Top in ID: Monkeypox virus in US; trained dogs sniff out COVID-19
Last week, the CDC confirmed that a Massachusetts resident who traveled from Canada using private transportation was infected with monkeypox virus.
Since then, the agency announced that it expects samples from four other people in the United States will test positive for the virus, which would bring the U.S. total to five cases. It is the top story in infectious disease.
In other news, researchers from Finland conducted a study to investigate whether trained dogs can sniff out COVID-19 in travelers at an airport. They found that the dogs identified samples from people with COVID-19 with 92% accuracy.
Read the top stories in infectious disease below:
CDC expects more monkeypox cases in US
The CDC expects that samples from four other people in the United States will test positive for monkeypox virus, which would bring the U.S. total to five cases amid a widening outbreak of the disease in countries where it is not endemic. Read more.
Dogs can be trained to sniff out COVID-19, randomized trial finds
Trained dogs were able to identify samples from people with COVID-19 with 92% accuracy in a randomized trial conducted in Finland, researchers reported. Read more.
FDA declines request for fluvoxamine to be used as COVID-19 treatment
The FDA declined a request to authorize an inexpensive generic antidepressant and obsessive-compulsive disorder medication for emergency use as an outpatient treatment for COVID-19. Read more.
Mozambique becomes second African country to report wild polio this year
Mozambique became the second African country this year to report a case of wild poliovirus after confirming that a child who began experiencing onset of paralysis in March had contracted the disease. Read more.
Rediscovering phages: ‘We finally have the tools to harness them’
Antibiotic-resistant infections, which have been on the rise for years, were the cause of more than 1.2 million deaths worldwide in 2019, according to estimates published this year in The Lancet. Read more.