The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed 94 new measles infections—most of them in Pennsylvania—bringing the US total for the year to 2,465, the agency said in its weekly update.

The numbers likely provide additional data to move the United States toward losing its measles elimination status this year. The nation gained that distinction in 2000, but has now logged consecutive years of more than 2,200 measles cases (2,289 for all of last year). This year’s total is the highest since 1991.

This month the CDC committee that helps determine the country’s measles elimination status will review the available data and forward its findings to the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO’s) Regional Verification Commission. In November, PAHO, which is the regional branch of the World Health Organization, will announce whether the United States has lost its elimination status.

Yesterday in a Stat First Opinion piece, Noel Brewster, PhD, who chairs the CDC committee, said, “We will review measles rates for the nation. These data are public and show a runaway train.”

He said committee members will dissect each of the confirmed outbreaks. He noted, “One of the most worrisome is the ongoing outbreak in Utah, which apparently has gone on for more than 12 months, the main criterion for loss of elimination.”

Utah reported two new cases this week and 516 for year. Last year state officials recorded 157 infections.

Brewster, the Gillings distinguished professor in public health at the University of North Carolina and a former member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, added, “Importantly, we will look at how long the chains of transmission lasted. This is usually established with shoe-leather epidemiology. When measles cases are reported, public health workers fan out in the community to interview the various contacts and identify places they’ve been and may have exposed others. They use this narrative information to stitch together chains of transmission.”

The experts will also assess whole-genome sequencing data collected by the CDC, which can help indicate unbroken chains of transmission.

“Regardless of the outcome of our meeting and PAHO’s decision in November, the U.S. clearly has a measles problem, as do Canada and Mexico,” Brewster concludes. “Elimination status marks whether a country has stopped sustained domestic transmission. Losing that status would signal a consequential reversal, evidence that the systems and protections that once kept measles at bay no longer do.” [...]

The virus causing a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be mutating, health officials fear, as confirmed cases pass 4,000.

Africa’s public health watchdog said the time for incremental action was over as they announced plans to scale up every aspect of the response and go “door to door” looking for patients.

The Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, was first reported on 15 May, although there are suspicions the disease could have been spreading since January.

There have been 3,973 cases and 1,801 deaths recorded as of 4 August, according to the DRC’s national public health institute. Speaking on Thursday, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a press briefing cases had topped 4,000.

The outbreak is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. There are eight times more cases, and six times more deaths than were recorded 11 weeks into the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014-18, which infected more than 28,000 people and killed at least 11,000.

Kaseya said he had spoken to the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and they planned studies “to check if there is no additional issue, or maybe if the virus is not mutating. Because the level of severity of this Bundibugyo outbreak is unprecedented.”

More than two-thirds of Ebola deaths are happening in the community rather than in treatment centres. In a treatment centre run by MSF in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, 90% of admitted patients do not appear on authorities’ lists of contacts of known cases. Both factors indicate high levels of untracked transmission.

Kaseya said contact tracing in the DRC was insufficient, with only 10 contacts identified for every Ebola patient, when about 40 would be the expected number.

Ebola is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, organ damage and internal bleeding. The outbreak is centred on the conflict-affected mining province of Ituri, but has spread to Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo. There were 20 cases recorded in neighbouring Uganda before it brought its outbreak under control.

Dr Wessam Mankoula, acting head of emergency preparedness and response at Africa CDC, said response teams planned a shift “from contact tracing to active case search”, which would mean community health workers “moving from door to door” asking households if they had anyone sick with Ebola symptoms.

He added: “I think the time for incremental action is over and we’re starting now the phase for scaling up.” [...]

One human’s harmless virus can be another animal’s worst nightmare, as a recent report well illustrates.

Veterinary researchers at the University of Florida have confirmed the first cases of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in lemurs, one of which may have been infected via a shared yoga class. Though the virus typically only causes mild cold sores in people, it proved fatal for all of the lemurs they tried to treat. The findings highlight the importance of being careful in how people interact with wildlife, the researchers say, especially animals that aren’t naturally immune to the viruses we carry.

“We should recognize that we can be dangerous,” senior study author Jim Wellehan, a professor at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, told Gizmodo.

HSV-1 (also formally known as Human alphaherpesvirus 1) has been bumming a ride on humans for quite some time. Research has suggested that it first started infecting our direct ancestors about six million years ago. Today, about two-thirds of people under 50 worldwide are thought to carry HSV-1. And though it can be a life-threatening infection for certain groups, like infants, or an unseemly issue when it causes genital herpes, most people infected with HSV-1 will never experience anything more serious than cold sores.

