The highlights from Dr. Klotman’s Week 238 video address are:

Marburg virus

  • The CDC and WHO have reported an outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda. Marburg causes a hemorrhagic fever – akin to Ebola but it’s a different virus.
  • No cases of Marburg have been reported in the US although some American NGO volunteers have been working in the hospitals of Rwanda that treated patients with that illness.
  • Marburg is spread through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids – blood, most often. The contagion, is again like that of Ebola.
  • The mortality rate for Marburg is 88%. There is no vaccine for it although a couple of groups are working to develop one. There is no well-established, specific treatment.

West Nile virus

  • 46 states have reported cases of West Nile virus this year.
  • There have been almost 1,000 cases in the US.
  • About 2/3 of the cases have been neuroinvasive.
  • The virus has been reported in El Paso, Texas for the first time. There have been 11 cases in Harris County and others in North Texas. We should assume that it is true throughout Texas.

COVID

  • The most prevalent variant in the US is still KP.3.1
  • ER visits & hospitalizations for COVID, and wastewater levels of SARS CoV-2 have all declined throughout the country in the past weeks.
  • The most current recommendations for those of us who contract COVID are to stay home until there are no symptoms or fever, wear a mask for at least five days, and avoid contact with others. There is no need for prolonged home confinement or isolation. These recommendations are similar to those for Influenza infection.

Flu

  • Flu season hasn’t yet begun.
  • If you haven’t yet gotten your flu shot, there is still time.

H5N1 Avian Flu

  • California has reported two cases in dairy workers
  • The symptoms among humans have been relatively mild – conjunctivitis and sniffles
  • The CDC now recommends personal protective gear for workers in the dairy and poultry industries.
  • There is still no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
  • There have been ~50 cases of H5N1 in big cats (tigers, lions, and panthers) in Vietnam. All the affected cats died. It is thought that the cats were fed chickens that had H5N1.

All in all, this week has given us an optimistic picture in the US. My take-away from Dr. Klotman’s update is to pay attention to the mosquitos. Avoid outdoors activities a couple of hours prior to sunrise and sunset – times when mosquitos are most active. If you need to be out (or just enjoy the outdoors), try to cover up and apply DEET as needed to keep the skeeters at bay.

By: llcPosted on