Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
New avian influenza vaccine trials begin in UK
Gov.UK New targeted trial in turkeys will test vaccine efficacy as part of fight to protect wild and captive birds. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) vaccine trials have started today (Thursday 5 March) in a major step forward in the fight against the disease. New trials will explore the potential for the latest vaccines to protect birds, focusing on turkeys only in England, providing valuable insight into how well vaccines […]
Mar 4, 2026
Study warns of underrecognized Lassa fever threat with global implications
Medical Express A new study led by researchers at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill shows an urgent need for improved detection and treatment of Lassa fever, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Lassa fever—a severe Ebola-like illness designated by the World […]
Mar 4, 2026
US study shows rising prevalence of fungal infection
CIDRAP Analysis of a nationally representative sample of electronic health record (EHR) data shows aspergillosis diagnoses increased by more than 5% annually in the United States from 2013 through 2023, US researchers reported late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Aspergillosis is an infection caused by breathing in spores of Aspergillus, a common mold that’s ubiquitous indoors and outdoors. […]
Mar 4, 2026
Why new doctors aren’t specializing in infectious diseases
Axios New doctors are increasingly moving away from specializing in infectious diseases as the prevalence of vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles and whooping cough ticks up. Why it matters: The Trump administration’s cuts to public health funding and its overhaul of federal vaccine policy may be putting even more of a damper on a field that took the brunt […]
Mar 4, 2026
An Antiviral Drug for Smallpox Didn’t Help Patients with Mpox. What’s Next?
Columbia University In 2022, mpox infections surged in the United States and other Western countries, showing that a viral illness long considered endemic in central and western Africa was capable of traveling far and wide. To treat patients, infectious disease physicians turned to an antiviral drug, tecoviromat, originally developed to treat smallpox in case of […]
Mar 4, 2026
Acting CDC director Bhattacharya urges measles vaccines
The HIll Jay Bhattacharya, the recently appointed acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Monday urged families to consider vaccinating against measles as outbreaks across the country continue. In a video statement posted on the social media platform X, Bhattacharya discussed the steps that the CDC is taking the address the measles […]
Mar 4, 2026
CDC deploys staff to curb South Carolina’s measles outbreak
Star Advertiser U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff will arrive in South Carolina next week to help the state contain the largest measles outbreak in the country in decades years, a state official said in a briefing on Wednesday. The first CDC on the ground assist comes some five months after the South […]
Mar 4, 2026
ICE confirms a measles outbreak in the nation’s largest detention facility in Texas
NBC News The agency said it’s closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with public health authorities while the facility has been closed to visitors and attorneys. People who tested positive for the highly contagious disease at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, have been “cohorted and separated from the rest of the detained population […]
Mar 4, 2026
Parents Tried to Shield Their Children From Vaccines. Instead They Got Measles.
NYT Spartanburg County in South Carolina is ground zero for the largest measles outbreak since 2000. One school has a vaccination rate of 21 percent. The Global Academy of South Carolina, a public charter school, is housed in a glittering modern building on a sprawling campus, a 10-minute drive from the spunky downtown Spartanburg. It […]
Mar 4, 2026
CDC Details Seasonal Trends for Respiratory Viruses in the United States
Infectious Disease Advisor In the United States, seasonal respiratory viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and SARS-CoV-2 continue to substantially impact younger children and older adults, according to study findings published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detailed respiratory virus activity between July 2024 and […]
Mar 4, 2026