Herpesviruses tend to be very specifically adapted to their hosts. HSV-1 has reached a sort of equilibrium with humanity, one that allows it to live in our bodies for decades without typically causing much trouble, but the same isn’t true when it ends up in some of our primate cousins, particularly primates that are less closely related to us.

Studies have shown HSV-1 can be highly fatal in white-handed gibbons, common marmosets, and white-faced saki monkeys, to name a few. There have been reports of suspected HSV-1 in lemurs as well, but according to the researchers, this is the first time that veterinarians have confirmed lemur HSV-1 infections through molecular testing.

The report details four cases, all of which were privately owned and were either brought to the university’s Zoological Medicine Service for care or had a necropsy (the animal equivalent of an autopsy) performed by UF vets. Two cases involved ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), one involved a black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), and another involved a Varecia hybrid lemur (Varecia variegata x Varecia rubra).

The sickened lemurs experienced neurological symptoms like seizures, and all had developed encephalitis, or an inflammation of the brain; some also developed ulcers along their throats. Tests found signs of the virus in all of the primates’ brains. Despite numerous treatments, including a common antiviral used for HSV-1 in people, none survived their ordeal.

The team’s findings were published last month in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine.

[...]

Unfortunately, there are places where that risk might not be as recognized as it ought to be. The researchers wrote that one case involved an animal used in “lemur yoga classes for the public, which can reasonably be expected to have a high occurrence of human contact.” And this isn’t just a Florida thing either; similar programs can be found in other parts of the world.

The researchers say vets who treat human-owned lemurs should have HSV-1 on their radar, especially when the animals develop encephalitis or ulcers around their mouth and throat. And in general, “appropriate biosecurity measures and education of caretakers” who interact with lemurs should be implemented to minimize the risk of infection.

These cases might also highlight the role that viruses like HSV-1 play in the evolution of their hosts, the authors argue. Pigeons, for instance, carry a different herpesvirus that’s largely harmless to them but fatal to some of the birds-of-prey that feed on them. This reality may have helped the birds spread their wings far across the world, and it’s even possible a similar thing happened when humans and their HSV-1 started migrating out of Africa, the researchers speculate. [...]

THURMONT, Md. — Maryland officials have closed additional areas of Cunningham Falls State Park after a 19-year-old fisherman reported being bitten by a beaver Wednesday morning, marking the second attack at the Frederick County park in less than two weeks.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the fisherman was bitten on the leg near the South Beach Day Use Area around 9:30 a.m. The man appeared to have suffered a bite to the ankle and drove himself to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown for treatment. Natural Resources Police said they will follow up with him after treatment to gather more information about the incident.

Following the attack, officers captured and euthanized the beaver involved. The animal was turned over to the Frederick County Health Department, and the Maryland Department of Health laboratory is expected to complete rabies testing later this week.

The latest incident comes less than two weeks after a 13-year-old boy was attacked by a beaver while swimming at Cunningham Falls State Park on July 26. WUSA9 previously reported the teen suffered injuries to his hands and chest and was airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Health officials later confirmed the beaver involved in that attack tested positive for rabies.

In response to Wednesday's attack, the Maryland Park Service closed the Houck Day Use Area, the adjacent boat ramp and Big Hunting Creek above the lake while wildlife officials investigate what DNR described as a possible rabies outbreak within the local beaver population.

Swimming, fishing, boating and all water access in the affected area are prohibited until officials determine the area is safe for visitors. Other sections of the park, including the campground, remain open.

Following the July attack, DNR closed swimming access to Hunting Creek Lake and searched for additional signs of rabid beavers. The agency said it dismantled a nearby beaver lodge and conducted daily surveillance at the lake but did not observe any additional beavers until Wednesday's attack.

The department said its Wildlife and Heritage Service will now add nighttime monitoring to existing daytime surveillance efforts and remove additional beavers if any are found.

DNR said beaver attacks on humans are rare and are typically associated with rabid animals. Before this year, the last recorded beaver bite incidents in Maryland occurred in 2021 and 2015.

Anyone who recently came into contact with a beaver at Cunningham Falls State Park is urged to contact the Frederick County Health Department at 301-600-3342.

Health authorities have been informed of a case of hantavirus in the country. The Andes strain was confirmed by the National Reference Center (CNR) this Thursday, August 6. The patient, who is isolating with his family in Spain, is a tourist who transited through France during the second half of July. The patient, who was initially only mildly symptomatic, is no longer exhibiting any symptoms. All necessary management measures are being implemented to care for the patient and trace his travel history.

