" width="2250" msid="109603130" hostid="261"></div>One human in Texas has tested positive for the virus after exposure to dairy cattle. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0401-avian-flu.html">According</a> to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that person's only symptom was eye redness.<br /><br />There has been no known human-to-human transmission. Still, future mutation could allow the virus to spread more easily to and between humans — a possibility of "great concern" to Farrar.<br /><br />  <div type="image" title="man with turkeys inside coop. sign outside reads 'biosecurity area - no admittance w/o owner permission" height="1400" width="2100" msid="109603131" hostid="261"></div>Dr. Jerome Adams, a former surgeon general and the director of health equity at Purdue University, is getting deja vu.<br /><br />"If it keeps spreading in animals, then it is eventually going to cause problems for humans, either because we don't have food because they've got to start exterminating flocks, or because it starts to make a jump in humans," Adams, <keyword id="6366244" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="who" source="Orion">who</keyword> served under former President Donald Trump and was on the administration's initial COVID-19 task force, told Business Insider. "The more it replicates, the more chances it has to mutate."<br /><br />Though he agrees with the CDC's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/inhumans.htm">assessment</a> that the current risk to humans is low, Adams fears the US is repeating many mistakes it made in the early days of COVID-19.<br /><br /><h2>Weak messaging with no clear leaders</h2>Who is in charge of an animal pandemic in the US? The CDC? The US Department of Agriculture? The FDA?<br /><br />The answer is, sort of, all of them. That decentralized responsibility could be behind the lack of widespread, clear public messaging so far.<br /><br />For example, Adams says he hasn't changed anything about his diet, since pasteurization and proper cooking procedures should kill any live virus present. But he isn't sure everyone is getting the message.<br /><br />He compared it to the development of COVID-19 vaccines, when people distrusted a process they didn't understand.<br /><br />  <div type="image" title="person with ponytail green hoodie medical gloves inspects eggs in a grocery story" height="1500" width="2000" msid="109603133" hostid="261"></div>"The public needs good consistent communication from the White House, from the USDA, helping reassure them what the process is to keep them safe," Adams said.<br /><br />Rather than consumers, the people most at risk are agricultural workers or anyone with close or prolonged exposure to chickens or cattle. It's those groups who need strong, targeted guidance right now, Adams said.<br /><br /><h2>Only testing the sick</h2>So far, the USDA has only been testing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beef-prices-higher-drought-fewer-cattle-less-meat-2022-8">cattle herds</a> when an animal appears sick. That means asymptomatic spread could be flying under the radar.<br /><br />"An animal can't tell you, 'Hey, I feel a little under the weather today.' So they're literally waiting until an animal is collapsing or showing fatigue or showing severe symptoms," Adams said. "We need a testing strategy that is proactive and allows true surveillance, and not reactive."<br /><br />The USDA took a step forward on Wednesday, ordering that all lactating dairy cows must be tested for H5N1 before they're moved across state lines and that all positive test results must be reported.<br /><br />New York Times columnist Zeynep Tufekci <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/opinion/bird-flu-cow-outbreak.html">reported</a> that same day that, until now, the USDA has not been keeping track of positive test results in cattle.<br /><br /><h2>Election distraction</h2>  <div type="image" title="donald trump" height="3333" width="5000" msid="109603134" hostid="261"></div>In late 2019 and early 2020, the big news story was the impeachment, and later acquittal, of President Trump. Now a different <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-hush-money-trial-kicks-off-fiery-da-openings-2024-4">Trump trial</a> is dominating the news.<br /><br />And, as in 2020, this is an election year.<br /><br />"The Biden administration, particularly the White House, has been incredibly quiet on this bird flu situation. Why? To me, it looks like they very much don't want to scare the public and spook the economy in an election year," Adams said.<br /><br /><h2>Business vs. public health</h2>Just like the lockdowns of COVID-19 were devastating for the restaurant and hospitality industries, a crackdown on avian flu can be devastating to the chicken industry.<br /><br />The treatment for a <keyword id="1433269" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bird-flu-outbreak" source="Orion">bird flu outbreak</keyword> is to kill all the chickens. Even before that, just testing the flock can slow down production.<br /><br />"We're seeing the same tension between business interests and public health interests," Adams said.<br /><br />What's more, many of the workers who handle chickens and cattle are undocumented immigrants. That can make them and their bosses hesitant to call in authorities over diseased animals.<br /><br />Many vulnerable groups were hesitant to report illness in the early COVID days, too, including migrant workers and people who didn't have sick leave from work.<br /><br />"My concern is we keep making the same mistakes over and over again," Adams said. "Because we keep focusing on the wrong things instead of focusing on the root causes."<br /><br />

Bird flu could jump to humans any day. A former surgeon general says it feels like 2020 again.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The bird flu, or avian influenza, is increasingly worrying public-health experts.</li><li>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-avian-influenza-outbreak-us-h5n1-wiping-out-everything-2023-4">H5N1 bird flu virus</a> is changing, creeping closer to humans, and getting more opportunities to adapt.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-virus-h5n1-new-human-case-michigan-respiratory-symptoms-2024-6">Bird flu</a> is flying wild, and it has many infectious disease experts more worried now than ever.</p><p>The H5N1 avian influenza virus has killed tens of millions of birds across the planet and more than 40,000 sea lions and seals. For animals, it's a pandemic.</p><p>Still, the CDC says the risk to humans is low. Most people seem to have very little chance, if any, of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-eggs-meat-milk-dairy-safety-during-outbreak-2024-4">catching H5N1 avian influenza</a> right now.</p><p>Only three people in the US have tested positive for the virus since its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-cattle-outbreak-repeat-mistakes-former-surgeon-general-warning-2024-4">surprising break into the cattle population</a>, and they all had direct contact with infected cows.</p><div type="image" title="farmer man in overalls blue and white button shirt and camo cap reaches over a wooden fence to scratch a cow wearing a bow inside an indoors stall full of hay" height="1500" width="2250" msid="110949087" hostid="261" sizebytes="321112"></div><p>But infectious disease experts are increasingly concerned that the H5N1 virus could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-viruses-scientists-are-watching-for-the-next-pandemic-2022-4">make a sustained jump into humans</a> and start spreading among us. That's not inevitable, but several recent developments suggest it's a growing threat.</p><p>"There's a lot going on," Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine and associate chief of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told Business Insider. "I'm becoming more worried."</p><p>You shouldn't panic, but you should probably know what's going on. This virus is a leading candidate for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-says-world-needs-billion-year-prevent-next-pandemic-2022-6">the next pandemic</a>, and four developments in the past month have experts worried.</p><p>Here's what you need to know.</p><h2 id="a6efdbe9-4727-4b3a-b934-ceccc3f63ba8">Bird flu hospitalized a child in Australia</h2><p id="a6efdbe9-4727-4b3a-b934-ceccc3f63ba8">On Friday the World Health Organization announced that a 2-year-old had become Australia's first human case of H5N1 in March.