Published stories in Health & Public Health.
Africa CDC said it will use a vaccine developed for the Zaire Ebola strain to help counter the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Bundibugyo variant has killed more than 1,800 people. The Africa Centres for Disease Control a…
Los Angeles County health officials warned that visitors to Universal Studios in California may have been exposed to measles after a person with a contagious case was at the theme park on July 26. The health department said anyone who was at the park between…
A cholera outbreak in Chad has killed 13 people and infected 239 nationwide since it was officially declared in July, the health ministry said on Thursday. The ministry said the outbreak affects the northern province of Hadjer Lamis and the capital, N'Djamena…
A Franco-Argentine national who holidayed in France in July has been isolated in Spain after infection with the Andes strain of hantavirus was confirmed, the French health ministry said on August 6. The ministry said the patient had few symptoms and now has n…
Moderna said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its new mRNA-based influenza vaccine for adults aged 50 and older in the United States. The vaccine manufacturer said the shot, called mFLUSIVA, is its first mRNA-based flu vaccine. Moderna said it…
The United States announced on August 5 that it had allocated more than $242 million in additional funding to fight the worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The State Department said the new money brings direct US financial assistance…
Canada has authorized Moderna to begin Phase 1 clinical trials of an mRNA vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, the Canadian health ministry said on August 4. The ministry said the trial will assess the candidate vaccine's safety, determine the righ…
Cuba's prolonged crisis is taking a growing mental toll on residents, doctors and Cubans interviewed across the island say, as blackouts, shortages, housing problems and uncertainty wear down daily life. In Central Havana, 44-year-old Mayumis Nunez sleeps out…
Afghanistan’s malnutrition crisis is “spinning out of control”, the UN World Food Programme warned Tuesday, saying aid cuts are leaving many acutely malnourished women and children without help. John Aylieff, WFP’s Afghanistan country director, said children…
A new virus spread by biting midges is thought to be behind a rise in sickness among Swiss dairy cows, authorities said on Monday. Switzerland’s Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office said several regions had recorded more illnesses since mid-July, with co…
A Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Basel has killed one person among 26 confirmed cases, Basel-City canton said on Monday. The canton said 25 people were hospitalised, including seven who needed intensive care. Nine people remain in hospital, including one i…
Bangladesh's measles outbreak has pushed many affected families into debt, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society warned on Monday. At least 844 children have died and more than 112,000 peo…
NHS surgeons are training on robotic-assisted systems as England aims to use robotic help in nine out of 10 keyhole surgeries by 2035. At St Bartholomew's Hospital in central London, consultant thoracic surgeon Sasha Stamenkovic used the da Vinci 5 robotic-as…
Finland has detected African swine fever for the first time, food health authorities said Friday, after preliminary tests found the disease in dead wild boars in the southeast of the country. The Finnish Food Authority said the cases were found in Virolahti,…
DR Congo authorities said Thursday they had isolated a boat 65 kilometres from Kinshasa after a passenger suspected of having Ebola died on board while travell…
England had an estimated 2,877 excess deaths linked to record-breaking heatwaves in May and June, the UK Health Security Agency said. The government agency said the provisional figure was almost double the 1,504 heat-associated deaths estimated for the whole…
Economic inequality is the clearest predictor of how countries fare during pandemics, researchers said in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics said its research found no association bet…
The Trump administration plans to end federal subsidies for Medicare prescription drug plans for residents over 65, the Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper, citing anonymous Trump administration officials, reported that $3.6 billion in subsidies used…
Australia has confirmed local transmission of the highly contagious H5 bird flu virus among wild birds, the nation's chief veterinary officer said on Wednesday. Chief government veterinary officer Beth Cookson said testing had shown the virus spreading among…
The United States will contribute $600 million to the Gavi global vaccine alliance, Republican US Senator Susan Collins said Tuesday, restoring funding after President Donald Trump's administration previously pulled support. Collins said the State Department…
The United States released a new policy Tuesday curtailing federal funding for some gain-of-function biological research, including restrictions on work in countries or institutions that Washington says lack adequate safety and oversight standards. Gain-of-fu…
AIDS activists at a major conference in Rio de Janeiro have demanded wider access to generic versions of lenacapavir, a twice-yearly HIV prevention drug that can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. Protesters went onto the stage at the opening of the 26…
An American Ebola patient transferred to Germany for treatment last month has recovered and left Frankfurt University Hospital after about two weeks of care, the hospital said Tuesday. The World Health Organization had previously identified the man as a human…
American singer Carly Simon said on Monday that she has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and has also been treated for skin cancer. Simon, 83, known for songs including "You're So Vain," said in a statement that she had "been learning how to live with…
AIDS experts warned Monday that the global fight against HIV is in “real danger” after international funding for HIV programmes in developing countries fell by 18 percent in 2025. UNAIDS released the figures as the 26th International AIDS Conference opened in…
The European Commission says laboratory sunscreen tests could reduce the need to expose human volunteers to ultraviolet radiation that causes sunburn. A Commission-funded campaign compared laboratory testing with conventional tests performed on people. It exa…
Anti-smoking advocates in the United States are warning that celebrity and entertainment images are making cigarettes look fashionable again, even though US smoking rates remain at decades-low levels. AFP reported examples including Kylie Jenner smoking on th…
Italian Serie A club Como announced a ban on heading for academy players below under-11 level after consultation with board member Raphael Varane, the former France defender. The club said heading will be banned in training and matches for its under-8, under-…
Smoke from wildfires can create health risks for people near the flames and farther away when winds carry pollution, according to French health agency Anses and French pulmonologist Bruno Crestani. Anses said fires burning vegetation release gases and airborn…
