Ambergris

The first time in this post-vaccine era.

National emergency has been declared in the UK, or maybe just in England, after they found evidence of community transmission of poliovirus for the first time. Remember that of every four kids catching and passing around polio, only one at most will show symptoms. So they test wastewater for it. They found vaccine-derived poliovirus in London in February 2022. At first, this was not considered unusual -- typically they pick up a handful of these each year. People who get the oral polio vaccine (in another country, as the UK doesn't use this) can shed the weakened live virus used in the vaccine for several weeks. What raised alarms was that the samples kept showing up for months on end and were related to one another while containing mutations that suggested the virus was evolving as it spread from person to person. They hope the virus is confined to a single household or an extended family, but they don't know. Polio is spread mainly through lack of handwashing after using the bathroom, but can also be spread by coughs and sneezes.

Arizona 1 California 40 Colorado 5 DC 4 Florida 16 Georgia 5 Hawaii 5 Illinois 19 Indiana 2 Maryland 3 Mass 9 Missouri 2 Nevada 1 New Jersey 1 New York 22 Ohio 1 Oklahoma 2 Oregon 1 Pennsylvania 2 Rhode Island 1 Texas 4 Utah 3 Virginia 1 Washington 4 UK 793 Germany 521 Spain 520 Portugal 317 France 277 Canada 210 Netherlands 167 Belgium 77 Italy 71 Switzerland 46 Ireland 14 Denmark 13 Israel 13 United Arab Emirates 13 Austria 12 Brazil 11 Sweden 10 Australia 8 Slovenia 7 Chechia 6 Hungary 6 Mexico 5 Romania 5 18 other countries with progressively lower numbers, including South Korea with one. If South Korea has one counted, it has probably ... a few more not counted. As of 6-22-22, 2:00 Eastern

They're talking about renaming it, but I don't think hMPXV 1, hMPXV 2 or hMPXV 3 or even the shorter MPXV 1, MPXV 2 or MPXV 3 is going to stick. Arizona 1 California 24 Colorado 5 District Of Columbia 4 Florida 10 Georgia 3 Hawaii 5 Illinois 15 Maryland 1 Massachusetts 7 Nevada 1 New York 21 Ohio 1 Oklahoma 2 Oregon 1 Pennsylvania 2 Rhode Island 1 Texas 2 Utah 2 Virginia 1 Washington 2 US total 113 England 452 Northern Ireland 2 Scotland 12 Wales 4 Total count outside of endemic countries: 2525 cases in 37 countries. Tally as of June 17.

The cheddar part of the cheese party went pretty well, but Young Cat got into the ricotta.

Cook and puree before drying for best results. Bear in mind that the dried puree, if it was very liquidy, sometimes breaks with glass-sharp shards. Be careful when powdering. I use paper plates lined with Saran wrap sometimes, and it takes FOREVER to dry. Turning often helps. Keeping the layers very thin helps. You can also shred chunks of raw pumpkin in a blender before drying. I don't use these because I can't be bothered to remember which is cooked and which isn't, and I want to cook what hasn't been cooked (both for digestibility and to kill any pathogens). After drying, blend into powder. If it clumps, it's not dry enough. Dry it more. 1/2 cup winter squash powder plus two cups boiling or near-boiling water rehydrates into 2 cups (one smaller can) of purée Substitute some of the flour in pasta, starting with 1/4 or so. If you want gluten action in the pasta, you're not going to get it with more than about a quarter vegetable content. Cook less pasta than usual. Vegetable pasta is great the first time it's cooked but does not make good leftovers etc. Mixed half and half with nutmeg, put with any drink you might put nutmeg in. Yes, coffee too. Yes, you can taste it. No, you don't want it in every cup, but you don't want nutmeg and whipped cream in every cup either do you? For cakes, coffee cakes, quick breads, substitute 1/4 of the flour with powder on a cup for cup basis. Try a quarter cup of powder reconstituted with a quarter cup of hot water, an 8-0z block of cream cheese, and a teaspoon of a cinnamon-heavy pie spice mix, stirred together for a bagel or toast spread.

Welcome back, MomM.

I make and use a lot of paneer etc. I've done mozzarella and other very simple cheeses, although it's been years and years ... It's time to re-learn and learn more. Anyone have a favorite (or a strongly disliked) cheese-making book? Or some comments?

