But that’s all behind us now, right? Covid deaths have dropped way down since then. The pandemic is over. …or is it? I want you to take a good look at this chart Pay particular attention to the thick black line (2023) & the solid green line (2021). What do you notice?
Death has become so normalised now, that it’s not even newsworthy anymore. No one talks about it. But over 1,000 more people are quietly dying each week than we would expect.
Death rates are usually expected to fall over time, a trend which has held for 200 years. Obviously 2020-22 saw far higher excess death rates due to Covid. But rather than dropping back down to normal, 2023 (not shown on this chart) has shot up again, above the 2022 level.
"The sample that showed the presence of H5N1 belongs to a woman living in Chełmek. She bought the chicken breast meat she gave the cat on June 9 in one of the stores of a large chain."
DJ, Did people also eat the meat ? If properly heated it would kill the virus...
While it cannot be ruled out that the virus found its way into the meat samples later, or even the meat was contaminated by the owners with the virus developing in the cat's body, it is also possible that the raw meat was the source of infection.
It would not be surprising, because already in 2007, a case of contamination of frozen duck meat with the H5N1 virus was reported [1] which caused outbreaks of the disease in Germany. In view of the above, it seems reasonable to appeal to the veterinary services and sanitary inspection to examine the meat available in Poland and consider including meat testing for H5N1 influenza. This is crucial not only because of cats, but also because this virus is a threat to human life.
In addition, the Polish poultry industry accounts for almost 20% of the EU market, and the estimated value of meat exports is over EUR 3 billion. It is worth imagining the consequences for this sector of the economy, if it actually turned out that contaminated meat ended up in France, Italy or Germany. The research is conducted by three teams led by prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Pyrć, dr hab. Maciej Grzybek and Dr. Åukasz RÄ…balski.
Long time readers may recall that in 2017 tons of H5N8 contaminated poultry products were shipped from a single infected turkey farm in the Rostov region of Russia sparking a massive months-long operation to remove potentially tainted products from their food chain.
The following year (2018) an outbreak of avian H5N8 led Bulgaria To Recall 1 Million Eggs Due To HPAI H5N8. Despite the theoretical risk of human infection, and the likelihood that many of these poultry products were consumed, no human infections were reported after these events.
We'll need more facts before this can be sorted out. Food chain contamination remains a plausible explanation, but that doesn't necessarily make it the right (or only) explanation.
DJ...Very likely most-if not all- of the spread in Polish cats of H5N1 will be linked to (cat)food-raw meat...very likely from one source via a supermarket chain. Heating the meat will reduce risks...but more info -indeed- is welcome...
I think some of the spread in many countries will be linked to animals eating infected animals...Lots of countries did report mammals testing positive for H5N1.
What the cheerful celebration of a false normalcy by academics while there is an ongoing pandemic still killing more people than 2021 taught me is that a lot of them lack scientific literacy, or critical thinking, or a sense of care about others (most likely all three).
My view at this point, 3.5 years into the pandemic, is that we're on our own with no guidance or support from leaders or public health, minimal information to make decisions, and surrounded by folks who have decided that no further precautions are needed.
DJ, since politics does most of the science funding (and big pharma also goes for profits) the political choice to deny the pandemics leaves us with very limited data...
China says 239 people died from COVID-19 in June in a significant uptick Chinese health officials didn’t say whether they expect the trend to continue or if they would recommend for preventative measures to be restored.
Maybe countries like China, Japan may be able to provide good info...
Excited to see our paper on coronavirus discovery in UK bats out. Its a cool story with some great multidisciplinary work between conservationists, molecular biologists, bioinformaticians, virologists, structural biologists, and more. A few things I found interesting below:
DJ...so at best we may be in a pandemic pause...We may find out how things are when hospitals/healthcare runs in yet another crisis...
This is the world’s wheat belt, which feeds billions. Above 30 degrees C wheat yield begins to drop as much as 44%. Wars, lack of water for irrigation and the degradation of soils due to #ClimateCatastrophe don’t help either. Human civilisation will be eating locusts, if lucky.
Eventough pandemics, wars are very bad...the climate situation ;
ZOE UK daily symptomatic Covid infection incidence estimate... "...it may be that there aren't enough reporters to be able to give an accurate value..." Recent published figures have been confusing. I am pausing posting my daily chart until the situation is more stable...
Peru: National health emergency declared due to increase in Guillain Barré cases. Lima, La Libertad, Piura, Junín and Cajamarca are the most affected regions.
What is Guillain-Barré syndrome? Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) happens when a person’s own immune system harms their body’s nerves. This harm causes muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. Early symptoms of GBS include weakness and tingling. https://cdc.gov/campylobacter/guillain-barre.html
Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rapid-onset muscle weakness caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system.[3] Typically, both sides of the body are involved, and the initial symptoms are changes in sensation or pain often in the back along with muscle weakness, beginning in the feet and hands, often spreading to the arms and upper body.[3] The symptoms may develop over hours to a few weeks.[3] During the acute phase, the disorder can be life-threatening, with about 15% of people developing weakness of the breathing muscles and, therefore, requiring mechanical ventilation.[1] Some are affected by changes in the function of the autonomic nervous system, which can lead to dangerous abnormalities in heart rate and blood pressure.[3]
Although the cause is unknown, the underlying mechanism involves an autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the peripheral nerves and damages their myelin insulation.[3] Sometimes this immune dysfunction is triggered by an infection or, less commonly, by surgery, and rarely, by vaccination.[1][3] The diagnosis is usually based on the signs and symptoms through the exclusion of alternative causes and supported by tests such as nerve conduction studies and examination of the cerebrospinal fluid.[3] There are a number of subtypes based on the areas of weakness, results of nerve conduction studies, and the presence of certain antibodies.[5] It is classified as an acute polyneuropathy.[1]
In those with severe weakness, prompt treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins or plasmapheresis, together with supportive care, will lead to good recovery in the majority of cases.[3] Recovery may take weeks to years, with about a third having some permanent weakness.[3] Globally, death occurs in approximately 7.5% of those affected.[1] Guillain–Barré syndrome is rare, at 1 or 2 cases per 100,000 people every year.[3][4] Both sexes and all parts of the world have similar rates of disease.[1][3]
DJ So it may have CoViD (vaccine) links...For a country like Peru it will become a major problem soon given the limits healthcare has in Peru.
