Flu activity is increasing slightly among children while RSV activity is elevated in the southern, central and eastern U.S., according to data updated Monday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of the week ending Nov. 23, the latest date for which data is available, 0.6% of emergency department visits were for flu and 0.4% were for RSV. While the overall percentages are low, they are higher than the percentages at the beginning of October, CDC data shows.
Meanwhile, about 5.6% of weekly tests are coming back positive for RSV and 2.5% are coming back positive for flu, according to CDC data.
Currently 14 states are experiencing moderate levels of overall respiratory illness: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The remaining states are seeing low levels.
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer for Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said the current season is trending similarly to pre-pandemic seasons.
“Compared to the pandemic years, we’re witnessing a return to more traditional seasonal patterns of respiratory illnesses,” he said. “During the pandemic, measures like masking and social distancing significantly reduced the spread of viruses like flu and RSV. Now, with those measures relaxed, the circulation of these viruses resembles pre-pandemic seasons.”
He added, “These are typical seasonal increases. Every cold and flu season is different in terms of start, end and severity but, like clockwork, we see a rise in respiratory viruses during the fall and winter months.”
Brownstein said it is unsurprising that young children are currently the most impacted by these respiratory viruses.
CDC data shows that children aged 4 and under accounted for 6.7% of emergency department visits for COVID-19, flu and RSV compared to 1.1% among those aged 65 and older during the week of Nov. 23. Children aged 4 and under also had the highest rate of hospitalizations over the same period.
“Managing capacity is going to be on the minds of every pediatric hospital for the next few months,” Brownstein said.
The CDC also noted that cases of so-called “walking pneumonia” among young children remain high. The illness is due to a respiratory tract infection caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
Brownstein said the best way for Americans to stay protected is to stay up-to-date with their vaccinations.
To prevent RSV, there are three vaccines approved for adults ages 60 and older as well as some adults between the ages 50 and 59 who are at higher risk. There is also a vaccine available for pregnant women between 32 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy.
For babies under eight months, there are two monoclonal antibody products available. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins manufactured in a lab that mimic the antibodies the body naturally creates when fighting an infection.
“Additionally, practicing good hygiene — like frequent hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying home when feeling unwell — can significantly reduce the spread of these viruses,” Brownstein said.
(YEMASSEE, SC) — With four primates still on the loose after 43 of them escaped on Nov. 6 from the Alpha Genesis Inc. research laboratory in South Carolina, the Low Country facility has come under intense scrutiny.
Animal rights groups have cited the company’s history of violations and previous monkey breakouts; a member of Congress has called for an inquiry into its oversight by multiple federal agencies; and residents voiced concern the furry fugitives might spread disease throughout their community.
On top of it all, Alpha Genesis founder and CEO Gregory Westergaard told ABC News his company is investigating whether the release of the monkeys was “an intentional act” by an employee.
The quest for freedom by the pack of young female rhesus macaques coincides with the rapid expansion of the 100-acre Alpha Genesis facility and is casting light on a disruption in the U.S. medical research industry that sounds like a plot for a science fiction thriller. A 2023 report sponsored by the National Institutes of Health warned of a crisis involving the Chinese government that “undermines the security of the nation’s biomedical research enterprise.”
The case of the absconding primates has also raised questions about why the amount of federal contracts received by the testing and breeding operation has jumped more than 160% since 2021. According to USASpending.gov, a government website that tracks federal spending, the company has been granted $19 million in federal contracts this year alone.
“It’s shocking how much money is being spent on testing primates,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told ABC News.
Mace’s district encompasses the Beaufort County community of Yemassee, where the 6,701 primates housed at the sprawling Alpha Genesis facility nearly triple the number of town residents.
In a formal letter to the NIH, the agency that funds laboratory research, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which inspects and regulates breeding facilities, Mace expressed “very urgent concerns regarding federal oversight of Alpha Genesis.” Mace said the prolonged attempts to recapture all of the primates are “placing the animals and my constituents at risk.”
“A lot of constituents were concerned about whether or not the primates that escaped were sick or ill, or have been tested on,” Mace told ABC News. “There were a lot of folks concerned about the facility being a breeding facility and the testing that goes on there as well.”
The escape highlights an ‘issue of national security’
The incident some locals have referred to as “the great escape” has illuminated the international crisis hitting the animal research industry that Alpha Genesis’ Westergaard said has become “an issue of national security.”