Official US figures released Friday show the country is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in 35 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 2,318 confirmed cases since the start of 2026. That is above the 2,289 cases recorded in 2…
A volunteer in Oxford was injected with the first dose of a rapidly developed vaccine aimed at the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, Oxford University said. The strain is driving a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first dose was given on Fri…
A United States review panel recommended loosening restrictions on all but one of seven peptides considered during a two-day meeting, despite objections from medical experts who said the substances are not well studied enough for broad access. The advisory co…
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak has reached 3,075 confirmed cases and 1,354 deaths, officials said on Sunday. The number of identified infections increased by about 1,000 in 10 days. The outbreak was declared on May 15 and is affectin…
The EU's food safety agency said it has sharply lowered the acceptable daily intake level for trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA, after new evidence about the chemical's effect on thyroxine, a hormone produced by the thyroid gland that helps regulate the body. The…
Greece was expected to have its hottest day of the year on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to reach up to 43C and several regions placed on alert because of wildfire risk. Outdoor work bans were also announced during the warmest hours of the day for hea…
Kiril Apostolov, a 90-year-old doctor in southwestern Bulgaria, is still visiting patients in and around the mountain village of Skrat, near the borders with Greece and North Macedonia. Apostolov turned 90 in May and still walks up a steep village street most…
At least three people in Venezuela died after contracting hantavirus, the health ministry said, while ruling out human-to-human transmission of the rare disease in the country. The ministry said three people with confirmed hantavirus diagnoses died in the nor…
Africa's top public health agency said on Tuesday that it does not support travel bans in response to the continent's worsening Ebola outbreak and urged the United States to lift restrictions imposed on Uganda. The appeal came days after Washington tightened…
UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima called for "radical change" after global aid cuts, saying African governments need to give new priority to their own health spending. Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of an African Union health summit in Accra, Ghana, Bya…
A mass poisoning in North Macedonia that affected more than 3,100 people has been linked to high levels of bacteria in drinking water, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Health authorities said the cases were reported over the last week in the western town of Gosti…
India has approved its first dengue vaccine, authorising the use of Japanese drugmaker Takeda's Qdenga jab, the health ministry said on Tuesday. India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation approved the vaccine for people aged four to 60 after reviewin…
Countries ended a seventh round of talks without finalising a key part of a pandemic treaty, the World Health Organization said. The talks concern the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing system, known as PABS. The mechanism is meant to set rules on sharing ac…
South African officials said on Sunday that recent radioactive contamination incidents at the Koeberg nuclear power plant were minor and posed no danger to the public. Officials said airborne radioactive contamination was detected during scheduled maintenance…
One person has died after contracting Legionnaires' disease in New York's Upper East Side, New York City health officials said on 17 July. The New York City Health Department said 67 cases had been confirmed in the neighborhood and that 12 people were hospita…
Seven US aid workers are isolating at an Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya that a court had ordered halted, Samaritan's Purse confirmed Friday. Kenya's health minister, Aden Duale, said he was not aware of their presence. The facility is at Laikipia Air Base…
More than 1,000 people have been treated for poisoning symptoms in North Macedonia after contaminated river water was allegedly pumped directly into a town's drinking supply, a hospital said Friday. The hospital in Gostivar, about 50 kilometres southwest of S…
French health authorities said France recorded 5,764 more deaths than usual during a record-breaking heatwave from June 17 to July 2. They described the excess…
The United Nations warned on Monday that Ebola could spread in displacement camps in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo because of overcrowding and limited access to basic services. The UN aid agency OCHA said confirmed Ebola cases had been reported in at l…
Uganda remains at risk from Ebola spreading from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo despite declaring its 2026 outbreak over, the World Health Organizat…
The United States said on Wednesday that American citizens who have traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo could be stopped from boarding return flights as part of efforts to reduce the risk of Ebola reaching the United States. The US Centers for Diseas…
The Netherlands registered more than 900 excess deaths in late June and early July as a heatwave affected western Europe, health authorities said Wednesday. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, known as RIVM, said the cause of the dea…
On 15 July 2026, the World Health Organization said up to 45 percent of dementia risk could be prevented or delayed, citing factors that can be changed, including tobacco use, alcohol use, social isolation, physical inactivity, air pollution and noncommunicab…
On 15 July 2026, the United Nations said global infant vaccination levels improved slightly in 2025, but warned that funding cuts, conflicts and misinformation were widening dangerous gaps in coverage and allowing outbreaks to grow. Data published by the Worl…
Cuba's once-prized public health system is under severe strain from power cuts, medicine shortages, ageing equipment and the loss of medical workers, according to patients and medical staff interviewed by AFP. Rosa Valentina Perez, 64, has spent nearly three…
US officials on Friday linked a foodborne parasite outbreak tied to Taco Bell locations in five states to shredded iceberg lettuce used by the fast food chain. A federal investigation by the Food and Drug Administration traced the contamination to a single su…
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that the first clinical trial is under way of an antiviral drug for people exposed to the Bundibugyo Ebola strain spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The trial, called EBO-PEP, is assessing whether the…
Health workers responding to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo threatened to strike over unpaid wages, while the World Health Organization warned that the epidemic could be much larger than official figures show. The official toll publishe…
An American Ebola patient has arrived in Germany for treatment, Berlin's health ministry said. The ministry said the patient landed in Frankfurt overnight and was transferred to the city's university hospital. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros…