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Avian Flu Jumps Species, Worrying Scientists About Human Transmission 

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United States: A new study details that a variant of avian influenza has infected birds and dairy cows across the US, leading to mammal-to-mammal transmissions, such as between cows and from cows to cats and a raccoon. 

More about the study 

According to Diego Diel, an associate professor of virology in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and director of the Virology Laboratory at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC) in the College of Veterinary Medicine, “This is one of the first times that we are seeing evidence of efficient and sustained mammalian-to-mammalian transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1,” as phys.org reported. 

Whole genome sequencing of the virus did not identify any mutations in the virus that would improve the transmissibility of H5N1 in humans, although the data clearly indicates mammal-to-mammal transmission, a scenario that is possibly alarming as the virus may further mutate in mammals, Diel said. 

So far, 11 human cases have been reported in the US, with the first dating back to April 2022, each with mild symptoms: four were associated with a cattle farm, and seven have been associated with a poultry farm, of which four cases were reported in the past few weeks in Colorado. 

Avian Flu Jumps Species, Worrying Scientists About Human Transmission. Credit | Getty Images
Avian Flu Jumps Species, Worrying Scientists About Human Transmission. Credit | Getty Images

The virus identified in these recent patients was the same as that currently circulating in dairy cows used in the present research; hence, the scholars inferred that the virus may have emanated from dairy farms in the same county. 

Virus ability to mutate and infect humans 

The virus’s ability to infect and replicate in people is present; however, the efficiency of those infections is generally low. 

According to Diel, “The concern is that potential mutations could arise that could lead to adaptation to mammals, spillover into humans, and potential efficient transmission in humans in the future.” 

This means that it is necessary to continue observing the virus in infected animals and any other human beings who might be infected, Diel added. 

The programs have been funded by the US Department of Agriculture, thus meaning that producers did not incur any cost for testing for H5N1. 

Diel said more initial tests, stricter biosecurity measures, and possible quarantines in case of positive outcomes would be needed to curb the further spread of the virus, as phys.org reported. 

Cases of H5N1 virus in the US 

The H5N1 was first identified in January 2022 and has been life-threatening to more than 100 million domestic birds and thousands of wildlife in the US. 

https://twitter.com/CornellNews/status/1816120946740109725

Scientists in the Cornell AHDC and the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory were among the first to alert the presence of the virus in dairy cattle herds. 

They probably contracted the disease from wild birds. They developed dangerous clinical signs, such as reduced feed intake in the cows, alteration in the feces, breathing difficulties, and abnormally reduced milk yields. 

This research proves that the virus has a high tropism for the mammary gland and high virulent paths in infected animals’ milk. Pasteurization kills the tuberculosis virus, ensuring a safe milk supply. 

Genome sequencing of characterized viral strains, modeling, and epidemiological information showed that when the infected cows from Texas were moved to a farm consisting of healthy cows in Ohio, it caused cow-to-cow transmission, as phys.org reported. 

Sequencing also revealed that the virus was carried to cats, a raccoon, and wild birds, which tested positive for death from the affected farms. 

Cats and raccoons may have contracted the disease by consuming raw milk from an infected cow. The researchers think the wild birds could have been infected through environmental contamination, such as aerosols stirred around during milking or cleaning the milking parlors. 

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Are Your Daily Habits Remodeling Your Brain? Find Out! 

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Are Your Daily Habits Remodeling Your Brain? Find Out! Credit | Adobe Stock

United States: As experts note, if one skips a workout or stays up late, his/her brain might still be paying for it even two weeks from now. 

The team of researchers from Aalto University and the University of Oulu in Finland have presented how our lifelong daily behaviors influence brain connectivity and how they remain remodeled throughout our lifespan, thus providing valuable grounds for understanding neural plasticity. 

More about the finding 

Researchers are now very specific that the ways our brains communicate also change, rather than staying the same over a long time, in response to recent experiences over a long extended time period. 

Moreover, they also rejected several principles of brain function stability and opened the consciousness of the influence of human daily habits on the neural network, studyfinds.org reported. 

The particular experimental design of this study was examined in one subject over the span of five months and reported in PLOS Biology. 

Are Your Daily Habits Remodeling Your Brain? Find Out! Credit | Adobe Stock

Are Your Daily Habits Remodeling Your Brain? Find Out! Credit | Adobe Stock

By acquiring a brain image every few days and integrating it with data donated by wearables and smartphones, the researchers were able to assess how such pre-mentioned variables as sleep quality, physical activity, mood, and even heart rate variability affect the connectivity of the brain. 

Further details of the analysis 

The participant, Ana Triana, was also the main researcher in the study and received thirty scans over fifteen weeks. 

Each scan involved four different tasks: simple attention task, working memory task, resting state, and then execution of watching the movie.  

This variation helped the researchers to trace how various types of brain activities changed along with everyday perceptions. 

At the same time, monitoring devices of her sleep/wake cycle, physical movements, and data about her heart and breathing rates were collected. 

The mobile application is used to capture the moods and events of each day. This integration of brain scans and actigraphy gave us an extremely high-resolution picture of how daily experience and brain activity were related, studyfinds.org reported. 

The study revealed two distinct patterns of brain response: A brief wave, which lasts for a period of up to seven days, and a long-term wave, which can go up to fifteen days. 

Results of the study

One of the interesting outcomes was a strong connection between heart rate variability – which is a measure of the heart’s adaptability – and brain connectivity while resting. 

It shows that activities that affect our body’s relaxation response, like stress management ways, can shape our brain wiring even when we’re not actively concentrating on a task. 

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US Obesity Crisis: 40% of Americans Now Obese – What’s Going On? 

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US Obesity Crisis: 40% of Americans Now Obese - What's Going On? Credit | USA TODAY

United States: Obesity remains a huge problem for Americans as far as their health is concerned. New data received by the governments indicate severe obesity, a condition that involves storing far too much fat in the body, has risen to a great extent in the last decade. 

More about the study 

About 40 percent of the population in the US is obese, according to a 2021-2023 survey of about 6,000 people. 

Overall, 9 percent of those polled said they were suffering from severe obesity, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Moreover, women were nearly two times as likely as men to report severe obesity. 

The general obesity rate looked to have decreased in comparison to what was observed in the 2017-2020 survey. However, it was not considered as a statistically significant change. 

US Obesity Crisis: 40% of Americans Now Obese - What's Going On? Credit | USA TODAY

US Obesity Crisis: 40% of Americans Now Obese – What’s Going On? Credit | USA TODAY

That is, the numbers are small enough that there exists a probability that the rates did not fall at all. 

What more are the experts stating? 

Dr. Samuel Emmerich conducted the latest study for CDC as a public health officer. He said it is still early to determine its impact on the disease, including new obesity treatments, which include weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound. 

What they found is that the combined obesity estimate of the United States in the last decade has not considerably altered.  

According to Emmerich, “We simply can’t see down to that detailed level to prescription medication use and compare that to changes in obesity prevalence.”  

The prevalence of severe obesity increased from nearly eight percent in the study between 2013 and 2014 to nearly 10 percent in the most recent study. 

Prior to that, obesity rates had risen rapidly in the US since the 1990s, according to US federal research. 

Obesity and severe obesity are expressed in terms of BMI, which is calculated with the help of height and weight. The above BMI indicates that a person is obese, as per the Food and Drugs Administration. 

Super obesity is defined as the condition when the person’s BMI is 40 or more. 

Solveig Cunningham is a professor of global health at Emory University who is interested in obesity. 

“Seeing increases in severe obesity is even more alarming because that’s the level of obesity that’s most highly associated with some of the highest levels of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and lower quality of life,” Cunningham added. 

Cunningham also added that it is not apparent why severe obesity rates were higher among women. 

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Is Fluoride in Water Really Safe? Study Raises Serious Health Concerns

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United States: Recent reports about potential health risks and whether fluoride benefits are as big as once believed have prompted scrutiny of a public health practice – adding fluoride to water supplies. 

This is because, as with some questions, the safety of the practice and new data raise questions about the value of fluoride. 

More about the news 

Adding fluoride to tap water produces only a slight benefit in reducing tooth decay in children’s baby teeth, a new report from the Cochrane Collaboration, an independent group reviewing scientific research, finds. 

It is found that adding fluoride to tap water is a slight benefit, leading to slightly fewer cavities in children’s baby teeth, CNN Health reported. 

More about the finding 

Research done before 1975 had large benefits; children living in areas with fluoride added to their water averaged about one fewer primary teeth affected by decay than those of children living in areas without water fluoridation. 

Those findings don’t apply to more current populations with increased access to other sources of fluoride and lower levels of dental disease at baseline. 

Since the 1970s, fluoride-containing toothpaste has been widely available and is more often used. 

According to the new report published this week, fluoride in water was tied to a difference in decay of only about a quarter of a tooth, on average, in more recent studies. 

The federal judge, last month had asked the US Environmental Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water in response to concerns that fluoride may affect young children’s intellectual development, CNN Health reported. 

In light of concerns about fluoride’s possible effect on young children’s intellectual development, a federal judge last month ordered that the EPA further regulate fluoride in drinking water. 

Some foods and groundwater have fluoride, a mineral. It can help protect tooth enamel, which can erode with acids produced by plaque, bacteria, sugar, and other acids found in your mouth. 

The USA began adding fluoride to public water systems in 1945. 

Now, almost three-quarters of the US population, about two hundred and nine million people, are served by drinking water systems that have been fluoridated, according to data from the CDC. 

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