</p><p id="a6efdbe9-4727-4b3a-b934-ceccc3f63ba8">After returning from travel to Kolkata, India, the child's symptoms — loss of appetite, fever, coughing, vomiting, and irritability, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2024-DON519">according</a> to WHO — put them in the hospital for two and a half weeks, including admission to the intensive care unit.</p><p id="a6efdbe9-4727-4b3a-b934-ceccc3f63ba8">As human cases crop up in different parts of the world, epidemiologists like Christopher Dye become more concerned.</p><p id="a6efdbe9-4727-4b3a-b934-ceccc3f63ba8">"There's such a vast amount of virus at the moment. And clearly it is changing, and it's doing new and unexpected things," Dye, a professor and senior research fellow at the University of Oxford, told BI.</p><div type="image" title="researcher in white lab coat blue medical gloves and protective goggles works with an ice bucket containing small samples of milk in a lab" height="1500" width="2250" msid="110949085" hostid="261" sizebytes="166070"></div><p id="a6efdbe9-4727-4b3a-b934-ceccc3f63ba8">He recently co-authored a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q1199.full">paper</a>, published in the medical journal BMJ, arguing that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-real-is-the-last-of-us-science-behind-fungus-pandemic-2023-1">risk of a major human outbreak</a> is "large, plausible, and imminent."</p><p id="a6efdbe9-4727-4b3a-b934-ceccc3f63ba8">"<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/influenza-more-worrisone-than-zika-ebola-2016-4">Influenza has always been a concern</a> for decades and decades, and this particular form of influenza for at least two decades," Dye said. "But now, it's risen to a level of concern, I think, which is greater than ever before."</p><h2 id="17691a35-dcc3-4171-8b3c-1c847c1e9bb6">Mice could bring bird flu into homes</h2><p>A total of 47 house mice have tested positive for H5N1 in New Mexico, the US Department of Agriculture reported on Tuesday.</p><p>"Mice are kind of everywhere," Gandhi said. "They're around other animals, they're around humans a lot. And it's a little worrisome."</p><div type="image" title="brown mouse with white belly sits eating small piece of something in the snow" height="1500" width="2250" msid="110949089" hostid="261" sizebytes="37666"></div><p id="ee352b94-e3c2-472b-a4d0-8ea01e066eff">The samples were collected from the sick mice in early May. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/why-the-discovery-of-h5n1-bird-flu-in-mice-is-so-alarming/">The Telegraph</a>, scientists suspect that the mice, as well as some domestic cats, may have gotten the virus from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-milk-food-safety-former-surgeon-general-doctor-2024-4">drinking raw milk from infected cows</a>. (Public health experts resoundingly advise that people should not drink unpasteurized, aka "raw," milk.)</p><p id="ee352b94-e3c2-472b-a4d0-8ea01e066eff">"This brings the virus closer to human homes," Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, told The Telegraph. "This is out of control," he added.</p><p id="ee352b94-e3c2-472b-a4d0-8ea01e066eff">Every new population of animals, and every new exposure to humans, is another opportunity for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-hiv-had-coronavirus-216-days-virus-mutated-2021-6">the virus to mutate</a> and adapt.</p><h2 id="abc7e6b4-b179-449b-b66c-ad52a39458d8">One mutation suggests the virus has started adapting</h2><div type="image" title="h5n1 virus microscope image shows black and white long straight worm-shaped organism" height="1500" width="2250" msid="110949092" hostid="261" sizebytes="157400"></div><p id="abc7e6b4-b179-449b-b66c-ad52a39458d8">When the CDC analyzed a virus sample from the second US farmworker infected, they spotted a mutation in the virus's replication machinery — the way it gets inside its host's cells to make copies of itself.</p><p id="abc7e6b4-b179-449b-b66c-ad52a39458d8">It's a change "associated with viral adaptation to mammalian hosts," the CDC said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2023-2024/h5n1-technical-update-may-24-2024.html">statement in May</a>. The statement also said that studies in mice indicate this type of genetic mutation in the virus is associated with more severe disease and enhanced viral replication.</p><p id="abc7e6b4-b179-449b-b66c-ad52a39458d8">That doesn't make it a human virus yet, though.</p><p id="abc7e6b4-b179-449b-b66c-ad52a39458d8">Other than this one change, H5N1 has mainly "avian virus properties and not human virus properties," Richard Webby, a virologist at St. Jude and director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds, told BI.</p><p id="abc7e6b4-b179-449b-b66c-ad52a39458d8">That means the virus is better adapted to thrive and spread among birds, not humans.</p><p id="abc7e6b4-b179-449b-b66c-ad52a39458d8">Still, that could change.</p><h2 id="ddfee4b3-1706-4652-9418-5ae34679d762">The latest US case had a troubling cough</h2><p id="ddfee4b3-1706-4652-9418-5ae34679d762">The first two farmworkers to test positive for H5N1 in the US had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/treatments/pink-eye-treatment">pink eye</a>. But the third case, reported in Michigan in May, featured a cough and sore throat.</p><p id="ddfee4b3-1706-4652-9418-5ae34679d762">That means H5N1 was in that worker's respiratory system, which is a scarier place to find a threatening virus than in our eyes.</p><p id="ddfee4b3-1706-4652-9418-5ae34679d762">For one thing, it's easier to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-covid-positive-biden-statement-meadows-book-coughing-on-people-2021-12">spread a virus by coughing</a> or sneezing than by, well, sharing eye fluid.</p><div type="image" title="A man coughing" height="1439" width="2084" msid="110949086" hostid="261" sizebytes="169668"></div><p id="ddfee4b3-1706-4652-9418-5ae34679d762">The good news is that, as far as scientists can tell, H5N1 is still not adapted to humans enough to transmit between us. The CDC has reported no evidence that the coughing farmworker spread the virus to anyone else.</p><p id="ddfee4b3-1706-4652-9418-5ae34679d762">But that doesn't mean H5N1 can't mutate to achieve human-to-human transmission — which brings us to the second unfortunate reality of this farmworker's respiratory infection. </p><p id="ddfee4b3-1706-4652-9418-5ae34679d762">Compared to the eyes, human lungs are a more convenient place for an avian virus to get more mammalian, according to Webby. In the lungs, the virus is exposed to more of the cell receptors that a mammalian virus would bind to, giving H5N1 more opportunity to mutate and start grabbing onto those receptors — thereby becoming better adapted to infecting and spreading between humans.</p><p>Many experts fear the USDA and CDC aren't monitoring cattle and farmworkers closely enough to catch concerning<strong> </strong>mutations early, and that other human cases may be going undetected.</p><div type="image" title="blue gloved hands in a white lab coat hold a large syringe and a lab tube of fluid" height="1500" width="2250" msid="110949093" hostid="261" sizebytes="47636"></div><p>"I think there's enough of a threat here to be very alert so that we have a surveillance system in place that, as soon as this happens, we can find it," Dye said.</p><h2 id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">Vaccines are in the works</h2><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">The good news is that bird flu is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/august-flu-vs-covid-infection-rate-2023-8">not COVID-19</a>. Scientists have been tracking this virus and its entire viral family tree, watching for any sign of a growing threat to humans, for decades.</p><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">As a result, the key elements of a vaccine are already on standby. The US is beginning to manufacture millions of vaccines using "candidate vaccine viruses" — weakened influenza viruses — that the CDC has developed.</p><div type="image" title="how does the flu shot work" height="1414" width="2121" msid="110949090" hostid="261" sizebytes="78400"></div><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">Though the candidates are not necessarily perfect matches to H5N1, and the vaccines' use of eggs may be a manufacturing roadblock if bird flu is sweeping the chicken population, they may provide some immunity in the case of a human outbreak.