Report Wire

Tag: Health news

  • Some officers now say monkeypox elimination unlikely in US

    Some US well being officers are conceding that monkeypox might be not going away anytime quickly.

    The illness’s unfold is slowing however the virus is so widespread that elimination is unlikely, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention stated.

    That conclusion was in a latest CDC report, and echoed Friday by Marc Lipsitch, director of science within the company’s disease-forecasting centre.

    Lipsitch hesitated to say monkeypox is completely right here to remain, however he stated it stands to be a seamless menace for the following few years.

    “It’s in many geographic locations within the country” in addition to in different international locations, Lipsitch instructed information company The Associated Press. “There’s no clear path in our mind to complete elimination domestically.” The virus has primarily unfold amongst homosexual and bisexual males, although well being officers proceed to emphasize that anybody will be contaminated.

    It’s vital that individuals in danger take steps to stop unfold and that vaccination efforts proceed, Lipsitch stated.

    The CDC report contained some excellent news: The US outbreak appears to have peaked in early August. The common variety of every day instances being reported — fewer than 150 — is a few third what it was reported in the course of the summer time, and officers anticipate the decline will proceed for not less than the following a number of weeks.

    Lipsitch attributed the excellent news to rising vaccinations, cautious behaviour by individuals in danger and infection-derived immunity within the highest threat populations.

    Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, agreed that it’s unlikely that unfold of monkeypox will cease within the US anytime quickly, however he stated it’s nonetheless doable in the long run.

    If home transmission have been stopped, infections should still proceed if individuals catch the virus whereas travelling internationally, he stated. But the declining instances makes it appear to be “we’ve turned a real corner.” “The efforts underway are succeeding, and should be continued, if not intensified,” he stated.

    With case numbers taking place, it is a good time for native well being departments to take a brand new stab at doing intensive contact tracing to attempt to cease chains of transmission, he stated.

    Monkeypox is endemic in elements of Africa, the place individuals have been contaminated via bites from rodents or small animals, but it surely wasn’t thought of a illness that spreads simply amongst individuals till May, when infections emerged in Europe and the US.

    There have been greater than 67,000 instances reported in international locations that haven’t traditionally seen monkeypox.

    The US has essentially the most infections of any nation — greater than 25,600. One US dying has been attributed to monkeypox.

    More than 97 per cent of US instances are males. The overwhelming majority have been males who reported latest sexual contact with different males.

    Though instances have been declining, the proportion of recent instances which have details about latest sexual contact can also be down, officers stated. That’s inflicting a rising blind spot about how the virus could also be spreading, Lipsitch famous.

  • US confirms monkeypox an infection in Canada traveller

    The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Wednesday stated it had confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus an infection in a person who had not too long ago travelled to Canada.

    The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated its labs confirmed the an infection to be monkeypox on Wednesday afternoon.

    The state company stated it was working with CDC and related native boards of well being to hold out contact tracing, including that “the case poses no risk to the public, and the individual is hospitalized and in good condition.”

    The Public Health Agency of Canada late on Wednesday issued a press release saying it’s conscious of the monkeypox instances in Europe and is intently monitoring the present scenario, including no instances have been reported presently.

    Monkeypox, which principally happens in west and central Africa, is a uncommon viral an infection much like human smallpox, although milder. It was first recorded within the Democratic Republic of Congo within the Seventies. The variety of instances in West Africa has elevated within the final decade.

    Symptoms embrace fever, complications and pores and skin rashes beginning on the face and spreading to the remainder of the physique.

    The Massachusetts company stated the virus doesn’t unfold simply between folks, however transmission can happen by way of contact with physique fluids, monkeypox sores, objects similar to bedding or clothes which were contaminated with fluids or sores, or by way of respiratory droplets following extended face-to-face contact.

    It stated no monkeypox instances had beforehand been recognized within the United States this 12 months. Texas and Maryland every reported a case in 2021 in folks with latest journey to Nigeria.

    The CDC additionally stated it’s monitoring a number of clusters of monkeypox reported in a number of international locations together with Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, throughout the previous two weeks.

