Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
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
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
First Human Dies of Rare H5N5 Bird Flu Strain. Here’s What You Need to Know
American Scientific A person in the Washington State has died of avian influenza. It’s the first human death from bird flu in the U.S. since January—but the infection was of a different strain than the one that has been devastating poultry farms and wild animals for the past several years. The Washington State Department of Health announced the death on Friday, noting […]
Nov 26, 2025
First human bird-flu death from H5N5 – what you need to know
The Conversation H5N1 bird flu has infected growing numbers of people worldwide in recent years, but this week saw something new: the first recorded human case of an H5N5 avian influenza virus. What is this virus and how concerned about it should we be? What happened? In early November, a resident of Grays Harbor, a […]
Nov 26, 2025
There are 8 patterns for long COVID symptoms. Here’s what they are
Axios There are eight different ways people experience long COVID symptoms, according to a new study from the National Institutes of Health’s research initiative. The big picture: The new study represents one of the most substantive findings on long COVID from the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) project, launched by the NIH in 2021. Driving the news: In the […]
Nov 26, 2025
Is It Cold, Flu or Covid? What to Know About Symptoms and Testing.
NYT With similar symptoms, it can be difficult to tell which illness is which. Here’s what to know. Early clues suggest that this flu season could be particularly brutal. And while national Covid rates currently appear to be low, researchers expect the virus to circulate more widely in the coming months as people gather for the holidays. If […]
Nov 26, 2025