TIME ★

A key latency in the blood testing of exposed workers might result in an underestimating of the virus's potential transmission to people, experts and researchers cautioned almost immediately after the H5N1 avian flu outbreak across American farms and ranches earlier this year. Human-to-human  ' bird flu ' transmission reported, health officials intensify efforts to prevent pandemic. Getty Those warnings have proven prescient. And the government Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) is now not only attempting to slow the spread of the virus, but also catching up on testing procedures that have been widely opposed by American farmers. The question today is if novel measures can prevent widespread human-to-human transmission of this strain—as some scientists believe it is only a matter of time. "We will have a bird flu pandemic," former CDC director Robert Redfield said plainly in a June television appearance. "The question isn't if, ...

Health officials have identified an outbreak of whooping cough (pertussis) on Long Island, New York. On December 30, 2023, Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott issued a statement stating that the county's health department is tracking an increasing number of pertussis cases. An outbreak of whooping cough ( pertussis ) has been reported on Long Island , New York , according to health officials . iStock According to the announcement, the "vast majority" of the 108 documented cases involve children and parents from local school systems. The majority of the patients were vaccinated and experienced just minor symptoms.  There have been no hospitalizations reported thus far. "With so many respiratory illnesses currently circulating, some for which there is no treatment, we wanted to make sure that parents know that pertussis, also called whooping cough, can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early," stated Pigott in a news release. ...