Bird Flu Is ‘Widespread’ Among Birds in Massachusetts, State Officials Say
Bird flu appears to be widespread among birds in Massachusetts, state health and environmental officials said Wednesday.
The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife or MassWildlife, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said bird flu — also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) — is suspected to be the cause of death in cases of both wild and domestic birds in several Massachusetts municipalities.
“Evidence suggests that HPAI is widespread in Massachusetts and is likely present even in places where there has not been a confirmed positive,” the officials said in a statement. “State officials are working with partners to test suspected cases and collaborating with municipalities to safely dispose of dead birds.”
Rising Early Adult Mortality in the US: Death Rates Remain Higher Than Expected Post-pandemic
New research from the University of Minnesota shows that death rates for early adults, or adults aged 25–44, rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and remain higher than expected post-pandemic.
Heightened death rates during the COVID-19 pandemic intensified an already negative trend for early adults, which began around 2010. As a result, early adult death rates in 2023 were about 70% higher than they might have been if death rates had not begun to rise about a decade before the pandemic.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Boston University analyzed death rates between 1999–2023. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found:
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- For early adults, there was a large jump in the death rate between 2019 and 2021, which are considered the core pandemic years. In 2023, the death rate remained nearly 20% higher than in 2019.
- Drug-related deaths are the single largest cause of 2023 excess mortality, compared with the mortality that would have been expected had earlier trends continued.
- Other important contributing causes were a variety of natural causes, including cardiometabolic and nutritional causes, and a variety of other external causes, including transport deaths.
Bird Flu Studies Delayed as White House Halts CDC Reports
As a bird flu outbreak escalates across the U.S., the Trump administration has paused the release of key public health studies, stalling research that could provide insight into how the virus spreads to animals and people.
The blocked studies were supposed to be published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR, a respected journal that has reported on health threats since 1952. One of the studies examines whether veterinarians working with cattle have unknowingly been infected, and another explores whether people may have passed the virus to pet cats, according to CNN.
These reports could help scientists track and prevent future infections. But a new memo from the Department of Health and Human Services has placed an “immediate pause” on communications. Approval is now required from a presidential appointee before publishing, according to the memo.
“This idea that science cannot continue until there’s a political lens over it is unprecedented,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, a former principal deputy director at the CDC, told CNN. “I hope it’s going to be very short-lived, but if it’s not short-lived, it’s censorship.”
Most Ditch GLP-1 Drugs for Weight Loss Within a Year
Just over half of patients with overweight or obesity discontinued their GLP-1 receptor agonist within 1 year, with rates even higher among the subset without type 2 diabetes, according to a retrospective cohort study.
Among over 125,000 patients, 53.6% discontinued their GLP-1 receptor agonist by 1 year, and these rates were significantly higher for patients without versus with type 2 diabetes (64.8% vs 46.5%), reported Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues.
Regardless of diabetes status, every 1% of body weight loss was tied to a 3% lower risk of discontinuation, they wrote in JAMA.
About Half of Americans Approve of Using Weight-Loss Drugs to Treat Obesity, AP-Norc Poll Finds
More U.S. adults believe it is a good thing than a bad thing for adults to use weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and other brands if they are struggling with obesity or have a health condition tied to weight, but they are not broadly supportive of teens who have obesity using the medications, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
When it comes to ages 12 to 18 who are dealing with obesity, Americans are divided: About one-third say the use of weight-loss drugs in this context is a “very” or “somewhat” good thing, a similar share say it’s a bad thing and about 3 in 10 say it isn’t good or bad.
For adults, about half think it’s a good thing, and about two in 10 think it’s a bad thing.
The popular weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which were originally meant to treat diabetes, surged in popularity after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved them for weight loss in 2021. Now, they’re all over the place — celebrities, TV advertisements, social media, news media, your neighbor.
Researchers Present Ozempic Alternatives — Without Sickening GI Side Effects
Researchers from across the country believe they have developed a breakthrough weight loss drug treatment: two new peptide compounds that could rival popular drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, but without some of the debilitating side effects.
Dr. Robert Doyle, a medicinal chemist and professor at Syracuse University in New York, has been working on the compounds — GEP44 and KCEM1 — for several years along with his collaborators, Dr. Matthew Hayes, vice chair for basic and translational neuroscience research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, and Dr. Christian Roth, an endocrinologist at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Recently, they’ve introduced the compounds at conferences for the American Chemical Society and The Obesity Society.
These compounds take a different approach to weight loss than existing medications, which can cause nausea, vomiting and gastric malaise. GLP-1 receptor targeting has been successful for weight loss but can trigger an “unwell” feeling that leads many patients to abandon treatment, Doyle told Newsweek. “Our approach has been to partner with PYY receptors,” Doyle said, “and we’re finding that we can trigger significant weight loss with essentially no nausea or vomiting.”