    A handful of instances of monkeypox have not too long ago been reported or are suspected within the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Portuguese authorities stated that they had recognized 5 instances of the an infection and Spain’s well being companies stated they had been testing 23 potential instances after Britain put Europe on alert for the virus.

    European well being authorities are monitoring any outbreak of the illness since Britain reported its first case on May 7 and has discovered six extra within the nation since then.

  • FDA lifts partial medical maintain on Gilead’s blood most cancers drug trials

    Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) mentioned on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had lifted the partial medical maintain positioned on its trials testing a blood most cancers drug mixture.

    The FDA eliminated the maintain after a overview of the protection knowledge from every trial, the corporate mentioned.

    The well being regulator had positioned the maintain on 5 most cancers trials in January as a result of an imbalance in suspected and surprising severe unwanted side effects between totally different arms of the research that had been reported by investigators of the trials.

    The trials had been evaluating the mix of magrolimab and one other drug azacitidine for therapy of two kinds of blood cancers known as myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia.

    Magrolimab turned a part of Gilead’s pipeline via the acquisition of Forty Seven Inc for $4.9 billion in 2020.

  • Shanghai residents instructed to remain inside as lockdown tightened

    Shanghai cranked up lockdown restrictions for folks residing within the jap half of town, barring everybody from leaving their properties even to stroll their canine as native day by day Covid-19 infections jumped to a file 4,477 on Tuesday.

    All residents within the Pudong District, residence to many elite monetary establishments and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, will likely be confined to their properties and allowed out solely to get a Covid take a look at, in accordance with a press release issued by the world’s residential compounds reviewed by Bloomberg News.

    🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to entry the most effective Election reporting and evaluation 🗞️

    Residents shouldn’t stroll within the hallways, garages or open areas of their residential compounds to be able to scale back the danger of an infection, Wu Qianyu, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, stated throughout a briefing on Tuesday. That consists of strolling pets.

    The stricter lockdown guidelines got here a day after the Chinese monetary hub began sealing off its 25 million folks in two phases, with half town locked down for 4 days, adopted by the opposite half. The objective is to check your complete metropolis for Covid-19, a part of the trouble to get its largest outbreak thus far beneath management.

    Previously residents might go to the foyer of their buildings and stroll across the open areas of their compounds. Some might even go away the complicated so long as no infections had been detected of their buildings. While the Shanghai authorities stated Sunday night time that residents have been required to remain residence, the tough residence confinement wasn’t articulated till Tuesday.

    Covid instances jumped to 4,477 on the primary day of the lockdown, from 3,500 reported on Monday. There have been 6,886 instances nationwide on Tuesday, in accordance with information from China’s National Health Commission.

    Shanghai Locks Down Half of City to Fight Covid Outbreak (3)

    The Shanghai municipal authorities will proceed to assist the import antiviral medication and Covid vaccines, officers stated on the briefing, with out offering additional particulars. China has imported some 21,000 containers of Pfizer Inc.’s Covid capsule Paxlovid by Shanghai earlier this month, and has been treating high-risk sufferers with the drug.

    The metropolis additionally has rolled out a slew of measures, together with tax aid, hire extension or reductions, and mortgage assist for small companies, retail and catering industries hit laborious by the outbreak, officers stated.

    Shanghai’s lockdown got here after a month of much less disruptive measures didn’t stymie omicron’s quick and stealthy unfold locally.

    While officers vowed to maintain the monetary hub, a crucial node within the international provide chain, open to keep away from disruption to the Chinese and international economic system, instances grew as authorities focused extra buildings and expanded the scope of testing. Eventually the authorities relented, resorting to the sweeping lockdowns introduced in Sunday night time in a bid to curtail unfold of the virus.

    So far China’s monetary markets and the Shanghai port, which is the world’s largest, stay open and are working usually.

    Why China Is Sticking With Its Covid Zero Strategy: QuickTake

    The intensified restrictions underscore the problem Chinese officers face in implementing President Xi Jinping’s name for containment measures to be each efficient in stifling Covid and minimal of their social and financial influence.

