Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Inside the Red Zone: Sierra Leone’s terrifying mpox outbreak
Telegraph More than 5,000 have tested positive – including children – and at least 47 have died in Africa’s worst outbreak of the disease. Inside a quarantine zone on the edge of a military hospital, a 32-year-old man with lesions all over his body is losing his battle with disease. Ibrahim Turay, a construction worker […]
Aug 13, 2025
Measles outbreak in US prompts questions over Robert F Kennedy Junior’s mixed messages on vaccination
ABC (Australia) US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has regularly told Americans they should not take medical advice from him. “My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant,” he told Congress in May. But under his watch a vaccine-preventable disease has continued to spread, with more than 1,300 cases in 40 states. The measles outbreak that […]
Aug 13, 2025
Florida COVID cases spike right before the start of schools
Central Florida News Once again, a summer wave of COVID-19 is spiking across the country and in Florida. According to the Department of Health, Orange County reported the third-highest case totals in the state at the end of July, just before kids returned to the classroom. “We’ve seen generally two COVID bumps during the year. […]
Aug 13, 2025
Pregnancy reduces COVID-19 vaccine immunity against novel variants
Nature Pregnant women are at heightened risk for severe outcomes from infectious diseases like COVID-19, yet were not included in initial vaccine trials, which may contribute to low booster uptake (15% or lower). We explored the serological and cellular responses to COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccines (i.e., ancestral and BA.5) in pregnant and age-matched, non-pregnant females […]
Aug 13, 2025
COVID cases are climbing in Colorado
Axios COVID-19 cases are trending up in Colorado and nationwide. A summer uptick isn’t unusual. But the latest surge is colliding with back-to-school season, when the virus could spread even more. Driving the news: Wastewater data for the week ending Aug. 2 shows the Western U.S. leading the nation in COVID levels, with peaks in Colorado, Alaska, California, Nevada and Utah, per […]
Aug 13, 2025
With a new COVID variant on the rise, which US states have the most cases?
USA Today Some states are being hit harder than others this summer as a new COVID-19 strain (XGF) continues to spread. Some regions of the U.S. are still experiencing higher rates of positive COVID tests than others, though reporting has slowed down enough nationwide that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has begun allowing more time to pass between […]
Aug 13, 2025
Brain eating amoeba found in Missouri resident after trip to Lake of the Ozarks
KSDK The deadly infection has been historically rare, but as climate change heats up waters and worsens flooding, research shows cases could become more common. A Missouri resident is in intensive care after officials confirmed they had contracted a rare and deadly infection after swimming at the Lake of the Ozarks. Missouri Department of Health […]
Aug 13, 2025
Idaho child contracts region’s first measles case in 30 years
KREM The health district says the confirmed infection was found in an unvaccinated child in Kootenai County. The case is the first in the region in more than 30 years. The Idaho Panhandle Health District (PHD) is reporting the first confirmed measles case in the region in more than 30 years. PHD says the infection […]
Aug 13, 2025
Ghana records first Mpox death as cases surge
Medical Express Ghana has recorded its first death from Mpox, health authorities confirmed Sunday, amid a sharp rise in new infections in the West African country. Twenty-three new cases have been confirmed in the past week, bringing the total number of infections to 257 since the virus was first detected in Ghana in June 2022. […]
Jul 30, 2025
Where Did Bird Flu Go?
American Scientific Bird flu was nearly everywhere in the U.S.—in chickens, cows, pet cats and even humans. Cases have gone down, but experts warn that it hasn’t disappeared. For months, bird flu was seemingly everywhere in the U.S.: news headlines reported the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus was rapidly sweeping through hundreds of herds of dairy cattle […]
Jul 30, 2025