Timely and relevant global health security news curated by GCHS
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Featured Headlines
- Cambodia reports 14th human H5N1 bird flu infection in 2025BNO News Cambodia has confirmed a new human case of H5N1 avian influenza in a 26-year-old man who is currently receiving intensive medical treatment, according to health officials. It is the country’s 14th confirmed human case of H5N1 this year. The man, from Kravan village in Siem Reap Province, tested positive for the virus on… Read more: Cambodia reports 14th human H5N1 bird flu infection in 2025
- Top White House pandemic preparedness official resigns, officials say, in sign of broader disarraySTAT When reports circulated in February that the White House had selected biosecurity expert Gerald Parker as the head of its Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, there was palpable relief among infectious disease experts. As former commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, his reported appointment seemed to speak to both the… Read more: Top White House pandemic preparedness official resigns, officials say, in sign of broader disarray
- Remembering David Nabarro: ‘a great champion of global health and health equity’NPR Sir David Nunes Nabarro, a physician, international public health advocate and one of the early experts helping with the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, died on Friday at age 75. “David was a great champion of global health and health equity, and a wise, generous mentor to countless individuals,” WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus… Read more: Remembering David Nabarro: ‘a great champion of global health and health equity’
- Cambodia reports 13th human case of H5N1 bird flu this yearBNO Cambodia has confirmed a new human case of H5N1 bird flu in a 6-year-old boy who is currently in intensive care, according to health officials. It is the country’s 13th confirmed human case in 2025. The child, from Bos Russey village in Tbong Khmum province, tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza on Monday. He… Read more: Cambodia reports 13th human case of H5N1 bird flu this year
- Kennedy Rescinds Endorsements for Some Flu VaccinesNYT Federal guidelines no longer recommend flu vaccines containing a preservative, used in a small percentage of vaccines, that has been falsely linked to autism. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday formally rescinded federal recommendations for all flu vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that the anti-vaccine movement has falsely linked to autism.… Read more: Kennedy Rescinds Endorsements for Some Flu Vaccines
Updates on ongoing disease outbreaks
- 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… Read more: Where Did Bird Flu Go?
- The Invisible Toll of Bird Flu on WildlifeScientific American Bird flu fears have focused on the poultry and dairy industries and human health. But wild animals are threatened, too—at scales no one fully understands. 25,669 Northern Gannets in Canada.134 harbor and gray seals along the coast of Maine.21 California Condors in the western U.S. These are just a tiny fraction of the… Read more: The Invisible Toll of Bird Flu on Wildlife
- This is How We Fight Bird Flu If H5N1 Becomes the Next Human PandemicScientific American This San Antonio, Tex., lab takes biosecurity seriously. Suit up with its scientists and go behind the scenes of the science of vaccine creation. This is the final episode of our three-part series on bird flu. Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 On Wednesday, we met scientists who are getting their hands dirty with… Read more: This is How We Fight Bird Flu If H5N1 Becomes the Next Human Pandemic
- How Bird Flu Became a Human Pandemic ThreatScientific American The first hints that a new strain of avian illness is emerging could be found on this beach on Delaware Bay, where migrating birds flock. Here’s what virus detectives who return there every year know right now. H5N1 bird flu has been making a lot of headlines since last year, and for good… Read more: How Bird Flu Became a Human Pandemic Threat
- What Would It Take for Bird Flu to Spread among Humans?Scientific American H5N1 avian influenza has long been a concerning virus. Since its discovery in 1996 in waterfowl, bird flu has occasionally caused isolated human cases that have quite often been fatal. But last year H5N1 did something strange: it started infecting cattle. The absolute oddity of this leap may have been somewhat lost in the flood of… Read more: What Would It Take for Bird Flu to Spread among Humans?
