Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
A 1990 Measles Outbreak Shows How the Disease Can Roar Back
NYT To understand the virus’s re-emergence in America in 2025, some experts are looking to a past epidemic that had a high death rate in Philadelphia. Few expected a major return of measles to the United States this year, a quarter-century after it was declared eliminated here. But return it has, with more than 1,300 confirmed cases this […]
Aug 27, 2025
What We’ve Learned from the Texas Measles Outbreak
Time Texas health officials on Aug. 18 declared the end of a measles outbreak that had sickened more than 760 people across the state and killed two children. Doctors and public-health officials involved in the outbreak, most of whom had previously never encountered a measles patient, are now taking stock of what they’ve learned about the virus […]
Aug 27, 2025
As Measles Exploded, Officials in Texas Looked to CDC Scientists. Under Trump, No One Answered.
KFF As measles surged in Texas early this year, the Trump administration’s actions sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists that kept them from performing the agency’s most critical function — emergency response — when it mattered most, an investigation from KFF Health News shows. The outbreak soon became the worst the United States has […]
Aug 27, 2025
What to Know About Plague After a New Case in California
NYT It is not just a scourge of the Middle Ages. Plague still exists, though it is rare. Here’s what to look for and how to protect yourself. Health officials in the Sierra Nevada region of California announced this week that a local resident tested positive for plague, an extremely rare bacterial infection usually transmitted […]
Aug 27, 2025
The CDC quietly scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses
NBC As of July 1, a critical surveillance program is monitoring for only two pathogens instead of the usual eight. A federal-state partnership that monitors for foodborne illnesses quietly scaled back its operations nearly two months ago. As of July 1, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) program has reduced surveillance to just two pathogens: salmonella […]
Aug 27, 2025
Why COVID keeps roaring back every summer, even as pandemic fades
Los Angeles Times The summer season continues to see spikes in COVID-19 activity. The latest jump is being fueled by the subvariant XFG, nicknamed ‘Stratus.’ Masks have been stored away. Social distancing is just a vague memory. Interest in vaccines is waning. COVID, for many, feels like an inevitable annoyance, like the flu. Then, each […]
Aug 27, 2025
What Americans Need to Know About Covid Shots This Season
Bloomberg Covid confusion Between conflicting opinions, leadership upheavals and a lot of misinformation, you can be forgiven for not knowing what’s going on with Covid vaccines this year in the US. Here’s the need-to-know ahead of the impending fall season. Covid confusion Between conflicting opinions, leadership upheavals and a lot of misinformation, you can be forgiven for not knowing what’s going on with Covid vaccines […]
Aug 27, 2025
In a Lab, the Hunt for a Killer: The Legionella Germ Causing an Outbreak
NYT Six people in New York City have died this summer from Legionnaires’ disease, and more than 100 others have been sickened. The hunt was on. An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease had erupted in Harlem, killing six people and sickening more than 100 others. Officials said the bacteria that cause the illness had been spread […]
Aug 27, 2025
A New Mexico man has been diagnosed with plague, marking the state’s first human case this year, according to local health officials.
Local 12 The patient, a 43-year-old man from Valencia County — located just southwest of Albuquerque — was hospitalized with the condition but has since been discharged, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) said on Monday. Recently, the patient had been camping in Rio Arriba County, which borders Colorado, where health officials believe he […]
Aug 27, 2025
New Mexico man diagnosed with plague
ABC A New Mexico man has been diagnosed with plague, marking the state’s first human case this year, according to local health officials. The patient, a 43-year-old man from Valencia County — located just southwest of Albuquerque — was hospitalized with the condition but has since been discharged, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) said […]
Aug 27, 2025