Officials in the U.K., which on Tuesday confirmed 179 cases, and Spain, where the health ministry on Monday announced it has 120 cases, are recommending smallpox vaccines for close contacts of those already infected, believing that a vaccine for the related virus given within four days of exposure can minimize monkeypox symptoms.\ Another article says the smallpox vaccine is understood to be 85% effective in preventing monkeypox. I was coming on line last night, SusanAnn, to post information from that article, but I got distracted. Thanks for supplying the link.

Have a safe trip!

Made macaroni and cheese with one of the twins this weekend. It was kind of a production, but she did the white sauce pretty much by herself this time. Repetition, repetition, repetition--that's the key. A friend of mine got adopted by a stray cockerel. She called me to ask what he might want to eat. As in, what she might have on hand and be willing to hand over. We settled on lettuce leaves and uncooked grits for the evening, and today she went looking for mash. Her neighborhood allows chickens but would have fits if any weeds grew up from stray birdseed/scratchfeed in the lawn. I told her she could always toast any seed before feeding it to him, to make sure it won't sprout, but that is a little bit of a bother.

What does he mean "strangely?" There's been a monkeypox boil-over in Africa going on since 2017. Not trying to game out the possibilities would be highly irresponsible. +++++++++++++++++++++++

So it's not just me?

According to the USDA, avian influenza is caused by influenza Type A virus (influenza A). These viruses are broadly categorized based on a combination of two groups of proteins: “H” proteins, of which there are 16 (H1-H16), and “N” proteins, of which there are 9 (N1-N9). Each combination of H and N proteins makes a different subtype, and related viruses within a subtype may be called a "lineage." Avian influenza viruses are classified as either “low pathogenic” or “highly pathogenic” based on the severity of the disease they cause in poultry. Most are "low," and these generally don't concern us. I have been trying to treat HPAI as the name of a particular kind of bird flu, and that's not what it is. It's a description. It refers to any highly pathogenic virus among the bird influenzas, and there are a few of them. 4 highly pathogenic bird flu lineages within the following subtypes have hit the news in the past ten years or so: H5N1 (since 1997) H7N9 (since 2013) H5N6 (since 2014) H5N8 (since 2016) H5N1 and H5N6 are the most likely ones to be meant when you hear a reference to HPAI. In the US, it's mostly H5N1. In Europe and Asia, it seems to be as likely H5N6. Although H5N1, H7N9 and H5N6 don't infect people easily or usually spread from human to human, it's happened with fatalities. The UK has said that the H5N6 circulating among birds there is not the H5N6 that infected people in China--same subtype, different lineage within that subtype--but unless I misread, the WHO has identified them both as the 2.3.4.4b lineage. H5N8 is highly lethal to birds but not considered transmissible to humans. However, in February 2021, in Russia, H5N8 was for the first time identified as having infected seven people. I don't see a note of any infections in birds or anything else since that winter. H7N9 is rare but ugly. First noticed in humans in China in 2013. Only 3 human infections reported since October 1, 2017, but 766 in the twelve months before that. Cumulative total reported cases: 1565. Fatality rate: 39 percent. The USDA is currently tracking pretty much daily confirmations of H5N1 in birds, each of which devastates a US farmer. See map below.

California 2 Colorado 2 Florida 2 Massachusetts 1 New York 1 Utah 2 Virginia 1 Washington 1 Total: 12 Data as of May 27, evening.

Quebec combats monkeypox by offering smallpox vaccination. Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec’s public health director, said the vaccine will be offered to those most vulnerable to catching monkeypox, including people who have been in contact with confirmed cases. The smallpox vaccine offers a good chance at preventing infection if taken within four days of exposure. The smallpox vaccine will be given out to eligible residents starting May 27. 14 monkeypox cases have been tied to Montreal, and all 25 cases in Quebec (including one school child) have been linked to the city’s surrounding area. Another 20-30 cases are under investigation. +++++++++++ The US and some other countries have called monkeypox a "mild" or "mild and self-limiting" illness. Canada calls it a "serious illness." +++++++++++ (Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday published recommendations... on a smallpox vaccine that limit its use to only people who work closely with viruses such as monkeypox. The Jynneos vaccine, made by Bavarian Nordic, will be available for certain healthcare workers and laboratory personnel at a time when monkeypox infections has spread in Europe, United States and beyond. The vaccine was approved in the United States in 2019 to prevent smallpox and monkeypox in high risk adults aged 18 and older. CDC officials earlier this week said they were in the process of releasing some doses of the Jynneos vaccine for people in contact with known monkeypox patients. Officials said there were over 100 million doses of an older smallpox vaccine called ACAM2000, made by Emergent BioSolutions, which has significant side effects.