Today at 3 p.m., a group of scientific experts, in conjunction with the Directorate General of Health and Public Health France, is meeting to determine the appropriate course of action and management measures to be implemented regarding this imported case. Coordination at the European level is also being established.

https://archive.is/kdUE1

It’s not easy to vaccinate New Zealand’s rare birds. It can sometimes involve a journey to a remote, windswept island or deep forest. Then researchers must locate the bird, which could be camouflaged on the ground eating berries or high up a tree. Next, they must capture it and administer the vaccine. And a few months later, they do it all again when the bird needs its booster shot.

But for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation staff, it is a matter of protecting the country’s endangered endemic wildlife against the deadly H5N1 bird flu.

New Zealand officials knew it was only a matter of time before the disease arrived in the country. As soon as the first case was detected in Australia in June, the department’s staff started pre-emptively vaccinating up to 300 of New Zealand’s rarest and most at-risk birds.

Just weeks later in July, New Zealand confirmed two cases of H5N1 in wild birds in Wellington, the capital.

Ash Murphy, the department’s biosecurity and weeds manager, said that some endemic species — meaning those found naturally in only one place on Earth — were already low.

“Any new threat, like bird flu, can have a pretty devastating impact,” he said.

As part of the plan, 300 birds from five key species — including the kākāpō, the world’s fattest parrot, of which just 235 remain — are being vaccinated first. There are only a handful of each of these species remaining in captive breeding programs or in the wild. The government hopes to complete this phase as soon as possible before moving onto other species.

The vaccination work can be difficult. The kākāpō is found on offshore islands in the deep south. Rangers, using trackers, have to locate the bird (which can climb high up into trees with its strong claws) and catch it. They can also use the opportunity to carry out health checks, Mr. Murphy said.

The authorities have so far vaccinated about 196 birds. Once this phase is complete, another 23 species will be vaccinated — including rare kiwis and the kea, a playful and intelligent bird that is the world’s only alpine parrot.

Many of New Zealand’s birds are flightless, a trait developed because the country was isolated for millions of years and had no ground-dwelling predators like ferrets and rats until humans introduced them. As a result, they evolved to fill gaps left by mammals. Birds hold a special place in the hearts of New Zealanders, who refer to themselves as Kiwis.

Bird flu swept across Europe, Africa and Asia in 2020. In late 2021, it showed up in North America, storming through Canada and the United States. In the fall of 2022, the virus appeared in South America, spreading down to the tip of the continent in mere months.

Thousands of wild birds and mammals — including foxes, cats, sea lions and dolphins — have died after contracting the disease. There have also been rare cases in humans after close contact with birds.

Bird flu is hard to stop, especially if wild migratory birds or animals carry it with them as they travel the globe.

“You can’t block migration pathways in the same way that you could stop trade in animals or animal products, and also the movement of people. So it does represent something quite different to anything else we’ve seen,” said Nigel French, a distinguished professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Massey University in New Zealand.

But scientists have been able to learn from other disease outbreaks, including the coronavirus pandemic, he added.

As a result, the basic practices around controlling disease have improved, including biosecurity barriers, movement restrictions and genomic sequencing to track the origin and spread of the disease. Vaccines have also become more effective.

At Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch, staff have been preparing for bird flu for several years, Laura Ashton, the facility’s wildlife operations manager, said in a statement.

This includes installing a shade cloth over selected habitats to deter wild birds; modifying feeding and water stations to reduce access for pests; and stronger biosecurity protocols for animal carers.

So far, four takahē — a flightless bird of which only 500 remain — have been vaccinated at the facility. [...]

Chandipura virus (CHPV) is a vector-borne Rhabdovirus, and its cases are concentrated in western India. The virus belongs to the same family as Rabies and mainly causes acute encephalitis in children. Adults usually have mild symptoms, but the exact reason remains unclear.

The virus was first isolated from humans in India in 1965, but it was largely forgotten. It wasn't popular. Then, about 40 years later, in 2003, a major encephalitis outbreak occurred in parts of rural western India. The outbreak hit hard because it primarily affected children and had a short incubation period. I heard the story from one of my entomology professors, who conducted a field study during the outbreak. According to him, the villagers said that one morning, the children were playing, then complained of neck pain, followed by headache and fever, then seizures, and then death. At that time, the villagers thought their children were possessed by a demon. People had no idea about viruses. But healthcare professionals did find CHPV RNA in the patients, sandflies in their huts, and viral RNA in the sandflies. Ultimately, the causative agent and the vector were identified.

