Category: Oregon
USA: At least 125,000 vaccine breakthrough infections, 1,400 dead
At least 125,000 fully vaccinated Americans have tested positive for Covid and 1,400 of those have died, according to data collected by NBC News. The total number of breakthrough cases is likely higher than 125,683, since nine states, including Pennsylvania and Missouri, did not provide any information, while 11, like Florida, did not provide death and hospitalization totals. Four states gave death and hospitalization numbers, but not the full tally of cases.
WAPO: 35,000 symptomatic Covid-19 infections per week among 162 million vaccinated Americans
Oregon: vaccine breakthrough cases up 65% in May 2021
Through May 31 2021, Oregon Health Authority identified 1,009 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases. The breakthrough number about 65% higher than the 611 vaccine escape cases identified in the previous monthly Oregon Health report.
In May, there were 16,097 cases of COVID-19; 98% of these cases were unvaccinated. The median age of breakthrough cases is 51 years and 30% have occurred in individuals older than 65. These cases have been reported in 33 counties and all health care preparedness regions. Of the 1,009 reported vaccine breakthrough cases, approximately 10% were observed in individuals who reside in long-term care facilities or other congregate care settings.
Oregon Health Authority Press release June 2021
Oregon Health Authority Press release May 2021
USA: Oregon considers mink farm ban to prevent #coronavirus transmission
A bill before the Oregon Senate would phase out mink farming within the state in less than a year because of concerns that mink represent a SARS-CoV-2 threat to public and animal health.
Oregon is one of nearly two dozen U.S. states with mink farming operations and one of the biggest producers of mink pelts, according to Fur Commission USA. SARS-CoV-2 infection has been confirmed in mink at one Oregon operation as well as at operations in Michigan, Utah, and Wisconsin.
Denmark: work begins to exhume millions of #coronavirus contaminated mink
Image by Vadeve (talk) 20:43, 12 February 2011 (UTC), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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Oregon: 168 #coronavirus vaccine breakthrough cases
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has identified 168 Oregonians that have tested positive for the virus despite being fully vaccinated, also known as a vaccine breakthrough case.
Vaccine breakthrough is defined as an instance when a person tested positive for COVID-19 at least two weeks after their final COVID-19 vaccine dose.
The COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases and three reported deaths are based on data through April 2, out of 700,000 fully vaccinated people. The breakthrough cases identified make up about .02% of the vaccinated population. As of Thursday, more than 824,000 people have been fully vaccinated against the virus in Oregon.
Image by Jacob Johnson from Pixabay
New #coronavirus variant in #Oregon has B.1.1.7 backbone with E484K mutation – “seems to have evolved independently”
The new coronavirus variant that surfaced in Oregon has the same B.1.1.7 backbone, but also a mutation – E484K, or “Eek” – seen in variants of the virus circulating in South Africa, Brazil and New York City.
Lab studies and clinical trials in South Africa indicate that the Eek mutation renders the current vaccines less effective by blunting the body’s immune response. The vaccines still work, but the findings are worrying enough that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have begun testing new versions of their vaccines designed to defeat the variant found in South Africa.
The B117 variant with Eek also has emerged in Britain, designated as a “variant of concern” by scientists. But the virus identified in Oregon seems to have evolved independently, Prof O’Roak said. He and his colleagues found the variant among coronavirus samples collected by the Oregon State Public Health Lab across the state, including some from an outbreak in a health care setting.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Second wild mink tests positive for Sars-Cov-2 outside Oregon mink farm
Since December, wildlife biologists with USDA Wildlife Services, under the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) direction, have captured and tested more than a dozen animals, including ten opossums, three cats, two skunks, and three mink. All the animals tested negative except for two mink.
On December 22, NVSL confirmed a mink (captured December 13) trapped near the farm tested positive for low levels of SARS-CoV-2. Biologists caught two additional escaped mink within 75 yards of the affected farm between December 23 and 24. On January 11, NVSL confirmed one of the captured minks tested positive for low levels of SARS-Co-V2. Biologists have not caught any additional mink to date.
https://www.morningagclips.com/virus-still-present-at-oregon-mink-farm/
Photo by Nathaniel Yeo on Unsplash
#Mink infected with the #coronavirus escapes #Oregon #fur farm
A mink caught outside a farm in Oregon in mid-December has tested positive for low-levels of the coronavirus.
State officials believe the mink escaped from a small farm that was already under quarantine because of a coronavirus outbreak among mink and humans.
“Mink are related to a range of other species, including badgers, martens, fishers, weasels, otters, and wolverines,” said Jonathan Evans, the center’s environmental health legal director. “So we know that escaped mink or mink factory farms themselves can pose disease risks for wild animals.”
https://www.opb.org/article/2020/12/29/coronavirus-mink-oregon/
Image: Ryzhkov Sergey, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pandora’s box: #Coronavirus found at #mink farm in #Oregon
An Oregon mink farm has reported an outbreak of COVID-19 among animals and workers.
Oregon Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Andrea Cantu-Schomus declined to say which county the farm is in or how many workers have tested positive, citing federal health privacy rules. The farm has about 12,000 animals, she said.
Eight of Oregon’s 11 mink farms are in Marion County