�������ýҕ�l

The Covid-19 pandemic has abated in much of the world and, with it, many of the social restrictions implemented to curb its spread, as people have been eager to return to pre-lockdown life. But in its place have emerged a series of viruses behaving in new and peculiar ways. Take seasonal influenza, more commonly known as the flu. The 2020 and 2021 U.S. winter flu seasons were some of the mildest on record both in terms of deaths and hospitalizations. Yet cases ticked up in February and climbed further into the spring and summer as Covid restrictions were stripped back. “We’ve never seen a flu season in the U.S. extend into June,” Dr. Scott Roberts, associate medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Hospital, told CNBC Tuesday. (Gilchrist, 6/10)

Where, exactly, is the outbreak headed? When I asked five experts for their predictions, they would say only one thing for certain: Monkeypox is not the next COVID-19. It’s simply not transmissible enough to cause infections on the scale of the pandemic, nor does it seem to be a particularly deadly virus. (None of the 1,200 patients has died so far.) But beyond that, their views ranged widely: The outbreak may be over before we know it; or it might become a modest, intermittent problem; or it could transform into an ever-present risk and inconvenience, like the next genital herpes. Here are three possible paths monkeypox could take. (Gutman, 6/9)

Marco, 40, lives with his partner in Edmonton, Alberta. Marco’s partner had been “feeling off” for a couple days — a low fever, some fatigue, and a few little bumps on his hands, which he didn’t give much thought as they didn’t look serious. Marco joked with him, suggesting that it might be monkeypox. “I mean, what are the chances? Like 1 in 6 billion?” he told BuzzFeed News. At that point, there was only one confirmed case of the monkeypox virus in all of Alberta. The next day, Marco’s partner received a call from a public health nurse letting him know that he had been in close contact with a person who had tested positive for monkeypox. Marco spoke with the nurse as well, telling her that he felt fine, but he did have what seemed to be a canker sore under his tongue, only it wasn’t particularly sensitive. (Waechter, 6/9)

Public health officials in Rhode Island said Thursday they have identified the state’s first probable case of monkeypox. A man in his 30s who lives in Providence County has tested positive for an orthopox virus, and confirmation for monkeypox is pending testing at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Rhode Island Department of Health said in a statement. (6/9)

The state Department of Health today has identified a third probable case of monkeypox in Hawaii, but because the patient has no travel history connected to the disease, officials said it is likely spreading locally. Health Department officials announced the latest monkeypox case in an adult on Oahu during a virtual news conference today. “This person does not have a travel history. The reason that’s significant is that it tells us that monkeypox is probably in our community,” said state Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char during the news conference. (6/9)

San Francisco on Thursday reported three additional cases of probable monkeypox as Alameda County announced its first likely infection, bringing the Bay Area total to five cases amid a rapidly growing global outbreak. The Alameda County case is in an individual who had close contact with someone who had earlier tested positive for the virus. In the San Francisco cases reported Thursday, one person had recently traveled within the U.S., but the other two did not. (Allday, 6/9)