Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
UK loses measles elimination status
Guardian The UK has lost its status as a measles-free country after a rise in deaths from the disease and fall in the proportion of children having the MMR jab in recent years. The World Health Organization said it no longer classified Britain as having eliminated measles because the disease had become re-established. The UK is one of six […]
Jan 28, 2026
What to know about the deadly Nipah virus, amid outbreak in India
Washington Post Some airports in Asia are on alert after confirmed cases in West Bengal of Nipah virus, which has no cure. South Asia sees outbreaks nearly every year. Airports in Southeast Asia are on alert this week after the confirmation of an outbreak of Nipah virus, which has no known cure, in West Bengal, […]
Jan 28, 2026
What’s the prognosis for bird flu in 2026?
LA Times As 2024 came to an end, bird flu dominated headlines. The virus, technically known as avian influenza, was being detected in raw milk, dairy farms and even children, my colleagues Susanne Rust and Melissa Gomez reported. After federal officials confirmed the severe case of a Louisiana patient, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in California and pushed […]
Jan 21, 2026
Bird Flu Viruses Raise Mounting Concerns Among Scientists
New York Times Researchers are not just worried about the virus popping up on American farms. Other types are causing trouble around the world. In the United States, the term bird flu has become synonymous with a particular virus that has devastated poultry and dairy farms over the past few years. But that virus, called […]
Jan 21, 2026
Avian influenza confirmed in 3 Minnesota turkey flocks
Watt Poultry The largest of the three affected flocks included 250,600 commercial meat turkeys. The presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in three commercial meat turkey flocks in Minnesota. According to information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) two of the flock infections occurred […]
Jan 21, 2026
New variant of the flu virus is driving surge of cases across the US and Canada
The Conversation After a sharp uptick in flu cases in mid-December 2025, flu activity across the U.S. and Canada remains high. Although cases are trending downward in Canada as of Jan. 9, 2026, the season has yet to peak in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As an emergency room pediatrician in central Massachusetts, […]
Jan 21, 2026
Why a flu transmission experiment didn’t spread the flu
The Conversation A group of volunteers spent days locked in a small hotel room with people actively infected with flu. They played games, shared objects and exercised together in conditions designed to help the virus spread. Yet not a single person caught influenza. The unexpected finding comes from a well-designed study that set out to […]
Jan 21, 2026
Got the flu? Here’s what to know about antivirals to fight it.
Washington Post This flu season is shaping up to be particularly bad. Here are antiviral medications to consider if you test positive. If you are sniffling, coughing and feeling feverish, you may have the flu. And you are not alone. There have been at least 15 million cases of the flu in the United States […]
Jan 21, 2026
Screwworm worries and worse
Beef Magazine eports keep coming in of increased New World Screwworm (NWS) cases in northern Mexico. And this too-close-for-comfort activity has U.S. cattle markets and cattlemen on edge. USDA’s APHIS website on Thursday afternoon, January 15th, showed several new cases of NWS in Mexico that cropped up during the week, including six new cases in […]
Jan 21, 2026
Why the same cold virus makes some people more miserable than others
Washington Post A new study shows the intricacies of the cold virus and how it interacts with nasal airway cells, revealing why some people are hit harder than others. When the common cold rips through a household, it can leave a wildly uneven path of symptoms. The same cold-causing rhinovirus that produces barely a sniffle […]
Jan 21, 2026