Bird flu virus in infected human shows concerning mutation – National & International News – THU 26Dec2024

Bird flu virus in infected human shows concerning mutation.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight crash lands, killing 38; Ukraine, West accuse Russia.

Israel bombs Yemen airport, strikes meters away from WHO chief.

NATIONAL NEWS

Bird flu virus in infected human shows concerning mutation

Last week, an elderly Louisiana resident became the first person in the US to be hospitalized for bird flu in the most recent outbreak. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the virus in the patient showed a mutation not seen in their infected backyard flock. The mutation affected the hemagglutinin (HA) gene, which plays a key role in the virus’s ability to attach to host cells. The patient in question was already suffering from severe respiratory illness. 

The patient contracted the D1.1 genotype of the virus which has recently been detected in wild birds and poultry in US. This is different from the B3.13 genotype strain which has been detected in dairy cows, non-severe human cases and some poultry.

Human-to-human transmission of the viruses has not yet been detected. For now, the danger to the general public remains low, health authorities say. However, there are concerns over consumption of products like raw milk in some states after bird flu was detected in some products. In another recent case, an Oregon-based raw pet food company issued a recall after a pet cat died of bird flu that was linked to one of their products. 

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Azerbaijan Airlines flight crash lands, killing 38; Ukraine, West accuse Russia

A flight traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny in the Russian Muslim majority region of Chechnya attempted an emergency landing at an airport in Kazakhstan. It hit the ground, broke into two pieces, and went up in a fiery blaze. Of the 67 people on board, 29 survived with injuries and 38 were killed.

Ukrainian and American officials claimed that the plane was struck by a Russian anti-missile defense battery. At the time, Russia was fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.

Russian and Azeri officials said investigations were underway and that it would be wrong to raise “hypotheses” during their beginning stages. 

Cell phone footage circulating online that appears to show the crash shows the Embraer 190 coming in to land at a very steep angle, before striking the ground and bursting into flames. In other images appearing to show the aftermath, the back half of the plane has been severed from the front half and is lying upside down on the grass. 

While Russian media was reporting a possible bird strike, experts commenting in Western media believed they saw signs that the plane had been struck by a missile. One of the survivors of the crash told Russian media that the plane had circled Grozny having twice attempted and failed to land in the fog. Then, “the third time, something exploded… some of the aircraft skin had blown out”.

Later in the day, Moscow’s four airports and a 5th on in Russia’s Southwest were briefly closed due to unspecified security concerns.

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Israel bombs Yemen airport, strikes meters away from WHO chief

Israel’s bombing campaign against Yemen has intensified in the last several weeks in retaliation for the Houthi rebel group launching rockets into Israel. Since November of 2023, the Houthis, which control the western part of Yemen, have mounted a blockade of ships traveling to Israel through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal. They have also periodically launched rockets towards Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. The Houthis have repeatedly said they would stop if Israel would end its nearly 15 months military assault on Gaza. 

In response, Israel has targeted both civilian and military infrastructure in Yemen, including key ports that receive humanitarian aid. Today it bombed a port, power stations, and the civilian airport in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital. The attacks killed at least three people, two of them at the airport, and injured dozens.

World Health Organization head Tedros Ghebreyesus, who had been negotiating the release of detained UN staff in Yemen, happened to be boarding a flight at the airport when Israel’s warplanes struck it. 

He wrote on Twitter, “one of our plane’s crew members was injured. The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge – just a few meters from where we were- and the runway were damaged”. 

Ghebreyesus and WHO have been very critical of Israel’s conduct in their military assault on Gaza. The UN and WHO have repeatedly condemned Israel’s targeting of medical professionals and international aid workers, their systematic destruction of hospitals, and their denial of life-saving food and aid to civilians. 

In October, WHO was able to negotiate safe passage to initiate a polio vaccination campaign amid an outbreak in Gaza. However, that mission was put on hold in early November after Israel bombed vaccination centers and fired on the vehicle of UNICEF aid workers participating in the program in Northern Gaza.

In other news, an Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists traveling in a press vehicle in Gaza today.

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