</p><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">Furthermore, scientists now have proven <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mrna-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-coronavirus-2020-12">mRNA vaccine technology</a> at the ready. Vaccines that use mRNA, of which the COVID-19 vaccines were the first approved for use, are more flexible and faster to develop than traditional vaccines — and they don't require eggs.</p><div type="image" title="white shiny eggs on a machine coming out of a pink glowing chamber" height="1500" width="2667" msid="110949091" hostid="261" sizebytes="187078"></div><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have already <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2024/may/penn-researchers-develop-experimental-mrna-avian-flu-vaccine">developed</a> an experimental mRNA vaccine for H5N1, which they've successfully<strong> </strong>tested in mice and ferrets.</p><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">If H5N1 becomes a problem in humans, a vaccine could be offered with the flu shot you get later this year.</p><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">In the meantime, bird flu is a looming threat to keep an eye on.</p><p id="048d06aa-b91d-4421-b98b-5ae259b70f87">"As far as I can see, this is not going to go away anytime soon," Dye said.</p>

Why 4 new bird flu developments have experts worried about the virus

<ul><li>A tech outage has impacted multiple critical services like banking and airlines across the world.</li><li>Users have reported facing a <keyword id="22469490" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="blue-screen-of-death" source="keywords">blue screen of death</keyword> (<keyword id="22471491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="BSOD" source="keywords">BSOD</keyword>) on their computers.</li><li>Here’s everything you need to know about BSOD and how to solve it.</li></ul>Services across the world were affected on Friday after a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/microsoft-windows-outage-london-stock-exchange-banks-and-airlines-across-the-world-affected/articleshow/111856595.cms">tech outage</a> resulted in a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issue. This cyber outage resulted in airlines grounding flights, news channels going off the air, disruption in banking services and more.<br /><br />You may have often heard about the infamous BSOD error. It is an issue that has haunted <keyword id="19900653" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Windows" source="keywords">Windows</keyword> users for decades. It is a critical system error that causes the operating system to crash abruptly, displaying a blue screen with information related to the error.<br /><br />        <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111856595" title="Microsoft outage – London Stock Exchange, banks and airlines across the world affected" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br />In this article, we look into the causes, effects, and some of the solutions related to BSOD.<br /><br /><h2><keyword id="22472465" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="what-is-bsod" source="Orion">What is BSOD</keyword>?</h2>The BSOD is visible as a solid blue screen with white text and appears when the Windows operating system encounters a fatal error that it cannot recover from without restarting.<br /><br />This error results in the termination of all operations on the computer, making it impossible for users to continue working until the system is rebooted.<br /><br />Frequent BSOD occurrences can indicate underlying hardware or software problems that need to be addressed to prevent further issues.<br /><br /><h2>Why does BSOD occur?</h2>There are several causes a BSOD can occur.<br /><br /><h3>Hardware issues</h3>A BSOD can occur due to hardware issues such as faulty RAM, hard drive errors such as bad sectors or failing drives, or excessive heat that can cause components like the CPU or GPU to malfunction.<br /><br /><h3>Software issues</h3>Coming to software, a BSOD can be caused by damage to crucial system files required for Windows operation, viruses or malicious software or incompatible applications or utilities with Windows may cause system instability.<br /><br /><h3>Driver issues</h3>Incompatible or outdated device drivers, improper installation or corrupted drivers or conflicting drivers can also result in a BSOD.<br /><br /><h3>Operating system</h3>In some cases, updates or patches applied to Windows may introduce bugs that trigger BSODs.<br /><br /><h2><keyword id="22472466" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="how-to-solve-bsod" source="Orion">How to solve BSOD</keyword>?</h2><h3>Use error code</h3>The BSOD typically displays an error code that can provide clues about the cause of the crash. You can use this code to identify the cause of the BSOD.<br /><br /><h3>Hardware diagnostic</h3>Perform hardware diagnostics to check for issues with RAM, hard drives, and other components.<br /><br /><h3>Update drivers</h3>Ensure all device drivers are up to date. Use Device Manager or third-party software to check for updates or reinstall drivers if necessary.<br /><br /><h3>System Restore</h3>If the BSOD started occurring after a recent change or installation, use the System Restore function to revert the system to a previous stable state.<br /><br /><h3>Check for malware</h3>Run a thorough scan to detect and remove any malware that could be causing system instability.<br /><br /><h3>Windows update</h3>Ensure Windows is up to date with the latest patches and updates. An outdated version of Windows can also be responsible for BSOD.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/microsoft-windows-outage-london-stock-exchange-banks-and-airlines-across-the-world-affected/articleshow/111856595.cms">Microsoft outage – London Stock Exchange, banks and airlines across the world affected</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/global-cyber-outage-what-is-crowdstrike-how-is-it-linked-to-the-global-microsoft-outage/articleshow/111859241.cms">Global Cyber Outage: What is CrowdStrike? How is it linked to the global Microsoft outage?</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-to-launch-in-india-on-august-14-alongside-the-pixel-9-series/articleshow/111855704.cms"><strong>Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold to launch in India on August 14 alongside the Pixel 9 series</strong></a><br />

BSOD: What's the error behind global cyber outage? How to fix it?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new strain of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/er-doctor-monkeypox-patients-are-getting-misdiagnosed-with-other-conditions-2022-8">monkeypox virus</a> is "the most dangerous" yet and could be a global threat, experts say.</li><li>The new clade Ib virus emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and spread to Rwanda's border.</li></ul><p>A deadly and fast-spreading new strain of mpox, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monkeypox-pictures-patient-shares-images-describes-intense-pain-2022-8">the disease caused by the monkeypox virus</a>, has global health officials ringing alarm bells.</p><p>The new virus is "undoubtedly the most dangerous of all the known strains of mpox," John Claude Udahemuka, a lecturer at the University of Rwanda, said in a press briefing on June 25. He said the virus has caused miscarriages and blindness.</p><p>An earlier, milder form of mpox — called clade IIb — circulated worldwide in 2022, ultimately <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-the-us-handled-its-first-ever-monkeypox-outbreak-2022-5">infecting more than 32,000 people in the US</a> and killing 58 of them. It prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency, which ended last year.</p><p>The new virus is called clade Ib, since it's a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-hiv-had-coronavirus-216-days-virus-mutated-2021-6">mutation</a> of an even earlier form of mpox. It first appeared in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September and has spread to towns along the Rwanda border, near Burundi and Uganda.