Disease

George Dvorsky — Gizmodo A recent scientific study has shown that two common flies—houseflies and blowflies—are capable of transmitting harmful diseases. Officials state that flies are overlooked as a major factor that can contribute to the spread of disease during an outbreak. It may be a good…

Douglas Patient — Daily Star The pneumonic plague death toll in Madagascar is already five times the average. Officials state that there have been 174 deaths, as well as 82 doctors infected. Schools have been canceled for the month to keep individuals safe as this plague is an airborne easily…

Sandee LaMotte, CNN Hepatitis A outbreaks are spreading nationwide leading to a shortage of vaccinations. Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver disease caused by the HAV virus. According to the CDC, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Cruz are high-risk areas. A California outbreak has sickened …

Credit given to Savannah Demko from Healio

In her CNN article, Jacqueline Howard discusses how every year, nearly 303,000 women die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, with black women 3-4 times more likely to suffer fatal consequences than white women. The CDC's pregnancy morality surveillance system, established in 1986, has…

Sarah Larimer-Washington Post Three colleges in the DC area have reported cases of mumps, a contagious disease spread easily through saliva or coughing/sneezing. Currently, there are four reported cases at Catholic University, two confirmed cases at Georgetown University, and two confirmed cases…

Leo Smith, Deepa Bharath-Orange County Register The Orange County Health Care Agency announced Thursday, November 9th, that the first death in the county due to the seasonal flu was a young toddler. The previously healthy male toddler, infected with influenza A virus, was not vaccinated against…

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting vaccinated to stop the spread of measles. Not getting vaccinated by choice puts those who are biologically unable to get vaccinated at high risk. Watch here to learn more.

Meera Senthilingam, CNN The plague outbreak that began in August has taken the lives of 165 people and infected an excess of 2,000 individuals. 77% of the aforementioned infections were pulmonary allowing the infection to spread among individuals through airborne droplets. The bacterium Yersinia…

In Kate Hodal's article in the Guardian, she discusses how one-fourth of Rohingya refugee children, fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh, suffer from severe malnutrition. Refugees arriving at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, have found a public health crisis, with 75% of the population not having access to…

MosquitoMate produced a man-made mosquito that has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency to be released in the environment. The male mosquito produced, Wolbachia pipientis, is intended to kill the Asian tiger mosquito. Asian tiger mosquito is responsible for many diseases, such as…

Ten individuals have been infected with Legionnaires’ disease from visiting the Anaheim theme park, Disneyland. Authorities discovered an increased amount of Legionella bacteria in two of the cooling towers at Disneyland. The towers were shut down and treated with disinfectants to kill off the…

Uganda's health ministry yesterday confirmed a second fatal Marburg virus case, involving the 38-year-old brother of the country's first lab-confirmed case-patient. Also, health officials reported another suspected case and a new probable case, both of whom are isolated and in stable condition.…

A break in key US support for global efforts to protect Americans and the world from pandemics could stall momentum that has been gaining steam in the wake of recent threats such as Ebola and Zika viruses, according to a new report from PATH, an international nonprofit group based in Seattle that…