CBS News
Drug-resistant “dual mutant” flu strains now being tracked in U.S., CDC says
At least two human cases of the new so-called “dual mutant” strains of H1N1 influenza have been detected in U.S. patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday, with genetic changes that could cut the effectiveness of the main flu antiviral that hospitals rely on.
An analysis of the new H1N1 flu viruses with these two concerning mutations – which scientists call I223V and S247N, describing changes to key surface proteins of the virus – was published this week in the agency’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
It follows a report by scientists from Hong Kong who first tested the mutations. Their lab experiments, published in March, found the two mutations appeared to raise H1N1’s resistance to the flu treatment oseltamivir, commonly sold under the brand Tamiflu by drugmaker Roche.
It is unclear how much the mutations could cut the real-world effectiveness of oseltamivir. A CDC spokesperson was not able to immediately comment on the new report.
Cases on multiple continents
Despite the “rapid spread of dual mutants to countries on different continents,” the CDC’s report on the new dual mutant flu strains found the mutations appear to still be rare for now.
Since the mutations first showed up in a case sampled from the Canadian province of British Columbia in May 2023, a total of 101 sequences have been submitted to the global virus database GISAID from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. These make up less than 1% of flu virus sequences during that time.
The two U.S. cases were detected by labs at the Connecticut Department of Health and University of Michigan this past fall and winter.
“However, those data may not necessarily represent the actual proportion of what was in circulation because of differences in surveillance and sequencing strategies in each country,” the authors said.
The most commonly prescribed antiviral
The CDC has long been closely tracking potential mutations to the flu virus that could lead to resistance to oseltamivir.
Oseltamivir ranks as the most commonly prescribed treatment for flu, the CDC says. A study published last year found the drug made up 99.8% of flu antivirals prescribed to kids.
The CDC urges doctors to give flu antivirals as soon as possible to all flu patients who are hospitalized or are at risk of severe disease. Doctors have also turned to oseltamivir to treat humans infected by the ongoing outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in dairy farms this year.
This is not the first time that health authorities have tracked the emergence of a potential threat to the effectiveness of flu treatments.
Before it was wiped off the map by a competing H1N1 strain behind the swine flu pandemic that swept the world in 2009, health authorities from Europe to Japan had reported seeing surges of a H1N1 strain that was resistant to oseltamivir in 2007 and 2008.
There were no injuries after a Southwest flight carrying passengers was struck by gunfire on the tarmac of Dallas Love Field Friday night, authorities said.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2494 was preparing for departure to Indianapolis when “a bullet apparently struck the right side of the aircraft under the flight deck,” a Southwest spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
The airline said no one was hurt. A spokesperson for Dallas Love Field said in an email that the aircraft returned to its gate after sustaining damage from a “security incident” and the passengers deplaned. The runway was also temporarily closed, but has since reopened.
Dallas police confirmed the incident, saying that officers responded to reports of gunfire at 9:48 p.m. local time, arriving to find that the aircraft had been struck.
No further details were provided on the circumstances of the incident or what was the potential source of the gunfire. It’s unclear how many people were aboard the jet at the time, or how much damage the aircraft sustained.
In its own statement provided to CBS News, the Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane “was reportedly struck by gunfire near the cockpit.”
Dallas police are leading the investigation into the incident.
Earlier this week, gunfire amid ongoing gang violence struck three planes that were either landing or departing Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. The shootings prompted the FAA to issue a 30-day ban on U.S. airlines flying to Haiti.
Social media star Jake Paul defeated boxing legend Mike Tyson in a highly anticipated fight with an age difference of over three decades between the two contenders. The Friday night win for the YouTuber-turned-pro-boxer was streamed on Netflix from the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.
Paul defeated Tyson by an unanimous decision after the two fighters went eight full rounds.
Fight night for the 58-year-old Tyson and 27-year-old Paul came following doubts over whether it would happen at all. The fight was originally scheduled for July, but was postponed after the former heavyweight champion experienced an ulcer flare-up on a plane in May.
A different kind of flare-up happened during the official weigh-in Thursday with Tyson slapping Paul in the face. Tyson later told the New York Post that Paul had stepped on his toe when the two were toe to toe onstage.
Getty Images
What is Jake Paul’s fight record?
With the win, Paul’s record improved to 11-1.
Was Jake Paul predicted to win?
Oddsmakers had Paul as the slight favorite to win. Former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua also went with Paul.
How much prize money does Jake Paul win?
Paul was expected to earn about $40 million from the fight, according to DraftKings Network and other online sources.
Promoters didn’t reveal the payouts ahead of the bout. Paul is a co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, which produced the fight.
Does Mike Tyson still get paid?
Tyson was expected to take home around $20 million for the fight, according to DraftKings and other online reports.
Tyson entered professional boxing in 1985 and became the youngest heavyweight champion in history a year later. After serving time for a rape conviction in the 1990s, Tyson won the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles.
He retired from boxing in 2005 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011. He last fought in a 2020 exhibition match against former four-division world champ Roy Jones Jr.
“He like put on another 20 pounds from when I fought him, so he’s more bigger and he’s more dangerous because more size, more power, so it’s going to be a tough one for Jake to climb,” Jones told CBS News ahead of the fight.
Anne Marie Lee and
contributed to this report.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.