</p><p>The new clade Ib virus could cause a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-avian-influenza-outbreak-us-h5n1-wiping-out-everything-2023-4">global outbreak</a>, experts fear, though they stopped short of warning of a pandemic.</p><p>"The pandemic question is difficult," Trudie Lang, director of the Global Health Network at Oxford University, said in the briefing.</p><p>"I think we need to be really vigilant now and move to try and contain this as quickly as possible in this region," she added. "There's definitely the opportunity for this to get on an airplane."</p><h2 id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">The new mpox strain spreads easily </h2><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">Mpox spreads through close contact, especially skin-to-skin contact. It can cause flu-like symptoms and a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monkeypox-rash-pictures-when-to-get-checked-2022-5">painful or itchy rash</a> that develops into puss-filled blisters, lesions, and eventually scabs.</p><div type="image" title="Monkeypox palm of hands" height="459" width="700" msid="111468793" hostid="261" sizebytes="24580"></div><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monkeypox-man-hospitalized-couldnt-swallow-spit-feared-death-symptoms-2022-7">Previous strains of the virus</a> have had limited transmission abilities. The clade I virus that's long circulated in the DRC has been mostly associated with spread through families and within households, Land said. The clade IIb virus that went global was mostly sexually transmitted and mostly affected men who have sex with men.</p><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">The new clade Ib strain seems to do it all.</p><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">It began spreading through sexual transmission, via the local sex work industry, according to the researchers. However, they said the new virus has also spread within households, between mothers and their children, and there have even been cases of person-to-person spread <em>outside</em> households and without sexual contact.</p><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">That's "incredibly worrying," Lang said. That's because it has more opportunities to spread than previous strains did.</p><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">The clade I form of the virus, from which the new strain has emerged, is also more deadly than clade II. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/about/index.html">WHO</a>, some outbreaks have killed up to 10% of sick people.</p><h2 id="b8b424dd-af4a-4193-a5ac-002f109faf5a"><strong>Researchers only see 'the tip of the iceberg'</strong></h2><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">It's not yet clear just how deadly the new clade Ib virus is, because researchers aren't sure how many cases there are.</p><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">Leandre Murhula Masirika, a research coordinator in the local DRC health department, said in the briefing that they had identified more than 600 cases so far.</p><p id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">"These are the severe cases that make it to hospital, so this will be the tip of the iceberg," Lang said.</p><p>The WHO's technical lead for mpox, Rosamund Lewis, also raised the alarm last week, saying "There is a critical need to address the recent surge in mpox cases in Africa," according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-scientists-warn-mpox-strain-congo-2024-06-25/">Reuters</a>.</p><p>The researchers said they need to better understand the virus to identify the right safety measures and vaccines to contain its spread.</p><p>"We need to first carry out studies of serology and immunology in order to see what kind of vaccination we can propose," Murhula Masirika said.</p><p>He added that, in the meantime, he wants to give the smallpox vaccine to local sex workers and healthcare workers in hopes that it will confer some immunity to mpox.</p>

Experts are racing to contain 'the most dangerous' monkeypox virus yet before it causes a global outbreak

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new report from Forbes Advisor ranked US states by risk of cat and dog illnesses.</li><li>They analyzed 19 different diseases throughout the US, including Lyme Disease, rabies, and worms.</li></ul><p>Spring has sprung, and with warmer weather comes the start of a far less pleasant time of year: tick season. As ticks become more active this spring, both humans and their pets will be at greater risk of diseases like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-protect-against-lyme-disease-during-tick-season-2021-8">Lyme disease</a>, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis.</p><p>But a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/pet-insurance/pet-care/highest-and-lowest-risk-states-for-pet-illness/">new science report</a> from Forbes Advisor, the analysis arm of Forbes, could help you protect your pets from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-check-for-tick-bites-this-summer-2023-5">tick-borne diseases</a> and other harmful infections.</p><p>The report analyzed 19 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/funny-animal-photos-comedy-pet-photography-awards-finalists-2024-5">dog and cat</a> diseases across the US from six pet health and infectious disease organizations, including the Center for Disease Control and the American Veterinary Medical Association. It uncovered the riskiest states for pets, and the data might just save your pet's life.</p><p>"As a pet owner, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/half-owners-say-pets-equal-human-family-member-survey-2023-7">you want to do the very best job taking care of your pet</a>," and this report will hopefully better equip pet owners to do exactly that by spreading awareness, Alexandria Cremer, a Forbes senior PR strategist involved with the report, told Business Insider.</p><p>Here are the 10 riskiest states for your pet, the most common diseases to watch out for, and some basic tips for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-retro-pugs-healthier-than-pugs-live-longer-2023-4">keeping your pet happy and healthy</a>.</p><h2 id="9f2371db-99c2-4182-adb6-acd68e9b9c3d">Top 10 riskiest states for your pet</h2><p>Forbes Advisor created its own ranking scale based on data from all 19 diseases. The scale ranges from zero to 100, and states with higher scores have a greater risk of these diseases.</p><p>These were the 10 riskiest states, according to the data:</p><ol><li><strong>West Virginia </strong>Score: 100</li><li><strong>Rhode Island </strong>Score: 80.71</li><li><strong>New Jersey </strong>Score: 74.1</li><li><strong>Kentucky </strong>Score: 73.91</li><li><strong>Maine </strong>Score: 71.3</li><li><strong>Oklahoma </strong>Score: 70.15</li><li><strong>New York </strong>Score: 66.23</li><li><strong>Mississippi </strong>Score: 65.88</li><li><strong>Indiana </strong>Score: 65.69</li><li><strong>Pennsylvania </strong>Score: 64.75</li></ol><p>Some key takeaways: Five of the top 10 riskiest states for your pet are on the East Coast (Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maine, New York, and Pennsylvania). </p><p>Two of these 10 states, West Virginia and Maine, were also among the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/map-states-with-lyme-disease-other-tick-borne-illnesses-2022-5">top three riskiest states for tick-borne diseases</a>. And Pennsylvania recorded the most cases of rabies (237) in cats between 2017 to 2021.</p><h2 id="0a607237-2959-418a-a8ca-9eca83e16e66">The most common diseases to watch out for</h2><h3 id="99bf07fe-fbfc-4986-a19e-46d33596bc02">Ticks</h3><p id="0a607237-2959-418a-a8ca-9eca83e16e66">Tick-borne diseases like Lyme Disease, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prevent-diseases-from-ticks-mosquitoes-summer-2018-6">especially common in the spring and summer months</a>.</p><p>Arkansas, Maine, and West Virginia ranked highest in tick-borne diseases out of all 50 states. But regionally, the East Coast — and especially the Northeast — showed the highest risk of tick-borne disease.</p><p>These bacterial infections <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deer-tick-powassan-virus-lyme-disease-risk-2017-6">can turn deadly</a> if not treated quickly, so it's important to watch your pet for symptoms. Fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, and joint stiffness or pain are all common symptoms of these three tick-borne diseases.