Almost five years after Covid blew into our lives, the main thing standing between us and the next global pandemic is luck. And with the advent of flu season, that luck may well be running out.
California's health department confirmed the case through lab testing. The patient contracted it after traveling from East Africa, where there has been an outbreak of the clade I strain. The person was treated in San Mateo County and then released. The person is at home recovering, the CDC said Saturday.
Pigs are the ideal genetic mixing vessel to generate a human pandemic influenza strain, because they have receptors in their respiratory tracts which both avian and human flu viruses can bind to.
After more than two years of talks, hopes are high of completing an accord by November 15, though the heart of the document—how to share pathogens and vaccines—is set to be worked out later.
While they may not be a perfect match, the latest variants have enough in common with the KP.2 and JN.1 that the boosters should still offer effective cross-protection.
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