COVID-19 Coronavirus, HPAI H5N1 Avian Flu, Measles and other virus UK and World News Update 4th April 2025
The UK has announced Spring COVID boosters, with a focus on "protecting those who are most likely to become seriously ill", the same as last Spring, but unlike previously you have to COME FORWARD and book your appointment, rather than waiting for an invitation. Do this online at nhs dot uk /bookcovid or by calling 119.
Those eligible include:
- people aged 75 or over by 17th June
- residents of care homes for older adults (not staff or carers)
- people meeting immunosuppression criteria (check online for a list)
The UK Department of Health and Social Care has agreed an extra £167m funding (over 2 years) with Community Pharmacy England.
On top £193 million of debt for community pharmacy owners will be written off.
In return community pharmacies in England will:
- all offer the ‘morning-after pill’ free of charge
- offer patients prescribed antidepressants "convenient support at pharmacies".
- cut red tape, with more of the pharmacy team able to deliver services such as medicines advice, Pharmacy First services, and blood pressure checks.
- have financial incentives boosted for pharmacists to identify patients with undiagnosed high blood pressure, to take pressure off GPs.
- have funding for medicine supply boosted, so patients have better access to the medicines prescribed for them. This includes writing off the historic debt linked to dispensing activity during the pandemic and increasing fees linked to dispensing prescriptions.
Well that didn't take long. A mere month after head of US Health RFK Jr suggested Vitamin A could prevent illness from measles (it cannot), or help you recover (only if you are malnourished - see my post 4 weeks ago), doctors treating measles patients at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock are finding children with abnormal liver function, a probable sign of too much vitamin A.
JUST STOP. DO NOT give high dose vitamin A to children. It is fat-soluble, it won't rinse away in your pee if you take too much, it'll collect in your body and can poison you and destroy your liver.
Too much vitamin A is a bad, bad thing - and while it's easier to give too much to kids, adults can have too much too. It is really dangerous for unborn babies, which is why you are told to avoid eating liver if you're pregnant.
The world's first ever detection of H5N1 Avian Influenza in a sheep has occurred in Yorkshire, England. It affects a single sheep in a flock, no other sheep have tested positive.
This was a milk producing ewe who had been in close contact with captive birds which had tested positive. On initial testing the ewe had antibodies to H5 flu, but flu tests were negative. On retesting their milk was positive. The ewe was culled and when tested, organs and tissue were negative, but blood and milk were positive.
Partly because the flu hadn't spread to the ewes organs, or to any other sheep, risk is considered low, and this may just be a rare event. Thank heavens for the UK's vigilance.
Several mammals have now been infected with avian flu. It's as easy as eating a bit of grass with bird poo on it.
Talking of which... DEFRA have confirmed another 7 captive bird flocks infected by H5N1 Avian Flu in England in the past week. All are in North Yorkshire/East Riding - near Driffield, Pickering and Thirsk.
If you live in this area and are concerned, I would advise you keep pet cats inside wherever possible, don't allow dogs to roll in areas where birds gather, and especially if you have house pets and live rurally, have different footwear for indoors and outdoors.
Do not touch any sick or dead birds, and in the UK if you find a dead bird of prey or waterfowl, or 3 dead birds of any type, contact DEFRA (DAERA in NI) who will arrange collection.
3 in every 5 UK COVID infections are now a strain called LP.8.1.
Still Omicron, it's a descendent of JN.1, has been increasing since first detected last Summer and has slowly become dominant. It looked at first like it could be a little more dangerous, but that doesn't appear to be the case in reality. It does have an advantage in how easily it attaches to the human lung though, so it's easier to catch.
The UK's confirmed COVID cases are averaging slightly higher over the past couple of weeks (averaging about 160 a day rather than 130), and patients in hospital is also up slightly (just over 1,000 for the first time since mid January), but we didn't actually have a 'wave' at all over Winter, so at this point LP.8.1 is not having a noticeable effect. In fact COVID is just rolling along at a steady pace and has been since last November. It would be nicer to see it eliminated or barely registering, but tickover is really the best we can hope for, so fingers crossed it continues (or drops).
