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Avian flu hits more poultry in 4 states amid snow geese deaths in Delaware

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today confirmed more H5N1 avian flu detections in poultry from four states, all involving commercial poultry.

Two of the events involved broiler farms, one a facility in Arkansas’ Cleveland County that has nearly 107,000 birds and another in Maryland’s Dorchester County that has 152,000 chickens.

In Missouri, the virus struck four turkey producers in three different counties—Jasper, Lawrence, and Newton. Taken together, the farms have about 145,000 birds.

APHIS also confirmed the virus at a farm in Illinois’ Cook County, part of the Chicago metro area, that has 500 birds. 

In dairy cow H5N1 developments, APHIS confirmed 7 more detections, all involving herds from California, which push the national total to 937 and California’s total to 720.

Snow geese deaths prompt clean-up in Delaware

The Delmarva Avian Flu Joint Information Center yesterday announced that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the USDA’s APHIS are collaborating on an effort to collect sick and dead snow geese and other wild birds in Delaware to help curb the spread of the virus.

Outbreaks in commercial poultry have recently been reported in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia in an area that makes up the Delmarva Peninsula. Officials in the region are collaborating on a unified response. The group said snow geese migrate from the Arctic and form large flocks in Delaware each winter.  “It is unknown when or where the snow geese may have acquired the virus given their highly migratory nature and association with other waterfowl and waterbirds throughout the Atlantic Flyway through which they travel into Delaware and more southern states,” officials said.

Officials urged anyone with sick or dead birds on public or private property to immediately report their findings to state authorities. 

Tanzania confirms second Marburg virus case

Tanzania’s national lab has confirmed one more Marburg virus case in an outbreak affecting Kagera region, where the virus triggered the country’s first Marburg outbreak in 2023, an official from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said at a briefing today.

Ngashi Ngongo, MD, PhD, who leads Africa CDC’s mpox incident management team, said 10 cases have been reported — 2 of them confirmed and 8 listed as probable. Nine deaths have been reported for a case fatality rate of 90%. The nine patients who died include one of the lab-confirmed patients, and eight who had probable infections.

The outbreak is occurring in the Biharamulo district Kagera region, where an outbreak that began in March 2023 resulted in nine cases, six of them fatal. Officials have raised concerns about the high risk of further spread, given that Kagera region is a transit hub and borders Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.

So far, 31 tests have been conducted, of which 29 were negative, Ngongo said. He added that the Zimbabwe’s government has deployed a rapid response team and earmarked $10.8 million for a national response plan.

Officials consider use of experimental treatments, vaccines

Stepped-up surveillance activities have identified 281 contacts for follow-up.

Ngongo said health officials in Tanzania are discussing compassionate use of the same antivirals and candidate vaccine that were used to help stem a recent Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda, which was declared over in on December 20 following 66 cases, 15 of them fatal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) initially reported a suspected Marburg outbreak on January 14 and the Tanzania’s government officially declared the outbreak on January 20.

Editorial note: This story was corrected on January 27 to correct country information in the final paragraph.

CWD decimating southwestern Wisconsin deer herds, officials say

An ongoing study by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that deployed tracking collars on more than 1,200 animals in three counties shows that chronic wasting disease (CWD) is dramatically decreasing the survival of white-tailed deer.

"Reduced female survival lowers the growth rate of the population, and when sufficiently suppressed, may result in population decline," the DNR said yesterday in a news release. "Specifically, results from this study indicate that when the CWD prevalence rates of females surpasses about 29%, deer populations are expected to begin declining."

CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of cervids (eg, deer, elk) caused by infectious misfolded proteins called prions. There is no vaccine or treatment. While people have not yet been diagnosed as having CWD, experts fear it could cross the species barrier.

Disease halves survival in does

The DNR launched the Southwest Wisconsin Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), Deer and Predator Study in fall 2016 to evaluate factors that could affect deer survival and population growth, such as CWD, predation, habitat suitability, and hunter harvest. The researchers call it the largest and most comprehensive deer study ever done in the state.

