Latest Virology News
China calls COVID 'lab leak' theory a lie after WHO report
BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday attacked the theory that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated as a leak from a Chinese laboratory as a politically motivated lie, after the World Health Organization recommended in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is needed into whether a lab...
WHO: COVID origins unclear but lab leak theory needs study
GENEVA (AP) — Over two years after the coronavirus was first detected in China, and after at least 6.3 million deaths have been counted worldwide from the pandemic, the World Health Organization is recommending in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is required into whether a lab accident...
2 monkeypox strains in US suggest possible undetected spread
NEW YORK (AP) — Genetic analysis of recent monkeypox cases suggests there are two distinct strains in the U.S., health officials said Friday, raising the possibility that the virus has been circulating undetected for some time. Many of the U.S. cases were caused by the same strain...
Africans see inequity in monkeypox response elsewhere
OSUN, Nigeria (AP) — As health authorities in Europe and elsewhere roll out vaccines and drugs to stamp out the biggest monkeypox outbreak beyond Africa, some doctors acknowledge an ugly reality: The resources to slow the disease's spread have long been available, just not to the Africans who...
Steve Stricker out of Senior PGA with positive COVID-19 test
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Former Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker has pulled out of the Senior PGA Championship after testing positive for the coronavirus. Stricker revealed his positive test Tuesday on Twitter, saying he was “super bummed” and that it was “just a small...
WHO: Omicron makes China's 'zero-COVID' policy unsustainable
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization said China’s extreme approach to containing the coronavirus is unsustainable because of the highly infectious nature of the omicron variant, but that it’s up to every country to decide what policy to pursue. At a media...
Rare cases of COVID returning pose questions for Pfizer pill
WASHINGTON (AP) — As more doctors prescribe Pfizer's powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. Paxlovid has become the go-to option against COVID-19 because of its...
Virus found in pig heart used in human transplant
Researchers trying to learn what killed the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig have discovered the organ harbored an animal virus but cannot yet say if it played any role in the man’s death. A Maryland man, 57-year-old David Bennett Sr., died in March, two months...
Flu likely cause of horse deaths at Colorado BLM facility
CANON CITY, Colo. (AP) — An equine influenza virus is the likely cause of a respiratory disease outbreak that has killed about 100 wild horses at a federal holding facility in southern Colorado. Bureau of Land Management officials say two leading veterinary diagnostic labs...
Increased infectious disease risk likely from climate change
Climate change will result in thousands of new viruses spread among animal species by 2070 — and that's likely to increase the risk of emerging infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans, according to a new study. This is especially true for Africa and Asia, continents that...