</p><h3 id="57fd3145-dee8-41fc-9784-60a185b1ab27">Parasites</h3><p>Ticks aren't the only tiny critters that can get your pet sick. Parasites like worms can wriggle their way into your pets' bodies when they ingest contaminated substances like dirt or feces, or when an infected insect — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/pets/dog-scratching">like fleas and mosquitos</a> — bite your pet.</p><p>Roundworms are the most common <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/pets/worms-in-dogs">intestinal parasites</a> in cats and dogs. The top three states with the highest risk of roundworm were South Dakota, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.</p><p>This parasite poses the biggest risk to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/foster-kittens-puppies-san-antonio-zoo-2020-7">puppies and kittens</a>, so it's important to deworm them every two weeks until they're three months old, according to Companion Veterinary Clinic. Watch for symptoms like a distended belly, weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite.</p><h3 id="633be37d-cd4f-4f5b-b45c-83d12cddef68">Viruses</h3><div type="image" title="A vet examines a white cat" height="1414" width="2119" msid="110313028" hostid="261" sizebytes="185776"></div><p>Cats and dogs can catch viruses too. The risk of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/pets/dog-sneezing-a-lot">dog flu</a>, a highly contagious respiratory virus, was highest in New Mexico, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.</p><p>Most dogs recover from the flu in two to three weeks, but it's still important to look for the symptoms so that you can keep them properly hydrated, rested, and fed while they recover. Symptoms include a runny nose, fever, lethargy, runny eyes, and loss of appetite, according to the FA report.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/couple-adopts-depressed-cat-fishtopher-after-seeing-viral-tweet-2022-11">Feline immunodeficiency virus</a> is one of the most common diseases that infect cats. Kentucky and Mississippi showed the highest risk of this disease.</p><p>It's dangerous because infected cats may not display any symptoms for years, but all the while, this virus is causing lasting damage to their immune systems. Though the early signs are hard to see, you can catch them one to three months following infection if you know what to look for including swollen lymph nodes, fever, depression, and lack of appetite, according to Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine.</p><h2 id="439c804d-01bc-4e72-bfbb-0ec7907a30d8">How to keep your pet safe</h2><p id="439c804d-01bc-4e72-bfbb-0ec7907a30d8">No matter where you live, there are some preventative measures that every pet owner can take to protect their pet's health.</p><p>Scheduling <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-often-should-my-dog-go-to-the-vet">annual vet check-ups</a> to make sure your pet is up to date on their vaccines is a great place to start, according to the animal rescue Brandywine Valley SPCA.</p><p>It's also important to keep up with preventative medication. Experts recommend giving your pet heartworm, flea, and tick medication once a month, all year round, and routinely checking your pet's fur and skin for ticks, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the FDA.</p><p>Trips to the vet can get expensive, especially if your pet needs emergency care or surgery. Emergency vet bills range from $150 to $5,000 on average in the US, MetLife reports. Consider <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-pet-insurance">purchasing pet insurance</a> to help cover unexpected costs. Depending on your pet's breed, age, and other factors, pet insurance can range from $48 to $68 per month per dog and $28 to $40 monthly per cat, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/pet-insurance/pet-insurance-cost/">separate report</a> from Forbes Advisor.</p><p>And last, but certainly not least, making sure your pet gets <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/pets/can-dogs-eat-cat-food">proper nutrition</a>, hydration, exercise, and mental stimulation is key to keeping them happy and healthy, according to the Animal Foundation.</p>

The 10 states where your pet is more likely to get sick from tick-borne diseases, viruses, parasites, and more

<em><u>Sydney, Aug 15 (The Conversation):</u></em> The <keyword id="19896311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Health-Organization" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="World Health Organization" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="World Health Organization">World Health Organization</keyword> (<keyword id="19895006" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO" source="keywords">WHO</keyword>) has declared <keyword id="20965747" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="mpox" source="keywords">mpox</keyword> a public health emergency of international concern, after rising cases in the <keyword id="22796094" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo" source="keywords">Democratic Republic of the Congo</keyword> and the potential for further spread. <br /><br /> This now triggers a coordinated international response to an extraordinary event and the mobilisation of resources, such as vaccines and diagnostic testing, to curb the spread of this infectious disease. <br /><br /> But WHO has not declared mpox a <keyword id="19913581" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pandemic" source="keywords">pandemic</keyword>. Rather, the measures it has triggered are designed to prevent it from becoming one. <br /><h2>What triggered this latest alert?</h2> Mpox, once known as monkeypox, is a viral infection closely related to <keyword id="22362924" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="smallpox" source="keywords">smallpox</keyword>. Initial symptoms include a fever, headache, swelling of the lymph nodes and muscle ache. A typical rash follows, mainly on the face, hands and feet. <br /><br /> The spread of mpox through certain African countries led the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to declare earlier this week mpox a public health emergency of continental security. This is the first time the organisation has issued such an alert since it was established in 2017. <br /><br /> The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa has been particularly worrying for more than a year. <br /><br /> There are two types or clades of mpox. Clade II, which originates in west Africa, is less severe. It has a fatality rate of up to 1 per cent (in other words, roughly one in 100 are expected to die from it). But clade I, from central Africa, has a fatality rate of up to 10 per cent (up to one in ten die). <br /><br /> This compares to a 0.7 per cent fatality rate for the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is seeing large epidemics of the more deadly clade I mpox. <br /><br /> Mpox is endemic in some parts of central and west Africa, where the virus exists in animals and can spread to humans. Outbreaks have been increasing, with more human-to-human spread, since 2017. <br /><br /> This is partly due to very low levels of immunity to the mpox virus, which is related to the virus that causes smallpox. Mass vaccination against smallpox ceased more than 40 years ago globally, resulting in minimal immunity in populations today against mpox. <br /><br /> The WHO designation announced this week relates to the clade I. Not only does this have a higher fatality rate, it has new mutations that enhance spread between people. These changes, and the global lack of immunity to mpox, makes the world's population vulnerable to the virus. <br /><h2>There are two different epidemics</h2> In 2022, an epidemic of mpox swept through non-endemic countries, including beyond Africa. This was a variant of clade II originating from Nigeria, called clade IIb. This was sexually transmitted, predominantly affecting men who have sex with men, and had a low fatality rate. <br /><br /> That epidemic peaked in 2022, with vaccines made available to people at risk in high-income countries, but there has been an uptick in 2024. <br /><br /> At the same time, large clade I epidemics were occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but with far less attention. <br /><br /> Vaccines were not available