If CWD continues to spread and its prevalence continues to increase, populations will likely face further declines.

The study was conducted in CWD-prevalent northern Iowa, Dane, and Grant counties, where the disease was first detected in 2002. Among the adult deer, fawns, coyotes, and bobcats captured, 766 adult deer were fitted with GPS collars, and 323 fawns received radio tracking collars.

The researchers calculated that the likelihood of survival from one year to the next among healthy females was 83%, compared with 41% in those with CWD. The respective percentages among uninfected and infected males were 69% and 17%.

"If CWD continues to spread and its prevalence continues to increase, populations will likely face further declines," they wrote. "The exact degree of these declines, however, will depend on local harvest and recruitment rates."

The DNR, however, said it doesn't expect the complete elimination of infected herds from the area, because deer populations can increase reproduction when deer are less abundant due to less competition for food, space, and other resources. Data analysis is ongoing.

Central African Republic launches mpox vaccination; cases rise in Uganda

In the first weeks of 2025, mpox activity in some of Africa’s mpox hot spots continued at a steady pace, though countries are at different stages of their outbreaks, a top official from Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said today at a briefing.

Though 21 countries have reported cases since the start of 2024, 10 are currently in the active outbreak stage, including the Central African Republic (CAR), which launched its mpox vaccine campaign on January 18. The fourth country to begin immunization, the CAR is using the first 2,300 doses of its 12,300-dose allocation.

Ngashi Ngongo, MD, PhD, head of Africa CDC's mpox incident management team, said in the first two epidemiological weeks of the year, the region reported 5,842 cases, a number that doesn’t yet include the latest numbers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has been the region’s top hot spot. Over the past 2 weeks, countries also reported 38 deaths.

Uganda’s situation intensifies, along with activity in urban hot spots

Ngongo said though cases continue at a stable level in Burundi and the DRC, activity appears to be on the rise in Uganda. He also raised concerns about an increase in deaths in Uganda, especially in people with underlying health conditions.

Urban cities such as Bujumbura, Burundi’s largest city and its main port, Uganda’s capital Kampala, and the DRC’s capital Kinshasa are highly affected and require focused intervention, Ngongo said.

Elsewhere, Sierra Leone, the most recently affected country, now has 12 confirmed cases from 7 districts, he said. Genetic sequencing of the country’s first two cases, reported earlier this month, have revealed the clade 2b virus, which is the global strain that has been circulating since 2022. 

Africa is grappling with a complex mpox situation, which involves different clades in different countries, including the spread of the novel clade 1b virus, especially in the DRC and its neighbors.

CARB-X funds development of monoclonal antibody for Staph aureus

CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) announced today that it is awarding $729,000 to Chicago-based biotechnology company Immunartes to develop a monoclonal antibody designed to prevent Staphylococcus aureus infections.

The antibody is designed to neutralize the immune-evasive mechanisms of S aureus, which is a leading cause of bloodstream infections and is responsible for more than 1 million deaths annually. Of particular concern is methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA), which is one of the five leading contributors to deaths from antimicrobial resistance.

An estimated 30% of people in the United States are colonized with S aureus, which presents a risk for invasive infection, particularly in immune-compromised and older hospital patients. Company officials say the antibody, if successful, could provide immediate protection for high-risk populations by preventing colonization and reducing the risk of recurrent disease.

"We are thrilled to join the CARB-X portfolio and to receive this support for our vision to combat antimicrobial-resistant Staphylococcus aureus through the development of a unique monoclonal antibody," Immunartes CEO Vilasack Thammavongsa, PhD, said in a CARB-X press release.

"Staphylococcus aureus, particularly its methicillin-resistant form (MRSA), remains one of the most critical drivers of antimicrobial resistance worldwide," added Erin Duffy, PhD, Chief of Research and Development at CARB-X. "Immunartes’ approach represents a new way to prevent invasive disease caused by S. aureus, which was identified in our 2023 Strategic Portfolio Review as a top priority."

With the award, CARB-X has now funded 109 early-stage projects designed to prevent, diagnose, and treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.