-----------------
Hannah Davis
@ahandvanish
·
New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor: The number of people with a disability dramatically increased & hit a new record of 34 million in June 2023. #LongCovid is a mass disabling event.
My sister is severe. No visual or auditory stimulation whatsoever. Eye mask and noise canceling headphones ALL DAY. Minimal talking. No phone. No games. No podcasts. No music. No tactile stimulation. Just sensory deprivation and Pain. All day, every day.
DJ Worldwide there may be hundreds of millions of people dealing with long/chronic CoViD...(some indications the corona virus may hide in an organ for months...PCR/LF tests may not detect it...)
SARS-CoV-2 in the placenta: "in rare cases the virus proliferated extensively within niches that also presented hallmarks of a marked pro-inflammatory immune response and tissue damage." Study: https://cell.com/med/fulltext/S2666-6340(23)00190-3
Conclusions.—: The pathology abnormalities composing SARS-CoV-2 placentitis cause widespread and severe placental destruction resulting in placental malperfusion and insufficiency. In these cases, intrauterine and perinatal death likely results directly from placental insufficiency and fetal hypoxic-ischemic injury. There was no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 involvement of the fetus had a role in causing these deaths.
DJ, infection of the placenta killed the uninfected unborn child...
Experts call for calm as four more monkeypox cases were confirmed in two Chinese cities By Leng Shumei Published: Jul 08, 2023 03:54 PM
Authorities in Changsha and Tianjin reported four monkeypox cases on Friday, with total cumulative cases on the Chinese mainland reportedly reaching 10.
Three monkeypox cases were identified in Changsha, Central China's Hunan on July 5, local health authorities confirmed Friday, saying that they have launched epidemiological investigation and the cases - three males aged 24, 28 and 38 — are receiving treatment in designated hospitals. They are all in stable condition, authorities said.
Also on Friday, another monkey pox case was confirmed in North China's Tianjin Municipality. The infected individual is receiving treatment in a designated hospital and is in a stable condition, according to local officials...
DJ, when a disease becomes a global problem it often may take YEARS !!!! to get some grip on it...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Interesting video about the US Covid response & mistakes that were made (and are continuing to be made) along the way. “The biggest obstacle to keeping us safe is our own desire to put this in the review mirror.” It’s much the same story here in the UK.
Preparing for future pandemics: Learning from Covid-19
Taking stock of what went wrong in the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic can help the nation better prepare for the next global health emergency. With the official “emergency” over, Knowable Magazine looked back at the many lessons we heard from experts from throughout the pandemic — many of which still haven’t been acted upon. From the need for a more robust disease surveillance system to moving away from the idea that nations are isolated from health threats that arise on other continents, scientists discuss a number of shifts that must happen if the nation is to be ready for another massive outbreak of an emerging infectious disease.
DJ, the main reason why "we do not learn from history" is we do NOT WANT to face our own mistakes...We are now in a worsening climate crisis, a health crisis that has many links with the climate collapse...
There are ways out...less travel = less transport of diseases...Less animals = less hosts for diseases... Better family planning so less children end up in poverty...Education, information, communication and a will to learn, admit mistakes, are needed...
1/ What were the historical reasons for the resistance to recognizing airborne transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic? Our peer-reviewed open-access paper is now published: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ina.13070
DJ, making masks "political" is a form of shocking insanity...Masks limiting disease risks have been in use for hundreds of years...A CoViD-vaccine is NOT the same as a flu-shot...just like CoViD is NOT a flu...communication on diseases by (communication)experts NOT by "political crazies"...(trump, biden, bojo etc...)
Deer have spread Covid to humans 109 times. A total of 109 independent spillover events were identified, matching viruses spotted in deer to predecessors it likely descended from in previously infected humans."
Americans have transmitted COVID-19 to wild deer hundreds of times, an analysis of thousands of samples collected from the animals suggests, and people have also caught and spread mutated variants from deer at least three times.
The analysis published Monday stems from the first year of a multiyear federal effort to study the virus as it has spread into American wildlife, spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS.
Scientists analyzed 8,830 samples collected from wild white-tailed deer across 26 states and Washington, D.C., from November 2021 to April 2022, to study the COVID variants that had infected 282 of them.
By comparing sequences from the viruses in deer against other publicly reported samples from databases of human infections around the world, they were able to trace the likely spread of these variants between humans and animals.
A total of 109 "independent spillover events" were identified, matching viruses spotted in deer to predecessors it likely descended from in previously infected humans.
just a tip of the iceberg...spread of CoViD in mammals is a problem in itself - if the (mutated) virus than start spreading in other species/humans more mutations/variants will be the outcome...