    While the southern Chinese tech hub Shenzhen noticed infections wind right down to single digits after it emerged from a week-long lockdown, cities together with Langfang and Tangshan close to capital Beijing, in addition to your complete northeastern province of Jilin, have remained sealed off for as much as two weeks.

    When Shanghai is included, some 62 million folks in China are both in lockdown or dealing with one imminently, in accordance with Bloomberg News calculations.

  • Moderna seeks FDA authorization for second COVID booster for all adults

    Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) on late Thursday sought emergency use authorization with U.S. well being regulators for a second COVID-19 booster shot, as a surge in instances in some elements of the world fuels fears of one other wave of the pandemic.

    The U.S. biotechnology firm stated its request coated all adults over the age of 18 in order that the suitable use of an extra booster dose of its vaccine, together with for these at greater threat of COVID-19 attributable to age or comorbidities, might be decided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and well being care suppliers.

    Moderna’s request is considerably broader than Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and its German companion BioNTech SE’s (22UAy.DE) utility that was filed earlier this week with U.S. regulators for a second booster shot for individuals aged 65 and older.

    Moderna, with out particularly commenting on the effectiveness of a fourth shot, stated its submission was partly based mostly on information just lately printed within the United States and Israel following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

    FDA didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.

    U.S. well being officers, together with prime infectious illness skilled Dr. Anthony Fauci, have raised the prospect of a fourth shot, particularly for older individuals and to arrange for the opportunity of one other surge in instances.

    CDC information has proven that vaccine efficacy wanes over time and a 3rd shot helps restore it. It, nonetheless, has not launched complete information based mostly on age or well being standing to again the case.

    The information was first reported by the New York Times.

    While COVID instances are falling within the United States and far of the world, infections are rising in China. In the UK and Europe, there was a reversal within the downward development of COVID instances as economies have opened up and a second variant of Omicron circulates.

  • COVID-19 instances greater than double in China’s rising outbreak

    China’s new COVID-19 instances Tuesday greater than doubled from the day past because the nation faces by far its largest outbreak for the reason that early days of the pandemic.

    The National Health Commission stated 3,507 new regionally unfold instances had been recognized within the newest 24-hour interval, up from 1,337 a day earlier.

    A quick-spreading variant often known as “stealth omicron” is testing China’s zero-tolerance technique, which had stored the virus at bay for the reason that lethal preliminary outbreak within the metropolis of Wuhan in early 2020. China has recorded greater than 10,000 instances within the first two weeks of March, far exceeding earlier flare-ups.

    No new deaths have been reported within the a number of outbreaks throughout China, and the case depend stays low in comparison with many different locations on the planet. The U.Ok. recorded greater than 444,000 instances previously week. Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous metropolis that tracks its outbreak individually from the mainland, reported 26,908 new instances on Monday alone.

    Nearly three-fourths of China’s new infections had been in Jilin, a province within the northeast that reported 2,601 instances. Smaller outbreaks have hit greater than a dozen provinces and main cities together with Beijing and Shanghai.

    Jilin has barred residents from leaving the province and from touring between cities inside it. The 9 million residents of Changchun, the provincial capital and an auto manufacturing hub, have been locked down since Friday as authorities conduct repeated rounds of mass testing each there and within the metropolis of Jilin.

    More than 1,000 medical employees have been flown in from different provinces together with pandemic response provides, and the province has mobilized 7,000 navy reservists to assist with the response.

    Elsewhere in China, Shandong province had essentially the most new instances with 106. Guangdong province within the southeast, the place the metropolis and main tech middle of Shenzhen has been locked down since Sunday, reported 48 new instances. Shanghai had 9, and Beijing, six.

  • Yearender 2021: First malaria vaccine a serious milestone amid Covid gloom

    In October, the World Health Organisation (WHO) really useful the widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine amongst kids in sub-Saharan Africa and in different areas with reasonable to excessive P. falciparum malaria transmission. Known by its model title Mosquirix, the recombinant protein vaccine was discovered to stop 39 per cent instances of malaria, 29 per cent instances of extreme malaria and likewise lowered the general hospital admissions.