Cases per country and territory (outside of endemic African countries) Country Confirmed Suspected Total Last update First confirmed case Argentina 2 — 2 27 May 2022 27 May 2022 Australia 2 — 2 20 May 2022 20 May 2022 Austria 1 — 1 22 May 2022 22 May 2022 Belgium 6 1 7 25 May 2022 19 May 2022 Bolivia — 1 1 26 May 2022 — Canada 26 5 31 26 May 2022 19 May 2022 Czech Republic 5 — 5 26 May 2022 24 May 2022 Denmark 2 — 2 25 May 2022 23 May 2022 Ecuador — 1 1 27 May 2022 — Finland 1 — 1 27 May 2022 27 May 2022 France 7 — 7 27 May 2022] 20 May 2022 Germany 16 — 16 27 May 2022 20 May 2022 Israel 1 — 1 22 May 2022 21 May 2022 Italy 12 1 12 27 May 2022 19 May 2022 Morocco — 1 1 26 May 2022 — Netherlands 12 — 12 25 May 2022 20 May 2022 Portugal 74 — 74 27 May 2022 18 May 2022 Slovenia 2 — 2 25 May 2022 24 May 2022 Spain 98 — 98 27 May 2022 18 May 2022 Sudan — 1 1 26 May 2022 — Sweden 2 — 2 25 May 2022 19 May 2022 Switzerland 4 — 4 27 May 2022 21 May 2022 United Arab Emirates 1 — 1 24 May 2022 24 May 2022 United Kingdom 106 — 106 27 May 2022 6 May 2022 United States 10 — 10 26 May 2022 18 May 2022 Total 389 12 401 — This table is outdated or otherwise in conflict with other information. Shocking, I know.

"Following the detection of a case in Massachusetts the previous day, the United States on 19 May placed a $119 million order with Bavarian Nordic, with an option to buy $180 million more, for up to 13 million vaccines against smallpox. On 20 May, the US Department of Health and Human Services said the order was part of a standard preparedness effort and not a response to recent events. A spokesperson said, "BARDA has worked with industry to develop and purchase vaccines and treatments for a potential smallpox emergency, some of which may also be used to respond to monkeypox."[53] Separately, Bavarian Nordic stated an unidentified European country had placed an order for "Imvanex" vaccines in response to the monkeypox outbreak." What coincidental timing!

US has over 20 "presumed" cases in seven states. There are nine "confirmed" cases. When did that happen? Is it not news? As of yesterday, May 26, there's a woman in northern Virginia (who had traveled to Africa) who has it She's the first Virginia case known. Not all the US cases have explanations, such as travel or contact with a known infection. Virginia joins California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, and Washington State. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Friday 27 May 2022 The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has detected 16 additional cases of monkeypox in England. The latest cases, as of 26 May, bring the total number confirmed in England since 7 May to 101. There are currently 3 confirmed cases in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland, taking the UK total to 106.

Welcome!

Here's a thought: Wales has described monkeypox as a "mild and self-limiting illness." Soon this won't even be something worth making an appointment to see a doctor about. And then the weaponized smallpox, which looks just like it, starts spreading... Interestingly, monkeypox survivors would have an edge in that scenario. There just wouldn't be enough of them to help.

According to the UK Health Security Agency there are 79 cases to date in the UK, with figures due to be updated on Thursday afternoon. One case in Wales, one in Northern Ireland. UK cases do not count in the chart below, and would bring the total to 197   European Union Confirmed cases Austria 1 Belgium 4 Czech Republic 1 Denmark 1 France 5 Germany 5 Italy 5 The Netherlands 6 Portugal 37 Slovenia 1 Spain 51 Sweden 1 Total 118

Another reason to make cheese.

Homesteader, that's a lot better than the videos I found.

Monkeypox In Three More Countries The Czech Republic and Slovenia reported their first cases on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has became the first Gulf state to record a case of monkeypox. In the UAE, health officials announced a case had been detected in a traveler who had recently visited west Africa. Authorities also say they are "fully prepared" to handle any outbreak. There are now 237 confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox outside Africa. Germany has ordered 40,000 doses of the Imvanex smallpox vaccine. Anyone already vaccinated with a smallpox vaccine years ago should have existing immunity, German health officials said, but the new vaccine is safer than the old one.