there, even in 2023, when there were 14,626 cases and 654 deaths. Mortality was 4.5 per cent, and higher in children. <br /><br /> In fact, most cases and deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been children. This means most transmission there is non-sexual and is likely to have occurred through close contact or respiratory aerosols. <br /><br /> However, in 2023 an <keyword id="20877025" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="outbreak" source="keywords">outbreak</keyword> in a non-endemic part of the country, South Kivu in the east, appeared to be by sexual transmission, indicating more than one epidemic and different transmission modes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. <br /><br /> By mid-2024, there were already more cases in the country than all of 2023 - more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths. <br /><br /> Testing capacity is low in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most cases are not confirmed by lab testing, and the data we have are from a small sample of genomic sequences from the Kamituga region of South Kivu. <br /><br /> This show mutations to the clade I virus around September 2023, to a variant termed clade Ib, which is more readily transmissible between people. We do not have much data to compare these viruses with the viruses causing cases in the rest of the country. <br /><h2>Mpox is spreading internationally</h2> In the past month, the virus has spread to countries that share a border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Rwanda and Burundi. It has also spread to other east African countries, such as Kenya and Uganda. None of these countries have had mpox cases previously. <br /><br /> In an interconnected, mobile world, cases may spread to other continents, as mpox did in 2018 from Nigeria to the United Kingdom and other countries. <br /><br /> A few travel-related cases between 2018 and 2019 may have led to the large multi-country 2022 clade IIb epidemic. <br /><h2>We have vaccines, but not where they are needed</h2> As the mpox virus and smallpox viruses are related (they are both orthopoxviruses), smallpox vaccines offer protection against mpox. These vaccines were used to control the 2022 clade IIb epidemic. <br /><br /> However, most of the world has never been vaccinated, and has no immunity to mpox. <br /><br /> The newer <keyword id="19959412" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vaccine" source="keywords">vaccine</keyword> (called Jynneos in some countries and Imvamune or Imvanex in others) is effective. However, supplies are limited, and vaccine is scarce in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. <br /><br /> WHO's declaration of mpox as a public health emergency of international concern will help mobilise vaccines to where they are needed. The Africa Centres for Disease Control had already begun negotiations to secure 2,00,000 doses of vaccine, which is a fraction of what is required to control the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. <br /><h2>What happens now?</h2> Ultimately, a serious epidemic anywhere in the world is a concern for all of us, as it can spread globally through travel, as we saw with the COVID pandemic. <br /><br /> Controlling it at the source is the best measure, and WHO's latest declaration will help mobilise the required resources. <br /><br /> Surveillance for spread of this more serious version of mpox is also essential, bearing in mind that many countries do not have the capacity for widespread testing. So we'll have to rely on "suspected cases", based on a clinical definition, to keep track of the epidemic. <br /><br /> Open-source epidemic intelligence - such as using AI to monitor trends in rash and fever illness - can also be used as an early warning system in countries with weak health systems or delayed reporting of cases. <br /><br /> A further complication is that 20-30 per cent of people with mpox may simultaneously have chickenpox, an unrelated infection that also causes a rash. So an initial diagnosis of chickenpox (which is easier to test for) does not rule out mpox. <br /><br /> Effective communication and tackling push-back against public health measures and disinformation is also key. We saw how important this was during the COVID pandemic. <br /><br /> Now, WHO will coordinate the global mpox response, focusing on equity in disease prevention and access to diagnostics and vaccines. It is up to individual countries to do their best to comply with the International Health Regulations, and the protocols for how such a global emergency are managed.

WHO has declared mpox a global health emergency. What happens next?

The <keyword id="8858345" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="sars-cov-2" source="Orion">SARS-CoV-2</keyword> virus is found in the lungs of certain individuals for up to 18 months after the infection, according to a study. One to two weeks after contracting COVID, the SARS-CoV-2 virus generally becomes undetectable in the upper respiratory tract. <br /><br /> A team from the Institut Pasteur in collaboration with a French public research institute, the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), conducted the study on lung cells in an animal model. <br /><br /> The results, published in the journal Nature Immunology, show not only that SARS-CoV-2 is found in the lungs of certain individuals for up to 18 months after infection, but also that its persistence appears to be linked to a failure of innate immunity, the first line of defense against pathogens. <br /><br /> Some viruses persist in the body in a discreet and undetectable manner after causing an infection. They remain in what are known as 'viral reservoirs', the researchers said. <br /><br /> This is the case for HIV, which remains latent in certain immune cells and can reactivate at any time. It could also be the case for the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes <keyword id="8763838" type="General" weightage="90" keywordseo="covid-19" source="Orion">COVID-19</keyword>, they said. <br /><br /> "We observed that inflammation persisted for long periods in primates that had been infected by SARS-CoV-2. We therefore suspected that it could be due to the presence of the virus in the body," said Michaela Muller-Trutwin, Head of the Institut Pasteur's HIV, Inflammation and Persistence Unit. <br /><br /> The study analysed biological samples from animal models that had been infected by the virus. <br /><br /> Initial results from the study indicate that viruses were found in the lungs of some individuals six to 18 months after infection, even though the virus was undetectable in the upper respiratory tract or blood. <br /><br /> The researchers also found that the amount of persistent virus in the lungs was lower for the Omicron strain than for the original SARS-CoV-2 strain. <br /><br /> "We were really surprised to find viruses in certain immune cells - alveolar macrophages - after such a long period and when regular PCR tests were negative," said Nicolas Huot, first author of the study and researcher in the Institut Pasteur's HIV, Inflammation and Persistence Unit. <br /><br /> "What's more, we cultured these viruses and were able to observe, using the tools we developed to study HIV, that they were still capable of replicating," Huot said. <br /><br /> To understand the role of innate immunity in controlling these viral reservoirs, the scientists then turned their attention to NK (natural killer) cells. <br /><br /> "The cellular response of innate immunity, which is the body's first line of defense, has been little studied in SARS-CoV-2 infections until now," said Muller-Trutwin. <br /><br /> "Yet it has long been known that NK cells play an important role in controlling viral infections," the researcher said. <br /><br /> The study shows that in some animals, macrophages infected with SARS-CoV-2 become resistant to destruction by NK cells, while in others, NK cells are able to adapt to infection (known as adaptive NK cells) and destroy resistant cells, in this case macrophages. <br /><br /> The study sheds light on a mechanism that may explain the presence of viral reservoirs. <br /><br /> While individuals with little or no long-term virus had adaptive NK cell production, individuals with higher levels of virus had not only an absence of adaptive NK cells, but also a reduction in NK cell activity, the researchers added.

