Latest Disease outbreaks News

A rare condor hatched and raised by foster parents in captivity will soon get to live wild

Sep. 28, 2024 00:02 AM EDT

By all accounts, Milagra the "miracle" California condor shouldn’t be alive today. But now at nearly 17 months old, she is one of four of the giant endangered birds who will get to stretch their wings in the wild as part of a release this weekend near the Grand Canyon. ...

Boar's Head faces legal scrutiny over deadly deli meat listeria outbreak, USDA says

Sep. 27, 2024 15:54 PM EDT

Boar's Head, the deli meat company at the center of a deadly listeria food poisoning outbreak, is being scrutinized by law enforcement officials, the U.S. Agriculture Department disclosed in response to government records requests. Officials with USDA's Food Safety and Inspection...

Sudan military offensive sparks new fighting in Khartoum as cholera outbreak worsens

Sep. 26, 2024 22:01 PM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — New fighting rocked Sudan's capital on Thursday with airstrikes and drone attacks in and around Khartoum amid a worsening cholera outbreak, officials said. Sudan’s military launched an operation in the early hours of Thursday aimed at taking control of areas in the...

Scientists in South Africa say they have identified the first known outbreak of rabies in seals

Sep. 20, 2024 09:40 AM EDT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Scientists in South Africa say they have identified an outbreak of rabies in seals that is believed to be the first time the virus has spread in sea mammals. At least 24 Cape fur seals that were found dead or euthanized in various locations on South...

Rwanda begins vaccinations against mpox amid a call for more doses for Africa

Sep. 19, 2024 20:53 PM EDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Rwanda has started a vaccination campaign against mpox with 1,000 doses of the vaccine it obtained from Nigeria under an agreement between the two countries, the African health agency said Thursday. The vaccinations started Tuesday targeting seven districts...

A gold mining town in Congo has become an mpox hot spot as a new strain spreads

Sep. 19, 2024 08:21 AM EDT

KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral. In her first visit to the cemetery, she...

Why is Congo struggling to contain mpox?

Sep. 19, 2024 02:12 AM EDT

KAVUMU, Congo (AP) — Health authorities have struggled to contain outbreaks of mpox in Congo, a huge central African country where a myriad of existing problems makes stemming the spread particularly hard. Last month, the World Health Organization declared the outbreaks in Congo...

Global vaccine alliance GAVI to buy 500,000 doses of mpox vaccine

Sep. 18, 2024 13:28 PM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The global vaccine alliance Gavi will buy 500,000 doses of mpox vaccine to battle outbreaks of the disease in African countries, the organization said on Wednesday. The vaccine doses — manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic — will be available...

The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the UN says

Sep. 16, 2024 07:16 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the U.N. said Monday. It’s a devastating setback for polio eradication, since the virus is one of the world’s most infectious and any unvaccinated groups of children where the virus is...

Mpox deaths rise by 107 in a week as Africa CDC calls the toll unacceptable

Sep. 12, 2024 12:45 PM EDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — African countries recorded more than 100 mpox-related deaths in the past week, the continental health body said Thursday as it described the rising toll as “not acceptable.” Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Center for Disease Control and...