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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Author: Claudinne Miller

Mosquito-borne viruses kill 33 people, including 21 children, in Cuba

CBS News Twenty-one children are among 33 people who have died in Cuba of the mosquito-borne chikungunya and dengue viruses since July, authorities said Monday. Most of the deaths were attributed to chikungunya — characterized by fever and joint pain that can be debilitating but rarely fatal — while the flu-like dengue claimed 12 lives, the country’s […]

Dec 3, 2025

What to know about the hepatitis B shot for infants ahead of CDC vaccine panel meeting

ABC News The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee appears set to amend the childhood immunization schedule, including potentially changing recommendations on a shot given to newborns. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is meeting Thursday and Friday. A draft agenda posted online on Monday provides little detail on what materials will be […]

Dec 3, 2025

Burnt Marie Callender’s Pie Became a Thanksgiving Meme: Here’s What Really Happened

C|Net As Thanksgiving approaches, let’s look back at our interview with the viral grandma who torched a pie and became a meme that starts circulating again every November. Memes come out of nowhere, and they don’t take holidays off. On Thanksgiving 2021, a Georgia grandmother named Sharon Weiss burned a Marie Callender’s pumpkin pie, and […]

Nov 26, 2025

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Climate, Vectors and Virus Keep Chikungunya a Global Focus

ASM The activity of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-borne RNA virus that causes fever and joint pain (among other symptoms), increased worldwide in 2025, with cases reported from 40 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. The majority of the cases have been reported from the Americas, with Brazil experiencing the greatest impact. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued Level 2 Travel Health Notices, recommending enhanced precautions for travelers planning […]

Nov 26, 2025

Social, mental, and behavioral considerations in Mpox countermeasures: call for people-centric approaches for shared success

Nature The unprecedented dual declaration of Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in 2022 and 2024 by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights the persistent threat of infectious diseases in the post-COVID era. With over 100,000 confirmed cases across 122 countries and an urgent demand for millions of vaccine doses, particularly […]

Nov 26, 2025

South Carolina measles outbreak increases to 55 cases

Outbreak News Today The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) reported an additional three measles cases bringing the total number of cases in South Carolina related to the Upstate outbreak to 55, centered around Spartanburg County and 58 total for the state since the beginning of the year. Two of the cases are household […]

Nov 26, 2025

Lawmakers urge USDA to restore full avian flu surveillance

Ag Daily As U.S. poultry producers face a sharp resurgence of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to immediately restore full surveillance, reporting, and coordination efforts. The push comes amid more than 90 new detections in the last 30 days and over 1.6 million birds […]

Nov 26, 2025

UTMB Study Finds Evidence of Avian Influenza Virus Infections in Farm Workers

UTMB When highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) was first confirmed in U.S. dairy cattle in early 2024, it challenged assumptions about which species are at risk from “bird flu”. Follow-up investigations show that this virus can spread efficiently within and between dairy herds and occasionally infect other mammals, including cats and humans [1].  Few […]

Nov 26, 2025

Is the U.S. in Store for Another Brutal Flu Season?

Scientific American U.S. flu rates remain low, but experts are keeping an eye on a new strain that’s been linked to unexpectedly early and severe seasons in several other countries. Influenza is picking up in the U.S., and public health experts are bracing for signs of another brutal season with the virus. Last year one of the […]

Nov 26, 2025

Bird flu mystery in Michigan: What happened to infections among dairy herds?

Fox/Detroit Michigan is managing eight different outbreaks of bird flu among its commercial poultry farms and several others among backyard flocks as transmission rates pick up. According to the state’s agriculture director, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is trending at a similar pace as they’ve seen in previous years. That’s good news after last year’s outbreak […]

Nov 26, 2025