In 2020, the Chinese government, the world’s primary breeder of research monkeys, banned the exports of nonhuman primates (NPH) to labs in the United States and elsewhere, triggering an international shortage of the animals just as research scientists were scrambling to come up with vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a May 2023 report by National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine.
Primates, according to the NIH-supported report, are valuable in answering certain research questions because of their genetic, anatomic, physiologic and behavioral similarities to humans. However, the China ban on exporting research animals exacerbated the shortage and stalled NIH-funded research, according to the report.
The report concluded that the United States “needs to prioritize expansion” of domestic primate breeding programs.
“Relying on importing these animals from other countries is unsustainable, and dependence on international sources undermines the security of the nation’s biomedical research enterprise,” the report warned.
In 2021, the National Primate Research Centers could not meet two-thirds of researcher requests for rhesus macaques, according to the report.
“Researchers also face increased wait times for animals, and costs have risen 10% to 200% for a single animal, depending on the species,” the report said.
What we know about Alpha Genesis’ research
The crisis prompted Alpha Genesis to increase its domestic breeding of research primates. According to Rep. Mace, the company also manages the NIH’s so-called “Monkey Island” on Morgan Island in Beaufort County, which holds another 3,300 primates.
Westergaard told ABC News that Alpha Genesis employs 275 people, plus 30 or so contractors.
In addition to breeding lab monkeys, Alpha Genesis provides researchers across the country with biological products and materials, including serum, plasma, whole blood and tissue samples from a wide variety of research species, according to the company’s website. The private company’s researchers have helped develop several therapeutic drugs and vaccines, including those to treat the COVID-19 virus.
According to NIH online records provided to USASpending.gov, the crisis appears to be in accord with a boost in federal contracts Alpha Genesis has received, jumping from $7.3 million in 2021 to $12.3 million in 2022, $14.2 million in 2023 and $19 million this year.
Primates are worth up to $30,000 each
“The price of research monkeys has indeed increased a great deal since the Chinese banned all exports,” Westergaard said in an email to ABC News. “Prior to the ban monkeys sold for around $4K – $6K, after the ban prices have increased to $10K – $30K+ due to increased costs of raising animals in the US compared to China. An important point to note is that the shortage remains severe and a great deal of research in the US simply cannot be done because animals are not available at any cost.”
Westergaard said some suppliers of laboratory primates have turned to the illegal sourcing of wild-caught monkeys from Cambodia, “which we have not done.”
“It should also be noted that the Chinese government is seeking worldwide domination in medical research and the development of bio-weapons to target US citizens and our allies,” Westergaard said.
He added, “Alpha Genesis is a leading provider of NHPs to the US market and has been instrumental in attempting to fill this void. The alternative is to allow the Chinese to dominate medical development to the severe detriment of our National Security interests.”
“It should also be noted that the Chinese government is seeking worldwide domination in medical research and the development of bio-weapons to target US citizens and our allies,” Westergaard said.
He added, “Alpha Genesis is a leading provider of NHPs to the US market and has been instrumental in attempting to fill this void. The alternative is to allow the Chinese to dominate medical development to the severe detriment of our National Security interests.”
Human error or intentional act?
Asked by ABC News whether the rapid expansion of Alpha Genesis’ breeding and testing operations might have played a role in the escape of the 43 primates, Westergaard said the cause of the escape remains under investigation, including whether it was the result of “human error” or an “intentional act.”
“All the information we have thus far indicates that this is human error due to an employee failing to secure containment doors behind her, and a third door directly containing the animals, while doing routine cleaning and feeding,” Westergaard said in an email. “The enclosure was brand new and in perfect working order. We continue to investigate in an attempt to determine to the greatest extent possible whether this was or was not an intentional act.”
Westergaard said that immediately after the incident occurred, the employee’s supervisor told her she could be fired if it was determined that no structural failure of the primates’ enclosure led to the incident. Westergaard said the employee walked off the job and has not returned.
As of early Tuesday, four of the escaped primates remained on the loose, Westergaard said. Two were caught Monday, he said.
“The girls from today are in good health and the others continue to thrive,” Westergaard said Monday. “We believe the four monkeys remaining are probably all together either in the area adjacent to our property or somewhere else very close by.”
