Hot Topics In IPC for February 5, 2025: Respiratory Virus Season, H5N1, and Public Health Politics

January may have been the longest month ever, but we’re finally in February!

Respiratory Virus Season Updates

With so much of the CDC’s website pulled down in last week’s purge of public health data, we’re leaning heavily on the US weekly flu surveillance report for Week 4 (ending January 25, 2025). Clinical lab test positivity is 29.4% for influenza (an increasing trend), with outpatient respiratory illnesses increasing to 6.9%. Regarding COVID-19, test positivity is at 5.4%, with a hospitalization rate of 4.0 per 100,000, and 0.9% of emergency department visits result from COVID-19.

H5N1

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIC) has reported more farms experiencing poultry H5N1 outbreaks across three states. Five farms in Missouri are affected, as well as a commercial turkey farm in California and a backyard flock in Oregon. Missouri has been particularly hard hit, with 4.3 million birds impacted/lost in the last month. In terms of dairy farms, another farm in California has reported infected cows, bringing the state’s total to 736 affected herds and a national total of 957.

Public Health Politics

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has made it to the first round of his confirmation hearing, which advances him one step closer to leading US Department of Health and Human Services and awaiting the Senate vote, which is likely to occur within the next week. US Agency for International Development (USAID) workers have been recalled from their posts around the world, with many left scrambling to coordinate career and relocation changes in addition to critical health work done abroad. The move to abolish USAID is under intense criticism, with many noting not only the global impact but also the legality of this move as it is unconstitutional. The National Science Foundation (NSF) shared with staff this week that roughly 25 to 50% will be laid off in the next 2 months. Lastly, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, to withdraw the US from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Ebola Outbreak in Uganda and Marburg in the United Republic of Tanzania

Uganda has reported a new case in the Ebola Sudan outbreak it is currently combating. In the World Health Organization’s weekly health emergency bulletin. This outbreak was reported in late January 2025, with an initial case being a 32-year-old male nurse who later died—his source of exposure is unknown. His wife is now the second confirmed case after reporting symptoms and confirmation via testing on February 2. There have been 234 close contacts identified, with 118 seeking health care and 3 reporting symptoms and are currently under isolation and care while awaiting testing.

In the United Republic of Tanzania, they have been responding to a Marburg virus disease since January 20, 2025, when an outbreak was declared. Currently, there have been 10 cases and 10 deaths, but no new cases have been reported since January 20,2025—a total of 281 contacts were identified.