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Genetic evolution of plague bacterium may have prolonged historic pandemics

Scientists at the Institut Pasteur and McMaster University have discovered that the evolution of a gene in the bacterium that causes bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, may have prolonged the duration of two major pandemics.

29 May 2025

WHO and partners announce next phase of African disease monitoring initiative

The World Health Organization (WHO), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom announced today the expansion of the successful Health Security Partnership to Strengthen Disease Surveillance in Africa (HSPA) to seven countries on the continent.

29 May 2025

Early measles vaccination gains urgency amid global outbreak

The global measles outbreak must trigger an urgent debate into whether a vaccine should be recommended earlier to better protect against the highly contagious disease during infancy, a new review states.

29 May 2025

UVA researchers discover key to HIV latency and reactivation

University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have uncovered a key reason why HIV remains so difficult to cure: Their research shows that small changes in the virus affect how quickly or slowly it replicates, and how easily or stubbornly it can reawaken from hiding.

29 May 2025

Tree cover helps keep dengue-carrying mosquitoes at bay

Protecting trees might not seem like a public health strategy, but new research suggests it could be-especially in the tropics.

28 May 2025

Silence on E. coli outbreak highlights how Trump team’s changes undermine food safety

Colton George felt sick. The 9-year-old Indiana boy told his parents his stomach hurt. He kept running to the bathroom and felt too ill to finish a basketball game.

28 May 2025

Single measles strain triggers outbreak in Milan despite high vaccination rates

A unique measles B3 lineage drove a sustained local outbreak in Milan and surrounding areas in early 2025, marking a shift from previous D8 importations. This primarily affected unvaccinated adults, raising alarms about potential endemic measles resurgence in northern Italy despite high overall vaccination coverage.

27 May 2025

PAHO highlights surge in yellow fever cases across the Americas in 2025

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has issued a new Rapid Risk Assessment (RRA) on yellow fever in the Americas which shows that the risk to public health remains high due to continued human cases in endemic countries of the Region.

27 May 2025

Genomic analysis reveals how bird flu jumped from wild birds to poultry and people

Researchers identified a novel genotype (D1.1) of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 spreading among wild birds, poultry, and a human in British Columbia, Canada, during fall 2024. Genomic analysis reveals the virus arose from reassortment between Eurasian and North American strains, with implications for surveillance and control.

27 May 2025

Prior COVID-19 vaccination provides strong protection against emerging variants

Prior COVID-19 vaccination did not stop the immune system from mounting a protective response to the Delta and Omicron strains, though new mutation-specific antibody production dipped slightly, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences and published in Nature Immunology.

27 May 2025

Scientists make major progress toward an effective HIV vaccine

In the long battle to create an effective HIV vaccine, scientists have made a major leap forward. A new study shows that a series of vaccines can coax the immune system to produce powerful antibodies capable of blocking a wide range of HIV strains-including those that are typically the hardest to stop.

27 May 2025

Climate models predict spread of deadly Aspergillus pathogens

Climate change is projected to shift the global distribution of key Aspergillus species, with northward movement of suitable habitats and changing risks for human health and agriculture. Advanced modelling reveals significant implications for food security and clinical fungal infections.

26 May 2025

Novel immune cells identified as potential target for tuberculosis vaccines

There is no highly effective vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), which remains an infection of global concern.

26 May 2025

Experts explain how H5 avian influenza adapts to infect more animals

The Gs/Gd lineage of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza viruses—including H5N1—has rapidly evolved, spreading globally and infecting a growing range of birds, mammals, and occasionally humans. This review highlights the expanding risks, the challenges of cross-species transmission, and urgent needs for surveillance, vaccination, and a unified One Health response.

25 May 2025

Study finds sharp rise in HIV prevention medication use among American youth

Eight times more American young adults now take medication to protect them from HIV than a decade ago, a new study finds.

23 May 2025

UK surveillance identifies traces of West Nile virus in mosquitoes

Fragments of West Nile Virus have been identified in mosquitoes collected in the UK for the first time, according to a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitoring programme designed to understand the emergence and transmission of vector-borne disease in the UK.

23 May 2025

Tuberculosis bacteria use molecular switch to pause and restart growth

The bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB) may have an "on-off switch" that lets them pause and restart growth, according to a new study from the University of Surrey and the University of Oxford.

23 May 2025

FOXP4 gene variants reveal new genetic link to long COVID risk

Researchers have identified genetic variants in the FOXP4 gene that significantly increase the risk of developing long COVID, independently of COVID-19 severity. The study also reveals that ancestry, smoking, and other factors contribute to the complex genetics of long COVID.

23 May 2025

Ancient DNA sheds light on evolution of relapsing fever bacteria

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and UCL have analyzed ancient DNA from Borrelia recurrentis, a type of bacteria that causes relapsing fever, pinpointing when it evolved to spread through lice rather than ticks, and how it gained and lost genes in the process.

22 May 2025

Metabolite profiles in spinal fluid predict mortality in tuberculous meningitis

Radboudumc researchers Kirsten van Abeelen, Edwin Ardiansyah, Sofiati Dian, Vinod Kumar, Reinout van Crevel and Arjan van Laarhoven used metabolomics to study cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from tuberculous meningitis patients in Vietnam and Indonesia, with long-standing collaborators from Bandung and Jakarta (Indonesia), the Broad Institute (Boston) and the Oxford University Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).

22 May 2025