"Something happened. If you go back 20 years, autism, think of it -- one in 20,000 children. Think of that. One autism. You see it all over. One in 20,000 children. Now it's one in 36 children. Now, what the hell is that all about? There's something out there and we gotta find it."
Donald Trump.
If you go back to January 1930 no-one was diagnosed with autism at all. Pluto hadn't been discovered either, but I'm pretty sure it was there the whole time.
US head of Health and Human Services RFK Jr has selected the person head his study into vaccines and autism. It's David Geier, a "long-time anti-vaxxer who was disciplined for practising medicine without a license" (Helen Branswell, health editor at STAT News).
Triffic.
Mr Geier has previously authored studies claiming that thimerosal (a preservative) in vaccines led to an increase in autism diagnoses. At least one of those studies has been retracted. Thimerosal has been removed from most vaccinations, and autism diagnoses have continued to increase.
Mr Geier and his father have also previously 'treated' children with autism with "unproven therapies, including a drug licensed for prostate cancer that induces chemical castration" (STAT News).
Mr Geier has clear bias against vaccinations (and against people with autism by the sounds of it).
This is grim stuff and it has stunned experts in the USA and beyond. You probably couldn't choose a worse person.
I covered this last report, but this man is setting out looking for a link, and he'll no doubt find one. When you start with a conclusion and try to find evidence to support it, your study is already garbage.
What's the link between eating cereal and autism? Well, people with autism eat cereal, so cereal must cause autism, and I know I can find a link there. I'm pretty sure drawing with crayons must therefore also have a link to autism, and travelling by train... sheesh...
Over 30 proper peer-reviewed studies, including the Danish study of 600,000 children, could not find a difference in rates of autism whether children were vaccinated or not. This is wasting money and resources, it's dangerous and it'll most likely cost lives. And honestly, this obsession is just so rude to people with autism.
Paul Offit, pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is quoted by STAT News:
“The goal here is not to try and get an answer. The goal here is to provide RFK Jr. with the answer that he wants to hear. It’s shameful. It is shameful. Children in this country deserve better than Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or David Geier.”
The UK Health Security Agency have published their first annual report on infectious disease trends. It’s fascinating actually. The data covers 2023 to early 2025.
Key points:
- The UK HAS detected "a small number" of H5N1 avian flu infections in poultry workers exposed to infected birds (they kept that quiet). Cases were "largely asymptomatic", with 1 clinical infection (had symptoms) in January this year.
- RSV vaccinations led to a 30% reduction in RSV hospital admissions for 75-79 year olds.
- TB has increased each year since 2020. The UK may lose the WHO 'low incidence' status.
- STI's are a real issue. In 2023 Gonorrhea diagnoses were the highest since records began, Syphilis diagnoses highest since 1948
- 2024 saw cases of food poisoning from salmonella and campylobacter rise by around 25% - analysis of why is ongoing.
- Norovirus was massive last Winter. New genotype G.11 is thought to be responsible. A vaccination is beginning phase 3 (large scale human) trials.
- Measles resurged in 2023, with 362 confirmed cases. In 2024 there were 2,911 cases.
- Pertussis (whooping cough) also resurged. 856 cases in 2023, and 14,905 in 2024. 10 babies died.
- In England 2023 to 2024, hospital admission rates due to infectious disease and infection were nearly twice as high for people in the 20% most deprived areas, as compared to the least deprived - an estimated additional 128,000 respiratory admissions attributable to inequality.
- It's estimated for every £1 spent on UK HSA activity, £7.20 is saved. It includes screening, diagnostics, vaccinations, mapping, infection control, information-sharing, education, research and more.
The UK Government have also published a new Priority Pathogens reference tool. Basically they've examined risk from potential known viral and bacterial pathogens and placed 24 'pathogen families' into categories of high, moderate, or low pandemic and epidemic potential. This will be used to focus and guide preparedness efforts, including research and development into diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.
Highest risks and current burden on the UK come from things like norovirus (tummy bug), adenovirus (coughs, colds, conjunctivitis), Gonorrhea (sexually transmitted), hMPV (colds, respiratory) and Streptococcus (scarlet fever, septicemia, meningitis etc).