    According to WHO’s World malaria report 2021, globally, there have been about 241 million malaria instances in 2020 and 6 nations – Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Mozambique, Angola and Burkina Faso – accounted for about 55 per cent of all instances.
    The WHO South-East Asia Region accounted for about 2 per cent of the burden and India accounted for 83 per cent of instances within the area. Despite this excessive burden, WHO says that India has proven a exceptional discount in reported malaria instances and deaths.

    The World malaria report 2021 provides that globally, malaria deaths have lowered steadily over time – from 896000 in 2000 to 558000 in 2019. However, as a consequence of service disruptions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 noticed a rise in malaria deaths – 12 per cent rise in contrast with 2019.
    Globally, 40 nations and territories have now been granted a malaria-free certification from WHO – together with, most lately, China, El Salvador, Argentina and Uzbekistan.
    Infection and vaccination
    When an contaminated feminine Anopheles mosquito bites an individual, it injects Plasmodium parasites into our bloodstream. The parasite – within the type of sporozoites – rapidly enters the liver and multiplies over 7 to 10 days and turns into merozoites. They are launched from the liver cells and as soon as within the bloodstream invade pink blood cells and trigger fever and different signs.
    Life cycle of the malaria parasite. (PATH malaria vaccine initiative)
    Malaria vaccines are labeled based mostly on which parasite developmental stage they aim. The RTS,S vaccine targets the circumsporozoite protein on the sporozoite floor and prevents the parasites from infecting the liver cells.

    To develop the brand new vaccine, two protein parts of the parasite had been expressed in genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells and formulated utilizing an adjuvant. An adjuvant helps create a stronger immune response.
    Why was it tough to develop a malaria vaccine?
    The US CDC explains: “The development of a malaria vaccine has faced several obstacles: the lack of a traditional market, few developers, and the technical complexity of developing any vaccine against a parasite. Malaria parasites have a complex life cycle, and there is a poor understanding of the complex immune response to malaria infection. Malaria parasites are also genetically complex, producing thousands of potential antigens.”

    It provides that in contrast to the numerous ailments for which we have now vaccines, the publicity to malaria parasites doesn’t confer lifelong safety. The acquired immunity can solely defend partially and folks can nonetheless change into contaminated with the parasite. Sometimes, the an infection may persist for months with none signs.
    A current editorial in The Lancet notes that the success of this new RTS,S vaccine is the end result of generations of scientific ingenuity, three a long time of analysis and growth, and shut collaboration inside African communities.

  • Omicron infections seem no much less extreme than Delta; COVID-19 lowers sperm depend, motility

    The following is a abstract of some latest research on COVID-19. They embody analysis that warrants additional research to corroborate the findings and that has but to be licensed by peer evaluate.
    Omicron infections no much less extreme primarily based on early UK knowledge
    Infections attributable to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus don’t seem like much less extreme than infections from Delta, in keeping with early knowledge from the UK.

