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People be very careful this virus is not done yet

New Coronavirus Discovered in Chinese Bats Sparks Alarm​

Published Feb 21, 2025 at 8:06 AM EST




Anew bat coronavirus that has the capacity to spread to humans, similar to the one that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, has been discovered.
HKU5-CoV-2 was found by a Chinese research team led by virologist Shi Zhengli, known as "Batwoman" for her work on coronaviruses, especially at the Wuhan Institute, which has been at the center of the theory suggesting COVID-19 came from a lab leak—something Shi has denied.
Newsweek has contacted Shi for comment via email.

Why It Matters​

Hundreds of coronaviruses exist but only a few can infect humans, including SARS, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).

This new one (HKU5-CoV-2) uses the ACE2 receptor to infect organisms—SARS-CoV-2 also uses the ACE2 receptor for infection.

What is HKU5-CoV-2?​

HKU5-CoV-2 is a coronavirus belonging to the merbecovirusgroup, which also includes the virus that causes MERS.
It has a higher potential to infect humans than other coronaviruses because of the way it binds to human ACE2, making it similar to SARS-CoV-2 and NL63 (a common cold virus).
Researchers came to this conclusion after using a technique called Cryo-EM, which uses a powerful microscope.

HKU5-CoV-2 was able to infect human cell cultures in the mini-human organ models the scientists used.
Read more Coronavirus
"Bat merbecoviruses, which are phylogenetically related to MERS-CoV, pose a high risk of spillover to humans, either through direct transmission or facilitated by intermediate hosts," the study says.
Shi Zheng-li

Virologist Shi Zhengli, left, works with a colleague at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on February 23, 2017. AP

What To Know​

The research, conducted by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Guangzhou Laboratory and the Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, was published in the scientific journal Cell.

The study says that the potential for the virus to spillover into humans "remains to be investigated."

What People Are Saying​

The study says: "Structural and functional analyses indicate that HKU5-CoV-2 has a better adaptation to human ACE2 than lineage 1 HKU5-CoV."
The researchers found that: "Authentic HKU5-CoV-2 infected human ACE2-expressing cell lines and human respiratory and enteric organoids. This study reveals a distinct lineage of HKU5-CoVs in bats that efficiently use human ACE2 and underscores their potential zoonotic risk."

What Happens Next​

Newsweek has contacted the United States Department of Health and Human Services, via email, for comment.
 
www.dailymail.co.uk

New coronavirus with pandemic potential discovered by Wuhan scientists

A team led by virologist Shi Zhengli, known as 'Batwoman' for her work on coronaviruses, detected a new virus, HKU5-CoV-2, in bats in China.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Another pandemic? China scientists discover new bat coronavirus that poses risk of animal-to-human transmission

A team of Chinese researchers have discovered a new bat coronavirus with the potential for animal-to-human transmission. The virus, named HKU5-CoV-2, was found to use the same human receptor as SARS-CoV-2 which was responsible for Covid-19. This has revived fears of deadly pandemic that claimed...
economictimes.indiatimes.com economictimes.indiatimes.com

 
www.nytimes.com

Scientists Describe Rare Syndrome Following Covid Vaccinations

In a small study, patients with the syndrome were more likely to experience reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus and high levels of a coronavirus protein.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Scientists Describe Rare Syndrome Following Covid Vaccinations​

In a small study, patients with the syndrome were more likely to experience reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus and high levels of a coronavirus protein.


A close-up view of a gloved hand grasping for Covid shots in a purple plastic case on a table in a clinic.

Like people with long Covid, some with post-vaccination syndrome showed reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus, which is linked to mononucleosis, multiple sclerosis and other conditions.Credit...Matthew Busch for The New York Times

By Apoorva Mandavilli
Published Feb. 19, 2025Updated Feb. 21, 2025, 10:08 a.m. ET
Leer en español

The Covid-19 vaccines were powerfully protective, preventing millions of deaths. But in a small number of people, the shots may have led to a constellation of side effects that includes fatigue, exercise intolerance, brain fog, tinnitus and dizziness, together referred to as “post-vaccination syndrome,” according to a small new study.

Some people with this syndrome appear to show distinct biological changes, the research found — among them differences in immune cells, reawakening of a dormant virus called Epstein-Barr, and the persistence of a coronavirus protein in their blood.

The study was posted online Wednesday and has not yet been published in a scientific journal. “I want to emphasize that this is still a work in progress,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University who led the work.

“It’s not like this study determined what’s making people sick,” she said, “but it’s the first kind of glimpse at what may be going on within these people.”