They note the burden from avian flu is currently low with "significant potential for increase".
A new RECOVER study (not yet peer-reviewed) has looked at how often children and adolescents develop Long COVID symptoms, and found that the risk increases significantly with 2nd and subsequent COVID infections, in fact it doubles overall. In the case of myocarditis it is 3.6 times more likely with a 2nd or subsequent infection.
They studied data from 40 children's hospitals and health institutions in the US between January 2022 and October 2023, and a list of 24 Long COVID symptoms 60 days after a positive PCR test. 465,717 individuals under 21 years old were included.
The authors conclude there may be a cumulative risk of Long COVID (posh name - Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or PASC). They "highlight the urgent need for targeted prevention strategies to reduce reinfections", including vaccinations for young people and children.
I've said it many times. Repeated COVID infection is not good for your health, we are building up more problems the longer we go on, and we are not looking after our children's health. Ignoring this is not going to make it go away.
There have been reports from Russia about an 'unknown respiratory illness' which starts like a heavy cold, gets worse and causes people to cough blood. It really does seem there is no mystery and this is mycoplasma pneumoniae, a fairly common respiratory disease which can indeed occasionally be nasty.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is also called 'walking pneumonia' because most people have mild symptoms, it's a bacterial infection and there are millions of cases each year. It has been particularly prevalent over the last few months - if you were ill, tested negative for COVID and had a cough for the next 3 or 4 weeks, you could have had it too.
Researchers from the University of Cologne and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing have discovered a bonus to COVID mRNA vaccines. They train the immune system to recognise and react to the SARS-CoV-2 virus as expected, but they also kick start our immune system into a state of readiness, on higher alert for other pathogens for at least another 6 months.
A single vaccine dose didn't trigger the effect, but 2 did, and boosters reinforced it.
Bonus effects of vaccines aren't unknown - in lab tests in mammals the BCG jab for Tuberculosis helps protect against fungal infections (it's harder to collect evidence for that one in humans in a real life setting).
Almost 2,000 US scientists have signed an SOS warning letter to the public:
"For over 80 years, wise investments by the US government have built up the nation’s research enterprise, making it the envy of the world. Astoundingly, the Trump administration is destabilizing this enterprise by gutting funding for research, firing thousands of scientists, removing public access to scientific data, and pressuring researchers to alter or abandon their work on ideological grounds."
At least 50 universities are being investigated and even having departments forcibly shut down.
"The administration is blocking research on topics it finds objectionable, such as climate change, or that yields results it does not like, on topics ranging from vaccine safety to economic trends."
Scientists and academics are rewording, abandoning, and removing their names from studies out of fear for their jobs and future. This isn't how it should be in the 'free world'.
"We all benefit from science, and we all stand to lose if the nation’s research enterprise is destroyed."
And what caused the SOS letter... the Whitehouse, Trump, Musk and RFK Jr demolition of Health and Human Services...
Bad news for anyone with COVID and anyone hoping to avoid it in the future. The Whitehouse at first cancelled around $11.4 BILLION funding for COVID research, research into other potential pandemic threats and vaccine research. The next day by email to research centres they restored Long COVID RECOVER study grants (Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery).
This doesn’t just cancel new grants, it cancels ongoing studies and research, some of which have been collecting data for months or years, and now simply... Stop. However close they were to finishing.
The Department for Health and Human Services issued a statement to press:
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.”
Yowch. Oh well then, it's all over. Hurrah. I'm sure this'll be welcome news to the relatives of the 17,000 people who died from COVID in the US during the last 3 months, and if you aren't counting people affected, then the figures look great. It's a miracle.
Oh, but wait, hang on a minute. No future pandemics either? Awesome.
The press statement also said:
“HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.”
Errrrm...yeah, by cutting things you will just place more stress elsewhere. I have questions...
It's also being reported by NBC that the US CDC is cutting $11.4 billion in pandemic response funds "allocated to state and country health departments and nongovernmental organisations".
Phew. Really good job we aren't going to have another pandemic.
In addition the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is laying off ANOTHER 10,000 staff . In a video posted on X, the HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he would cut 25% of HHS staff to save $1.8 billion - down from 82,000 to around 60,000 employees.