Bad news…real time Disability Data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rose 857k in June to a new all time high of 34.15 million. The rate of change is accelerating again. If this was a stock it’s a break out chart and reacceleration of trend. Both employed women & men hit new highs as well.
DJ, So over 10% of the US population has a form of disability ???
While many people erroneously assume vaccines are the primary cause of GBS, it is most often associated with bacterial or viral infections. The CDC describes the disorder:
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder in which a person’s own immune system damages their nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. GBS can cause symptoms that usually last for a few weeks. Most people recover fully from GBS, but some people have long-term nerve damage. In very rare cases, people have died of GBS, usually from difficulty breathing. In the United States, an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people develop GBS each year.
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A 2022 review (see below) published in the Journal of the Faculty of Human Medicine offers a long list of potential viral causes of GBS (including Zika, EV-D68, Influenza A & B, Dengue, SARS-COV-2, etc.), and is well worth reading in its entirety.
DJ, So it may have links with more than one disease (and climate collapse...)
H3N8, H5N1 spread also in the news...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Japan, Okinawa: "The worst situation since the first wave'' "Nearly 10% of the medical staff had been infected with the new coronavirus". It's possible that severely ill patients will be transported to the main island by self-defense forces aircraft. https://okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/1185470
On May 26 & Jun 1, four Delta strains quite close to the original Delta were detected from human samples in Kawasaki, Japan, while the other two Delta strains found in Europe and America in May were distant from the original. We should take the possibility of lab leak seriously.
DJ, A "lab-leak" may result in a local outbreak...If a "lab leak" has to explain a global pandemic lots of border healthchecks simply fail...So no sequencing from Okinawa published may indicate a "cover up"...If it is a mutated Delta variant we have another problem...
… Wales & Scotland are doing Covid Wastewater Surveillance, please can we re-instate it in England too? Data on Covid prevalence is crucial to those who are clinically vulnerable to help them assess risk on an ongoing basis. We are currently flying blind.
WHO: Ongoing avian influenza outbreaks in animals pose risk to humans "the virus might adapt to infect humans more easily .. some mammals may act as mixing vessels for influenza viruses, leading to the emergence of new viruses...
DJ, both H5N1 and CoViD are now spreading outside the species where they started from...(H5N1 in birds, CoViD-19 in humans). The more cases in the more species simply means growing risks...A link to climate collapse is sea water temperature is record high=less oxygen in the water making sea animals more vulnerable for diseases...(a.o. less food for sea animals).
"I'm still suffering from Long Covid after three years." "I'm exhausted by midday and forget my wife's name." "I had an almost complete cognitive collapse."
Gene linked to long COVID The first genome-wide hunt to find genetic risk factors for long COVID has yielded a hit: a DNA sequence near a gene called FOXP4, which is active in the lungs and in some immune cells.
#SARSCoV2#Omicron family quickly swells to 1500+ #sublineages! 986+ (B.1.1.529+ lineages) and 537+ recombinant lineages (w/ at least one Omicron partner) Currently, we are watching "Omicron" #nextgen kids. Recombinants have outcompeted others globally!
the real number of corona variants could be 10,000+ ! Long CoViD often may mean chronic CoViD with (old) virus variants hiding in organs...they can get reactivated...even to a level of start of spread levels...maybe even mixing with new variants after reinfection...
DJ-Both climate collapse and a -possible explosive- growth of healthissues demand politics to find global answers...The present western political corrupt elite switched from making profits out of pandemics to making profits out of wars...A greed based western political elite is the basic problem...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
DJ, not that many updates so far this month. lots of "news" is on Long-CoViD, H5N1, spread of diseases in mammals...
Background is NATO-BRIICSS+ war insanity...we need regime change in the US ! The unfolding climate disasters...here in NL we have stron western winds bringing in "normal summer temperatures" 20-25C
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqzQpdhwPjY[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqzQpdhwPjY a strong El Nino would result in lots of wind shear...in combination with Sahara-dust the chances for hurricanes over the Atlantic would be limited...even with record warm ocean water...But we may see less wind shear (different winds at different heights) increasing risks for major hurricanes reaching main land...DJ-It is the damage that matters-a nuclear facility accident could be a disaster...even if it was only a minor storm/quake (or combination) causing it...
3 mile beach walk in Aberdeenshire. 388 dead guillemot, 61 gull, 20 tern & 6 razorbill.I gave up zig zagging to count, so there would have been more.#avianflu#H5N1
Since the last update, published at the beginning of June, there have been 2 additional asymptomatic human detections of influenza A (H5N1) picked up through our surveillance programme of individuals with direct exposure to infected birds.
Asymptomatic detection may represent contamination of the respiratory tract or infection. Precautionary contact tracing was undertaken, but there is still no evidence of human-to-human transmission and these findings do not change the assessment of human health risk, which remains at Level 3.
There have now been a total of 4 detections through this programme, which was launched in March and aims to detect possible animal to human infections in people who are exposed to infected birds. As of 10 July 2023, 144 individuals from 8 infected premises have been tested through enhanced surveillance of poultry workers.
Dr Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections at UKHSA, said:
Current evidence suggests that the avian influenza viruses we’re seeing circulating in birds around the world do not spread easily to people.
However, we know already that the virus can spread to people following close contact with infected birds and this is why, through surveillance programmes like this one, we are monitoring people who have been exposed to learn more about these risks.
These detections can follow contamination of the nose and throat from breathing in material from the environment, or can be due to infection. It can be difficult to distinguish these in people who have no symptoms. Following any detection, we will immediately initiate the appropriate public health response.
