Latest Disease outbreaks News

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

Sep. 19, 2024 12:02 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 on 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...

First doses of mpox vaccine from the United States arrive in Congo

Sep. 10, 2024 09:27 AM EDT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Authorities in Congo said that 50,000 doses of mpox vaccine from the United States arrived in the country on Tuesday, a week after the first batch arrived from the European Union. Adults in Equateur, South Kivu and Sankuru, the three most affected provinces,...

Vaccinations against mpox in Congo will begin next month, authorities say

Sep. 07, 2024 15:32 PM EDT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A vaccination campaign against mpox in Congo will begin Oct. 2, authorities said Saturday, with workers focusing on the three most affected provinces first. Adults in Equateur, South Kivu and Sankuru provinces will be vaccinated first, Cris Kacita Osako,...

Wisconsin health officials recall eggs after a multistate salmonella outbreak

Sep. 07, 2024 08:33 AM EDT

Wisconsin health officials initiated a recall of eggs following an outbreak of salmonella infections among 65 people in nine states that originated on a Wisconsin farm. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said in a statement Friday that among those infected by salmonella are...

Israeli forces appear to withdraw from Jenin. But the operation may not be over

Sep. 06, 2024 13:18 PM EDT

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from three refugee camps in the occupied West Bank by Friday morning, after a more than weeklong military operation that left dozens dead and a trail of destruction. Israeli soldiers shot and killed an...