- COVID infection early in pandemic linked to higher risk of cancer death, CU study findsDenver Post Cancer survivors infected with COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic had a higher risk of dying from dormant cells reawakening, Colorado researchers found, though they don’t know whether people who get the virus now face the same risk. Experiments in mice found that genetically… Read more: COVID infection early in pandemic linked to higher risk of cancer death, CU study finds
- The Pandemic Appears to Have Accelerated Brain Aging, Even in People Who Never Got CovidWired More than five years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still discovering the after-effects of not only the virus but also the prolonged period of stress, isolation, loss, and uncertainty that the pandemic caused. A new scientific study, published this month in Nature Communications, has… Read more: The Pandemic Appears to Have Accelerated Brain Aging, Even in People Who Never Got Covid
- Measles detected in Austin’s wastewater, APH saysKVUE Health officials encourage residents to make sure they are up to date with their MMR vaccine. AUSTIN, Texas — Officials with Austin Public Health (APH) say they have detected traces of measles in Austin’s wastewater. APH said the virus was detected through Travis County’s wastewater surveillance during the first week of July, but officials… Read more: Measles detected in Austin’s wastewater, APH says
- Measles isn’t just dangerous – it may erase your immune systemThe Conversation Blindness, pneumonia, severe diarrhoea and even death – measles virus infections, especially in children, can have devastating consequences. Fortunately, we have a safe and effective defence. Measles vaccines are estimated to have averted more than 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023. Yet despite this success, measles cases are rising sharply in the UK and around the… Read more: Measles isn’t just dangerous – it may erase your immune system
- Measles cases are surging in Europe and the US. This is what the anti-vax conspiracy theory has brought usThe Guardian Nearly 30 years after Andrew Wakefield’s discredited study linking the MMR vaccine and autism, we badly need an injection of rationality. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but also true, that even when the anti-vax movement was in its infancy in the late 90s before I had kids, let alone knew what you… Read more: Measles cases are surging in Europe and the US. This is what the anti-vax conspiracy theory has brought us
- Ghana records first Mpox death as cases surgeMedical 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… Read more: Ghana records first Mpox death as cases surge
- Gambia declares mpox outbreakDaily News The Gambia reported an outbreak of mpox on July 22 with detection of a single case, as several nearby countries have recorded recent increases in infections. Mpox remains an international health emergency, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) director… Read more: Gambia declares mpox outbreak
- Mainer hospitalized with tick-borne diseaseBangor Daily News A Hancock County resident has been hospitalized with the first human case of Powassan virus infection recorded by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention this year. The adult was experiencing neurologic symptoms, according to the Maine CDC. The Powassan virus is spread through deer or woodchuck tick bites, and can… Read more: Mainer hospitalized with tick-borne disease
- Scientists Crack Genome of Soft Tick That Threatens Pigs and PeoplePork Business Not only is the Ornithodoros turicata tick a potential vector of the ASF virus, but it also carries human relapsing fever, a severe bacterial infection. Scientists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Baylor College of Medicine have mapped the DNA of a tick that can spread African swine fever (ASF), a deadly disease in pigs. Not only is the Ornithodoros… Read more: Scientists Crack Genome of Soft Tick That Threatens Pigs and People
- Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?NBC News While working as a youth camp doctor in upstate New York earlier this summer, Dr. Matt Harris noticed he was removing a dozen ticks from campers each day, more than in years prior. Harris, an emergency medicine doctor at Northwell Medicine, said summer camp isn’t the only place seeing a surge of tick bites:… Read more: Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?
- Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?NBC Tick-related hospital visits reached their peak in May, the highest since 2019. While working as a youth camp doctor in upstate New York earlier this summer, Dr. Matt Harris noticed he was removing a dozen ticks from campers each day, more than in years prior. Harris, an emergency medicine doctor at Northwell Medicine, said… Read more: Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?
Emerging Infectious Disease Headlines
- Avian Flu Wiped Out Poultry. Now the Screwworm Is Coming for Beef.NYT The parasitic fly that attacks warm-blooded animals was eliminated from the United States in the 1960s, but it’s creeping toward the Texas-Mexico border. First came bird flu, which led… Read more: Avian Flu Wiped Out Poultry. Now the Screwworm Is Coming for Beef.