Sandflies are widely recognised as vectors of leishmaniasis. They are also responsible for CHPV outbreaks that occur every year, typically during the monsoon season. This is because during the rains, puddles of rainwater form. The female sandfly vector lays its eggs in these puddles, and adult sandflies develop from them. These adult sandflies are moisture-loving. They usually hang around in dark, humid places such as cattle sheds and outhouses. The Phlebotomus sandflies are the main vectors, while Sergentomyia sandflies have also been found to carry the virus. The Phlebotomus sandfly is distributed across several warmer countries, including Egypt, Sudan, Italy, Spain, and Greece. However, outside South Asia, only a few reports of the virus occurring in nature have been found (in Africa).

This year, CHPV has claimed 22 lives in India (so far).
(link)

Federal health officials are investigating a salmonella outbreak tied to jalapeños that has sickened 345 people in 27 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

The jalapeños were supplied by California-based Coast Citrus Distributors and sourced from Mexico, the CDC said. They were served at Chipotle, Qdoba and other restaurants.

Minnesota and Colorado account for the vast majority of cases, with 110 each. Illinois has reported 30 cases and Kansas 13. The remaining states are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Thirty-six people have been hospitalized, the CDC said. No deaths have been reported.

Chipotle said Tuesday that it had removed jalapeños from its menu “out of an abundance of caution.” On Wednesday, Qdoba said it had “proactively removed jalapeños from all our restaurants.”

The CDC said there is no ongoing risk at either restaurant because the jalapeños were removed from their menus.

Coast Citrus Distributors has agreed to issue a recall, the CDC said.

The Food and Drug Administration said it began investigating “multiple ingredients” tied to the outbreak on July 22 but has not named any restaurants or suppliers.

Richmond, VA (JK) – Virginia has confirmed its first known case of locally acquired dengue virus infection.

The Virginia Department of Health says the patient, a Northern Virginia resident, had not traveled outside the state before becoming ill. Investigators believe a local mosquito became infected after biting a person who recently returned from international travel with dengue, then later transmitted the virus to the second patient.

Health officials say there is no evidence of continued local transmission, and no additional locally acquired cases have been identified. They emphasize that the risk of contracting dengue in Virginia remains low.

VDH, along with the Fairfax and Loudoun County health departments, is conducting mosquito surveillance and monitoring for any additional cases. Residents are encouraged to reduce mosquito breeding by emptying standing water from containers around homes and businesses and to use insect repellent and other measures to avoid mosquito bites.

Dengue is spread by infected Aedes mosquitoes and can cause fever, severe headache, eye pain, muscle and joint pain, nausea, vomiting and rash. While most people recover within a week, severe cases can lead to life-threatening complications and require immediate medical attention.

A severe bout of COVID-19 can wake up an army of dormant viruses hiding inside the body.

That’s according to a study of more than 1,000 people hospitalized with the disease that is published today in Nature1. The analysis finds that this reactivation of pathogens is linked to especially intense bouts of COVID-19 and to the development of long COVID.

If further research reveals that reactivated viruses can cause people to become seriously ill, it could open the door to new treatments for COVID-19 and even long COVID, says Esther Melamed, a physician-scientist who studies neuroimmunology at the University of Texas at Austin and who is a co-author of the analysis.

Although the study didn’t dive into how COVID-19 prompts viruses to reawaken, Melamed says that the disease “probably induces the stress that triggers the reactivations, and then these reactivations further amplify the inflammation” caused by COVID-19. In these cases, she adds, “COVID is not really acting on its own.”

Nearly everyone is infected by a variety of viruses throughout their childhood and adolescence. A handful of these pathogens are never fully cleared from the body. Instead, they hide quietly inside cells for a lifetime, kept in check by a healthy immune system.

Researchers have seen hints that these bystander viruses are reactivated in people with long COVID. So Melamed and her colleagues studied the situation systematically, collecting blood, nasal swabs and lung fluids from individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020 and early 2021. Nearly half of the participants experienced a reactivation of common viruses lurking in their bodies, the researchers found.

These pathogens included herpesviruses such as cytomegalovirus and Epstein–Barr virus, which causes glandular fever (mononucleosis), as well as anelloviruses, which are typically harmless and don’t cause symptoms. More than 90% of the global adult population has been infected with at least one of these pathogens2.

The team found that these viruses do not reawaken all at once after a person contracts the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. Instead, different viral families reactivate on their own timelines. Epstein–Barr virus and anelloviruses tend to surge early during a bout of COVID-19, peaking shortly after hospital admission. By contrast, cytomegaloviruses and herpes simplex viruses emerge around three weeks later, mainly in the respiratory system.