Covid virus can persist in lungs for up to two years: Study

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Prime Video's "The Boys" will end with its upcoming fifth season.</li><li>Showrunner Eric Kripke already knows how the series will conclude.</li></ul><p>All good things must come to an end, including Prime Video's popular superhero satire series "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-boys-cast-vs-comic-book-characters-amazon-prime-video-2022-6">The Boys</a>."</p><p>The show was officially <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/TheBoysTV/status/1790361632918716904">renewed</a> for a fifth season in May. Then on Tuesday, two days before the the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-boys-season-4-easter-eggs-references-details-missed-2024-6">season four</a> premiere, creator and showrunner <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-boys-season-3-finale-postmortem-showrunner-eric-kripke-interview-2022-7">Eric Kripke</a> revealed via <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/therealKripke/status/1800543513735471143">X</a> (formerly Twitter) and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C8FGQq_J6uC/">Instagram</a> that the upcoming fifth season would be the show's last.</p><p>"#TheBoys Season 4 Premiere Week is the perfect time to announce: Season 5 will be the Final Season! Which was always my plan, I just had to be cagey about it until I got final permission from @voughtintl,'" Kripke wrote on Instagram.</p><p>"But I'm thrilled to bring this story to a gory, epic, emotional climax. So check out Season 4, premiering THIS THURSDAY, because the end has begun! Hop in for the ride. Which will be bumpy. And probably a little moist. @theboystv @primevideo."</p><p>Here's everything we know about season five of "The Boys," so far.</p><h2 id="8d2d2483-3945-4ec2-95e8-b52a966c2315">Season 4 is designed to be a darker, more introspective season ahead of the all-out action of season 5</h2><div type="image" title="Erin Moriarty as Annie January on season four, episode three of &quot;The Boys.&quot;" height="1248" width="1664" msid="111845552" hostid="261" sizebytes="86442"></div><p>Season four explores the characters' biggest fears and unresolved traumas. Kripke compared the show to a three-act film and said that season four serves as act two.</p><p>"It's like the darkest point, the most introspective point," he told <a target="_blank" href="https://deadline.com/2024/06/the-boys-final-season-plans-eric-kripke-1235972141/">Deadline</a>. "It's the one where the characters have to emotionally face their existential trauma. So then they're able to jump onto the roller coaster ride that is the climax of the movie."</p><p>In an interview with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/tv/the-boys-creator-finale-ending-scene-678076-20240718">LADbible</a>, Kripke said that the season four finale makes the five-season plan even clearer.</p><p>"There's no way a show goes one more season after the events of that finale," the showrunner said.</p><p>"As far as we're concerned, it's our show's version of the apocalypse," he said of season five.</p><h2 id="20ceb684-7e6b-48fc-bb9c-2cae63dbfc18">Jeffrey Dean Morgan hopes to return as Joe Kessler</h2><div type="image" title="Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler and Karl Urban as Billy Butcher in season four of &quot;The Boys.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="111006205" hostid="261"></div><p>Morgan joined season four of "The Boys" as one of Butcher's old buddies who reenters his life. It's not until episode six that fans learn that the real Joe is actually dead, and Butcher has been hallucinating the whole time — a side effect of his brain tumor.</p><p>In season four, the hallucination version of Joe serves as the manifestation of Butcher's bloodthirsty side, the part of him that wants to wipe out all supes. During the last moments of the finale, Butcher is seen driving off with the last dose of the supe-killing virus, with Joe smiling with satisfaction in the rearview mirror.</p><p>"I don't know how you do season five without an appearance, at least," Morgan told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/the-boys-season-4-finale-explained-soldier-boy-butcher-kessler-kimiko-frenchie-1236075839/">Variety</a> when asked if he'll return for the final season. "That's my feeling. I've never had any official talks about it, but I think it'd be really hard to carry on without some sort of resolution — and hopefully that'll be a whole season!"</p><h2 id="61da42ac-2ace-4e19-94f4-df84f063f305">Kripke already has ideas for the series finale ending</h2><div type="image" title="Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir and Chace Crawford as The Deep on season four, episode two of &quot;The Boys.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="111006201" hostid="261"></div><p>Kripke told <a target="_blank" href="https://deadline.com/2024/06/the-boys-final-season-plans-eric-kripke-1235972141/">Deadline</a> that the writers' room spent weeks discussing the show's mythology and broad ideas for season five, and he has a good idea of how the series will conclude.</p><p>"I know that moment where the title card comes up and it says six months later, and you see where everybody is," he said. "I know that. I can really write the last 10 pages of this story right now."</p><p>He explained to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-boys-ending-season-5-explained-1235919956/">The Hollywood Reporter</a> that everything hasn't been mapped out in detail yet because he wants to create room for the writers to suggest ideas and twists.</p><p>"I don't totally know how we're going to get there, but I know the destination," he said.</p><h2 id="23acf038-9590-4b32-a7d0-240822be098f">Season 5 of 'The Boys' will definitively wrap up the show's story</h2><div type="image" title="Butcher and Homelander in the season three finale of &quot;The Boys.&quot;" height="1998" width="3000" msid="111006203" hostid="261"></div><p>"The Boys" juggles many characters and storylines, but the heart of the show is the dynamic between sworn enemies Butcher (Karl Urban) and Homelander (Antony Starr).</p><p>Homelander already teased a "scorched" earth" destiny for him and Butcher in the season three premiere. It looks like fans will likely see that play out in season five.</p><p>"The show is a serialized story that is about Butcher and Homelander slowly crashing into each other, and the show doesn't work without either of those," Kripke told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-boys-ending-season-5-explained-1235919956/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. "So, you just can't keep that going on forever, you have to let them smash into each other."</p><p>"What I would say is, this particular story is ending, the Butcher-Homelander is ending," he told <a target="_blank" href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/the-boys-eric-kripke-future-spinoffs-season-5-cameos-1236033624/">Variety.</a> "But there can be other stories and other corners of the universe."</p><p>There are already various "Boys" offshoots in different stages; the college-set "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-v-season-1-finale-postmortem-showrunner-michele-fazekas-interview-2023-11">Gen V</a>" was <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/genv/status/1715065278885695604">renewed</a> for a second season in October and a <a target="_blank" href="https://deadline.com/2023/11/the-boys-mexico-spinoff-amazon-gareth-dunnet-alcocer-diego-luna-gael-garcia-bernal-1235640996/">Mexico spin-off</a> is in the works. But the upcoming fifth season of "The Boys" will be the end of the road for the show.