“We will eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments, while preserving their core functions.”
Pah, who needs health anyway. Over-rated.
"It should bother us that thousands of job cuts are being determined by shady DOGE operatives who have likely never darkened the doorways of most of our public health agencies. It’s also clear that nobody has taken the time to study carefully and seriously the difference between projects that are complementary (and that are necessary) and others that are truly redundant (and might actually be okay to cut or consolidate)."
Inside Medicine
Thousands of health experts at major agencies like the CDC, FDA and NIH received 'Reduction In Force' (RIF, redundancy, termination) emails on 1st April that really were not funny. Many had not seen these 5am emails and only realised their job had been terminated when they arrived at work and were unable to access offices. The list of HHS departments gutted by Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE this week is grim. Here are just some of the main cuts...
- The CDC's Freedom Of Information Act Offices - Axed and communications staff fired. It's not clear how FOIA requests will now be handled, because they currently legally still have to be answered.
- The Patient Safety Network (PSNet) - ALL funding cut
- FDA’s Office of Media Affairs - Axed, all staff terminated.
- FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - most staff fired
- The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response - Axed and 80 staff fired, will be incorporated into the CDC.
- The Office of Infectious Disease and HIV AIDS Policy (OIDP) - Axed, all staff terminated.
- The Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice (DEHSP) including National Centre for Environmental Health - Axed, hundreds of staff fired. Asthma, air and water quality, climate, lead poisoning, cruise liner safety, wildfires, radiation etc.
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) - Axed. Staff fired. They covered reproductive health, women's health, oral health, smoking and alcohol, tribal health, alzheimer's, epilepsy, IBD etc etc.
- National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention (NCHHSTP) - Axed. Staff fired.
- Global Health Centre (GHC) - Axed. Staff fired. Covered global HIV and TB etc.
- National Centre for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases - Axed, staff fired.
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) – all of NIOSH except World Trade Center and DCAS (who estimate radiation dose exposure) seems to have been axed and around 2/3 staff fired (873 people). It's beyond belief...
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control - gutted.
- The FDA Office of New Drugs, the Office of Policy & International Engagement - gutted.
- The FDA Office of Regulatory Programs - gutted.
- National Center for birth defects and developmental disabilities (NCBDDD) - gutted.
- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) - ALL staff fired.
- Administration for Children and Families - gutted.
- FDA Centre for Mental Health Services - gutted, most staff fired.
It's being widely reported that some agencies will be incorporated into a new department, the "Administration for Healthy America".
A lot of fired staff are already saying that the figures given for performance in their RIF notices did not match their actual assessments. I can't imagine a world where there isn't legal fallout from this. Any legal people willing to take it on may find themselves out of a job afterwards, but that isn't going to discourage everyone. In the UK you would definitely have a case, especially if they fabricated performance figures or then restored your job either in the same department or elsewhere. It'll be interesting to see what happens next...
And in a repeating turn of events, as reported by CBS, on Thursday RFK Jr casually announced:
"Personnel that should not have been cut, were cut. We're reinstating them. And that was always the plan. Part of the DOGE, we talked about this from the beginning, is we're going to do 80% cuts, but 20% of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we'll make mistakes."
This includes the CDC's entire Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch.
This is arrogance beyond belief. You can't just tell people they're fired and 2 days later say "oh yeah, that was an accident, I expect you back at work tomorrow". They won't all come back, and they've been through 48 hours of hell they won't forget. This isn't efficiency, and it's not how any decent business runs.
At least 12 senior HHS Department Heads were given 24 hours to accept reassignment or leave. CNN reported that Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was "offered reassignment to the Indian Health Service and would have to move to an area such as Alaska, New Mexico or Minnesota".
The FDA's former chief vaccine regulator Peter Marks (the man responsible for the COVID vaccine roll out 'Operation Warp Speed') was told to resign or be fired. His resignation letter is...erm... honest. He says he tried to reassure RFK Jr over vaccine safety, but RFK Jr didn't want to listen.
“...it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”
Talking about the measles outbreak in Texas he said it “reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined”.
