Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Case Of Dangerous Clade 1 Mpox Confirmed In San Francisco
San Francisco public health officials on Wednesday confirmed the city’s first case of clade I mpox, a strain of the virus that officials say may cause more severe illness than the type behind the outbreak in 2022. The case was identified in an unvaccinated San Francisco adult who was hospitalized and is now improving, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The person reported close contact with someone who had traveled internationally, the agency said. (Vaziri, 4/16)
On syphilis, Hib, long covid, and bird flu —
US adults diagnosed as having late-stage syphilis are at higher risk for major cardiovascular conditions such as stroke and heart attack, as well as death, than those without the infection, per a study published this week in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 4/16)
Since the introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccines in the United States in 1987, invasive outbreaks of Hib have become rare, but a report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published today describes two recent clusters among homeless adults who would not have been eligible for vaccination. (Soucheray, 4/16)
Only some post-acute conditions often attributed to long COVID truly occur more often after SARS-CoV-2 infection than after other viral respiratory diseases, according to a non–peer-reviewed meta-analysis published this week on the preprint server medRxiv. (Van Beusekom, 4/16)
Inspection Service (APHIS) reported new detections of H5N1 avian flu, with positive tests revealing the virus in five Idaho dairy herds. The milking cows were the first avian flu detections in cattle since a Wisconsin report in December 2025. The new detection comes almost exactly two years since US officials first recorded avian influenza in dairy cattle. (Soucheray, 4/16)