</p><p>"This story of 'The Boys' will not continue on," Kripke told <a target="_blank" href="https://ew.com/the-boys-eric-kripke-why-season-5-the-end-8661509">Entertainment Weekly</a>, adding that there are some other potential spin-offs in development that have yet to be announced.</p><h2 id="7dfdd881-0f33-43ec-8061-ccda2a6d8bfc">There's no release date yet for season 5</h2><div type="image" title="Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell and Erin Moriarty as Annie January in season four of &quot;The Boys.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="111006200" hostid="261"></div><p>"It's not totally locked in yet, but we are going to start shooting around mid-November," Kripke told <a target="_blank" href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/the-boys-eric-kripke-future-spinoffs-season-5-cameos-1236033624/">Variety</a>. "And I don't know when it'll premiere yet, but we'll be shooting well into middle of '25."</p><p>The showrunner added that, like past seasons, the final installment will be comprised of eight episodes.</p><p>Since season five is anticipated to film through 2025, that means it likely won't premiere until 2026.</p>

What we can expect from the fifth and final season of 'The Boys'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The CDC is warning doctors to be on the lookout for Marburg virus amid outbreaks in two African countries</li><li>The highly contagious virus causes fever, fatigue, and blood-stained vomit.</li></ul><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2023/han00489.asp#:~:text=Marburg%20virus%20disease%20is%20a,in%20Equatorial%20Guinea%20and%20Tanzania." target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued a health advisory warning</a> to US doctors regarding an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in two African nations. </p><p>The World Health Organization <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/countries/equatorial-guinea/news/equatorial-guinea-confirms-first-ever-marburg-virus-disease-outbreak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed an outbreak of the virus</a> in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania earlier this year. Authorities first issued a warning for Equatorial Guinea in February following a series of deaths in early January. The Ministry of Health of Tanzania then <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2023-DON451">announced its own outbreak in late March.</a></p><p>There have been 14 confirmed cases in Equatorial Guinea since the epidemic began, with 10 of those patients dying, <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2023/han00489.asp#:~:text=Marburg%20virus%20disease%20is%20a,in%20Equatorial%20Guinea%20and%20Tanzania.">according to the CDC</a> An outbreak among a group of fisherman in Tanzania produced eight confirmed cases of the viral fever, five of which were fatal, the CDC said.</p><p>The CDC on Thursday warned doctors to watch for possible imported cases and patients exhibiting symptoms that include fever, fatigue, and blood-strained vomit and diarrhea. There have not been any reported cases of Marburg virus thus far in the US and the CDC said the risk of imported cases is relatively low.  </p><p>The virus' presence in both Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania mark the first outbreak of the disease in either country. It comes approximately six months after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marburg-virus-ghana-declares-outbreak-of-ebola-like-sickness-2022-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an outbreak of cases was reported in Ghana</a> in July 2022.</p><p>Marburg virus is rare among people but it is highly infectious once it finds a human host, and the disease can be fatal, with an average fatality rate of around 50%, <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/marburg-virus-disease">according to the WHO</a>. During a 2005 outbreak of the virus in Angola, the death rate among Marburg patients was as high as 88%, the agency said. </p><h2>What are the symptoms of the Marburg virus?</h2><p>Common symptoms of the Marburg virus include hemorrhagic fever, fatigue, blood-stained vomit, and diarrhea. </p><p>Illness from the disease often begins abruptly, according to the WHO, starting with a high fever, a bad headache, and malaise. Muscle aches and cramps can accompany the onset, as well as jaundice, nausea, and pain in the abdomen. </p><p>The CDC said a non-itchy rash can also appear around the fifth day of the disease, striking the patient's chest, back, or stomach. </p><p>Patients can appear "ghost-like" around day three, with deep-set eyes, expressionless faces, and extreme lethargy, according to the WHO. </p><p>In fatal cases, death often occurs between eight and nine days after the onset, usually preceded by blood loss and shock, the agency said. </p><p>The virus is highly contagious and bodies can remain contagious even after death. </p><h2>What is the treatment for Marburg?</h2><p>There are no known vaccines or antiviral treatments currently approved for the virus, according to the WHO, but supportive care, including rehydration efforts and treatment of specific symptoms, can improve patients' chances of survival. </p><p>The WHO convened an <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2023/02/14/default-calendar/who-urgent-marburg-meeting">emergency meeting</a> on Tuesday to discuss whether to test one of the multiple <a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/blue-print/william-dowling_whomarvac_vaccines_14feb23.pdf?sfvrsn=df284d46_3">Marburg virus vaccines and treatments</a> that are currently in the development process.</p><p>Marburg virus can be difficult to diagnose given its similar presentation to several other infectious diseases, including malaria, typhoid fever, meningitis, and Ebola. </p><p>Marburg originates from the same family of viruses that cause Ebola, according to the WHO, a group called filoviruses.</p><p>The Marburg virus is transmitted to humans via fruit bats, which are a natural host of the virus, according to the WHO.</p><p>The virus is not respiratory. Once a human is infected, the virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, as well as via contaminated surfaces and materials. </p><p>The virus was first recognized in 1967 among lab workers conducting research in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade, Serbia.</p><h2>How is the WHO responding to the outbreak?</h2><p>The UN health agency said in a <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/countries/equatorial-guinea/news/equatorial-guinea-confirms-first-ever-marburg-virus-disease-outbreak">February</a> that it had deployed health emergency experts in epidemiology, case management, and infection prevention to Equatorial Guinea to try and control the outbreak. </p><p>The organization also sent advance teams to the impacted area to trace contacts, isolate people showing symptoms of the disease, and provide medical care. </p><p><em>02/16/2023: This story has been updated to clarify that Marburg virus is caused by a filovirus in the same family as Ebola, and not the same virus. </em></p><p><em>04/07/2023: This story has been updated to include the CDC's April health advisory warning. </em></p>

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