- Mainer hospitalized with tick-borne diseaseBangor Daily News A Hancock County resident has been hospitalized with the first human case of Powassan virus infection recorded by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention this… Read more: Mainer hospitalized with tick-borne disease
- A genetic tweak could prevent mosquitoes from transmitting malariaNPR Each year, 263 million people get malaria. But from the parasite’s perspective, infecting humans is harder than you might think, and requires completing an epic journey within the tiny… Read more: A genetic tweak could prevent mosquitoes from transmitting malaria
- Scientists Crack Genome of Soft Tick That Threatens Pigs and PeoplePork Business Not only is the Ornithodoros turicata tick a potential vector of the ASF virus, but it also carries human relapsing fever, a severe bacterial infection. Scientists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Baylor… Read more: Scientists Crack Genome of Soft Tick That Threatens Pigs and People
- Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?NBC News While working as a youth camp doctor in upstate New York earlier this summer, Dr. Matt Harris noticed he was removing a dozen ticks from campers each day,… Read more: Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?
- Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?NBC Tick-related hospital visits reached their peak in May, the highest since 2019. While working as a youth camp doctor in upstate New York earlier this summer, Dr. Matt Harris… Read more: Why are tick bites sending so many people to the emergency room this summer?
Read more Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Gene-Swaps Could Let Influenza Jump SpeciesScientific American Influenza viruses like bird flu can mix and match their genomes, and this has played a role in at least three of the last four flu pandemics. Influenza viruses are shifty entities. They… Read more: Gene-Swaps Could Let Influenza Jump Species
- This Boise lab used to ship bird flu samples to CO. Now it gets results in hoursIdaho Statesman Since bird flu was first detected in Idaho cattle over a year ago, officials at the State Department of Agriculture have had to ship milk samples from dairies around the Gem State to… Read more: This Boise lab used to ship bird flu samples to CO. Now it gets results in hours
- Chikungunya Virus Found to Infect Cartilage Cells, Offering Clues to Long-Term Joint PainGlobal Biodefense A new study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases provides the first in vivo evidence that chikungunya virus (CHIKV) directly infects cartilage-producing cells known as chondrocytes. Using a genetically engineered virus that glows in infected tissues,… Read more: Chikungunya Virus Found to Infect Cartilage Cells, Offering Clues to Long-Term Joint Pain
- ‘You Could Throw Out the Results of All These Papers’The Atlantic RFK Jr.’s vaccine-safety investigator has previously used government vaccine data to publish research with glaring flaws. Mark and David Geier were a father-and-son team of researchers who operated on the fringes of… Read more: ‘You Could Throw Out the Results of All These Papers’
- RFK Jr. is completely reshaping vaccine policy. This is the man helping him do it.NBC “Who is Stuart Burns?” a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention texted me from the organization’s all-hands meeting in June, attaching a photo of a man seated in front of… Read more: RFK Jr. is completely reshaping vaccine policy. This is the man helping him do it.
- How conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins are hampering our ability to prevent the next pandemicThe Conversation In late June, the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a group of independent experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), published an assessment of the origins of COVID. The report concluded that although we… Read more: How conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins are hampering our ability to prevent the next pandemic
- The Rise of Misinformation and Distrust in ScienceHarvard Global Health As part of our ongoing event series, this session is dedicated to navigating the complexities of health information, misinformation, and trust. We’ll explore how to distinguish between misinformation, disinformation, and legitimate differences in opinion. Participants will gain… Read more: The Rise of Misinformation and Distrust in Science
- The lessons New York still has not learned from the Covid vaccine rolloutSTAT As Covid-19 has receded from everyday life, New Yorkers — and Americans more generally — haven’t shown much interest in poring over their governments’ pandemic-era performance. In 2024, congressional Republicans released a deeply partisan Covid-19 report, focused on issues like… Read more: The lessons New York still has not learned from the Covid vaccine rollout
- The week that Covid-hit Britain returned to the pubBBC It became known as “Super Saturday”. Britain’s pubs had been shuttered for more than four months during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, since Boris Johnson, then UK prime minister, held a TV address which announced strict new… Read more: The week that Covid-hit Britain returned to the pub
Interesting and Sometimes Funny
- A cat named Leonardo da Pinchy doesn’t want your affection. He wants to steal your underwearAP Most cat owners dread their pets bringing home mice or birds. But for the owners of one felonious feline in Auckland, New Zealand, there’s a worse shame — being the unwitting accomplice to an unstoppable one-cat crimewave. His prolific laundry-pinching from clotheslines and bedrooms in the placid beachside neighborhood of Mairangi Bay has turned 15-month-old Leo into a local… Read more: A cat named Leonardo da Pinchy doesn’t want your affection. He wants to steal your underwear