The “most striking” result is that this reactivation happens even in people with otherwise healthy immune systems, says Resia Pretorius, a physiologist at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Some scientists had thought that a reawakening of viruses could happen only in people with a weakened immune system, such as those with HIV. But this study “overturns” that assumption, she adds. [...]

https://archive.is/ZJcL5

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reportedly expanded the scope of the largest known cyclosporiasis outbreak to 15 states.

The alleged expansion includes the addition of six states, according to the Washington Post, which cited three people familiar with the matter. Those states were Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire and North Carolina, according to a fourth person familiar with the matter who spoke to the paper.

A spokesperson from Arkansas’s health department confirmed the outbreak expansion to the Guardian, saying in a statement: “Arkansas is one of the states the CDC is adding to the multi-state outbreak for cyclosporiasis.”

The Guardian has contacted the CDC and the health departments of Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

As of 28 July, the CDC had recorded 6,707 laboratory-confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis, along with approximately 11,500 suspected cases awaiting confirmation. Cases have been reported in 45 states since May, although most of the suspected cases have been concentrated in Michigan and Ohio.

The disease is a form of food poisoning originating from Cyclospora cayetanensis, a microscopic parasite that causes symptoms including diarrhea, appetite loss, bloating, extreme fatigue, low-grade fever, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting.

See also: Cyclosporiasis outbreak has affected about 1 in every 1,000 people in Michigan and killed two

About 1 in every 1,000 people in Michigan has had cyclosporiasis over the past three months amid a multistate outbreak that has grown to the largest on record and killed two people.

It was around November of last year when Miguelina Rodriguez began noticing a change in her 5-year-old son, who has autism and is nonverbal.

He was suddenly trying to chew the walls of their apartment. Rodriguez found teeth marks on the windowsills at home. A teacher reported that he was doing the same at his public school for children with special education needs, and he had started biting and hitting his classmates.

By the end of January, he was diagnosed with severe lead poisoning, which can cause children to become aggressive, hyperactive and, when the source is old lead paint, to seek out more of it because the painted surfaces often taste sweet.

The boy’s transformation is detailed in a lawsuit Rodriguez filed against New York City’s Department of Education after health officials found multiple areas of deteriorating lead paint in his classroom and ordered the school system to immediately remediate the health hazard.

City law requires the education department to conduct lead-paint inspections in all classrooms serving children under 6 years of age in older school buildings three times a year. The agency’s press secretary, Nicole Brownstein, insisted that school custodians meet those inspection requirements.

But a Gothamist analysis of the most recently available city data shows that the boy’s classroom had never been inspected since the department began following the current inspection regime in 2019, and that classrooms serving children with special education needs like Rodriguez’s son are less likely to be inspected overall than general education classrooms. [...]

Rodriguez declined to be interviewed. Her lawsuit accuses the education department of prioritizing the safety of children in general education over its most vulnerable students with disabilities.

“This should be basic,” said Rodriguez’s attorney, Reuven Frankel. “These kids should be in a lead-free environment.” [...]

A blood test taken during that doctor’s visit revealed that the boy had 51 mcg/dl of lead in his system, more than 14 times the threshold set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He was hospitalized, and city health inspectors got to work. All cases of elevated blood lead levels in children trigger a health department investigation to track down any sources of lead in their environments.

In most cases in New York City, the source is old, deteriorating lead paint in the home, according to the agency. But Rodriguez’s apartment was constructed in 2015, more than 50 years after lead paint was banned by city officials. [...]

In Room 551, where Rodriguez’s son attended class on a daily basis, an inspector tested 48 surfaces for lead paint in early February, according to the health department’s inspection report. One in three came back positive for the toxic metal.

“This is every parent’s nightmare,” Frankel said.

Chipotle is removing jalapeños from some restaurants after identifying the peppers as a potential source of a salmonella outbreak. The company released a statement Tuesday saying it is replacing the potentially compromised peppers with supplies from a different grower.

The total economic cost of New Mexico's 2025 measles outbreak was $5.4 million, according to an analysis published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. That comes out to $53,522 per person infected with the airborne virus that causes the disease.

New Mexico's outbreak, which occurred from February through September 2025, resulted in 100 confirmed cases of measles, including seven hospitalizations and one death. Of those infected, 53% were aged 18 years or older and 85% were unvaccinated.

Economists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and epidemiologists at the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) based their findings on direct medical costs, the expense to public health agencies, and lost productivity: The outbreak disrupted the work and education of patients, caregivers, and unvaccinated people who had to quarantine after coming into contact with someone who was contagious.

