What the latest bird flu outbreak could mean for humans

 A dangerous and contagious bird flu continues to spread through poultry farms, wild birds, and now mammal populations.There’s still no sign the virus is capable of spreading between humans, but experts are watching the outbreak closely.

“The recent spillover to mammals needs to be monitored closely,” World Health Organization director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing. “For the moment, WHO assesses the risk to humans as low."

What is causing this bird flu outbreak?

This particular outbreak is caused by the H5N1 bird flu virus, which was first discovered in China in 1996. In 2021, a new variant of that virus emerged and started spreading around the world. The virus started infecting chickens on poultry farms in the United States in February 2022.

What is different about this outbreak?

The size, range, and number of species affected by this outbreak is unprecedented, says Nichola Hill, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

This is the deadliest bird flu outbreak in U.S. history — nearly 60 million poultry have been affected. Wild birds in all 50 states have the virus. “It’s never really been seen in this number of different wild species before,” Hill says. It’s also infecting mammals: skunks, bears, seals, foxes, dolphins, and animals of other species are showing up with the virus. “That’s not really how bird flu should behave,” she says.

Most troubling is that the virus appeared on a mink farm where it seems to have spread between minks — not just from birds to individual minks. That type of mammal-to-mammal spread is new. “We hadn’t seen that before,” Hill says.

Is there a risk to people?

Mammal-to-mammal spread is concerning, but it doesn’t automatically mean that the virus is going to significantly affect human populations.

People can get sick from bird flu, but cases are still rare. They’re usually seen in people who work closely with birds. One person in the United States has been infected with the virus during this current outbreak, and that person was responsible for culling sick poultry.

Right now, even though the virus may be evolving to infect more mammals, it hasn’t mutated in a way that would help it infect humans easier.

“It still isn’t hitting on that magic combination of mutations that are necessary to unlock efficient human transmission,” Hill says.

But it’s still important to watch and try to contain H5N1 spread in other animal species, because every time it adapts to a new host, there’s a chance those mutations could happen. “We’re rolling the dice every time,” she says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people should avoid contact with wild birds, and that people who work with poultry should take precautions like wearing gloves and masks.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/latest-bird-flu-outbreak-humans/story

Goldman Bullish While Needham Sees Overhang On Phathom After Two Rejection Letters

 

• FDA issued two Complete Response Letters to Phathom Pharmaceuticals Inc's 
  PHAT-29.7%+ Free Alerts
   vonoprazan marketing application for the erosive esophagitis (EE) indication and H. pylori (HP) indication post-approval supplement.
• Phathom expects to meet with the FDA in the first quarter of this year to discuss the resubmission plan and timeline.
• Goldman Sachs writes that the FDA could need up to 6 months to review the company's resubmission.
• A base case scenario would be a 6-month study of the recently produced commercial product under accelerated conditions (i.e., high temperature and humidity) that could allow for an early 2024 launch versus the prior assumed late 2023/early 2024.
• The worst-case scenario would be a 24-month study under room temperature conditions. 
• Overall, the overhanging nitrosamine impurity issues will likely keep the stock trading sideways until the company can resolve these issues and satisfy the FDA's requirement.
• GS maintains a Neutral rating and a price target of $9.
• Needham says that the CRL does not impact the FDA's view on the nature of the required stability data. 
• It is still possible that FDA is open to approval on 3-month accelerated stability data, and it appears this data would be available by the Type A meeting. 
• After the Type A meeting, much visibility would be available, and the analyst writes that positive resolution is coming and vonoprazan approval in EE by YE23 is likely. With a Buy rating, it lowers the price target from $25 to $23.

https://www.benzinga.com/general/biotech/23/02/30858988/one-analyst-is-bullish-while-another-sees-overhang-on-phathom-pharma-stock-after-two-rejection-le

NORAD says additional ‘object’ detected over northern Canada

 The North American Aerospace Defense Command said Saturday it is monitoring “a high altitude airborne object” over northern Canada, and military aircraft are currently operating in the area from Alaska and Canada, according to a news release from the agency.

It is not clear what the object is or whether it is related to the Chinese spy balloon from last week or another object shot down over Alaska on Friday.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/politics/norad-additional-object-northern-canada/index.html

Walmart pushes back as major product suppliers ask for higher prices

 Walmart Inc is warning major packaged goods makers that it can no longer stomach their price hikes, pitching its own private-label products to shoppers as less-expensive alternatives to suppliers' name-brand goods.

