COVID Thread

[Gomez Adams]

We'll never know for sure. Was the animal in the lab? Was that particular strain being studied in the lab and got loose through some stupid accident?

We'll never know for sure. The only people that know for sure whether it came out of the lab or not is China, and I'm sure they know one way or the other.

If it did, I'd bet a million dollars I don't have that they've completely changed protocols so it never happens again. After all, nobody got hit worse than they did.

 

[Zeedox]

I had to look that thing up because the picture I saw looked like some mad Victorian taxidermist put dog legs on a raccoon to scare people.

Common raccoon dog - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The common raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), also called the Chinese or Asian raccoon dog to distinguish it from the Japanese raccoon dog, is a small, heavy-set, fox-like canid native to East Asia. Named for its raccoon-like face markings, it is most closely related to foxes.

Raccoon dogs are the only canids known to hibernate.

(Your knowledge in useless trivia has increased by one!)

 

[Zeedox]

Scientists Fear Bird Flu Surge as Billions of Birds Start to Fly Home

The annual migration back to the northern hemisphere is likely to bring a new wave of H5N1, which is already affecting animals and humans.

www.thedailybeast.com

All along bird-migration routes, which criss-cross North America, Europe and Asia, infection risk could increase. Not only for other birds—including domestic flocks of chickens, ducks and turkeys—but also for the growing number of mammal species that have caught bird flu. Foxes. Bears. Sea lions. Minks. Pigs. “Increased migration is definitely a concern,” James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told The Daily Beast.

 

[Gomez Adams]

That's why egg prices are so high right now: bird flu is wiping out chickens hand over fist. Eggs are typically around 2 dollars per dozen here. They're presently around 6 dollars and up now.

 

[Zeedox]

Bird flu killed hundreds of seals in New England

The virus ripped through seal populations in the region in summer 2022, researchers say.

www.birdguides.com

Tufts Wildlife Clinic has monitored the virus in birds and some mammals since January 2022, recording a minimum of three strains that had crossed over from Europe. They were also able to test almost all seals that came through the Greater Atlantic Region Marine Mammal Stranding Network, regardless of whether the seal was visibly sick, and gather genetic data on any viruses detected.

Sawatzki said: "Because of the genetic data that we gathered, we were the first to see a strain of the virus that's unique to New England. The data set will allow us to more meaningfully address questions of which animals are passing the virus to which animals and how the virus is changing."

The team found that the mass mortality event in seals coincided with the virus hitting local gull populations severely. It is thought seals could easily pick up the virus from gulls as they share the same habitat and can easily come into contact with gull excrement.

H5N1 is nearly 100% fatal in domestic and wild birds, other than wildfowl, and this appears to be the case in mammals too. All seals testing positive for bird flu were either dead or dying, with no survivors, though it is possible that potential cases of asymptomatic or recovered animals would not have reached the stranding network. It is also uncertain whether the virus has been passed between seals, or the animals have only picked the disease up from gulls.

 

[Gomez Adams]

That is terrifying. I mean, if it's crossed over to seals, how long before it finds a way to get to us?

 

[Gomez Adams]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1653344643193483264

 

[Zeedox]

China faces a new Covid wave that could peak at 65 million cases a week

The country once had some of the harshest Covid restrictions on the planet, but the response from the government and the public is relatively muted this time.

www.nbcnews.com

It’s a startling prediction in a country, where the pandemic originated in late 2019, that only months ago had enforced some of the harshest Covid control protocols on the planet. Now, with the latest omicron variant, XBB, fueling a resurgence in cases, the response from China’s government and the public is muted at best.

What to know about XBB.1.16, the 'Arcturus' variant

The subvariant accounts for nearly 10% of new Covid cases in the U.S.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Gomez Adams]

Mokdad said that labs haven’t yet determined how well the Covid vaccines work against XBB.1.16.​

​

Chin-Hong said he wasn't particularly concerned about the vaccines.​

​

"Because it's so similar to XBB.1.5, we think that vaccines will be fine," he said.​

​

That's NOT very reassuring.

 

[Gomez Adams]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1682797390120509440

 

[Zeedox]

DeSantis is a true blight.

 

[Zeedox]

CDC says COVID variant EG.5 is now dominant, including strain some call "Eris"

It is unclear which regions of the U.S. have the most EG.5 infections.

www.cbsnews.com

Overall, as of Friday, 17.3% of COVID-19 cases nationwide were projected to be caused by EG.5, more than any other group, up from 7.5% through the first week of July.

The next most common variants after EG.5 are now XBB.1.16 at 15.6%, XBB.2.23 at 11.2% and XBB.1.5 at 10.3%. Some other new XBB spinoffs are now being ungrouped from their parents by the CDC, including FL.1.5.1, which now accounts for 8.6% of new cases.

EG.5 includes a strain with a subgroup of variants designated as EG.5.1, which a biology professor, T. Ryan Gregory, nicknamed "Eris" — an unofficial name that began trending on social media.

Experts say EG.5 is one of the fastest growing lineages worldwide, thanks to what might be a "slightly beneficial mutation" that is helping it outcompete some of its siblings.