epidemiology, infectious disease

Two strains of monkeypox have been detected in the US, suggesting the virus has been circulating in the country for some time, the CDC says.

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

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.

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.

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.

A review of hundreds of cases finds that only a minority of patients noted being sick with a coronavirus infection prior to developing the severe inflammatory condition.

Martha Nelson of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases talks about the need to balance data sharing and patient privacy concerns when tracking the spread of variants.

Death rates among blood cancer patients who contract COVID-19 are higher than for those with other cancers, pointing to impaired immunity that makes it hard to overcome the virus.

The woman may have had a link to another person, who was married to an Ebola survivor and who died a few days previously in Democratic Republic of Congo.

J. Michael Lane was the director of the CDC’s successful program to eradicate smallpox.

Lab and field experiments indicate that aquatic environments could act as reservoirs for the pathogens, which typically do not represent a direct risk to humans.

The four factors that drive contagion

A leading scientist on the mechanisms of action of antimalarial medications, the University of North Carolina professor made contributions to research and mentoring all around the world.

Animals that can host pathogens dangerous to humans, such as rodents, birds, and bats, are proportionately more common in human-occupied spaces than in remote areas.

The basic reproductive R0, along with the more malleable effective reproduction number Re, are centerpieces of most epidemiological models that are informing government responses to COVID-19.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has revealed the limitations of R0 as no other disease outbreak has before, at a time when policymakers need accurate forecasts.

Not all masks are created equal, and how they are worn makes a difference too.