Effects of timely case conferencing between general practitioners and specialist palliative care services on symptom burden in patients with advanced chronic disease: results of the cluster-randomised controlled KOPAL trial.

Background: Patients with advanced chronic non-malignant conditions often experience significant symptom burden. Therefore, overcoming barriers to interprofessional collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and specialist palliative home care (SPHC) teams is essential to facilitate the timely integration of palliative care elements. The KOPAL trial aimed to examine the impact of case conferences between GPs and SPHC teams on symptom burden and pain in patients with advanced chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and dementia.

Challenges of regional hospice and palliative care networks: A group discussion study with coordinators and network experts.

Background: Within hospice and palliative care, professionals from various disciplines collaborate to deliver comprehensive care to terminal patients and their relatives. Regional hospice and palliative care networks exist in various countries, aimed at facilitating cooperation among health care providers at a local level. To date, little is known about the challenges faced by these networks.

A One Health Investigation into H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus Epizootics on Two Dairy Farms.

Background: In early April 2024 we studied two Texas dairy farms which had suffered incursions of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) the previous month.

Methods: We employed molecular assays, cell and egg culture, Sanger and next generation sequencing to isolate and characterize viruses from multiple farm specimens (cow nasal swab, milk specimens, fecal slurry, and a dead bird).

Results: We detected H5N1 HPAIV in 64% (9/14) of milk specimens, 2.