DJ, a ticking time bomb...asymptomatic spread could see lots of humans/mammals getting infected with the H5N1 virus further mutating, possibly interacting with other (flu) virusses...increasing risks...
Measles: For people aged 0–34 years, we estimated a mean CFR for 2019 of 1·32% among community-based settings and 5·35% among hospital-based settings.
link; [url]https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(23)00043-8/fulltext[/url] or https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(23)00043-8/fulltext
What my kids learn from masking: 1. Sometimes you will be the only one doing the right thing. 2. Neither the government nor your teachers will protect your health. 3. People are smart; crowds are stupid. 4. Protect your health and the health of others, when you can.
DJ...avoid stupidity, avoid (digital) crowds..."social" media may have brought us a pandemic of stupidity that is killing us !
US, New York City: Sudden jump in Covid positivity. It looks like the 8.2% daily positivity on 13th July is the highest rate since early January 2023. H/t
Japan: A situation like Okinawa Prefecture could spread to other regions. The Coronavirus chairman said, "Not only the number of newly infected people, but also the number of hospitalized people and seriously ill people are increasing."
Highlights: Shigeru Omi, chairman of the government's subcommittee, expressed the view that the nationwide upward trend of infections is expected to continue for the time being. "It is quite possible that a situation like Okinawa Prefecture will spread to other regions," he said. Omi said, "Of course, it is important to balance the economy and infection control measures, and I don't think we are in an era where we immediately restrict our activities" He also said that it is necessary to create a rough strategy of what kind of response to what happens.
SARS-CoV-2/Mink: At least 12.5% of patients with mink-derived SARS-CoV-2 were caused by human-to-human transmission. "This 'back-to-human' SARS-CoV-2 variant has already caused human-to-human transmission."
-link [url]https://www.cell.com/the-innovation/fulltext/S2666-6758(21)00053-9[/url] or https://www.cell.com/the-innovation/fulltext/S2666-6758(21)00053-9 ;
SARS-CoV-2 has recently been found to have spread from humans to minks and then to have transmitted back to humans. However, it is unknown to what extent the human-to-human transmission caused by the variant has reached.
Here, we used publicly available SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences from both humans and minks collected in Denmark and the Netherlands, and combined phylogenetic analysis with Bayesian inference under an epidemiological model, to trace the possibility of person-to-person transmission.
The results showed that at least 12.5% of all people being infected with dominated mink-derived SARS-CoV-2 variants in Denmark and the Netherlands were caused by human-to-human transmission, indicating that this “back-to-human” SARS-CoV-2 variant has already caused human-to-human transmission.
Our study also indicated the need for monitoring this mink-derived and other animal source “back-to-human” SARS-CoV-2 in future and that prevention and control measures should be tailored to avoid large-scale community transmission caused by the virus jumping between animals and humans.
DJ, Mink farms in NL stopped in 2020...(or 21 ?) ...very likely CoViD could be jumping in between several higher risk species...further mutating...
Veterinarian Kostis Larkou tends to a cat suffering from Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), at a clinic in Nicosia on June 20, 2023. (Credit: AFP/CHRISTINA ASSI)
The news has feline lovers in Lebanon worried.
Since January, 300,000 cats have died in neighboring Cyprus as a result of an epidemic of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), also known as feline coronavirus.
This virus, which comes from a mutation of the intestinal coronavirus present in 90 percent of cats, is highly contagious but cannot be transmitted to humans, according to AFP.
The outbreak is thought to be affecting nearby countries such as Lebanon, Israel and Turkey, but in the absence of studies, "there's nothing to say for sure," according to Demetris Epaminondas, vice-president of the Pan-Cypriot Veterinary Association.
DJ, problem could be in cats catching CoViD 19 and than mixing/recombining with the cat-corona virus...
When the WHO officially ended the global emergency in May, they made it quite clear that the pandemic was NOT over and that the single worst thing that governments could do would be to let down their guard. So it seems spectacularly incompetent that
…but perhaps it’s not incompetency? Perhaps this is all intentional by the government in order to make Covid magically disappear? Meanwhile those of us who are clinically vulnerable or with vulnerable loved ones are left flying blind without any ability to assess the risk.
DJ...the way "politics/press" deal with CoViD info borders criminal....the only "value" is profits....
tern
@1goodtern
·
There are people in the UK who are catching Covid, dying within days, and Covid is not recorded on their death certificate even as a contributory factor to death.
I know, because I'm taking their funerals.
Why is this being deliberately concealed?
denial as a strategy...next step is blame the voters..."they were tired of it" ...so deny responsibility...or start another war....
There is also lots of info on H5N1 ...If you think the pandemic health crisis of 2020-2022 was bad...what is coming high speed...maybe even this winter...may be far worse !
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
There’s an opinion piece in The New York Times heralding a new “positive milestone” for Covid. It declares that excess deaths have magically dropped back down to where they were before the pandemic—thanks to vaccines, Paxlovid, and “natural immunity.” They’re calling it “a sign that the pandemic really is over.” You can almost hear their desperation. There’s just one problem.
The math literally doesn’t add up.
It seems convenient that excess deaths would decline exactly as governments ended their states of emergency (as scheduled).
So I decided to compare notes.
You can download all-cause mortality reports from the CDC. Until recently, you could get the years 2020-2023 sorted by week. That seems to have changed as of June 28, only a couple of weeks before this “milestone.” (Odd timing, huh?) Now you can only get this data reported by month. Meanwhile, the years 2014-2019 remain sorted by week. That makes it very difficult to do a precise side-by-side comparison like I did a few months ago. Frankly, it’s strange.