    Researchers at Imperial College London in contrast 11,329 individuals with confirmed or probably Omicron infections with almost 200,000 individuals contaminated with different variants. So far, in keeping with a report issued forward of peer evaluate and up to date on Monday, they see “no evidence of Omicron having lower severity than Delta, judged by either the proportion of people testing positive who report symptoms, or by the proportion of cases seeking hospital care after infection.”
    For vaccines out there within the UK, effectiveness towards symptomatic Omicron an infection ranged from 0% to twenty% after two doses, and from 55% to 80% following a booster dose. The report additionally estimated that after taking particular person danger components under consideration, the percentages of reinfection with Omicron are 5.4 occasions higher than for reinfection with Delta. A research of healthcare staff within the pre-Omicron period estimated {that a} prior SARS-CoV-2 an infection afforded 85% safety towards a second an infection over 6 months, the researchers mentioned, whereas “the protection against reinfection by Omicron afforded by past infection may be as low as 19%.”
    Sperm depend, motility could also be low for months after COVID-19
    Sperm high quality is impaired for months for some individuals after restoration from COVID-19, researchers have discovered.
    The semen itself was not infectious, the researchers discovered. But amongst 35 males who supplied samples inside a month after restoration from symptomatic an infection, reductions in sperm motility have been evident in 60% and sperm counts have been diminished in 37%. As reported on Monday in Fertility and Sterility, semen samples have been obtained from 120 Belgian males with a mean age of 35 years, at a mean of 52 days after their COVID-19 signs had resolved. Among 51 males examined between one and two months after restoration, 37% had diminished sperm motility and 29% had low sperm counts. Among 34 males who supplied semen samples at the least two months after restoration, sperm motility was impaired in 28% and sperm counts have been low in 6%. The severity of COVID-19 an infection was not correlated with sperm traits.
    “Couples with a desire for pregnancy should be warned that sperm quality after COVID-19 infection can be suboptimal,” the researchers concluded. “The estimated recovery time is 3 months, but further follow-up studies are under way to confirm this and to determine if permanent damage occurred in a minority of men.”
    Neutralizing molecule could possibly be cheaper than antibodies
    An experimental molecule that neutralizes the coronavirus in the identical approach antibodies do can be cheaper and simpler to fabricate, researchers mentioned.
    The molecule belongs to a category of compounds often known as aptamers. Because they’re made out of RNA or DNA, aptamers are simpler to synthesize than protein-based antibodies that may solely be produced in residing cells, mentioned Julian Valero of Aarhus University in Denmark. Like antibodies, the aptamers connect themselves to protein targets – on this case, the spike protein on the virus floor – by folding right into a three-dimensional conformation. A research printed in PNAS exhibits that in take a look at tube experiments, the aptamer binds tightly to the coronavirus spike, stopping it from breaking into human cells. It inhibits earlier variants of the virus, together with Delta, the researchers mentioned. They are planning exams to see whether or not it additionally acknowledges and binds to Omicron.

    Use of the aptamer in sufferers remains to be far off, with exams in mice solely not too long ago begun. In phrases of use in people, “we’re much closer” to having the ability to use the aptamer to assist diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infections, mentioned Jorgen Kjemsa, additionally of Aarhus University. Experiments evaluating the usage of the aptamer to antibodies in extensively used fast COVID-19 exams for an infection are underway, he mentioned.

  • Health Matters: Jehangir Hospital awarded platinum standing in stroke care; Freedom from Diabetes helped 10,000 diabetics

    Jehangir Hospital awarded platinum standing in stroke care
    For excellence in stroke care, Jehangir Hospital in Pune has been awarded the Platinum standing for the fourth quarter of 2020 and the primary quarter of 2021 in succession.
    The hospital is amongst seven hospitals within the nation that has obtained the Platinum award for 2 consecutive quarters, therefore changing into one among the many prime 10 hospitals for excellence in stroke care in India.
    The World Stroke Organisation (WSO) has given this award to hospitals and stroke champions who’re dedicated to providing standardised and well timed remedy to stroke sufferers.
    The Code stroke programme on the hospital was launched by, then head of the Emergency Department, Late Dr Fiyaz Pasha in 2015.

