Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
ER visits for tick bites near record levels this summer across US
ABC News Emergency rooms across the country are seeing a spike in tick bite cases, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July has already seen the highest number of tick-related ER visits since 2017, with the Northeast region reporting the most cases, the CDC said. Young children and elderly […]
Jul 8, 2025
CDC ends bird flu emergency
The HIll The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has ended its emergency response to the H5N1 avian flu. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that the emergency bird flu response was “deactivated to transition back to regular program activity” last Wednesday due to reports of animal infections declining and no […]
Jul 8, 2025
First malaria treatment for newborn babies approved for use
Washington Post Malaria caused 597,000 deaths worldwide in 2023, with children under 5 accounting for 76 percent of all malaria deaths in the World Health Organization’s Africa region. The first malaria drug for newborn babies and those weighing less than 11 pounds has been approved by Swiss medical authorities in a move that could fill […]
Jul 8, 2025
Measles cases reach highest point since the disease was eliminated in U.S. in 2000
NBC News An outbreak in West Texas that spread to several other states drove the case counts up substantially. Measles cases in the United States are the highest they’ve been since the country eliminated the disease in 2000. The U.S. has reported 1,277 cases since the start of the year, according to NBC News’ tally […]
Jul 8, 2025
Feeling Hoarse? You Might Have the New ‘Stratus’ Covid Variant
Wired he World Health Organization has added the variant, known formally as XFG, to its monitoring list. A dry, irritated throat is among its main symptoms. Another NEW covid variant is currently rapidly gaining a foothold. Known officially as XFG—or informally as “Stratus”—it has been declared a “variant under monitoring” by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is […]
Jul 2, 2025
Long COVID Rates Higher in Women: Evidence Grows
Medscape When Brazilian scientist Letícia Soares contracted COVID-19 in April 2020, she was in the final stretch of her postdoctoral studies in disease ecology at a Canadian university. By August, she was bedbound. What began as piercing migraines quickly escalated into a cascade of long COVID symptoms — gastrointestinal distress, sleeplessness, joint and muscle pain, and crushing […]
Jul 2, 2025
‘Explosive increase’ of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis
The Guardian Unusually aggressive lone star ticks, common in the south-east, are spreading to areas previously too cold for them. Blood-sucking ticks that trigger a bizarre allergy to meat in the people they bite are exploding in number and spreading across the US, to the extent that they could cover the entire eastern half of […]
Jul 2, 2025
Rare tick-borne virus kills 1, hospitalizes 2 in Wisconsin
Michigan Live Powassan virus is rare, but incidents of it are on an upswing, health officials said. That could be due to more people being infected, better testing, or a combination of the two. Black-legged (deer) ticks contract the disease from infected animals and then can pass it to humans when they latch on, the […]
Jul 2, 2025
Measles tracker: Follow cases, outbreaks and vaccination rates across the U.S
NBC News More than 1,200 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. so far this year. NBC News is updating case totals every week. Measles is among the most contagious diseases in the world, and case counts in the United States are ticking up. NBC News is tracking confirmed measles cases across the country with data […]
Jul 2, 2025
Wyoming confirms 1st case of measles in 15 years as infections near 30-year high in US
ABC News Wyoming is reporting its first measles case in 15 years as the infectious disease continues to spread across the United States. The state’s Department of Health said on Tuesday that it had confirmed a case in an unvaccinated child in Natrona County, which is located in the central part of the state and includes the […]
Jul 2, 2025