RFK Jr is part of a school of thought where many people don't even believe in germ theory. They believe illness is caused by poor diet, environmental factors, lack of fresh air and exercise, and in many cases it can be, but they don't believe in teeny tiny microscopic virus - despite the fact it's 2025, we have microscopes now and we can see them.
These layoffs will affect things like antimicrobial resistance (antibiotics no longer working) - which is becoming a big problem. There won't be anyone to counter disinformation - which is a big problem. The most experienced and educated staff will move on - which is going to take decades to replace.
It's very easy to gut something and collapse it to rubble. It requires a lot more work and know-how to rebuild it. If you thought vaccine-hesitancy was a gamble too far, try operating without an Office Of Infectious Disease.
Kevin Griffis, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office of communications resigned last week. He has an article in The Washington Post and he's really quite demoralised.
He explains how hard the CDC has worked since 2020 to communicate swiftly and clearly to the public, and investigate potential threats at speed.
"It’s hard to overstate how different things are today.
Now, public health communications have slowed to trickle."
He goes on to explain precious resources are being wasted attempting "in vain" to find data supporting Kennedy’s use of vitamin A, cod liver oil and antibiotics to prevent and treat measles (a virus).
He goes on to say that "the United States urgently needs a strong alternative to the government public health guidance it has relied on in the past" and asks public health experts to come together to "provide independent, trustworthy sources of information" on public health.
I never thought I'd see the day the CDC needed an alternative, but in less than 3 months it has happened. Sounds like they could benefit from speaking to the UK's IndieSAGE group.
The UK's IndieSAGE group are still around, and still offering fabulously insightful commentary on all things health, from a panel of the UK's finest experts. This week they released a report on vaccines and preventable infections.
"The report was written in response to the unprecedented drop in vaccine uptake, the alarming rise in measles cases in countries such as the US and the proliferation of mis- and dis-information on-line, the main press and even in mainstream US policy."
It's worth a look, especially if you are confused or concerned about vaccinations and what is being reported in the press. It is very easy to read, with links to lots of other useful information, including explanations about what is in vaccines, how they work and how they benefit us, and just how rare side effects really are.
If you are still wary as to the safety and efficacy of the MMR vaccine, Niniaandthebrain has put together a list of around 300 measles vaccine safety studies. She's on Instagram.
If you still aren't convinced after that, please ask yourself why?
Talking of measles
At time of typing the latest Measles updates...
US measles outbreaks:
Texas outbreak has spread beyond the 'panhandle'. 481 cases, 56 hospitalised, 1 fatality.
New Mexico has detected 48 cases, 2 hospitalised, 1 fatality.
Kansas has an outbreak, with 24 cases reported.
Canadian measles outbreak:
In week 11 (March 9 to 15, 2025), 153 new measles cases (132 confirmed, 21 probable) were reported.
So far in 2025, up to 15th March, 496 measles cases reported (410 confirmed, 86 probable)
And for fairness, in the UK:
England has reported 151 cases up until 10th March, because we love out of date figures...
The Ontario, Canada, measles outbreak has been linked to Mennonite gathering last Autumn. I've not mentioned the religious group previously because the Mennonite doctrine is not anti-vaccine, however it seems many Mennonites are. The Texas, USA, outbreak is also centred around a Mennonite community.
Mennonites live in close-knit communities, often speaking German or a mix of German and Spanish. They tend to live fairly traditional old-world lives, with healthcare and other services provided by the community.
While we're on vaccine-preventable illnesses... Ireland recorded a record number of Whooping Cough (Pertussis) cases last year, with 567 by 9th November 2024, 159 of whom were hospitalised. This compares to incredibly low figures previously - 5 cases in 2021, 7 cases in 2022, and 18 cases in 2023.
Whooping Cough typically surges every 3-5 years.
The USA appears to currently be having a Whooping Cough surge. 2 infants have died in Louisiana in the last 6 months. Last year they had 154 reported cases, this year 110 already. Nationally the US had 35,000 cases last year and 10 children died. there have already been around 6,600 cases in 2025.
The Whooping Cough vaccine is around 98% effective at preventing infection for the first year, tailing off to around 71% 5 years later. It is most dangerous to infants, as their airways are so tiny, and it can make it very hard for them to drink.