However, there’s a workaround.
What you can do is add up all the deaths reported from January through May of 2023. Then you can add up all the deaths reported through May of any previous year, 2014-2019. Then you can compare them.
I compared Jan-May of 2023 against Jan-May of 2019.
During the first five months (22 weeks) of 2019:
1,241,420 deaths.
Just to be sure, I checked that number against Jan-May of 2015, 2016, and 2017—and the year 2019 was the highest. It wasn’t as bad as 2018, but that was a record flu season. According to The Washington Post, the flu that year “killed and hospitalized more people… than any seasonal influenza in decades.”
We still have to do a few adjustments. Those 22 weeks from 2019 contain three extra days. So I’m going to subtract three days’ worth of deaths. I’ll do that by taking the total deaths for 2019 (2,845,957) and dividing it by 365. That gives me an average of 7,797 deaths per day.
Multiply that by three, and you get 23,391 deaths.
Subtract that from 1,241,420 and you get:
1,218,029 deaths.
Now let’s look at Jan-May, 2023:
1,297,466 deaths.
Maybe you already see the problem. So far this year 79,437 more people have died than in 2019. That’s not exactly a rounding error. In fact, when you divide that number against the total number of deaths for 2019, you get:
.0639888…
In other words, that’s a 6.4 percent excess mortality rate. That’s roughly where we’ve been for the last two years, isn’t it?
These excess deaths aren’t bunched up in January and February, either. They’re relatively evenly distributed.
Singapore: Every household to receive 6 free Covid RAT tests. The tests are meant to help families take additional precautions where needed, especially during peak vacation period at the end of the year.
China: The number of cremations doubled in Zhejiang. "The explosion of the new coronavirus infection may be the cause." The statistics have now been deleted. https://yomiuri.co.jp/world/20230718-OYT1T50235/
New Zealand: Emergency medical system at a "critical point" “Truly shocking." "Staff under extreme pressure and a tsunami of patients. Nowhere for them to be seen, and no beds in wards for them either.” "I have never seen an ED that busy."
-Of course because we stopped testing we may not know what diseases are spreading....
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
DJ, Comparing the NATO-BRICS conflict with pandemics may have lots in common. A major point is the need to contain the problem...Both NATO-BRICS and H5N1, CoViD are NOT contained and this means more problems on its way...
I was sifting through some of the epistatic mutations in EG.5.1 accessory proteins and it appears to spawn a relativly higher volume of them compared to XBB.1.16* and XBB.2.3* - the Orf6 example is below. The fitness exploration range of it is quite interesting to watch.
DJ, in the UK several human H5N1 cases now are found in poultry workers...ALL !!!! asymptomatic !!! The risk is an H5N1 infection could mix with H3N2 or H1N1 flu type...(or another type of (animal) flu (H7N7)...
We are hearing rumours of sustained human-to-human transmission of H5N1 bird flu in Cumbria, England.
We don’t usually report rumours on Coronaheadsup, but we are making an exception in this case, as the level of detail we have received is unusually explicit and difficult to dismiss.
We are placing this post as a marker to update if any other information becomes available, or if we can confirm what we have received so far.
If you are aware of an outbreak of bird flu in humans in England, please do get in touch, anonymously if necessary, (use a VPN to connect), and tell us what you have heard or what you know.
If we fact-check the information in this post to be incorrect, we will also update it accordingly. In this instance, we sincerely hope the information is NOT correct.
DJ, UK politics deny any other problem...UK elite only has a "Putin-problem"....
I've probably analyzed more chronic-infection sequences than anyone, and this is the most extreme sequence I've ever seen. It has ~115 private mutations & ~37 spike mutations. A short discussing some of what makes it remarkable, along with some speculations. 1/18
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Marc Johnson
@SolidEvidence
·
New winner. Credit to @LongDesertTrain Delta derivative. About 100 private mutations. Collected last month (not from the US). dN/dS in Spike is off the charts. Chalked full of classic cryptic mutations.
DJ...due to lack of testing we hardly know what diseases are spreading...Even if a lot of infections are mild or even without symptoms -for now !!!- the danger is in mutations, recombinations...
The 2019 Military World Games (Chinese: 2019年世界军人è¿åŠ¨ä¼š; pinyin: nián shìjiè jÅ«nrén yùndònghuì), officially known as the 7th CISM Military World Games, (Chinese: 第七届世界军人è¿åŠ¨ä¼š; pinyin: dì qÄ« jiè shìjiè jÅ«nrén yùndònghuì) and commonly known as Wuhan 2019, was held from October 18–27, 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei, China.[2][3]
This phenomenon of delayed deaths from post-infection sequelae is not new. We also saw it following the 1918 flu pandemic, as this Australian data shows. Just as deaths from most other causes plummeted due to medical advances, deaths from heart disease exploded after 1918.
DJ, I could try to seperate H5N1, M-Pox, "long/chronic-CoViD" from new CoViD variants...problem is they all inter relate, become a mega-mix also related to climate collapse etc...
Again, in 1990 we did see 5,2 billion humans on this planet...we now have over 8 billion...each of them (in statistics) eating even more meat...so the number of cattle, pork, poultry etc. may have doubled since 1990...Travel did also explode...with over 4 billion people living in major urban area's...
So...less meat, less travel...birth control are the way out...But we are not doing that !
The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday added EG.5 to the list of Omicron variants under monitoring (VUM), as most indicators for tracking COVID-19 activity declined, the group said in its latest weekly update.
