epidemiology, microbiology

Two independent groups suggest the suite of recent unexplained hepatitis cases may stem from coinfection with an adeno-associated virus and a helper adeno- or herpesvirus, a duo which may be especially virulent in children with a particular genetic variant.

Preliminary testing indicates that the two people died from the Ebola-like virus, the World Health Organization says.

The longer and farther the virus spreads, the more likely it could become endemic in new areas, says UCLA epidemiologist Anne Rimoin.

Experts are scrambling to understand clusters of the normally rare disease that have been reported in Europe and North America in the last month.

Researchers use genetic clues to track the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria from the environment to patients.

A preprint reports that the new SARS-CoV-2 variant multiplies faster in human bronchial tissue but slower in lung tissue than the Delta variant, potentially explaining how it’s spreading from person to person so quickly.

Preliminary data suggest that the newly dubbed Omicron variant may be more infectious than previous versions of the virus, but it will take time to obtain the reliable data needed to answer pressing questions about its biology.

Dozens of researchers, including myself, worked for years to uncover that swine flu had leapt to humans from a pig in Mexico in 2009. We learned a lot about influenza evolution, pig farming, and outbreak risk along the way.

Officials say it’s not yet clear whether this case is linked to an outbreak in Guinea earlier this summer.

The makers of the CRISPR-based testing platform, called miSHERLOCK, say it could enable people at home or physicians in resource-limited environments to detect SARS-CoV-2—and eventually, other pathogens.

The finding of the Ebola-like disease, which killed a man in Guinea, has prompted public health measures.

An ability to build up higher concentrations of viral particles in people’s airways and mutations that might boost its ability to infect human cells could be what gives the Delta variant its evolutionary edge.

Surveillance networks set up to detect outbreaks among pets could one day have public health uses too.  

Some of the blood specimens collected in the United States for the NIH’s All of Us research program starting on January 2, 2020, have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Influenza RNA sequences from three sets of lungs preserved in formalin since 1918 provide new insights into the deadly pandemic.

A modeling study of boarding behavior finds filling the plane from back to front extends the close contact time between passengers and therefore increases the risks posed by air travel.

Scientists at the US CDC report no red flags in a preliminary analysis of the safety of Pfizer/BioNTech’s and Moderna’s mRNA-based immunizations among expectant mothers.

Researchers involved in a long-term project to identify viruses of concern have now assessed the risk factors that could help forecast which pathogens are the most likely to spillover from wildlife to people.