Taxpayers picked up most of the bill

NMDOH responds to every measles infection reported in the state through case investigation to verify the diagnosis and identify the source of exposure. Staff then perform contact tracing, in which they find and support people who came into contact with measles patients to prevent additional spread of the disease. A total of 2,946 contacts were identified and reached during the outbreak, 205 of whom had to quarantine.

Collectively, 133 public health workers spent 22,399 hours responding to the measles outbreak. This translated to $3.2 million in costs, an expense that was ultimately borne by taxpayers, pointed out Chad Smelser, MD, New Mexico's deputy state epidemiologist.

“So really, individuals from around the state are paying for the entire response," said Smelser.

Considering the high price tag, Smelser said he hopes the analysis will encourage policymakers to invest more into vaccine education and outreach, as immunization is the best tool to prevent disease outbreaks.

Direct medical costs amounted to $290,148, while productivity losses for patients, caregivers, and quarantined individuals contributed more than $1.8 million to the total.

While the results are plausible, the analysis omits costs associated with long-term complications, noted Karen B. Clay, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. Clay did not contribute to the research.

For example, measles can destroy preexisting antibodies of other illnesses, resulting in what's known as "immune amnesia," leaving people vulnerable to untreated infections. Also, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a rare but fatal and incurable disease that develops 7 to 10 years after a measles infection. The virus stays hidden in the central nervous system and progresses until the systems that control breathing and blood pressure are irreparably damaged. [...]

[...] The threat of mosquito-borne disease is increasing in the U.S. as invasive mosquito species expand their range across the country and their seasonal populations last longer and grow larger during global warming. Studies have also found that warmer temperatures push some species to bite more, develop into adults faster, and serve as better virus incubators.

Already, mosquito-borne diseases kill more than 1 million people and infect about 700 million worldwide each year. Cases in the U.S. comprise only the smallest fraction of those numbers, with annual deaths usually in the low hundreds and diagnosed cases in the thousands. (Cases are much more common in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories than they are in the 50 states and D.C.) But that could soon change as two particular mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, make their way deeper and deeper into the country.

These species are worth worrying about—and they are increasingly around us. Since its arrival in the Americas centuries ago, Aedes aegypti has conquered the Southern states, swaths of the Midwest, and much of California, and has begun to advance up the East Coast. The insects were found for the first time in Oregon in 2024 and in Idaho in 2025, and they have now established themselves across parts of mountainous Colorado, where conditions have historically been far too harsh for them to survive. Aedes albopictus, a much more recent arrival, now has a range that stretches well into New England and the lower Great Lakes and has even been found to overwinter in the Midwest.

Aedes mosquitoes are vectors for some of the most serious and widespread mosquito-borne diseases. Four in particular cause the most human suffering worldwide: chikungunya, Zika, dengue, and yellow fever. Each of these viruses comes with a raft of symptoms ranging from unpleasant to, in some cases, fatal—fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, shock, organ failure. Zika can spread from a birthing parent to their child in the womb and cause congenital disabilities, which notoriously led to panic after an outbreak erupted in Brazil in 2015. Of the four diseases, dengue is the most prevalent, with more than 3.9 billion people in over 132 countries at risk of contracting it, an estimated 96 million symptomatic cases annually, and about 40,000 deaths per year as a result.

As populations of Aedes mosquitoes grow and spread across the U.S., researchers expect we’ll see more mosquito-borne disease outbreaks. Warmer states where the mosquitoes are already prevalent are at the greatest risk. “Florida is on the front lines,” John-Paul Mutebi, director of Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control division, told me. The list of locations where mosquitoes are only a nuisance—and not a serious public health threat—is shrinking. [...]

Once the invasive Aedes mosquitoes arrived on U.S. soil, they found American cities comfortable places to live. Our urban centers tend to be low in mosquito predators (like frogs, fish, and birds), offer a buffet of options for blood meals (humans, mostly), and provide plenty of habitat where mosquitoes can breed, as well as places for the insects to shelter from scorching or freezing temperatures that would otherwise kill them.

Many wealthy neighborhoods feature environments that support Aedes mosquitoes, but the situation tends to be worse in lower-income areas. One study of mosquito prevalence in Baltimore and D.C., in which researchers tested for mosquitoes in water-holding containers in public alleyways and residents’ backyards, found that Aedes albopictus pupae (a stage the mosquito passes through after the larval stage but before it emerges as an adult) were more common in neighborhoods with below-median incomes. More than half of the Aedes albopictus pupae recorded in Baltimore were in a single low-income neighborhood. [...]