Mace has requested answers from NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli, USDA Deputy Administrator for Animal Care Sarah Helming, and Acting Director Axel Wolf of the NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. She also noted that this was not the first time problems had arisen at the research lab.
Mace, who told ABC News she is against animal testing, cited in her letter a September 2022 USDA inspection report of Alpha Genesis that found six separate incidents of animals escaping from their primary enclosures between January and August of 2022. Mace also cited escapes dating back to 2014, when more than two dozen monkeys slipped out of the facility, resulting in a fine from the USDA.
The 2022 USDA inspection report, which ABC News reviewed, also found an infant monkey died after becoming entangled in a stretch of gauze material used in an enclosure to hold a water bottle; said two primates were found dead in their enclosures with their fingers entrapped in structures inside their cages; and documented that one animal died from trauma and four others required veterinary care after they were placed in incorrect enclosures and were attacked by other primates unfamiliar with them.
As a result of the inspection, Alpha Genesis, according to the report, took corrective action to secure enclosures and “made significant changes” to avoid putting primates in the wrong enclosures.
The latest USDA routine inspection of Alpha Genesis lab was conducted on May 21 and concluded, “No non-compliant items identified during this inspection,” according to USDA online records.
“This is also true of several other inspections in recent years,” Westergaard said. “For a facility of this size that is quite remarkable.”
Mace said she met with Westergaard last week to discuss the escape and what Alpha Genesis is doing to round up the monkeys.
“It was an interesting conversation,” Mace said. “He tried to tell me how good the primates have it at his facility. And my response was, they have it good until you kill them with disease.”
Asked about the conversation, Westergaard responded: “I spoke to the congresswoman last week and at that time she said that she recognized the economic importance of our company to the people of the Low Country and that as a locally-owned business, she would continue to offer her full support.”
Alternatives to testing primates
Angela Grimes, CEO of Born Free USA, an international wildlife conservation and animal protection organization, told ABC News that her group has sent a letter to Alpha Genesis offering to rehome the escaped primates to its animal sanctuary in South Texas, where more than 200 rhesus macaque monkeys now reside, including some rescued from U.S. research labs. She said an anonymous donor has pledged $250,000 to help move the animals to the sanctuary.
“What we’d like to see is these animals be released to the Born Free USA sanctuary in South Texas, where they can have some of that freedom that they’ve just gotten a taste of,” Grimes said.
Grimes said Alpha Genesis has not responded to her group’s offer.
The nonprofit Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, a 175-acre facility in Dilley, Texas, has been accredited since 2009 by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, GFAS executive director Valerie Taylor told ABC News, adding that her group conducts rigorous assessments and inspections of animal sanctuaries across the United States and around the globe to ensure the highest standard of animal care possible. Taylor said U.S. animal sanctuaries undergo accreditation every three years and that her organization recently visited the Born Free USA sanctuary as part of the reaccreditation process.
“We meet and exceed GFAS’ highest standards,” Grimes said.
Grimes said the medical research industry needs to research alternatives to subjecting primates to experimental testing of deadly diseases.
“I understand human health is important, but I also look at the other viable alternatives that are out there that do not result in the suffering and death of animals,” Grimes said.
Westergaard said testing of primates is necessary, though.
“There is no safe or effective way to make the leap from simpler model organisms like mice and rats to humans without using NHPs as an intermediary,” Westergaard said. “The therapeutics created using NHPs as research models directly lead to lifesaving and life-prolonging treatments and cures for human disease. Without NHPs as a research model, the world would still be ravaged with wide-spread polio, smallpox wouldn’t be eradicated, and HIV would still be a death sentence.”
(NEW YORK) — A growing number of people under 50 are being diagnosed with more advanced stages of colon cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
The 2020 death of 43-year-old actor Chadwick Boseman due to colon cancer drew attention to the shift, and “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek, 47, announced his Stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis in November.
A diagnosis at a younger age was also the case for Brooks Bell, a Raleigh, North Carolina, entrepreneur who ran a data analytics company. At 38, she was alarmed to discover blood after using the rest room.
She said she called a telehealth doctor, who told her it may be hemorrhoids. She decided to get second and third opinions, which led to a colonoscopy referral and diagnosis.
“I found out that it was Stage 3 colon cancer,” Bell told “GMA3.”
In a different case, Los Angeles stylist Sarah Beran’s doctors suspected a parasite could be causing her symptoms. Ultimately, she said a colonoscopy revealed the truth.
