Author: Claudinne Miller
‘It’s completely out of control’: Scientists warn bird flu could spark a human pandemic in 2026
Science Focus Bird flu has been rampaging through wildlife and farm animals worldwide. Will it make the long-feared jump to people? When a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu strain of avian influenza (H5N1) began sweeping across wild birds and poultry in 2020, it already looked concerning. Five years on, the picture has grown darker […]
Jan 7, 2026
Top US Egg Producer Says Bird Flu Still ‘Extremely Strong’
Bloomberg Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the biggest egg producer in the US, said bird flu still has an “extremely strong” presence, having last year decimated US poultry flocks and sent egg prices soaring to records. Nearly 500 outbreaks in poultry were reported across 26 countries in October and November last year, according to the World Organisation for […]
Jan 7, 2026
CDC staff ‘blindsided’ as child vaccine schedule unilaterally overhauled
Washington Post The Trump administration took unprecedented steps to recommend fewer vaccines for children without extensive consultations with career scientists. Vaccine experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were blindsided by a top deputy toHealth Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to unilaterally overhaul the childhood immunization schedule, according to current and former agency staff. […]
Jan 7, 2026
AI can now create viruses from scratch, one step away from the perfect biological weapon
Earth.com Scientists have now used artificial intelligence, computer systems that learn patterns from data, to write complete viral genomes from scratch in the lab. In parallel, a Microsoft-led study showed that AI tools can redesign known toxins so they escape common DNA synthesis safety checks. Those AI-built viruses are bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria rather than humans, […]
Jan 7, 2026
The golden age of vaccine development
Works in Progress The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom. In 1796, when Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine, against the smallpox virus, no one knew what viruses were, let alone connected them to diseases. Many believed Jenner’s vaccine worked because it depleted the body of […]
Jan 7, 2026
Scientists Discover Previously Undetected Bat-Borne Virus Infecting Humans in South Asia
SciTechDaily Researchers studying infectious diseases have found evidence of Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV), a bat-associated orthoreovirus, in stored throat swabs and virus cultures from five people in Bangladesh. These patients were originally believed to have Nipah virus infection but later tested negative. The finding expands the list of animal-to-human viruses known to infect people in Bangladesh […]
Jan 7, 2026
Traveler brings home a newly-evolved ‘hybrid’ mpox virus
Earth.com A new form of the mpox virus has surfaced in England, detected in a traveler returning from Asia and carrying a hybrid strain that blends genetic material from two different mpox lineages. The finding arrives amid a busy year for the virus, with global health agencies reporting roughly 48,000 confirmed mpox cases worldwide. Since […]
Jan 7, 2026
RFK Jr. guts the US childhood vaccine schedule despite its decades-long safety record
The Conversation The Trump administration’s overhauling of the decades-old childhood vaccination schedule, announced by federal health officials on Jan. 5, 2026, has raised alarm among public health experts and pediatricians. The U.S. childhood immunization schedule, the grid of colored bars pediatricians share with parents, recommends a set of vaccines given from birth through adolescence to prevent a […]
Jan 7, 2026
Viral outbreaks are always on the horizon – here are the viruses an infectious disease expert is watching in 2026
The Conversation A new year might mean new viral threats. Old viruses are constantly evolving. A warming and increasingly populated planet puts humans in contact with more and different viruses. And increased mobility means that viruses can rapidly travel across the globe along with their human hosts. As an infectious diseases physician and researcher, I’ll be keeping an eye on a […]
Jan 7, 2026
Controversial US-Backed Vaccination Study Begins in Guinea-Bissau
Health Policy Watch The US government-funded trial on the timing of hepatitis B vaccinations, which will delay vaccination for up to 7,000 newborns in Guinea-Bissau, started this week. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded a controversial Danish research group a ,6 million five-year grant to study the “optimal timing and delivery of […]
Jan 7, 2026