Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services HHS, has remained on top of the news headlines with his never-ending controversial comments. In another controversial proposal, he has asked to let bird flu naturally spread through poultry farms. This has raised alarms among scientists who say this move could be inhumane and dangerous.

He suggested that instead of culling the birds, the farmers should allow the virus to run its course through the flock to identify naturally immune birds. He told Fox News, "We can identify the birds and preserve the birds that are immune to it."

While Kennedy has no direct control over the farms, the Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has also taken an interest in testing this idea. He told the CBS, "There are some farmers that are out there that are willing to really try this on a pilot as we build the safe perimeter around them to see if there is a way forward with immunity."

However, experts, including the veterinary experts say that this could in fact backfire. Dr Gail Hansen, who was a former state veterinarian for Kansas told The New York Times, "that's a really terrible idea for any one of a number of reasons."

Bird Flu Impact In US

Bird flu in the US has affected more than 166 million birds since 2022. At such a rate, experts warn that allowing the virus to run through the flock would increase the risk of it mutating. However, the administration thinks otherwise, "Culling puts people at the highest risk of exposure, which is why Secretary Kennedy and N.I.H. want to limit culling activities. Culling is not the solution. Strong biosecurity is,” said Emily Hilliard to The Times, who is the deputy press secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Experts across however have suggested against it. They have even predicted that if this is allowed, it would kill 100% of all turkeys and chicken. The reason is because the way birds are raised now do not have a lot of genetic variability. They are all basically the same bird. However, what Kennedy had suggested was for poultry to have a natural immunity, almost like the concept of "herd immunity". However, it cannot be the case when birds do not have a diverse genetics.

New Developments In Bird Flu

To give a ray of hope, scientists have now created a handheld sensor that can quickly detect H5N1 in the air, which could potentially stop the outbreak before they spread.

The findings of this handheld sensor is published in journal ACS Sensors, which noted it to be a low-cost, highly sensitive and workable sensor.

This research was led by Rajan Chakrabarty, who is the leader of the Aerosol Interdisciplinary Research(AIR) group at Washington University. His team developed the sensor using electrochemical capacitive biosensor (ECB) technology. The ECB features a thin network of nanocrystals and graphene oxide, with special probes that attach to bird flu particles.

This is a built-in-air sampler, which collects airborne virus droplets and turns them into a liquid sample. When the virus binds to the sensor, it changes the device's ability to hold electrical charge. This allows the scientists to measure virus levels.

In lab tests, the ECB sensor detected the H5N1 virus within five minutes. It was also sensitive enough to identify 95 viral copies per 35 cubic feet of air. This is a level that researchers say should be "sensitive enough to detect the presence of H5N1 below the virus' infectious dose."

Read more on Bird Flu, here.

US pharma major Eli Lilly on Thursday launched the much-awaited diabetes and obesity management drug Mounjaro in India at one-fifth of the US price. The company rolled out the drug in a single dose vial following the marketing authorisation from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). It has been priced at Rs 3,500 for a 2.5 mg vial and Rs 4,375 for a 5 mg vial. "It is a first-of-its-kind treatment for obesity, overweight, and type 2 diabetes that activates both GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) hormone receptors," the company said.

How Much Would Mounjaro Therapy Cost Per Month?

The drug, usually taken once a week, would cost in the range of Rs 14,000 to Rs 17,500 for a month’s therapy depending on the dosage recommended by the doctor. The average monthly price of Mounjaro in the US is around 1000-1200 dollars a month (or Rs 86000-1 lakh.

Why Is It Priced So Low In India?

"This India-specific pricing reflects Lilly’s commitment to expanding access to innovative treatments in the country," the company said, adding that it is not yet going ahead with any local collaboration for marketing and distributing the drug. "We are committed to expanding access to innovative treatments in India. At this stage, we do not have any partnership announcements regarding Mounjaro (tirzepatide)," the company said. As of now, adults over the age of 18 years with type 2 diabetes can take Mounjaro. However, since it is now rebranded and launched as an anti-obesity drug then it is not clear who would be able to take it. An official statement on usage is awaited.

How Big Is the Anti-Obesity Market In India?

With obesity rates rising in India, the market for weight loss drugs has grown exponentially in the country. Novo Nordisk's oral semaglutide tablet, Rybelsus, launched in India in January 2022, has already captured nearly 65 per cent of the anti-obesity drugs market, which includes other weight-loss medications such as dulaglutide, orlistat, and liraglutide.

World Health Organization (WHO) has raised alarm over a looming shortage of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drugs in eight countries—six of them in Africa—following the Donald Trump-led US government's decision to pause foreign aid. The freeze is already disrupting life-saving health programmes worldwide and is expected to cause havoc in the near future.