EG.5 is a descendant of XBB.1.9.2, with one extra spike mutation. Global prevalence has been rising since the end of May. The WHO now has seven VUMs. The number of variants of interest remains at two, including XBB.1.5, which is steadily declining, and XBB.1.16, which is holding steady at 20.7% of sequences.
US among countries seeing EG.5 activity
The United States is one of the countries seeing rising EG.5 proportions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its last estimates on Jul 8 that EG.5 made up 13% of samples. The WHO said so far there's no evidence that EG.5 is fueling any rises in cases or deaths or that infections involving the virus are more severe.
Tom Peacock: Mink farming poses risks for future viral pandemics. "We strongly urge governments to also consider the mounting evidence suggesting that fur farming, particularly mink, be eliminated in the interest of pandemic preparedness."
Fur farms should have closed in 2020 after the Cluster 5 outbreak in Denmark. It was obvious where this was heading even then. Now we have fur farms acting as petri dishes for pathogens potentially far more deadly than SARS-CoV-2.
As with any intensive farming, fur farming takes place in a high-density animal environment that allows for rapid spread of viruses with pandemic potential—and for virus adaptation to animals that would be unlikely to occur in nature. This is particularly true for normally solitary, undomesticated carnivores, such as mink. Here, we argue that mink, more so than any other farmed species, pose a risk for the emergence of future disease outbreaks and the evolution of future pandemics.
DJ...again politics FAIL !!! Stop Mink Farming NOW !!! It is beyond insane it is not stopped !
South Korea: Covid cases up 22% in one week. South Korea's weekly new COVID-19 cases rose to over 180,000 through Wednesday. The average daily number of new cases per week has been rising faster each week.
More than half of all Covid deaths that have occurred in the under 25s happened AFTER "Freedom Day". The difference between the young and the older is quite stark... PS. Which age groups had the most delayed access to vaccinations? #NotMild
Two more cases of avian influenza #H5N1 reported today in blue foxes in Finnish fur farms, bringing the total to 12 farms (11 w/ blue foxes, 1 silver fox, 1 raccoon dog, 1 mink):
HPAI H5N1 in animals raised for their fur in Finland - preliminary #sequencing results indicate a type of the virus that is circulating in wild birds (particularly gulls); some have the PB2-E627K mutation #AvianInfluenza#mammals
"Now to #Poland, which has notified WHO of an unusual outbreak of 29 cases of #H5N1 avian influenza in cats. The source of exposure is unknown and investigations are ongoing. No human contacts have so far reported symptoms, and the surveillance period for all contacts is now complete"-
"WHO assesses the risk of human infection as low for the general population, and low to moderate for cat owners and vets, without the use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Infection of cats with #H5N1 has been reported before, but this is the first report of high numbers of infected cats over a wide geographical area"-
DJ, Poland may take H5N1 in cats more serious than Finland H5N1 in fur farms...( "economy first" - furs still can be "harvested" - some people still buy it...)
Jamaica: Concerning surge in COVID-19 cases Jamaican Health Minister Tufton expressed deep concern over the continuous increase in COVID-19 cases, which has been observed as an ongoing trend.
The surge in COVID-19 cases in Jamaica serves as a stark reminder that the pandemic is far from over. It highlights the need for a proactive approach to safeguarding public health and emphasizes the importance of vaccination as an essential tool in the fight against the virus.
The Jamaican government has been actively promoting vaccination campaigns, aiming to increase vaccination rates and achieve widespread immunity. Vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to protect individuals from severe illness and hospitalization, and it also plays a critical role in controlling the spread of the virus within communities.
DJ. vaccines may limit damage but do not stop infection-so they do NOT STOP the pandemic !!! We need a better strategy....
Wow! Email from Russell Viner to Patrick Valance, Chris Whitty and Jeremy Farrar (12 May 2020): “This is very concerning…” “Keep confidential for now…” “The potential to worry the public is very high…”
DJ, the bojo "government" knew CoViD was a much larger risk...still "profits first"...
Study: Activation of SARS-CoV-2 by trypsin-like proteases in the clinical specimens of patients with COVID-19 "The infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant increased 36,000-fold after trypsin treatment."
Our findings revealed that trypsin increased infectivity after the virus was adsorbed on the cells, but no increase in infectivity was observed when the virus was treated with trypsin. We examined the effect of trypsin on SARS-CoV-2 infection in clinical specimens and found that the infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant increased 36,000-fold after trypsin treatment.
By contrast, the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant increased to less than 20-fold in the clinical specimens. Finally, using five clinical specimens containing delta variants, enhancement of viral infectivity was evaluated in the presence of the culture supernatant of several anaerobic bacteria.
As a result, viral infectivities of all the clinical specimens containing culture supernatants of Fusobacterium necrophorum were significantly increased from several- to tenfold.
Because SARS-CoV-2 infectivity increases in the oral cavity, which may contain anaerobic bacteria, keeping the oral cavities clean may help prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection.
DJ, mouthwash, even rinsing/gurgling with water may limit infection risks...
The tobacco industry is investing billions in the pharmaceutical sector, focusing a large part of that investment on medicines for smoking-related diseases like asthma and COPD. Dutch pulmonologists are worried about the industry’s growing influence, Nieuwsuur reports.
With more and more countries implementing increasingly strict smoking policies, cigarette manufacturers are looking to become less dependent on tobacco sales. According to Nieuwsuur, their primary strategy is focusing on alternative nicotine products like e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. But they’re also pushing billions into pharmaceuticals.
Journalists from The Investigative Desk looked at 87 pharmaceutical products and medicines the tobacco industry is investing in. They found that half of the products are intended to treat diseases linked to smoking - lung diseases, heart disease, and diabetes. Dutch hospitals prescribe some of these products.