Independent experts noted that the findings were not conclusive on their own. Yet the results, from a scientific team known for rigorous work, suggest that post-vaccination syndrome deserves further scrutiny, they said.

More on Covid-19​

“One of the most important things is that we get some attention to really shine a light on this and try to understand exactly what it is,” said John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. (Dr. Wherry has previously collaborated with Dr. Iwasaki’s team, but did not participate in this work.)

Thousands of people have said that Covid vaccines harmed them. But the United States’ fragmented health care system complicates detection of uncommon side effects and has provided little clarity on the range of symptoms people might have experienced after a Covid shot.

The patchwork has also made it difficult to compare and collate self-reported anecdotes. The new study is small, and the condition it is studying is “very heterogeneous,” said Dr. Gregory Poland, emeritus editor of the journal Vaccine and president of Atria Research Institute.

“Despite these limitations, they found interesting data that need further study,” he said. “Much larger studies of very carefully defined and phenotyped individuals need to take place.”

​


Between December 2022 and November 2023, Dr. Iwasaki and her team collected blood samples from 42 people with post-vaccination syndrome and 22 healthy people without it. People with the syndrome were generally in poorer health than the average American, the researchers found.

When they analyzed components of the immune system, those with post-vaccination syndrome had different proportions of some immune cells, compared with controls. It’s unclear what these differences might mean; the researchers did not link them to individual symptoms.
Because the symptoms reported by people with post-vaccination syndrome show considerable overlap with those of long Covid, the researchers also analyzed blood from 134 people with long Covid and 134 healthy controls.

Like people with long Covid, those with post-vaccination syndrome showed reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus, a virus that may lie dormant in the body and is linked to mononucleosis, multiple sclerosis and other conditions.

Some cases of long Covid are thought to result from the persistence of the spike protein of the coronavirus, resulting in a heightened state of inflammation in the body.

Dr. Iwasaki and her team found that people with post-vaccination syndrome had significantly higher plasma levels of the coronavirus spike protein than everyone else — including those with long Covid — from 26 to 709 days after receiving the vaccine.

Dr. Iwasaki said that mRNA itself, used in vaccines, was unlikely to be the source of the protein so long after the shots were administered. “Something else is allowing this sort of late-phase expression of spike protein, and we don’t really know what that is,” she said.

Dr. Wherry suggested caution in interpreting that result. For example, it’s possible that some of the protein may result from undetected coronavirus infections. “I would like to see more data on this topic,” he said.

Still, he added, the lack of clear answers makes it even more important to continue to explore the issue.

“One of the things that maybe scientists got trapped into a little bit during the pandemic is this perception that we should have all the answers, and if we can’t give it a definitive answer, then we shouldn’t be talking about it,” he said.

“I think that that’s a mistake,” he added. “We can’t say for certainty that this can’t happen.”
 
OutlawR.O.C. said:
Could you imagine how much worse the shortages would be this time around if we were in a trade war with China :smh:
Click to expand...
"With millions of people dead in the first month and counting. Supreme Leader Emperor God Trump had no choice but to buy every robot that Tesla can build." Said Elon Musk today from his compound in Texas.

"We have to quickly replace all the workers lost, and those we will lose in the coming months while we let nature take it's course ... herd immunity will conquer the virus!" Said RFK Jr from an undisclosed bunker.
 