The UK Health Security Agency are warning that there is a worldwide rise in antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea infections, including extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains or 'super-gonorrhoea', particularly in popular tourist destinations across the Asia-Pacific region.
XDR has developed resistance to various antibiotics, including ceftriaxone - considered the 'last-line' treatment option. This means healthcare providers have limited alternatives when this treatment fails. Up until 2021 the UK had around 2 cases a year, but that's been rising, and last year we had 2 a month.
Really the number of sexually transmitted infections in the UK is much higher than you'd hope.
In England in quarter 3 (July to September) 2024 there were 17,980 diagnoses of gonorrhoea at sexual health services, and 2,290 cases of syphilis.
Babies aren't necessarily the most surprising or costly thing you can get from unprotected sex...
A 3rd human in Cambodia has been reported to have contracted H5N1 from infected poultry this year, and sadly all 3 have not survived. The most recent was a 3 year old boy. His family raised chickens which became infected, and were killed for food. It's not known exactly how he became infected by the chickens, but they were a family backyard flock.
A 2 year old Indian girl seems to be the first human who has died from H5N1 avian flu caught by eating meat. She ate raw chicken on 28th February and sadly died in hospital on 16th March.
No, I do not know why she ate raw chicken. Her parents ate cooked chicken, it's normal in the whole of India to eat cooked chicken, and Indian health authorities, the same as any other, advise cooking chicken meat.
Please don't eat raw chicken.
There has been an increase in outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu among captive birds across Europe in the last 3 months.
"Between 7 December 2024 and 7 March 2025, 743 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) virus detections were reported in domestic (239) and wild (504) birds across 31 countries in Europe. HPAI A(H5N1) virus detections were predominant and mainly located in central, western and south-eastern Europe."
Several cases have also been confirmed in wild carnivores and domestic cats.
It isn't just Europe having a spike in avian flu, South Korea had 6 confirmed outbreaks in farmed chickens in the week ending 25th March (bringing their total to 42 poultry flocks affected), and are taking decisive action. They held a '2 day period of nationwide disinfection'. According to Wattagnet this applied to farms, livestock facilities and vehicles, with all vehicles entering or leaving large egg farms being cleaned and disinfected.
At the time of typing the latest update on HPAI H5N1 in the US shows
998 confirmed US cattle herds infected across 17 states (19 in the last 30 days).
No more human infections detected, it remains at 70 confirmed, 7 probable and 1 fatality.
"Between 12 December 2024 and 7 March 2025, 22 new cases of avian influenza virus infection in humans were reported in the USA (12 A(H5) cases), Cambodia (two A(H5N1) cases), United Kingdom (one A(H5N1) case), and China (six A(H9N2) cases and one A(H10N3) case). Most of the A(H5) human cases (93%, n = 14/15) had reported exposure to poultry or dairy cattle prior to avian influenza virus detection or onset of illness."
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Erin DiGirolamo over on Medscape has done a fantastic guide to avian influenza for physicians. It's easy to read and full of information from world experts, such as usefulness of treatments, and how different mammals are infected - courtesy of James Lowe, University of Illinois. H5N1 virus attaches via avian-like 'sialic acid (SA) receptors', which vary in number and location.
“These species differences explain why H5N1 is devastating in some animals while relatively benign in others.”
Poultry - Spreads rapidly and is highly lethal.
Humans - SA receptors are deep in the lungs, making human infection rare but more severe (it seems especially if it is inhaled).
Pigs - Have some avian-like receptors in their respiratory tracts, but surprisingly have mostly escaped infection so far.
Cattle - Infects the udder, but not the respiratory tract.
Marine mammals (eg, seals) - Birdlike SA receptors in their respiratory tracts, making them highly susceptible.
Cats (and other wild carnivorous mammals): SA receptors are in the brain, so it causes neurological disease.
A Michigan resident who received an organ transplant in December last year has died from rabies.
The patient contracted rabies through the infected organ, which must be heartbreaking for everyone involved.
Rabies is hard to spot in humans until symptoms occur weeks or months later, by which time it's usually too late to do anything. The organ donor didn't have any rabies symptoms, and died 5 weeks after an encounter with a wild animal.