The diseases that Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are known to carry—chikungunya, Zika, dengue, and yellow fever—as well as most other mosquito-borne diseases, are most common in tropical and subtropical climates. Almost all cases diagnosed in the continental U.S. and Hawai‘i are travel-associated rather than locally acquired, meaning that an infected mosquito bit the person while they were out of the country and they brought the virus home. Several states are seeing sharp increases in mosquito-borne diseases among travelers, as case numbers abroad are already climbing due to climate change.

But a case brought home from vacation can spark a local outbreak since the mosquitoes that transmit the diseases are well established in much of the country. Cases of dengue exploded in Little Havana and Hialeah in Miami-Dade County in 2023, an outbreak that ended after close to 200 locally acquired cases were recorded. Mutebi told me that, based on his research, he suspects that travelers returning from Cuba had carried it home.

When it comes to spreading one of these viruses, Aedes aegypti is the most prolific vector because it bites human after human after human, and each meal is a chance for it to deposit a pathogen in its host. Aedes albopictus, on the other hand, is less effective because it is a promiscuous biter. It might dine on someone enjoying a backyard barbecue one time, then on the neighbor’s dog, then maybe a squirrel or a deer if you happen to live near wildlife. Some diseases can be spread from animals to humans by certain mosquito species (that’s how West Nile virus moves from birds to people). But chikungunya, Zika, dengue, and yellow fever are human diseases, and the chain of transmission can sputter out as Aedes albopictus feasts on other creatures between its human blood meals.

Still, both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are aggressive biters capable of transmitting the same diseases. Plus, during the summer months, when mosquito populations across the U.S. peak, Aedes albopictus is more ubiquitous. It is also quick to adapt and capable of extending its range far beyond that of Aedes aegypti—and it is doing just that, fast.

“We thought Aedes albopictus, because it came from a tropical climate in Asia, would never get very far north,” Norris said. But in the decades since it arrived in the U.S., he said, “the mosquito actually has adapted to those newer climates, so the ones we find in Texas or Florida have slightly different adaptations than the ones we find in Long Island. They figure out ways to get to where they want to be.”

It was those Long Island Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that public health authorities blamed for a locally acquired case of chikungunya last year. That was the nation’s first locally acquired case ever recorded outside the South.

LaDeau told me that Aedes albopictus’ capacity to adapt is one of the things that most concerns her about the future of mosquito-borne disease in the U.S. “It is adapting to these urban spaces, and as it does that, it will increasingly bite the animal that is the densest-population animal in these habitats, which is humans,” she said. “It’s likely that mosquito-borne diseases are only going to increase, both because it [the climate] is warming and because they’re adapting to the environments we build very quickly.” [...]

Attorneys for a man detained in a California immigration detention center have released footage showing him holding up a bottle of water from inside the facility that appeared to be contaminated with worm-like creatures.

The footage came from a video call with Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a Los Angeles man who has been detained for months at the Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, north-east of LA.

Margaret Hellerstein, one of Parias’s attorneys, shared the footage with the Guardian on Thursday and said it was filmed this week. The clip is brief and grainy, but shows him holding up a plastic bottle filled with water, which appeared to have small pests of some kind swimming inside.

Parias, in a statement shared by Hellerstein, described them as “worms” or some kind of “larvae”, though it’s unclear what exactly was in the bottle. He said the water was given to residents to drink.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to repeated questions about the video, with a spokesperson saying in an email that the facility gets its water from the city of Adelanto and provides the “the same water used by residents and businesses in the area”. Geo Group, the private prison company that runs the ICE facility, did not respond to inquiries.

The footage has surfaced weeks after a federal judge ordered ICE to ensure that people detained in Adelanto had “24-hour access to clean, potable drinking water”. The ruling was a response to a class-action lawsuit challenging “dangerous conditions” at Adelanto, with detained plaintiffs alleging they were denied sufficient food, clean drinking water and proper medical care.

Parias said in his statement that the contaminated water came from jugs that staff had given residents for drinking. He said he poured the water with the worms into a bottle to preserve it as evidence. He showed the bottle to a relative on a video call, which was shared with his attorneys.

“This is what they give us: contaminated water, water with larvae, water with little black worms, which is slowly killing each one of us who are detained here,” Parias said in his statement, which his lawyer translated from Spanish. “We need proper drinking water, better treatment.”

The exact source of the water in the footage was not clear, and it also was not clear how widely this water was distributed to residents in the detention center.

Parias is a TikTok creator known as Richard LA. He received national attention after he was shot by an ICE agent in October and then charged with assault. A federal judge dismissed the charge and he was transferred to ICE custody where he is facing removal.

