Our Scans · Pitcairn · Weekly Summary

• A crescent-shaped partial solar eclipse will be visible in Hawaii, American Samoa, Brazil, Fiji, French Polynesia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Pitcairn Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, Uruguay, South Georgia, the Falkland Islands and many other locations. CNN
• The World Health Organization is warning a highly pathogenic variant of avian influenza is increasingly spreading among mammals - raising the prospect it could trigger a pandemic in humans. Democracy Now!
• Avian Influenza A U.S. Department of Agriculture agency will assess potential environmental impacts from responding to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United States. Circle of Blue
• Once confined to certain regions, several fungal pathogens are now found all over the United States, for example, and the World Health Organization has warned that fungal infections are a rising threat. Labroots
• Data generated will provide a better understanding of pathogens in the UK as well as an early warning system for new viruses. VaccineNation
• Pharma industry leaders, backed by developed countries, have expressed fears that conditioning DIS sharing to financial benefits would impede the rapid sharing of genetic data on emerging pathogens that pose a global health threat. Health Policy Watch
• Broiler production was raised on more rapid expected growth in bird numbers later in the year while turkey production was lowered for the first half of the year on recent discoveries of highly pathogenic avian influenza. National Hog Farmer
• The World Health Organization keeps a list of nine priority pathogens with pandemic potential, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Ebola, as well as 'disease X', which represents a possible, as-yet-undiscovered pathogen. Nature Medicine
• The evidence base for IPC IPC measures to mitigate the risks from COVID-19 continues to develop and evolve as understanding of the pathogen increases. GOV.UK
• The findings from researchers at McGill University and the University of Ottawa demonstrate the need for more comprehensive testing and tracking to detect the spread and potential risk of tick-borne pathogens to human and wildlife populations throughout Canada. phys.org
• As many as 400,000 people across southeast Asia and southern China are infected by coronaviruses carried by bats annually, while the flying mammals could carry up to 10,000 pathogens capable of infecting humans. The Telegraph
• Surveillance efforts would better detect the spread and potential risk of emerging or re-emerging tick-borne pathogens for human and wildlife populations throughout Canada. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
• New research has measured lake sediment from the largest High Arctic freshwater lake in the world, revealing that increased glacial melt - a proxy for climate change - leads to a higher risk of viral spillover, where new viruses or pathogens could come into contact with a novel host. Email
• Some pathogens that do not pose a significant threat in the United States might ravage populations in other parts of the world, if a researcher were to travel after getting infected. The Intercept
• Antibiotic resistance (or antimicrobial resistance - AMR) poses a major threat to human health around the world, and S. aureus has become one of the most notorious multidrug-resistant pathogens. SciTechDaily
• By collaborating with peak wildlife organisations like Wildlife Health Australia and the proposed One Health surveillance and wildlife collaborating centre for Australia and Indo-Pacific, spillover of pathogens can be identified and appropriate actions taken to mitigate risk. Public Health Association of Australia
• The World Health Organization has drawn up the first ever list of fungal pathogens posing the greatest threat to human health, warning that some strains are increasingly drug-resistant and becoming more widespread. medscape
• The World Health Organization today released its first-ever list of fungal priority pathogens, identifying 19 fungi that have emerged as significant public health threats because of their ability to cause severe invasive infections and their growing resistance to antifungal drugs. CIDRAP
• Over the last 20 years, fungal pathogens are responsible for more species extinctions than bacteria or viruses combine - something like a third of amphibian species are at risk of becoming or have become extinct, and bats in Australia are dying because of fungal pathogens. Cosmos Magazine
• Around the world, climate change is fuelling outbreaks of cholera and dengue, and increasing the risks of new pathogens emerging with epidemic and pandemic potential. WHO

Last updated: 19 June 2025