Other patients given corneal (eye) transplants from the same donor have been given post-exposure prophylaxis shots to prevent rabies and are currently healthy.
This is incredibly rare and unfortunate, however there are other documented cases of humans becoming infected via organ donation, this seems to be the 13th known case.
Lab testing for the unknown disease in DRC has finally come back as malaria. This is the second time in 4 months that a sudden wave of deaths caused panic among the population, and the second time it ruled out anything but malaria.
At least 943 people fell sick and 52 died in Equateur province at the start of the year, but thankfully it slowed down very quickly (back to normal malaria fatality levels - we honestly don't appreciate how fortunate we are).
Angola has a large-scale and rapidly spreading Cholera epidemic. It began in January and there are already over 8,500 cases and 320 losses of life. Half of the patients are children, although males aged 15-24 are the worst afffected group.
Cholera is a bacterial disease spread via contaminated water or food, and it causes horrific diarrhoea.
It is relatively easy and cheap to treat most diarrhoea with rehydration, if you have access to medical care. We are very fortunate, millions more are not.
Worldwide, even today, diarrhoea still kills more children than anything else.
The USA has a massive (MASSIVE) problem with honeybee losses. Scientists at Washington State University are warning that 60-70% of bees could die before 2025 is over, and it could well affect food production, as around 1/3 of crops are pollinated by bees. Over the past few years honeybee losses have increased to 30-40% a year, but this is the worst outlook yet.
Priya Chakrabarti Basu, Assistant Professor of Pollinator Health and Apiculture at WSU (fantastic job title), says it's too early to be certain, but suspects a combination of factors are involved, including "nutrition deficiencies, mite infestations, viral diseases, and possible pesticide exposure during the previous pollinating season".
The UK Government has lost a legal challenge and must now reveal the names of all companies who used the 'VIP lane' to bid for COVID contracts. When the VIP lane was ruled 'unlawful' all successful bidders were revealed to the public, and since then the Government has attempted to keep the others secret. Not for much longer...
It's Friday and the weekend is here again - hurrah! We are half way through our Spring break, and a lot of you are beginning yours. My commiserations to anyone who still has to work while the kids are off school, or who has young people revising for exams. Don't forget to take time out, relax, and do something for you. You have earnt it, and you deserve it. Be kind and have something to look forward to - and enjoy the sunshine!
I'll be back in 2 weeks, which is Good Friday, so I will be a day early. See you then...
Play Outdoors, Book Your Vaccinations, Save The NHS...
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Sources
Images
UK Gov, more funding for Pharmacies Image
WHO Measles long term effects image
WHO Measles image
Sheep bird flu links and image
Antibiotics - dont flush them image
UK Gov safer farm visits image
Gaza children image
Uk gov new nurseries image
Brandolinis law image
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Reference pages H5N1
https://www.paho.org/en/topics/avian-influenza
https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html
Infectious disease tracker
https://promedmail.org/
Bird flu updates and news
https://www.birdflualerts.com/
UK Spring COVID boosters
UK Gov, more funding for Pharmacies
Vitamin A toxicity
Don't overdose on vitamin A when pregnant
Sheep with H5N1
UK HAIRS risk assessment: influenza of avian origin in lactating livestock
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hairs-risk-assessment-influenza-of-avian-origin-in-lactating-livestock/hairs-risk-assessment-influenza-of-avian-origin-in-lactating-livestock
Sheep
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-avian-influenza-latest-situation-in-england
DEFRAS Avian Flu Map for the UK
Latest UK COVID
Strain LP.8.1
Vaccine critic’s apparent selection to head HHS autism study shocks experts
David Geier to do autism study
Trump - Autism
Vaccine skeptic hired to head study into vaccines and autism
UK HSA annual report on infectious disease trends
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-highlights-pathogens-of-greatest-risk-to-public-health?s=09
Long COVID kids
Russia illness mycoplasma pneumoniae
https://www.reddit.com/r/ContagionCuriosity/s/IAHGU6Voqz
Persistent epigenetic memory of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in monocyte-derived macrophages
GAVI mRNA vaccines
SOS Letter from US scientists
Text re SOS letter
COVID and US HHS funding cancelled
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-pulling-back-11b-covid-funding-sent-health-departments-us-rcna198006
https://www.reddit.com/r/ContagionCuriosity/s/NZ2cmhYQ8I
https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/27/rfk-jr-10000-job-cuts-hhs-restructuring-health-agency-impacts-cdc-fda-nih-cms/
Long COVID Grants Restored
https://thesicktimes.org/2025/03/28/update-recover-long-covid-pathobiology-grants-restored/
...........................................