Intensive livestock farming in the Netherlands causes at least 9 billion euros in damage to health and the environment every year, according to calculations by economist Max van der Sleen for the environmental group Mobilization for the Environment (MOB). That makes the damage caused by livestock farming three times higher than its added value, which amounts to 3 billion euros according to figures from Wageningen Economic Research, Financieele Dagblad reports.
Van der Sleen’s damage calculation is half higher than the previous study. Six years ago, CE Delft concluded that Dutch livestock farming costs Dutch society 6 billion euros per year. According to the economist, the increase is due to new research providing more clarity on the damage caused by pathogenic particulate matter, acidifying ammonia from manure, and the climate effects of greenhouse gases from the agriculture sector.
The economist added that his conclusion of 9 billion euros in annual damages is a minimum. He only looked at the costs of damage caused by emissions into the air. So his figures don’t include damage caused by agricultural emissions into water, damage caused by the suppliers and processors in the agriculture chain, or delayed construction following the Council of State’s nitrogen ruling in 2019.
Van der Sleen and Johan Vollenbroek of MOB told FD that they discussed their findings with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture two months ago. According to them, the Ministry had no interest in their conclusion that the Netherlands would be prosperous without intensive livestock farming, even despite billions of euros in conversion costs.
DJ...profits are private, "social" costs have to be funded via tax....Travel by train in Europe is 2x more expensive then flying...while flying may do 5x more damage to the enviroment...
We now have a new H5N1 outbreak in poultry in the middle of NL...the last H5N1 outbreak in poultry in NL was 6 months ago...
Comparative pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants inc BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5 "Our findings suggest that BA.5 has low pathogenicity compared with ancestral strain but enhanced virus spread/inflammation compared with earlier Omicron subvariants."
Novel MERS-like coronavirus circulating in pangolins * Uses human DPP4 receptor and can be isolated. * Has a furin cleavage site and a wider host range than bat HKU4-CoV
link [url]https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00049-1[/url] or https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00049-1
The Guardian have run a story today about the ‘catastrophic’ forecast that suggests 9 million people in England are projected to be living with major illnesses by 2040…
the guardian is embedded propaganda media....so reality may be worse...
DJ-Is there any use trying to inform people that do not want to listen, get informed ?
When I look at climate collapse, global health, wars..."stupidity/insanity" is winning...Do "people have to learn reality the hard way"? Even if they do not survive ?
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
-Climate; we may not see 20C/70F again today here in NL...we do see lots of rain...may go on for weeks...In South German mountains they even have snow (at 2000m/6000 feet...still very unusual in mid summer). [url]https://www.estofex.org/[/url] or https://www.estofex.org/ European STOrm Forecast EXperiment (estofex) almost daily warnings for extreme weather for rain, wind...The most extreme heat 40C+ may be over for most of Europe...lots of wildfires still ongoing...Over 10% of [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes ...close to 20,000 tourists had to be evacuated...
Spain: Covid-19 continues to skyrocket in Navarra. "The rate in Primary Care goes from 19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants before the [Sanfermines] holidays to the current 253 cases."
Another aspect may be age...some regions/countries have a (much) older population than other regions/countries...So level of vaccinations in a pandemic may be a factor...so is age...amount of travel, urbanization...
A group of researchers says a higher basal body temperature made intestinal bacteria more active in mice and prevented them from becoming seriously ill with influenza.
The group includes Associate Professor Ichinohe Takeshi of the University of Tokyo's Institute of Medical Science. It released the results of its experiment in the British science journal Nature Communications.
The researchers took note that mice with high basal body temperatures are less likely to develop serious symptoms if they are infected with flu. They closely examined substances in the mice's blood.
They found that the amount of secondary bile acids, which work to suppress inflammation, increased significantly in the blood of mice with basal temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius or higher -- one degree above normal. The acids are produced by gut microorganisms.
DJ...does fever a.o. help protection against further disease ? Do heat waves result in bacteria in the guts offering more protection against (some sort of) infection ?
There was a "season effect". NL-CDC = RIVM did think summer could see 10% less cases of CoViD, winter 10% more...partly because of during winter people are more indoors...
Can sauna's. hot baths/showers, help limiting infection ? Moutwash, gurgling with watermay clean upper respitory path...(also hay fever nose spray may help).
Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by more than 10% across the country, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the largest percent increase in this key indicator of the virus since December.
At least 7,109 admissions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were reported for the week of July 15 nationwide, the CDC said late Monday, up from 6,444 during the week before.
Another important hospital metric has also been trending up in recent weeks: an average of 0.73% of the past week's emergency room visits had COVID-19 as of July 21, up from 0.49% through June 21.
The new figures come after months of largely slowing COVID-19 trends nationwide since the last wave of infections over the winter.
"U.S. COVID-19 rates are still near historic lows after 7 months of steady declines.  Early indicators of COVID-19 activity (emergency department visits, test positivity and wastewater levels) preceded an increase in hospitalizations seen this past week," CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement.
DJ...the most significant reason why "CoViD cases decreased" is "testing did decrease"...bad politics ! EG.5.1 and EG.5.1.1 may see more severe cases...(I open a new post under this one...)
H5N1 has been detected in dozens of cats in both Poland and South Korea (see latest news) ...given the high number of infected cats (often dying from the disease when they get tested) there are questions on how risky H5N1 may have become for mammals. Did the Polish and South Korean cats get H5N1 via infected raw poultry ? Or is H5N1 spreading in cats ?
