Could housecats act as a vector to spread the H5N1 virus?

Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here.

I’m back after a two-week India trip, but mentally I am still scrambling up slopes in the Himalayan foothills. Please send your favorite chai recipes.

Also, new name (Rose), same me. Email me tips at [email protected].

Postponements and reframings

A week after Robert F. Kennedy, Jr was sworn in as Health and Human Services chief, his influence on federal health agencies is manifesting.

First, STAT’s Helen Branswell reports that the committee of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy — a group that Kennedy has publicly denounced — postponed their first meeting since Trump was inaugurated. Public health experts have been concerned about the future of this committee, and one expert said the postponement “raises suspicions that Mr. Kennedy will not keep his word to Senator [Bill] Cassidy that he will not interfere with ACIP recommendations.”

Second, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was ordered to shelve promotions for several vaccines, including the catchy “Wild to Mild” advertising campaign for the flu shot. Kennedy wants to replace the advertisements with others that promote the idea of “informed consent” in vaccine decision-making. Shifting the framing of advertising for vaccines that the CDC has long recommended — like flu shots — to more heavily focus on the risks of vaccines could undermine people’s willingness to get vaccinated, or to have their children immunized, public health experts warned. Helen, again, brings us the scoop.

Anti-vax sentiments emerge in U.S. — and overseas

The United States is not the only country where vaccine skeptics such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are accruing power in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

For years, Austrian providers have readily offered the HPV vaccine to help protect against cervical cancer. But doctors are now racing to administer free shots, because the political party that might take leadership in Austria’s next government probably won’t back such an effort. It’s the latest example of how populist movements are starting to embrace political messages that often oppose, or at least diverge from, mainstream scientific and public health efforts.

STAT’s Andrew Joseph has more on how far-right parties have continued to fan pandemic-era grievances and challenge public health measures.

The body keeps the score, but we don’t check it

Every time you get sick, your body makes a tally. Researchers unveiled a new, machine learning-based tool Thursday that can diagnose Covid-19, HIV, flu, lupus, and type-1 diabetes based on the immune system’s built-in records of disease exposures: B and T cells.

The proof-of-concept study is one of the first to combine B and T cell analysis and potentially paves the way for tests that could better diagnose autoimmune diseases and help researchers unravel the biological underpinnings of complex conditions.

The tool is not ready for clinical use and the general idea is not new, one expert said, but it is the biggest and broadest study of the concept and will help other researchers determine which genes are driving immune response. Read more about the fascinating science from STAT’s Jonathan Wosen and Brittany Trang.

Are you lean like a lynx?

In the nearly yearlong outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in dairy cows in this country, a question has worried public health authorities investigating the situation. Cats — large cats, barn cats, and domestic cats — are highly susceptible to the virus. Could housecats act as a vector to spread the virus from cows to people? A newly published study seems to suggest this may be possible but it does not answer the question.

Published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the study recounts two situations in Michigan where indoor cats in the homes of dairy farmworkers became sick. In one case, a cat that tested positive for the virus died; an adolescent in that household developed cold-like symptoms after the cat became ill but the teen tested negative for flu and positive for a common cold virus. In the second household, a dairy worker had eye irritation for a few days before the cat became ill. The animal, which tested positive for the virus, died. In both households, the dairy workers refused to be tested.

The question remains unanswered. The concern remains very real.

— Helen Branswell

Can NIH lower indirect research costs?

Intrepid reporter Anil Oza will be heading to a Massachusetts courtroom today to see whether lawsuits will block the National Institutes of Health’s attempt to cut $4 billion for research, and here he explains what’s at stake.

Two weeks ago, the agency announced that it planned to cap indirect costs, ending support for any administrative, facility, and other expenses not directly linked to the goals of a scientific project. The move caused widespread outrage and bewilderment among academics.

Three lawsuits temporarily halted the agency’s moves, and observers are eager for any indication of the judge’s leaning and whether she will uphold the pause, as the changes would have massive impacts upon scientific research. Existing indirect costs range from 20%-60% of grants; NIH wants to slash them to 15%. More from Anil today; keep refreshing that STAT homepage.

Diapers, not food dyes

While health indications in the U.S. lag far behind our peer nations and the nutritional content of foods must improve, poverty is the root cause of poor health for too many Americans. And we don’t have to wait for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. or Congress to “Make America Healthy Again” to make people’s lives better.

State and local governments can improve health outcomes by providing reliable transportation to medical appointments and helping families access basic necessities for health and wellbeing, like diapers. These actions can reduce preventable deaths and empower families to thrive. Read more from two former employees of the Office of Management and Budget.

What we’re reading

• Where do trans kids go from here?, The New Yorker
• RFK Jr. prepares shake-up of vaccine advisers, Politico

• Texas banned abortion. Then sepsis rates soared., ProPublica

• Trump singled me out for ruining women’s sport. This is my response to him, The Guardian

• The ironic origin story behind Sloan Kettering, STAT