Which Countries Will Be Impacted?

According to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Nigeria, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Haiti, and Ukraine are among the nations expected to run out of anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines in the coming months. These medicines are crucial in managing HIV and preventing its transmission. “Disruptions to HIV programmes could undo 20 years of progress,” Dr Tedros warned at a press conference. He added that the fallout could result in more than 10 million additional HIV cases and three million HIV-related deaths—over three times the number recorded last year.

38 Million People Live With HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 25 million of the world's 38 million people living with HIV, is expected to bear the brunt. Nigeria alone has nearly two million HIV-positive individuals, many of whom depend on aid-supported medicines. Kenya, with approximately 1.4 million people living with HIV, ranks seventh globally in disease burden.

Dr Tedros acknowledged the historical generosity of the US in supporting global health but urged the administration to reconsider its approach. "The US also has a responsibility to ensure that if it withdraws direct funding for countries, it’s done in an orderly and humane way. We ask the US to reconsider its support for global health, which not only saves lives around the world, it also makes the US safer by preventing outbreaks from spreading internationally," he said.

With the US pausing its funds in the healthcare sector, along with UNAIDS, a global threat for HIV cases has risen. It has led to panic, fear, and confusion in many African countries that are the hardest hit by AIDs. In fact, official data states that this move could lead to a 6 times jump in HIV cases. While HIV and AIDS are being discussed all over the news now, not many know the difference between the two.

What Is HIV?

Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV is a disease that weakens a person's immune system by attacking CD4 cells which help the body fight off infection.

HIV is primarily spread by:

• Having multiple sex partners or the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases can increase the risk of infection during sex. Unprotected oral sex can also increase for HIV, though it is a much lower risk than anal or vaginal sex
• Sharing needles, syringes, rinse water
• Being born to an infected mother

What Are The Countries With Maximum Cases Of HIV?

As per the World Population Review, the top 10 countries with the highest HIV rates as of 2023 are:

• Eswatini at 27.5%
• Lesotho at 20.5%
• Botswana at 19.7%
• South Africa at 16.6%
• Mozambique at 11.8%
• Zimbabwe at 11.7%
• Namibia at 11.5%
• Zambia 11%
• Malawi at 7.5%
• Uganda at 5.6%

An experimental treatment happens to be the solution to delay Alzheimer's symptoms in some people. These people are the ones who are genetically destined to get the disease in their 40s or 50s. These new findings form ongoing research has now been caught up in Trump administration funding delas. The early results of the study has been published on Wednesday and the participants too are worried that politics could cut their access to a possible lifeline.

One of the participants had said, "It is still a study but it has given me an extension to my life that I never banked on having." The participant is named Jake Henrichs, form New York City, who is 50 years old. He is one of them to be treated in that study for more than a decade now and has remained symptom-free despite inheriting an Alzheimer's-causing gene that had killed his father and brother around the same age.

Slowing Down The Symptoms

Two drugs which can modestly slow down early-stage Alzheimer's are sold in the United States. These drugs clear the brain of one of its hallmarks, a sticky gunk-like part called the amyloid. However, there have not been any hints that removing amyloid far earlier, way many years before the first symptoms appear, may postpone the disease.

How Was The Research Conducted?

The research is led by Washington University in St Louis, which involved families that passed down rare gene mutation as participants. This meant it was almost guaranteed that they will develop symptoms at the same age their affected relatives did.

The new findings is based on a subset of 22 participants who received amyloid-removing drugs the longest, on average eight years. Long-term amyloid removal cut in half their risk of symptom onset. The study is published in the journal Lancet Neurology.

Washington University's Dr Randall Bateman, who directs the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network of studies involving families with these rare genes says, "What we want to determine over the next five years is how strong is the protection. Will they ever get the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease if we keep treating them?”

The researchers before though did not know what exactly caused Alzheimer's which affects nearly 7 million Americans, most of them in their later life. However, it is clear that these silent changes occur in the brain at least two decades before the first symptom shows up. The big contributor. At some point amyloid buildup can trigger a protein named tau that then starts to kill neurons, which can lead to cognitive decline.

Researchers are now thus studying the Tau-fighting drugs and are looking into other factors, like inflammation, brain's immune cells and certain virus.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has expanded its focus as researchers have found more reasons for Alzheimer's. In 2013, the NIH's National Institute on Aging funded 14 trials of possible Alzheimer's drugs over a third targeting amyloid. By last fall, there were 68 drugs and 18% of them target amyloid. However, there are scientists too who think that amyloid is not everything and their is way more in the brain tissue, immune cells, and more which can be studied.