Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
A rare Ebola strain is spreading. Here’s why it’s so hard to contain
National Geographic As Ebola cases mount in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, experts explain what causes the disease—and the risk this outbreak poses to the rest of the world. The World Health Organization has declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern following an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in […]
May 20, 2026
Colorado Reports Its First Hantavirus Death Since 2024
Gizmodo Colorado officials are asking residents to be mindful of hantavirus infections from the local Sin Nombre strain during spring cleaning. Colorado authorities have logged their first confirmed death from hantavirus since 2024, according to a statement on Monday from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Officials noted that this new hantavirus case […]
May 20, 2026
Whooping Cough Outbreak Hits LA County
Patch The city has seen an unusually high number of whooping cough cases this year. An unusually high number of whooping cough cases in Pasadena, alongside an outbreak at a school in the city, led public health officials on Tuesday to warn residents of an increased risk of contracting the illness. The Pasadena Public Health […]
May 20, 2026
Behind the Mission to Stop Viral Outbreaks Within 100 Days
Time Magazine here are at least two major viral outbreaks underway in the world right now: the Andes hantavirus outbreak that began on a cruise ship and now involves people from more than 20 countries, and the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which was only very recently announced but which has already killed 131 people and crossed […]
May 20, 2026
This U.S. doctor went to Congo to heal others. Then Ebola hit his hospital.
Washington Post An American missionary doctor who contracted Ebola may have gotten infected while performing surgery on a patient. Peter Stafford, a man of deep Christian faith, had been working as the only surgeon at a hospital serving a remote area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he began feeling sick Saturday. The […]
May 19, 2026
Nature: The outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19 of hantavirus is one that scientists studied carefully, so many researchers are turning to it for information about the virus.
Nature Recurrent Nipah virus infections in India reveal two distinct epidemiological patterns despite a shared bat reservoir. In Kerala, frequent spillover rarely progresses beyond small clusters due to surveillance and one health approaches, while in West Bengal, limited events have enabled healthcare-associated transmission, and enhanced surveillance has detected the recent 2026 outbreak. This contrast underscores […]
May 13, 2026
NPR: Argentina’s 2018-19 hantavirus outbreak is guiding the response to this one
NPR The outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19 of hantavirus is one that scientists studied carefully, so many researchers are turning to it for information about the virus. The outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19 of hantavirus is one that scientists studied carefully, so many researchers are turning to it for information about the virus.
May 13, 2026
ABC News: Doctor who helped ship take care of passengers with hantavirus is isolated in Nebraska medical unit
ABC An oncologist traveling on a cruise ship amid a hantavirus outbreak says he’s the lone American isolated at a special biocontainment unit in Nebraska. An oncologist traveling on the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak says he’s the lone American isolated at a special biocontainment unit in Nebraska. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld of Bend, […]
May 13, 2026
Contagion Live: A Glimpse Inside the Facilities Housing the Quarantined Cruise Ship Passengers
Contagion Live The University of Nebraska’s Mark Rupp, MD, weighs in on his institution’s facilities where passengers are being housed during the quarantine protocol, insights on how they are monitored, and their current medical conditions. As of this morning, there are now 11 people infected with the hantavirus (Andes species) from the cruise ship. The […]
May 13, 2026
CDC: Concurrent Detection of Swine-Origin Influenza A(H1N1) Virus in Pigs and Farmer, Switzerland
CDC Since the 2009 swine influenza pandemic, sporadic human infections with swine influenza A viruses (swIAVs) continue to occur, including rare instances of onward human-to-human transmission, highlighting the ongoing pandemic risk (1–4). Pigs are key reservoirs and mixing vessels for influenza A virus (IAV) evolution; transmission between humans and pigs is frequent and bidirectional (5,6). […]
May 13, 2026