 Health Care |
Health Care |
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CDC plans $10M investment into bird flu response |
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning its bird flu response heading into this year's respiratory viral season with a collective $10 million going toward livestock worker health initiatives. |
Half of that money will go toward purchasing seasonal flu shots for livestock workers in states that are being hit hardest by bird flu. Senior administration officials stressed that while the seasonal flu vaccines won't offer cross-protection against bird flu, they're hoping to prevent co-infections of both viruses. They're also aiming to reduce the chances of the two pathogens mingling to form a new influenza virus. "Such dual infections, while rare, could potentially result in an exchange of genetic material between the two different influenza viruses, seasonal and H5," said Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at CDC. "This is a process that's known as reassortment, and in theory reassortment could lead to a new influenza virus that could pose a significant public health concern, a virus that has the transmissibility of seasonal influenza and the severity of H5N1," he explained. A senior administration official noted that there are an estimated 200,000 livestock workers in the U.S. Given the national flu shot uptake is around 47 percent, they said they would like the rate of immunization among farmworkers to be higher than that. The other half of the funds will go toward outreach and education efforts for farm workers' health and safety. This will include training sessions on the avian H5N1 virus and increasing access to testing and treatments. The CDC has confirmed 13 bird flu cases in the U.S. since March of this year. Nine of the cases were detected in Colorado with three most recently confirmed last week. Officials described the symptoms as mild, with pink eye being the primary sign. |
Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. |
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How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: |
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Project Bioshield, the federal bioterrorism preparedness program that’s yielded vaccines effective against anthrax and Ebola, heads into its third decade anticipating threats far different from those it was originally created to prepare for. The federal program was launched in 2004, in the shadow of the Sept. 11 attacks, partly in response to a slew of mailed anthrax attacks that occurred in 2001. Its mission was to develop … |
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The deli meat company Boar's Head is recalling 7 million pounds of products after a deadly outbreak of listeria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Tuesday. The announcement this week follows an earlier recall after two people died and more than 30 people were sickened. Here's what to know about the recall: What is being recalled? The USDA said Tuesday that the company is expanding its recall because its products … |
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Florida's ballot initiative to protect abortion is winning and has more support among voters than either Vice President Harris or Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a new poll shows. According to the poll from University of North Florida's Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL), 69 percent of respondents said they would vote for Amendment 4, which would prohibit laws from restricting or banning abortion until … |
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Middlemen make money, not medicines. |
Over half of every dollar spent on medicines goes to middlemen, like PBMs, insurers and big pharmacies, along with others. They control what medicines you can get and what you pay at the pharmacy. Middlemen are driving medicine costs, and you don't know the half of it. |
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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Nursing home inspections across New Mexico find at least one violation in 88% of facilities |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Recent unannounced inspections of nursing homes across New Mexico found at least one violation in 88% of them, authorities said Wednesday. State health officials said just 11 of the 91 assisted living facilities received a perfect score, while 55 got a 90% rating. Four nursing homes — two each in Albuquerque and … |
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Local and state headlines on health care: |
- Woman sues Kansas hospital over alleged denial of emergency abortion (ABC News)
- Florida's RSV season has started, and it's coming soon to the rest of US. Here's a primer (KFF Health News/Tampa Bay Times)
- 'Callous, corporate greed': Officials call out Steward Health Care after announced hospital closures (Lowell Sun)
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Health news we've flagged from other outlets: |
- Medical worker on trial in leak of Justice Ginsburg's health records (Washington Post)
- Mount Sinai mounted aggressive campaign to stifle debate over revelations about its controversial brain research (Stat)
- The companies realizing Theranos's failed dream (Wall Street Journal)
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Most read stories on The Hill right now: |
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Former President Trump questioned Vice President Harris's identity, touted his record with the Black community and defended his choice of running mate … Read more |
| Former President Trump mocked Vice President Harris's heritage during a combative live interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists … Read more |
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Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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