Measles, H5N1, and the Brain-Eating Amoeba
Three Things Thursday
Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.
This week I am taking a break from COVID news. But if you are wondering, COVID cases are down by 15%, hospitalizations are down by 11%, and deaths are down by 5%. The XBB.1.5 subvariant continues as the predominant form (~89%) of COVID spreading. And next week we will mark the third anniversary of the WHO declaring COVID a pandemic and President Trump issuing a public health emergency.
Stay tuned for my thoughts on the third anniversary (gosh, three years!).
This week’s Three Things Thursday focuses on outbreaks of measles and avian influenza as well as a rare brain-eating amoeba in Florida (don’t worry, while it is super scary it is really really rare — super fascinating).
Hoping these posts help to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Measles Outbreak In Kentucky
Last Friday, the CDC issued a health alert regarding a confirmed measles case, who attended a religious gathering with about 20,000 other people.
The case, who reported recent international travel and was not vaccinated, was at the Asbury College revival on February 17 and 18 while they were infectious. An undetermined number of individuals were exposed.
Measles is highly contagious. The incubation period is ~10 days with rash onset occurring at about 14 days.
CDC reports —
“With declines in measles vaccination rates globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, measles outbreaks are occurring in all World Health Organization (WHO) Regions. Large outbreaks (≥20 reported measles cases per million population over a period of 12 months) have been reported in the European, African, Eastern Mediterranean, and Southeast Asian Regions. The United States has seen an increase in measles cases from 49 in 2021 to 121 in 2022, all among children who weren’t fully vaccinated, including outbreaks in Minnesota and Ohio.”
Avian Influenza Update
The number of avian influenza, H5N1, cases in mammals has increased again this week. Most of the cases were identified because the animal had died. To date, H5N1 has been found in poultry, mountain lions, a bobcat, and a river otter. In Chile, H5N1 was diagnosed in a sea otter.
As H5N1 continues to spread and the number of poultry dying from the disease increases, the U.S. government is considering a vaccination campaign for poultry (yes, this means vaccinating all chickens on farms in the USA). According to the New York Times, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is testing vaccine candidates and discussions about a mass vaccination campaign have begun with farmers and the owners of big poultry farms.
To date, human infections with H5N1 are rare. And individuals who have contracted the disease have reported close contact with a sick animal. There is no evidence to date that H5N1 can spread from person to person.
But… H5N1 still makes those of us in public health nervous. If the virus were to jump to humans (a spillover event) and learn how to spread from person to person, a flu pandemic would be possible. And H5N1 is deadly — the case fatality of H5N1 is 53% (meaning 53 % of individuals with H5N1 will die of H5N1). When case counts increase and the number of animal species with H5N1 increases, we start to worry because there are more possible points of exposure for a spillover to occur.
H5N1 is no joke.
Brain-Eating Amoeba in Florida
An individual in Florida has died after being infected with a brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri. According to a press release from the department of health, the infection occurred —
“Possibly as a result of sinus rinse practices utilizing tap water.”
Infection with Naegleria fowleri is RARE. But it is deadly
The infection only occurs when water contaminated with the amoebae enters the body through the nose. Unfortunately, the infection is usually fatal — in fact through 2021 only four individuals are known to have survived.
An infection is difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are similar to meningitis. And there are limited treatment options for someone once they are diagnosed.
If you want to learn more about the brain-eating amoeba, I highly recommend this episode of This Podcast Will Kill You.
Do you have questions about measles, H5N1, or the brain-eating amoeba? Let me know…
And how are you feeling as we get ready to mark the third anniversary of the COVID pandemic? Thoughts? Memories? Lessons learned? I’d love to hear from you!
My husband and I are still being very conservative in our activities. We've had all our vaccinations and boosters, but the latest one was 6 months ago, so we're not depending on it to help much. Plus, we're 76. I really want to fly from California to Wisconsin at the end of September to visit family. Do you have any idea whether the "annual" booster will be available by then? Thanks, as always for your valuable, informative emails. You are my epidemiologist hero.
It is so crazy to think it has been 3 years of COVID already. I was lucky to get vaccinated early and got all booster shots I am eligible for. So far I have never tested positive so I might be one lucky girl to never have had it and I still do whatever I can to stay safe. I think this will now never change but I don't mind!