State Epidemiologist Highlights Emerging Prion Diseases Before Golden Valley Rotary Club
Infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm spoke with Golden Valley and St. Louis Park Rotary Club members over Zoom on Tuesday.
Dr. Osterholm acknowledged World Polio Day. He also expressed concerns regarding future antibiotic resistant infections amid world crises, along with worries about vaccine hesitancy.
St. Louis Park and Golden Valley Rotary Club members met to hear from Dr. Osterholm on Tuesday.
He took questions on a number of topics, including scientists’ latest concerns: prion diseases. Dr. Osterholm said one example of that appears in chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer. There have been no reported cases of infection in people, but Dr. Osterholm explained that it could pose a risk to people in the future.
Dr. Osterholm also answered questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that while the three-year major peak of the pandemic is over, the virus is not done yet.
Osterholm also expressed concerns about vaccine hesitancy and disinformation campaigns that came from the pandemic.
He encouraged Rotarians to get their COVID-19 booster and RSV vaccine as soon as they can, and the flu vaccine as cases rise.