For the world's biggest retailer, which reports earnings Feb. 21, any increase in prices --- even by just a few cents -- can have negative effects, prompting some shoppers to look for bargains at dollar stores or warehouse chains such Costco.

Walmart, which touts its "Everyday Low Price" policy, raised prices last year on milk, frozen meals and Tide detergent, to name a few, as its suppliers battled soaring costs of everything from chemicals to wheat and fuel.

But now with the cost of cardboard cases declining by 40-50%, the cost of transportation falling by 25-30% and the cost of raw materials declining significantly, "retailers like Walmart will say 'hey you already had three rounds of price hikes last year, why are you giving us another?'" said Burt Flickinger, managing director at retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group.

Rod Little, CEO of Schick razor maker Edgewell Personal Care Co, told Reuters that it "will be very difficult" to pass new price increases through to retailers going forward. Walmart is Edgewell's biggest customer.

"(Walmart) said to us, 'From here, our consumer is challenged, we're going to be looking out for consumers, so you're going to have to have really good reasons if you're going to price up from here," Little said in an interview.

"Because the consumer is now under more pressure, and Walmart is under pressure, that sets up a dynamic where there's probably not a lot of pricing going forward."

Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.

At Unilever, the purveyor of Dove soap, Knorr bullion cubes and Hellmann's mayonnaise, finance chief Graeme Pitkethly saidThursday that it was "not yet past peak pricing," even after implementing a record 13.3% average price hike in the fourth quarter of 2022. Unilever estimated net material inflation of $1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in the first half of this year.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/walmart-pushes-back-major-product-140939470.html

Russia could take two years to capture east Ukraine regions: Wagner head

 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could drag on for years, the owner of a Russian private military contractor has claimed.

Russian Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video interview released late Friday that it could take 18 months to two years for Russia to fully secure control of Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas.

He added that the war could go on for three years if Moscow decides to capture broader territories east of the Dnieper River.

The statement from Prigozhin, a millionaire who has close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, marked a recognition of the difficulties that the Kremlin has faced in the campaign, which it initially expected to wrap up within weeks when Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Russia suffered a series of humiliating setbacks when the Ukrainian military launched successful counteroffensives to reclaim broad swaths of territory in the east and the south.

The Kremlin has avoided making forecasts on how long the fighting could continue, saying that what it called the “special military operation” will continue until its goals are fulfilled.

The Russian forces have focused on Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk provinces that make up the Donbas region where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.

Ukrainian and Western officials have warned that Russia could launch a new broad offensive to try to turn the tide of the conflict as the war approaches the one-year mark.

But Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesman, Andriy Chernyak, told Kyiv Post that “Russian command does not have enough resources for large-scale offensive actions.”

“The main goal of Russian troops remains to achieve at least some tactical success in eastern Ukraine,” he said.

Prigozhin said that the Wagner Group mercenaries were continuing fierce battles for control of the Ukrainian stronghold of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

He acknowledged that the Ukrainian troops were mounting fierce resistance.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/russia-could-two-years-capture-172005554.html

Bright Light Therapy Boosts Therapeutic Response in Bipolar Depression

 Bright light therapy significantly improved depressive symptoms in approximately half of adults with bipolar depression in a pilot study of 41 individuals.

Dr Alessandro Cuomo

Both depression and bipolar disorder are leading causes of disability worldwide, and data show that only 50%-60% of these patients respond to first-line antidepressants, wrote Alessandro Cuomo, MD, of the University of Siena Medical Center, Italy, and colleagues.

Bright light therapy (BLT) was originally introduced as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder, but its use has been expanded to treat nonseasonal depression and bipolar disorder, they said. However, the impact of BLT on depressive symptoms in bipolar depression in particular has not been examined, they noted.

In a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, the researchers identified 18 men and 23 women aged 18 years and older with bipolar depression based on DSM-5 criteria who had already been treated with antidepressants. The participants were randomized to antidepressants combined with BLT or antidepressants combined with red light exposure (controls). The participants were positioned at 30-80 cm from the 10,000-lux light source for 30 minutes daily. The mean age of the participants was 49.1 years.

