Expert Panel — Savor: Food Shortages in a Pandemic
May 12, 2020
An expert panel of UC Davis researchers, policymakers and food purveyors discussed how our food supply chain works, why the COVID-19 pandemic has been so disruptive, and what changes can be made to make food systems more resilient.
Student Health Center Forms Public Health Unit
August 2022
Born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new public health unit at the student health center on campus is helping chart the prevention efforts, patient care and campus response related to infectious diseases and other public health issues.
Student Health and Counseling Services includes an infection control physician, a public health coordinator and a public health nurse. As need arises, the unit will have available to it two nurses already working at the student health center.
Read about our public health unit
California’s COVID-19 State of Emergency Ends
February 28, 2023
Governor Gavin Newsom announces the end of the COVID-19 State of Emergency, a milestone that marks the end of the most serious phase of the pandemic. The declaration had given the governor broader powers to fight the spread of the virus. Infectious disease experts from UC Davis Health caution that the risk of severe disease has lessened, but “it’s not zero.”
It’s easy to take shots in retrospect. But remember that over 1 million Americans died. Even if every step taken by the decision makers in health care wasn’t perfect, it was to save people’s lives.
Stuart H. Cohen, chief of infectious diseases, on the government’s pandemic response
Read about the end of the pandemic
COVID-19 Can Cause Inflammation That Results in Bone Loss, Higher Fracture Risk
July 2023
A UC Davis Health study that looked at acute bone loss in mice who had COVID-19 showed that SARS‐CoV‐2 infection can cause significant changes in bone structure. The study is the first to suggest that people with COVID‐19 may experience long‐term orthopedic issues, such as decreased bone mass, increased fracture risk and other musculoskeletal complications.
Read how COVID-19 can cause inflammation
Wastewater Helps Track Surges of COVID, Other Diseases
August 2024
The secret is in the sewage. Wastewater becomes a key tool in predicting regional COVID surges. More people have immunity from vaccines or previous infections, so are less likely to seek treatment, and people also rely heavily on at-home tests, which aren’t often reported. Since infected people shed the virus in their feces, researchers can test wastewater to get a sense of how prevalent COVID — and many other diseases, such as the flu — may be in a community.
Wastewater is an impressive new tool that’s now become more mainstream because of the pandemic.
Nam Tran, senior director of clinical pathology at UC Davis Health
UC Davis Leads New NSF Center for Pandemic Insights
August 2024
UC Davis is chosen to lead a new center funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation that aims to help prevent the next pandemic before diseases emerge. The Center for Pandemic Insights includes 11 partner institutions from across the United States and involves four UC Davis powerhouses: the School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Engineering, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the School of Medicine.
Read about our center for pandemic insights
Long COVID: What Have We Learned
October 2024
Millions of people continue to suffer long-term effects from the COVID-19 virus, but many patients find their doctors are still unsure of how to evaluate and treat long COVID. UC Davis expert Christian Sandrock provides an update on long COVID, including the risk factors, symptoms and latest research.
Read what we’ve learned about long COVID
The Next Pandemic: COVID-19 Showed Us How We Can Fight the Next Global Outbreak
2025 and beyond
As the COVID-19 pandemic reaches the five-year mark, the scientific and medical communities know that there inevitably will be another pandemic someday. What can be done next time to prevent widespread harm? This essay by Stuart H. Cohen, chief of infectious diseases, calls for measures to fight the next global outbreak — including strong, accurate communications to combat mistrust and misinformation.
Read how to prepare for the next pandemic