As measles outbreak rages in Texas, RFK Jr. pushes anti-vaccine message​

Rebecca Crosby
and
Noel Sims
Feb 19, 2025




Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks after being sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Oval Office at the White House on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The largest measles outbreak Texas has seen in over 30 years is sweeping through the western part of the state. According to information released yesterday by the Texas Department of State Health Services, 58 cases have been confirmed throughout five counties. The total number of cases is likely much higher, however, with “health officials suspect[ing] that between 200 and 300 people are infected but untested.”
The vast majority of cases are occurring among the unvaccinated. Only four confirmed cases in Texas were vaccinated. Gaines County, which has the most confirmed cases, is a rural area that has one of the highest vaccine exemption rates in Texas. During the 2023-2024 school year, 18% of kindergarten students had not received the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella.
Meanwhile, RFK Jr., who was confirmed last week as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), appeared in Texas on Tuesday. He did not address the burgeoning measles crisis. Instead, he continued his anti-vaccine advocacy, falsely suggesting that childhood vaccines like MMR may be linked to chronic illnesses. He said he would convene a new panel to study the childhood vaccination schedule and other “formally taboo” issues.
Eight measles cases have also been reported in nearby New Mexico. While it is likely that the cases are related to the Texas outbreak, a connection has not yet been established.
Vaccination rates have been falling across the country in recent years. In the 2022-2023 school year, vaccine requirements were only met by 93% of kindergarten students, falling short of the 95% necessary in order to stop the risk of outbreaks. Across the country, around 280,000 kindergarten students did not have a documented MMR vaccine during the 2023-2024 school year.
Measles is a highly contagious and dangerous disease. According to the CDC, “one infected patient can spread measles [to] up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts.” Thirteen of the confirmed cases in Texas, which have primarily occurred among children and young adults, have resulted in hospitalization. Symptoms of the disease include a high fever, cough, and a rash. In severe cases, the disease can cause “blindness, pneumonia or encephalitis, swelling of the brain.”
Twenty percent of measles cases among the unvaccinated result in hospitalization and “between one and three of every 1,000 children who get measles die from respiratory or neurologic complications,” Forbes reported. Before vaccines became widely available, “measles was the single leading killer of young children globally.”
The MMR vaccine, which is administered in two doses, is highly effective and safe. Getting both doses provides 97% effectiveness against the disease, with one shot providing 93% effectiveness, according to the CDC. The disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 due to the effectiveness of the vaccine. But in recent years, cases have begun to climb as vaccination rates have fallen. In 2024, there were 285 confirmed cases across 33 states, with 89% of cases occurring among the unvaccinated or those with an unknown vaccination status. According to the CDC, there have been at least 14 other cases this year, not including the Texas outbreak.
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How Kennedy infected the world with anti-vaccine propaganda
​

In 2005, Kennedy published a nearly 5,000-word article in Rolling Stone and Salon, claiming that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, was responsible for rising numbers of autism diagnoses in children. Kennedy’s argument relied on a study that was fraudulent. Meanwhile, the "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with dozens of studies published in prestigious, peer-reviewed journals" have all concluded that there is no link between vaccines and autism. In fact, while the use of thimerosal in vaccines has declined, autism diagnoses have continued to increase.
While Kennedy's article was eventually retracted by both outlets, Kennedy’s crusade against vaccines continued.
In 2015, while promoting the anti-vaccine documentary "Trace Amounts," Kennedy escalated his rhetoric. "They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone," Kennedy said. "This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country.”
The same year, Kennedy joined the board of the World Mercury Project, now called Children’s Health Defense (CHD), which has been a major source of anti-vaccine activism since 2007. Until it was banned by Meta in 2022, CHD was one of the biggest buyers of anti-vaccine ads on Facebook.
In 2018, when two babies died in Samoa soon after receiving the MMR vaccine, Kennedy and CHD pounced. CHD launched a social media campaign alleging that the babies had died because the vaccines were inherently dangerous. (In fact, the two vaccines at issue had been administered incorrectly.) The Samoan government paused the vaccine program briefly, but when it restarted, many parents were still skeptical — their fears stoked by groups like CHD — and vaccination rates plummeted. In September 2019, a measles outbreak infected over 5,000 Samoans and killed 83, mostly young children. During the outbreak, Kennedy sent a letter to Samoa’s prime minister warning that vaccinations could be spreading the disease. Kennedy also visited Samoa in 2019 and met with anti-vaccine activist Taylor Winterstein.


“Nobody died in Samoa from measles,” Kennedy told an interviewer in August 2024. “They were dying from a bad vaccine.”
This week, we started a new publication, Musk Watch. NPR covered our launch HERE. It features accountability journalism focused on one of the most powerful humans in history. It is free to sign up, so I hope you’ll give it a try and let us know what you think.
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Despite two decades as an anti-vaccine crusader, Kennedy convinced Republican Senators that he would not restrict access to vaccines as the head of HHS.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is a physician and a strong advocate for vaccines. In a post on X today, Cassidy called the measles outbreak in Texas “serious” and promoted the efficacy of the MMR vaccine.


Cassidy said he cast a key vote in favor of Kennedy after “Kennedy gave him assurances that he would not alter the federal vaccine schedule.” A few days after his confirmation, Kennedy is already “investigating” whether the current vaccine schedule is harming Americans.
 