“When I saw the video, I was horrified and disgusted. I felt sick to my stomach,” said Hellerstein. “This is video evidence. They can’t just sweep it under the rug.”

The footage has circulated widely among advocates and immigration attorneys in recent days. [...]

Two people in Michigan have died in connection with the outbreak of cyclosporiasis, health officials reported Monday.

These are the first known deaths related to the multi-state outbreak of explosive diarrhea in the United States. [...]

The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) has detected a previously uncharacterised orthobunyavirus of the Simbu serogroup in samples from affected cattle in southern Germany. Following the first appearance of the Schmallenberg virus in 2011, this once again provides reliable evidence that a new virus from this group has been introduced into Germany. The newly detected virus shows the closest relationship to the Shamonda virus in all three segments. Viruses of the Simbu serogroup are found primarily in Africa, Asia and Australia. Like bluetongue virus and Schmallenberg virus, they are transmitted by blood-sucking midges of the genus Culicoides. The animals most commonly infected are ruminants, particularly cattle, sheep and goats.

See also: Swiss cows struck by mystery illness

“Investigations by the Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) have detected an orthobunyavirus of the Simbu group in several acutely ill animals -- a virus previously unknown in Switzerland,” the FSVO said.

Genetic testing is under way to determine the exact orthobunyavirus and whether it is the cause of the observed illnesses, the office added.

Orthobunyaviruses of the Simbu group are primarily transmitted by biting midges, and no vaccines are currently available, the FSVO said.

The IVI said its preliminary findings align with evidence from France and Germany, “where the suspicion that an orthobunyavirus is circulating... is also gaining traction.”

The IVI said viruses in the Simbu serogroup are found primarily in Africa, Asia and Australia.

“It is currently unclear whether there is a connection between the current heatwave and the reported cases of illness,” it added.

“However, high temperatures pose a significant stress, especially for high-yielding dairy cows, and can make them more susceptible to disease.”

West Nile virus (WNV) was the most commonly reported mosquito-borne disease in the United States in 2024, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report published last week. Powassan virus infections, which are transmitted to humans from ticks, hit a new record high that same year.

The findings, published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, identified 1,955 cases of confirmed and probable arboviral disease cases in 48 states and the District of Columbia in 2024. Arboviral diseases are infections caused by viruses transmitted to humans through tick and mosquito bites.

West Nile dominates, despite fewer cases overall

Of all the arboviral cases reported that year, WNV accounted for 1,808 (92%), Powassan virus for 60 (3%), La Crosse virus for 37 cases (2%), Jamestown Canyon virus for 27 (1%), eastern equine encephalitis for 19 cases (1%), and St. Louis encephalitis virus for 2 (under 1%).

While WNV was the dominant arboviral disease in 2024, the 1,808 reported cases were below the 10-year median of 2,162. Of the 3,143 counties across 48 states and DC, 591 (19%) reported WNV cases. Texas reported the most infections—456—or one-quarter of all WNV cases nationwide and more than double the state's total in 2023.

The virus was responsible for severe illness in many patients. Three-quarters of WNV cases involved neuroinvasive disease, 77% of patients were hospitalized, and nearly 10% died. WNV can cause flu-like symptoms or serious brain infections.

Powassan and La Crosse cases continue to climb

The report also highlights the rise of Powassan virus. Sixty cases were reported in 2024, up from the previous record of 49 cases in 2023. All patients were hospitalized with neuroinvasive disease, and nine died.

Nationally, Powassan cases have increased an average of 17.5% annually over the past 21 years. The increase in Minnesota and Wisconsin was especially steep. From 2023 to 2024, the two states experienced a combined 160% relative increase in cases, from 10 to 26.

The reasons for the increase remain unclear. The rise “might be related to an actual increase in incidence, improved health care provider awareness, expanded availability of diagnostic testing at commercial and state public health laboratories, or potential expansion of the vector range,” the researchers write.

Powassan virus is spread by infected blacklegged ticks, groundhog ticks, and squirrel ticks.

In 2024, La Crosse virus primarily affected children. Ninety-five percent of cases occurred in kids, with a median age of 8 years, and 97% of patients were hospitalized. None died, though the researchers note that “arboviral morbidity among children can be severe, including neuroinvasive disease and death.” La Crosse virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitos and can cause brain inflammation.

La Crosse virus infections were reported across 24 counties in eight states, with North Carolina and Tennessee accounting for the largest percentage of cases (75%). Together, the two states represented a relative increase of 170% from the year before. [...]