    “We have an organised course of in place whereby emergency Physicians coordinate with Neurologists, Radiologists and intensivists to hasten the method of offering high quality care to any affected person presenting with a stroke to the Emergency Room. This award is recognition by the World Stroke Organisation for the environment friendly implementation of this course of, mentioned Dr Soumya Chandrasekhar, the Head of Emergency Department at Jehangir Hospital.
    Jehangir Hospital CEO Vinod Sawantwadkar mentioned the hospital’s stroke programme was launched on World Stroke Day on October 29, 2011 for rehabilitating stroke sufferers. Since then, hospital’s emergency division has saved many lives.
    He added, “If the patient reaches the hospital within the window period of 180 minutes from the onset of the first symptoms, they can be thrombolysed following which there is a high probability of a complete reversal of the deficits suffered,” he mentioned.
    The standards met by the hospital to get the platinum standing, contains door to needle time, door to groin time, recanalisation process charge out of complete stroke incidence within the hospital, CT/MRI imaging procedures and others.
    Freedom from Diabetes helped 10,000 diabetics
    Freedom From Diabetes (FFD), an organisation working in the direction of diabetes reversal, has helped 10,000 diabetics return to regular life. People from over 30 nations have enrolled and skilled important enchancment in well being and high quality of life along with freedom from remedy, FFD Founder Dr Pramod Tripathi mentioned.
    FFD has achieved this feat as a part of its flagship programme known as the Intensive Reversal Program (IRP). The IRP is an internet programme primarily based on 4 scientific protocols, specifically food plan, train, inner-transformation, and medical approaches, added Tripathi.
    “Making 100,000 people free of diabetes medicines and insulin is a goal which I’ve been working on for the last eight years. At FFD we follow a ‘Hi-Touch, Hi Tech’ approach where we are constantly innovating on how sustainable behavioural change with practice and support systems like group therapy, inner transformation, learned optimism practice, identity change; supported by mentors, doctors, dieticians, exercise experts, psychologists, and the latest technology can help in achieving the ultimate goal of reversal.”
    FFD has a cloud-based app known as the ‘FFD App’ the place customers enter their blood sugar readings, BP, and many others. for personalised monitoring by the crew. Besides, patient-specific food plan and workout routines are additionally uploaded repeatedly on the app.
    COVID-19 preparedness stays a problem for poor, rural households: Survey
    A yr and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey carried out by Sambodhi Panels, an initiative launched by Sambodhi Research, offers a brand new perception into the preparedness of India’s susceptible sections of society because the nation tries to beat the devastation attributable to the second wave of the pandemic and prepares to satisfy a distinctly doable third wave.
    Sambodhi, a analysis organisation providing evidence-driven insights to stakeholders in world growth, carried out this survey in July throughout 10 states: Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Gujarat.
    Among the 7,116 households surveyed, solely round 20 per cent had thermometers and about 50 per cent had over-the-counter medicine obtainable to deal with signs like fever, headache.
    However, solely 9 per cent of the households had oximeters whereas a dismal three per cent had entry to oxygen cylinders.
    Also, 40 per cent of the respondents have been conscious of medical suppliers/retailers close by to entry, in case they’d COVID signs. The respondents additionally confirmed a lack of know-how on when to hospitalize a COVID constructive individual.

    While near all respondents, 95 per cent, have been in a position to affiliate at the least one of many early signs to COVID comparable to fever, dry cough, problem respiratory and complications, solely 18 per cent of respondents related diarrhoea with COVID and a fewer quantity, 4 per cent and a pair of per cent, with conjunctivitis and pores and skin rashes, respectively.
    “Given how dynamic the course of this pandemic is, we cannot afford extensive lead times that accompany primary surveys. We need a rapid generation of data insights to meet urgent response needs in crisis situations. Further, we need data collection across time periods to be able to study trends and forecast to be able to plan for the future,” mentioned Sambodhi co-founder Swapnil Shekhar.

  • Bird flu dying at AIIMS: 11-year-old is first recorded casualty this yr

    An 11-year-old boy died of H5N1 avian influenza Tuesday, making this the primary recorded dying because of the chicken flu in India this yr.
    An AIIMS official acknowledged that the boy had been admitted to the hospital on July 2 and that he died on Tuesday. The official added that every one workers who had been involved with the affected person are below isolation.

    Avian influenza is a extremely contagious viral illness attributable to Influenza Type A viruses which typically impacts poultry equivalent to chickens and turkeys. It doesn’t unfold simply to people. People who’ve are available shut contact with contaminated birds, useless or alive, can contract the H5N1 flu however in response to the WHO, it doesn’t normally unfold from individual to individual. The WHO has additionally identified that there isn’t a proof for the virus to unfold by way of correctly ready and cooked poultry because the virus is delicate to warmth and dies in cooking temperatures. However, it may be lethal when it does infect people, with a mortality charge of virtually 60%.
    Earlier this yr, in January, the deaths of a giant numbers of birds in numerous components of the nation had raised the chicken flu alarm and the virus was detected in birds in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana and Maharashtra. Samples from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Kerala had examined optimistic for the A (H5N8) pressure of the virus, whereas samples from Himachal Pradesh had examined optimistic for A (H5N1)