Pandemics

SACRAMENTO, California — Health officials across the U.S. are working to prevent a potentially dangerous combination virus as avian flu rips through one of the nation’s largest milk-producing regions during the height of flu season.

A third farmworker has tested positive for bird flu in California, according to the state’s health department. If confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this would be the 17th human case of H5N1 flu in the US since March, when the virus was first detected in cows.

WHO currently deems the risk of spread to nearby countries as high, but global spread low.

Dean Jha addressed the School of Public Health at this annual fall event, showcasing the school’s impact by sharing the stage with members of the school’s community, including student, staff and faculty speakers.

With the approach of fall and cooler weather across the United States, officials say the risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus could rise — and they’re taking steps to prevent the creation of a hybrid flu virus that could more easily infect humans.

Infections historically rise during the colder months — but is that still true since COVID is surging now?

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the new Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It’s the third time the vaccines have been updated to match circulating strains since the original series. The shots should be available within days. The agency hasn't yet approved a third vaccine, from drugmaker Novavax.

U.S. health officials now say COVID-19 is an endemic disease. That means it's here to stay – circulating regularly like the flu. Even though that changes how public health officials think about managing the virus, they say it doesn't mean being less cautious or vigilant during surges, like the current one this summer. COVID still poses significant risks for older individuals and those with underlying conditions — and anyone who gets COVID is at risk of developing long COVID.

If it seems like a lot of people are getting COVID right now, you’re not imagining it. We’re in the middle of a worldwide summer COVID-19 wave.

Four years after SARS-CoV2 sparked a devastating global pandemic, U.S. health officials now consider COVID-19 an endemic disease.

BIRD FLU CHECK-IN — More cows and humans continue to test positive for avian influenza, but the CDC maintains that the risk to the public remains low. We checked in with several infectious disease experts to learn more about what the recent outbreak at poultry farms in Colorado means for the U.S. response to the virus.

Coronavirus activity in wastewater reached levels considered “high” or “very high” in 26 states, according to the most recent CDC data.

Even as the H5N1 virus evolves, gaps remain in the nation’s contingency plans for human testing, scientists say.

Farmworkers need paid sick leave and widespread testing to help prevent an H5N1 pandemic, experts say.

The dean of the Brown University School of Public Health shares what to know to stay safe amid a summer wave of COVID-19 cases and the new strain circulating.

How worried you should be about H5N1, the bird flu virus spreading on dairy farms in the United States, depends on who you are. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described the current H5N1 risk to the general public as low. The risk that the virus poses is tempered by the fact that it doesn’t spread easily among people — yet.

While baseless attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci may be comforting to some, it doesn't get to the heart of the issues.

No one knows when the next pandemic will sweep across the United States. It could be bird flu, or an as-yet unknown infection. But after living through the Covid-19 pandemic, which claimed more than 1 million American lives, left more than 300,000 children orphaned, and shut down workplaces and schools, U.S. citizens should demand that the nation does better next time.

Brown researchers find that routine testing of asymptomatic residents identifies carriers and prevents outbreaks within long-term care settings.

As much as we would all love to ignore COVID, a new set of variants that scientists call “FLiRT” is here to remind us that the virus is still with us.

Outside a farm in Michigan in early May, an RV pulled up and parked. Registered nurse Aracely Nerio and others helped set up a canopy, where nearby farmworkers could find shade or bottles of water, and check their blood pressure and glucose levels. Health care is often out of reach for these laborers.

After Joe Silva graduates from Brown’s School of Public Health, he will begin a two year role as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer for the U.S. Government.

In this special bonus episode of Humans in Public Health, we talk with Professor Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, about the rising concerns about bird flu in the United States.

Failure to shield these workers could allow the H5N1 virus to become a greater threat.

Officials are racing to conduct more testing to better understand the spread of the virus and its potential risk to humans.

Anaridis Rodriguez is joined by Pandemic Preparedness expert, Jennifer Nuzzo, from Brown University, to dig deeper into how we can best prepare ourselves for another pandemic.

A Texas dairy worker has tested positive for the avian flu, marking the first identified human case of an illness in the U.S. that has sickened cattle across several states over the past few weeks.

Four years out from the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, a new study explores the extent to which COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are being distributed and employed simultaneously, particularly among high-risk populations.

In four years of the Covid pandemic, we have seen lots and lots of guidance change over time. Most recently, the CDC has relaxed its recommendations about isolating after testing positive for Covid.

Americans who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days, U.S. health officials announced Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its longstanding guidance, saying that people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it’s been a day since they’ve had a fever.

An expert on global health security, public health preparedness and response, and health systems resilience, Jennifer Nuzzo DrPH, is professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health where she directs the Pandemic Center. We spoke to her about pandemic proofing the future, and how Brown is uniquely positioned to make impact in the field.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon drop its isolation guidance for people with COVID-19. The planned change was reported in The Washington Post on Tuesday, attributed to several unnamed CDC officials.

An analysis of health care claims data, conducted in partnership with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, finds billions in excess health care spending following COVID-19 infection, and has important implications for pandemic preparedness.

The Pandemic Center kicked off a new Brown Arts IGNITE film and media series with the pre-release screening of Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s documentary “Shot in the Arm,” followed by panel discussion.

The CDC says we should isolate for five days after testing positive. Other public health officials disagree. Who is right?

From the Ebola epidemic to COVID-19, former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain discussed the intersection of public health and politics with Dean Ashish K. Jha.

Over the coming months, more than 100,000 Americans will likely die, mostly unnecessarily, from respiratory infections. Yes, that is the reality we are now facing this fall and winter—and likely every fall and winter for the foreseeable future. Unless we act.

COVID cases are on the rise and this week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that anyone who is six months or older get the new COVID-19 vaccines. Health reporter Lynn Arditi talked about the new vaccines with Doctor Ashish Jha, former White House COVID advisor and current dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health.

If you’re 60 or over, “you don’t want to get into November without having an R.S.V. vaccine,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the former White House Covid adviser and current dean of Brown University’s public health school.

Given the late summer wave of COVID infections, you might have questions about how best to protect yourself and others. In The Boston Globe, Professor Jennifer Nuzzo tackles one of the most pressing issues: When should you get your next shot?

With an updated vaccine, readily available testing, and successful treatments, Dean Ashish Jha writes that COVID-19 isn't the disruptive force that it once was: "The virus no longer needs to reorder our lives and our priorities."

Professor Craig Spencer writes that Americans have been too quick to condemn the field of public health, overlooking its massive achievements in the 1900s and also during the recent pandemic.

Where does COVID-19 fall among the deadliest viruses of all time? Professor Jennifer Nuzzo breaks down the ways we measure the danger of a virus, as well as the factors that made COVID different from previous outbreaks.

The Pandemic Center, the School of Public Health’s newest research center, was launched last fall with the mission of using positive disruption to stop pandemics and other biological emergencies before they can gain momentum and upend our lives and livelihoods.