As measles cases soar, RFK Jr. declares war on science​

Rebecca Crosby
and
Noel Sims
Mar 13, 2025




U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Over 250 people across multiple states have been infected with measles this year and two people have died. The vast majority of these cases are centered in areas with low vaccination rates. According to a March 7 release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most of the cases “are among children who had not received the MMR vaccine,” which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella.
Measles is incredibly contagious and dangerous. Before the vaccine was widely available, “measles was the single leading killer of young children globally.” Fortunately, the MMR vaccine is highly effective and safe. Two doses of the vaccine provide 97% effectiveness against measles, and one shot provides 93% effectiveness, according to the CDC. The vaccine is so effective that in 2000 the disease was declared eliminated in the United States. But in recent years, vaccination rates have fallen, and measles cases have been on the rise.
The scientifically proven way to get the widespread outbreak of measles under control is to increase vaccination rates. But instead, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), is spreading misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
On Tuesday, in an interview on Fox News, Kennedy, who has called getting vaccinated a “personal” decision, stoked fear about the safety of the MMR vaccine. Kennedy stated that there were “adverse events from the vaccine,” claiming that it “cause deaths every year” and “causes all the illnesses that measles itself cause.” According to the CDC, however, the MMR vaccine “is much safer than getting measles, mumps, or rubella.” The vaccine has also saved millions of lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that immunization efforts “averted more than 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023.”
In the Fox News interview, Kennedy downplayed the risks of the disease, claiming that “it used to be… everybody got measles. And measles gave you lifetime protection against measles infection.” Kennedy argued there were benefits of getting infected, stating that previously infected women used to provide children with immunity through breast milk. Kennedy has also said that it is “very, very difficult for measles to kill a healthy person,” suggesting that deaths from the disease are linked to poor health and diet. This is not true. The disease kills between one to three out of every thousand people infected in the United States.
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Kennedy has used the measles outbreak to promote alternative remedies that have not been proven effective against the disease. Kennedy announced that the HHS would conduct clinical trials of alternative treatments for measles, including a steroid, an antibiotic, and cod liver oil, due to its high levels of vitamin A. Kennedy said that he had heard that these treatments caused “miraculous and instantaneous recovery.”
According to experts, these remedies are not recommended for treating measles and are not an effective substitute for the vaccine. While health experts do recommend vitamin A for people who already have measles, it is “most useful… in patients who have a specific deficiency," and the “studies mainly draw on evidence from low-income countries where that deficiency is common,” CNN reported. Under “1 percent of the population” in the U.S. has a vitamin A deficiency. Moreover, cod liver oil “makes it difficult to administer precise amounts,” and it can be dangerous to take excess amounts of vitamin A. A doctor in Gaines County, Texas, which has the most cases of measles in the state, told the New York Times that Kennedy promoting these treatments was “100 percent going to make it harder” to minimize the outbreak.
Kennedy has downplayed the severity of the measles outbreak, which is the worst outbreak Texas has seen in over 30 years, on multiple occasions. In February, Kennedy said that “we have measles outbreaks every year” and that it was “not unusual.”
While Kennedy is spreading misinformation and stoking fear about the safety of vaccines, federal health organizations are implementing longer-term policies that will likely undermine vaccination rates even further.

We started a new publication, Musk Watch. NPR covered our launch HERE. It features accountability journalism focused on one of the most powerful humans in history. It is free to sign up, so I hope you’ll give it a try and let us know what you think.

The plan to undermine vaccine confidence​


​

To secure key votes for his confirmation as HHS secretary by the Senate, Kennedy made promises to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who was a physician for 30 years, that he would not make changes to key vaccine committees and policies within HHS. In a speech to the Senate about his decision to vote in Kennedy’s favor, Cassidy said that “vaccines save lives. They are safe. They do not cause autism.” He said that he had discussed the multitude of studies that found no link between vaccines and autism with Kennedy and that Kennedy promised not to remove statements on the CDC website saying that vaccines do not cause autism.
So far, those statements remain on the CDC website, but HHS, under Kennedy’s leadership, has taken several steps that will undermine vaccine confidence. The CDC has said it will conduct a new study about the thoroughly debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. (Trump’s pick for CDC director recently told Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) that he believes vaccines do cause autism.)
Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is eliminating or restricting funding for 40 studies about the causes of declining vaccination rates in the U.S. and how to increase vaccine confidence. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine skepticism has increased and the number of American kindergarteners who have received the measles vaccine has decreased — putting even more children at risk of serious illness or death. Research about how more parents can be convinced that vaccines are safe for their children would save lives.
In addition to promising Cassidy that he would not stoke fears about autism and vaccines, Kennedy also promised not to make changes to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). However, in February, one of ACIP’s three annual meetings — during which the committee was set to review several vaccines — was cancelled. A similar meeting of a vaccine advisory committee within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was also cancelled.
The Trump administration is reportedly considering cancelling a contract with Moderna to develop a human bird flu vaccine. It is also considering pulling funding for research on mRNA vaccines, which Kennedy has criticized. Numerous studies have affirmed that mRNA vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, are safe.
UPDATE: On Thursday morning, the White House withdrew its nomination for CDC Director.
 
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