South Korea: 38 cats dead from avian influenza 40 cats were being protected at a private cat shelter in Seoul, and from the 24th of last month, the cats started dying due to high fever and loss of appetite, and 38 cats died in one month.
Did H5N1 start spreading in cats a few months before testing started ? How many cats did NOT get symptoms ? Could testing miss previous infection in cats that did not show (serious) symptoms ?
DJ-a criminal "fur industry" is putting the world at very high risks...Politics keep failing in making clear rules ! Since H5N1 is seen often as a disease in birds in lots of countries H5N1 in fur-animals does not even need to be reported !!!! (DJ-This-again-is beyond crazy !!!)
For the second time today, and relatively late (after 8 pm Local time), Finland's Food Safety Authority has increased the number of fur farms listed on their H5N1 outbreak page.
Earlier today, we saw the number increase from 12 to 14, and in the past couple of hours they've added 5 more farms.
The newly identified farmsraise a mixture of Blue Fox, Raccoon dogs, mixed breed fox, and mink.
It's now clear the US is experiencing a new COVID-19 surge, but there's really no way to know how many people are getting sick. That's because first states, then the White House, systematically shut down reporting in 2022-23. We documented the process in real time.
War is the new way a "political corrupt elite" is making money....History repeats itself...In 1776, 1789 an "elite" was blind for real problems...untill the problems resulted in such anger the "elite" was removed...
Arctic temperatures are rising at least three times faster than the global average. That's causing a whole raft of very unwanted consequences in our global climate system. Now a new research paper has analysed the fundamental long term changes in the way heat is carried into the Arctic Ocean from the much warmer Pacific and Atlantic oceans. And it's not great news!
DJ, Minute 11,30 "If the people representing us do not change-it is up to us to change the people that represent us"...(but a problem is present political parties-in general-may be out of touch with most of the voters...living in their own "political sub-culture"....
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
WHO: Global Covid hotspots to 27th July 2023 "The highest numbers of new 28-day deaths were reported from Brazil, Australia, Russia, Peru, and South Korea.
Spain, Navarra: The highest incidence of Covid-19 and flu in Spain. "The Foral Community presented a rate of consultations in Primary Care for respiratory infection of 485 cases per 100,000 inhabitants."
New York: 12 different bird species test positive for avian influenza Some 660 birds were at the Brooklyn market, according to USDA. All 12 species at the bird market, including guineas, Muscovy ducks, silkies and red fowl, tested positive.
Again I am not an expert at all...So far the basic idea is H1,H2, H3 types of flu may be highest risk for humans...H5, H7, H9 types of flu are not good in spreading in humans...so far...
CoViD is NOT over...it may become harder to "cover it up"...even in "political embedded media" following politicians that claimed "if you are vaccinated no need for a mask"-insanity...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
The (biden made) US/NATO-BRICS wars is destroying as good as all global cooperation...so we may end up with a western WHO, IMF, UN...and BRICS alternatives representing 80-90% of the global population...
Covid hit the mainstream press headlines here yesterday… first time in a while! And this was the story they chose to run… “Sales of Covid tests in Boots have risen by a third in the last month.” Seriously. That’s the state of our Covid surveillance in England.
Just to be clear, this graph shows "The proportion of locations with an increasing viral load in waste water amounts to 65 %, which is 48 % higher relative to the previous week (44 %)." H/t
UK NHS: Symptoms of bird flu in humans Main symptoms are: A very high temperature or feeling hot or shivery Aching muscles Headache Cough or shortness of breath Diarrhoea Sickness Stomach pain Chest pain Bleeding from the nose and gums Conjunctivitis
There are lots of different strains of bird flu virus. Most of them don't infect humans. But there are 4 strains that have caused concern in recent years:
H5N1 (since 1997)
H7N9 (since 2013)
H5N6 (since 2014)
H5N8 (since 2016)
Although H5N1, H7N9 and H5N6 don't infect people easily and aren't usually spread from human to human, several people have been infected around the world, leading to a number of deaths.
In February 2021 H5N8 was found to have infected a small number of people for the first time, in Russia.
UK is unprepared for another pandemic because of 'dumbarse' government decisions. Ex-head of Government's vaccine taskforce warns UK is unprepared for Covid 2.0 because of 'dumbarse' decisions in wake of the pandemic.
The former head of the government's vaccine taskforce has accused ministers of making 'dumbarse' decisions after the pandemic which could hit the country's ability to deal with a future virus outbreak.
Dame Kate Bingham said huge efforts were made to build manufacturing capability for vaccines, while a pioneering database was created of people willing to undergo clinical trials.
The database included a far wider cross-section of society than usually participate in testing – which is essential for developing new treatments - and came about because far more people than normal were in touch with health services during the pandemic.
But she said: 'The government has dismantled the manufacturing capability we had in place, closed the register (of potential triallists). They will have to (recreate) the same if another pandemic hits – that's just dumbarse.'
Dame Kate also said that while in 2020 the government could use her and other advisers' contacts within the major pharmaceutical companies, allowing the UK to spearhead global vaccine development, now 'no-one in government can do that'.
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TOP #SARSCoV2 Lineages #21DAYTRENDS 11.7% XBB.1.16 8.0% XBB.1.5 6.0% EG.5.1 4.3% XBB.1.16.6 4.0% XBB.1.16.1 3.9% EG.5.1.1 3.7% FL.1.5.1 Includes ~22% Airport surveillance sequences| Track http://tinyurl.com/mryj4uu7| 07/26/23 1/n
