Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
The U.S. confirms its first human case of New World screwworm. What is it?
NPR The U.S. has confirmed its first human case of the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite whose northward creep from South America has put the country’s cattle industry on high alert in recent months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in coordination with the Maryland Department of Health, confirmed the case on Aug. 4 […]
Sep 3, 2025
Sorting Lyme disease fact from fiction
Stanford Report An infectious disease expert explains the tick-borne illness and why it’s so often misunderstood by patients and the practitioners advising them. A significant portion of Jake Scott’s practice involves helping patients who believe they have “chronic Lyme disease” understand what may actually be causing their symptoms. “My role combines patient care with education,” said […]
Sep 3, 2025
COVID cases, hospitalizations ticking up in the US but remain lower than last year
ABC News COVID-19 cases are ticking up in the U.S. as children head back to school and the country prepares to enter the colder weather months. For the week ending Aug. 9, the COVID hospitalization rate was 1.7 per 100,000, double the rate from two months ago, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control […]
Sep 3, 2025
Everything You Need to Know About Flu Shots This Fall
NYT It’s that time of year again. School is starting, the days are getting shorter and the familiar “flu shots available” signs are appearing outside pharmacies. Each year, the flu kills tens of thousands of people in the United States, on average, and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized. How can you protect yourself this season? Here’s what […]
Sep 3, 2025
A common nasal spray may block Covid infection, trial results indicate
NBC The over-the-counter antihistamine azelastine works against a range of respiratory infections, including the flu and RSV, according to German researchers. An over-the-counter nasal spray which has been used for years as a safe and effective treatment for seasonal allergies could potentially prevent Covid infections, according to clinical trial results released Tuesday. The antihistamine azelastine works […]
Sep 3, 2025
Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern US
Seattle Times It’s one of the most insidious diseases you’ve never heard of, but Chagas is here in California and 29 other states across the U.S. It kills more people in Latin America than malaria each year, and researchers think roughly 300,000 people in the U.S. currently have it but are unaware. That’s because the illness tends […]
Sep 3, 2025
RFK Jr boasts of handling of US measles outbreak in op-ed amid CDC upheaval
Guardian HHS secretary failed to respond to critics in editorial amid growing calls for him to resign and chaos across the agency. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), defended his response to the largest measles outbreak in the US in 33 years in a new editorial, calling […]
Sep 3, 2025
Whatever happened to mpox? Is it still a threat?
NPR In August 2024, the news came in quick succession. On Tuesday — Aug. 13, 2024 — Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared mpox a public health emergency of continental concern. The very next day, the World Health Organization followed suit elevating the mpox outbreak to its highest threat level. We published a […]
Sep 3, 2025
West Nile alert issued as two fatalities confirmed in Minnesota
Minnesota Star Tribune State is reaching peak season for risk of West Nile, the mosquito-borne virus that so far has been confirmed in 20 people and blamed for two deaths in 2025. Risk of mosquito-borne West Nile virus is increasing amid a hot and rainy summer season, the Minnesota Department of Health warned this week. […]
Aug 27, 2025
A red meat allergy from tick bites is spreading – and the lone star tick isn’t the only alpha-gal carrier to worry about
The Conversation Hours after savoring that perfectly grilled steak on a beautiful summer evening, your body turns traitor, declaring war on the very meal you just enjoyed. You begin to feel excruciating itchiness, pain or even swelling that can escalate to the point of requiring emergency care. The culprit isn’t food poisoning – it’s the […]
Aug 27, 2025