Flu activity remains high in most regions of the U.S. as a winter wave of respiratory illness sweeps across the country. The post-holiday surge in flu cases and hospitalizations is straining many hospitals, leading to overflowing emergency rooms and prompting some facilities to limit patient visitors.
This trend is expected to continue for the several more weeks, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest FluView weekly surveillance report for the week ending Jan. 11.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the USDA on January 17 announced new steps to step up the safety of raw pet food, following recent reports of H5N1 infections in household cats. ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged labs nationwide to determine within 24 hours of admission whether people hospitalized with the flu have seasonal influenza or are infected with the bird flu that's behind an escalating outbreak in dairy cows and poultry.
The guidance for labs to do this type of testing has been in place since last fall, but the process has been slow, with many hospitals sending flu samples out for testing in bulk every few days.
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