The primary outcome was scores on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Scale (MADRS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), and CGI-Severity of illness (CGI-S), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and Quality of Life Scale (QOLS) after the 8 weeks of treatment.

After 4 weeks, MADRS scores and HAMD-17 scores were significantly lower in the treatment group, compared with the controls (20 and 18 vs. 27.5 and 24.9, respectively; P < .001). Quality of life scores increased in the treatment group, compared with controls, with median scores of 39 vs. 29.50, respectively.

After 8 weeks, the treatment group continued to show significant improvement, compared with the control group, with scores on the MADRS, HAMD-17, CGI-S, and QOLS of 14.0, 9.0, 1.0, and 62.0 vs. 16.0, 15.5, 2.0, and 40.0, respectively. No side effects were reported.

"From our findings, BLT [proved] particularly effective in bipolar patients without triggering any manic switch, as evidenced instead in some similar studies," the researchers wrote in their discussion.

Although the mechanism of action for BLT remains unclear, the current study findings confirm the existing knowledge of BLT, they noted. The positive effect of BLT on quality of life "might be attributable to the ability of BLT to reduce the latency times of antidepressants and increase the production of serotonin and melatonin," as shown in previous work, they said.

The study findings were limited by several factors including the small sample size, which prevents definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of BLT in combination with different antidepressants, and the heterogeneity of the antidepressant treatments, the researchers noted. Larger, prospective studies and randomized, controlled trials are needed, as are studies of special populations such as older adults or those with degenerative diseases, they said.

However, the results suggest BLT has value as a safe and effective treatment and a way to boost therapeutic response and reduce the impact of long-lasting therapies, they concluded.

The study received no outside funding. Dr. Cuomo disclosed serving as a consultant and/or a speaker for Angelini, Glaxo Smith Kline, Lundbeck, Janssen, Otsuka, Pfizer, and Recordati.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/988149

Millions at "Hunger Cliff" As 32 States Set To Slash Emergency Food Stamp Benefits?

More than 30 million Americans face a "hunger cliff," as 32 states are set to slash food-stamp benefits beginning in March. By number, California and Texas have the most people on food stamps, at 5.1 million and 3.6 million respectively.

 The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program notably exploded from $60.3 billion in 2019 to $119.5 billion in 2022 thanks to the Agriculture Department expanding food-stamp benefits by evading the normal process for determining eligibility and end-running Congressional review.

The reductions are due to the end of so-called emergency allotments, which bolstered food-stamp benefits at the start of the pandemic as Americans grappled with the massive disruption to the economy. While the U.S. is certainly on more stable footing than in 2020, households are now struggling with high food costs — groceries were about 10% higher in December than a year earlier — making the timing of the SNAP cuts particularly challenging, experts say. -CBS News

"This huger cliff is coming to the vast majority of states, and people will on average lose about $82 of SNAP benefits a month," said Ellen Vollinger, the SNAP director at the anti-hunger advocacy group, the Food Research & Action Center. "That is a stunning number."

Graphic via CBS News

The move comes after 18 states already ended their emergency benefits, while the remaining 32 states that continued the additional aid will lose federal funding to in March as part of the 2023 Omnibus spending bill which was signed into law in December.

Total cost of SNAP program (via the Department of Agriculture)

The changes mean that a family of four could see benefits cut by around $328 per month, while elderly Americans who receive the minimum monthly benefit could see their SNAP payments fall from $281 per month to as low as $23. In 2022, the average monthly benefit per person was $230.88, an increase from $129.83 in 2019.

Average SNAP benefit per person (via the Department of Agriculture)

And despite having the lowest unemployment rate since 1969, more than 42 million Americans remain on food stamps - 6% more than in 2020, according to USDA data.

"What sometimes gets missed in that conversation is the part that so many SNAP households are employed, but often employed at low-wage levels — they aren't in jobs that are family-sustaining so they still qualify for SNAP," said Vollinger.

Food banks, meanwhile, are bracing for an increase in demand as food aid is slashed.

"People are having to choose between putting food on the table and paying rent," said Food Bank of the Rockies CEO, Erin Pulling. "We are seeing more people than ever needing help with food assistance."

As for the food stamp cuts, Pulling says "We're bracing for it."

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/millions-americans-face-hunger-cliff-32-states-set-slash-emergency-food-stamp