Trump Staff Fired
Communications staff & workers in HHS agencies' freedom of information offices
https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/01/hhs-rfk-job-cuts-communications-foia-operations/
Trump shuts down the Patient Safety Network
RFK Jr. is expected to lay off the entire Office for Infectious Disease And HIV/AIDS Policy.
https://archive.is/FMo3F
FOIA
Overview of job cuts HHS
Employees unaware emails 5am
Lists of fired workers
Open source list of fired US workers
https://open.substack.com/pub/insidemedicine/p/the-calm-before-the-chainsaw-at-hhs?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=354hjt
Dr Andrea Love, Immunologic
Drug use and maternal health
NIOSH
Job CUTS
STAT NEWS
https://archive.is/sytgT
20% of job cuts were mistakes
Peter Marks resignation
https://x.com/HelenBranswell/status/1906041546543116355?t=vnaa3pgrfuqT-6Tr_k8tzA&s=09
Peter Marks achievements
https://x.com/HelenBranswell/status/1906101608213336394?t=9QUuo2gcc3JYZi6s_LYxgg&s=09
Peter Marks leaves
https://archive.is/TuoCK
When the government becomes a health misinformation superspreader
https://archive.is/aGUUO
IndieSAGE (short version)
Indie sage report on vaccines and preventable diseases
Guide to vaccinations for children (including how vaccines work)
List of 300 safety studies for Measles vaccine
MEASLES
Mennonites
https://eu.statesman.com/story/news/state/2025/02/27/what-is-mennonites-texas-measles-outbreak-linked-community-vaccine-gaines-county/80674415007/
Measles latest figures Monday 31st MArch
Latest MEASLES
Kansas
Kansas Measles
https://x.com/BNOFeed/status/1904998152068817258?t=vCSaDjqWBvS2LNMmAPzS8A&s=09
Texas
New Mexico
Canada
UK
Irish whooping cough
https://www.irishcollegeofgps.ie/News/press-release-pertussis
https://www.newstalk.com/news/record-number-of-irish-whooping-cough-cases-reported-in-2024-2148141
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/whooping-cough-cases-rise-to-over-10000
https://www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/whooping-cough/
https://data.cdc.gov/browse?category=NNDSS&sortBy=relevance&page=1&pageSize=20
Antibiotic resistant STIs
AVIAN FLU
3 1/2 year old Cambodian dies from H5N1
https://www.kampucheathmey.com/local-news/879041
https://www.reddit.com/r/ContagionCuriosity/s/qHKipngalK
2 year old Indian girl died bird flu
Times Of India
Bird infections H5N1 Europe
South Korea avian flu measures
https://www.mafra.go.kr/sites/home/index.do
H5N1
https://www.paho.org/en/topics/avian-influenza
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/hpai-confirmed-cases-livestock
https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-avian-influenza-latest-situation-in-england
Infectious disease tracker
https://promedmail.org/
Bird flu updates and news
https://www.birdflualerts.com/
Human cases H5 infections quote and European situation summary
Avian Influenza: What Infectious Disease Physicians Need to Know
Discussion on Avian Influenza situation NEJM
Organ recipient dies of rabies
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies
DRC mystery illness January 2025
Angola Cholera
https://x.com/WHO/status/1906629977300402231?t=3AttBTGuhar5euM6OhvUiQ&s=09
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease
Honeybee losses USA
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/scientists-warn-severe-honey-bee-losses-2025-rcna198141
UK Gov has to reveal all companies which used the 'illegal VIP lane' for COVID PPE supply
https://goodlawproject.org/update/appeal-ppe-vip-lane-judgment/
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