Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 Profile picture
Aug 14, 2021 6 tweets 5 min read Read on X
1. A short thread about the newly announced case of #Ebola in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
The diagnosis was confirmed by the Institut Pasteur in Cote d'Ivoire. This does not have the feel of a suspect case — the announcement sounds like @WHOAFRO is confident this is Ebola.
2. A critical point made by @MoetiTshidi, regional director of @WHOAFRO, is that this is the first time since 2014 that an #Ebola cases has been diagnosed in a major city. (I need to refresh my memory about the North Kivu outbreak.) Abidjan population: +4M.
Urban Ebola = not good
3. The @WHOAFRO statement says there's no indication this case, a man who traveled from Guinea, was linked to the Guinean #Ebola outbreak from earlier this year. Work is underway to determine the source of infection.
4. The @WHOAFRO press release says the species of #Ebola has not yet been determined. I was told by a source I trust that it is Ebola Zaire. And vaccine doses are being shipped from Guinea to Cote d'Ivoire. The Merck vaccine would not be expected to work if this isn't Zaire.
5. The only other time Cote d'Ivoire has reported a case of #Ebola was in 1994. That person was infected with the rarely seen Taï Forest strain of Ebola. But this case originated in Guinea, which is suggestive of Zaire ebolavirus.
6. I'll slip in a #Marburg update and then end this for now. No additional Marburg cases have been reported among the contacts of the man in Guinea who died on Aug. 2.

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More from @HelenBranswell

Apr 26
1. @USDA posted an FAQ today about the federal order restricting movement of dairy cattle infected with
#H5N1 #birdflu. Interesting information therein.
A 🧵
New to me: USDA says 8 poultry operations in 5 states have had poultry outbreaks with the virus detected in cows. Image
2. Minnesota hasn't reported #H5N1 #birdflu in cattle, but it has had at least 1 poultry outbreak with the cattle virus, @USDA reveals. More evidence, probably, that the virus is far more widely spread than has been realized. The FAQ is here: aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/…
3. The federal order on the movement of dairy cows goes into effect 4/29. @USDA is setting what looks like an ambitious timeline for processing of tests, especially "non-negative" tests that must then go for confirmatory testing at the USDA lab in Ames, Iowa. #H5N1 #birdflu Image
Read 7 tweets
Apr 25
1. Listening to an @ASTHO - @IDSAInfo - @CSTEnews webinar on #H5N1 #birdflu in cows.
Of interest so far:
— @USDA is monitoring feral swine; no detections of H5 so far.
— in the "small number" of samples tested to date, doesn't look like cows are shedding virus thru feces.
2. @USDA Rosemary Sifford said the infections are "mostly" being seen in lactating herds.
1 herd was found to be positive despite the fact there were no clinical signs among the cows.
Sifford said USDA doesn't yet know how long infected cows shed virus.
#H5N1 #birdflu
@USDA 3. Sonja Olsen from @CDC says there've been 6 infections detected in cats on dairy farms. Not sure I've seen the exact number. #H5N1 #BirdFlu
Read 16 tweets
Apr 19
1. A 🧵 on #flu, #Covid & #RSV (mostly flu). The
#influenza-like illness season is pretty much over. The percentage of people seeking care for ILIs is below 2.9%, that dotted line. You can catch flu at any time of the year, but chances of catching it now thru the summer are low. Image
2. It's not just #flu. #Covid activity now is at low levels nationally and #RSV activity has declined to the point where @CDCgov says the season is ending. Hallelujah.
cdc.gov/respiratory-vi…
Image
3. It hasn't been a particularly bad #flu season, but the estimated number of hospitalizations for flu has been pretty high — one of the highest in recent years. (red line) The 2017-18 season, which was harsh, was worse. CDC estimates there were 370K hospitalizations this year. Image
Read 5 tweets
Feb 9
1. A 🧵on #flu & #Covid activity trends based on reports today from @CDCgov. Most of the data is for the week ending Feb. 3. The #influenza-like illness (ILI) season seems to have peaked at the end of Dec, with declines in flu, Covid & #RSV since then. But the season isn't over. Image
2. There was a bit of an uptick in #flu activity in the central & south central US. It corresponds with an increase in flu B detections there. Pre-Covid, flu B often arrived in a late season wave. We may see that again this year.
Map on left is the week ending 1/27; right is 2/3.
Image
Image
3. An additional 8 pediatric #flu deaths were reported to @CDCgov in the wk ending 2/3. The season's death toll in kids now stands at 74, which is awful, obviously, but not as bad as most years pre-Covid. But if there's a lot of flu B activity, this number could climb. Image
Read 5 tweets
Jan 5
1. Traditionally I've done #flu updates on Fridays, but given our new reality — #Covid is here to stay — & the expansion of data on @CDCgov's website, I'm going to broaden the scope going forward. Top line news: Lotta illness out there right now.
cdc.gov/respiratory-vi…
2. Most parts of the country are ensconced in #influenza-like illness season right now. (Minn, what are you doing to stay so healthy?) This graphic doesn't just represent #flu activity; #Covid, #RSV & other ILIs are also captured here. @CDCgov's FluView: cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
Image
3. #Flu is the most common bug making people sick right now, but there's a lot of #Covid going around too. (I know from recent experience.) #RSV is still fairly active but declining. This breakdown of what's causing most illness is seen both in positive tests & ER visits.
Image
Image
Read 7 tweets
Oct 13, 2023
1. It's fall, pharmacies are pushing you to get a #flu shot. What's going on with #influenza, you wonder? Let's break down @CDCgov's most recent FluView report, posted today. It's for the week ending Oct. 7, the first week of the 2023-24 flu season. 🧵 cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
2. Know this: #influenza "seasons" run over a period from the beginning of Oct to the end of the following Sept. To say last week was the first week of the 2023-24 season signals only that we're in a new monitoring period. It doesn't mean #flu activity has actually picked up.
3. You can see we're at the start of a new monitoring period here. The line that will depict what happens during #influenza-like illness (ILI) season 2023-24 is barely visible. (I added the arrow.) Last #flu season (orange line) started very early. Slower start this year. Image
Read 9 tweets

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