“They found over 100 polyps on my colon, a mass on my rectum,” the 34-year-old said. “And that’s when my world changed.”
She had to undergo a colon transplant and 12 rounds of chemotherapy.
Even though the pair lived on opposite sides of the U.S., their experiences brought them together after Bell shared her story online.
“I reached out and asked her how I could get involved and help, so that more people don’t have to go through what we went through,” Beran said. “And we teamed up.”
The duo dreamed up a fashion brand with a cause, Worldclass. The streetwear and athleisure line includes hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts, tees, hats and totes — all designed to break the stigma about colon cancer.
“All proceeds go towards a colonoscopy fund that helps underinsured communities get screened,” Beran said. “So literally saving lives through fashion.”
Convincing people to get screenings has a specific goal, Bell noted.
“With colon cancer, we should be talking about prevention, being able to avoid the entire cancer experience, period, rather than just talking about early detection,” she said.
A proactive approach to health can make a huge difference, according to Beran.
“A colonoscopy is way easier than going through chemo and the surgeries and all the icky stuff that we went through,” she said. “So we’re lucky that we did catch ours in time and that we did advocate for ourselves. And we got in there and got our colonoscopies. And now we’re here now telling our story.”
(NEW YORK) — The Mediterranean diet — which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains — has once again topped U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of best diets.
The publication on Friday named the diet the best overall diet for the eighth year in a row.
The Mediterranean diet scored a 4.8 out of 5 based on an evaluation of several factors, including nutritional completeness, health risks and benefits, long-term sustainability and evidence-based effectiveness, according to U.S. News and World Report.
The diet also scored the top spot in 11 additional categories in the publication’s annual rankings, including easiest-to-follow, gut health, weight loss and mental health.
The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), which focuses on whole foods and low sodium, was ranked second on the Best Diets list, followed by the Flexitarian, MIND and Mayo diets. All of the top five diets embrace a plant-forward philosophy, minimizing the intake of red meats, processed foods, inflammatory fats, high-sugar foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, rather than enforcing strict rules or banning entire food groups.
If you’re looking to start the Mediterranean diet, here is what you need to know.
What is the Mediterranean diet?
The Mediterranean diet is not one way of eating but a broad term used to describe the eating habits popularized in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea including Italy, Greece, Morocco, Spain and Lebanon.
The way of eating focuses on the quality of foods consumed rather than focusing on a single nutrient or food group, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Nutrition experts say there’s no one diet that will work for everyone. Certain diets may be more beneficial depending on your circumstances, and some may be harmful depending on your health conditions. Anyone considering changes to their diet should consult with their doctor.
What types of foods are eaten on the Mediterranean diet?
Overall, the diet is mostly plant-based and focuses on healthy fats.
Healthy fats emphasized in the Mediterranean diet include extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts, salmon and sardines, according to the American Heart Association.
All types of vegetables and fruits are encouraged on the diet, as are non-meat sources of protein like beans and other legumes.
Fish is encouraged at least twice weekly and other animal proteins like poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt are encouraged in smaller portions. Red meat consumption is should be limited to a few times a month.
The main source of hydration should be water.
Are any foods prohibited?
No, the Mediterranean diet does not totally eliminate any foods or food groups.
However, it is recommended to limit foods such as butter, processed foods like frozen meals and candy, and refined grains and oils. Fruits are encouraged for dessert over sugary sweets.
U.S. News and World Report describes the diet as leaving “little room for the saturated fat, added sugars and sodium that inundate the standard American diet.”
What are the health benefits?
According to U.S. News and World Report, “People who eat a Mediterranean-style diet have longer lifespans, report a higher quality of life and are less likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.”
In a study of over 60,000 people, those who followed the Mediterranean diet more closely had a lower risk of dementia, regardless of genetic risk.
The American Heart Association says the Mediterranean diet can “play a big role” in preventing heart disease and stroke and reducing risk factors like diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Consuming virgin olive oil, in particular, may help the body “remove excess cholesterol from arteries and keep blood vessels open,” according to the AHA.
Citing research, the Mayo Clinic touts the Mediterranean diet as a way to help maintain a healthy weight, improve brain health, increase longevity, support a healthy gut and lower the risk of certain cancers.
Dr. Brent Gawey, a member of the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this report.
