All News
US measles cases continue to climb, topping 3,600
News briefToday at 5:01 p.m.
Chris Dall, MA
Topics
Measles
The US measles count has climbed to 3,659 confirmed cases, with 171 new cases added this week, according to today’s update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Of the 3,659 confirmed cases, 18% are in children age 5 and under, 43% in children and teens aged 5 to 19, and 38% are in adults 20 and older. Nine percent of case-patients have been hospitalized. Ninety-five percent of case-patients are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status.
The CDC also now lists one measles death for the year, though Pennsylvania has reported four measles-associated deaths. The agency says it’s working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to develop a standardized definition of deaths due to measles. The one death has an asterisk next to it.
“This number is subject to change; CDC will update its reporting as additional information becomes available and relevant reviews are completed,” the CDC said.
There have now been 40 new measles outbreaks reported so far this year (one new); 95% of all confirmed cases are linked to outbreaks that started this year or in 2025. An outbreak is defined as three or more cases.
A total of 5,948 confirmed measles cases have been reported in the United States since the beginning of 2025. In 2024, there were 285 confirmed cases.
129 more cases in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania remains the nation’s hot spot, with 129 new cases in the past seven days and 890 for the year, according to an update today from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Lancaster County, where two of the state’s measles deaths have been reported, has been the hardest hit, with 342 cases.Other states with notable increases in measles cases include Ohio, which added nine new cases this week and now has 189 for the year; Kentucky, which added 10 new cases and has 67 for the year; and Wisconsin, which added four new cases and has 171.
WHO selects viruses for 2027 southern hemisphere flu shots
News briefToday at 4:40 p.m.
Chris Dall, MA
Topics
Influenza Vaccines
The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the composition of flu shots for the 2027 influenza season in the southern hemisphere.
The composition of the vaccines is decided by a group of experts the WHO convenes twice a year in February and September. At these meetings, the group reviews data on circulating flu viruses generated through the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and makes recommendations for upcoming flu seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Flu season in the southern hemisphere typically stretches from April through September but can last until October or November.
In the September meeting, experts reviewed flu activity from February through August, which was dominated by influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2), and influenza B viruses.
For egg-based vaccines, the WHO recommends the following:
- an A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
- an A/Darwin1454/2025 (H3N2)-like virus; and
- a B/Tokyo/EIS13-175/2025 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus
- an A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
- an A/Darwin/1415/2025 (H3N2)-like virus; and
- a B/Pennsylvania/14/2025 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.
‘Global public health collaboration at its best’
The WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic management said GISRS demonstrates “the power of global solidarity in public health.”"The commitment of countries and laboratories to share data, viruses and expertise enables WHO to make timely vaccine recommendations, strengthening our collective ability to detect and respond to emerging influenza threats,” Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, said in a news release. “This is global public health collaboration at its best."
Ebola cases, deaths in DR Congo outbreak near 7,900 and 3,800 as virus spreads to 2 more health zones
News briefToday at 4:22 p.m.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Topics
Ebola
As the Ebola virus spreads to two new health zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and cases and deaths mount, G20+ leaders have pledged $2.9 billion to help fight the outbreak.
Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the Bundibugyo Ebola virus has infiltrated two more health zones, Bulu in Sud Ubangi and Dunghu in Haut Uele province, raising the total number of affected health zones to 63 in seven provinces.
Case and death numbers have reached 7,890 and 3,799, respectively, for a crude case-fatality rate (CFR) of 48.1%. “At the national level, the number of new cases reported each day remains high,” the WHO said. “However, the situation varies across the country, with some provinces and health zones experiencing much higher levels of transmission than others.”
“The continuously high CFR, and especially the continuous high rate of deaths occurring in communities, highlights the seriousness of the disease and the persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care,” the agency added.
‘Pledges alone will not stop Ebola’
The financial commitments, announced at the G20+ Foreign Ministers Meeting on Accelerating Collective Action to Defeat Ebola in New York this week, consist of cash and in-kind assistance, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in a press release yesterday.“We thank the US for this leadership and sense of solidarity by convening the 20 Ministerial meeting,” Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, Africa CDC director general, said in the release. “But pledges alone will not stop Ebola. We must be able to trace every single dollar—from commitment to disbursement, from implementing partner to expenditure, and ultimately to the services delivered to affected communities.”
At the meeting, the United States pledged an additional $267 million in health and humanitarian assistance for the outbreak, for a total of $887 million.
“With this new life-saving global health assistance, the United States will directly scale up support to combat the outbreak through new Ebola treatment units, additional safe and dignified burial teams, mass procurements of personal protective equipment, expanded surveillance, critical health commodities, and contact tracing through trusted implementers,” the Department of State said in a news release.
Quick takes: NWS-related border reopening, dengue in Florida, NIH PubMed tool, sprout recall, more polio
News briefToday at 2:27 p.m.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Topics
New World Screwworm
Dengue
Foodborne Disease
Polio
E coli
- The Santa Teresa livestock crossing in New Mexico reopened yesterday, 18 months after it closed to contain the importation of New World screwworm (NWS) from Mexican cattle, per media reports. In announcing the reopening, US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted that the pest has not been eradicated from the United States and that the crossing will stay open only if Mexican authorities continue to meet the terms of a joint surveillance and treatment plan. So far this year, NWS has been detected in 49 animals in Texas and New Mexico, including a recent case in a horses in Texas and New Mexico.
- Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties in west-central Florida have declared states of emergency to battle dengue fever amid rising cases of the mosquito-borne disease, including one death, in Hillsborough. A Hillsborough emergency order is meant to allow the county to take certain actions to control the mosquito population and pursue federal reimbursement of some expenses. As of September 23, 177 dengue cases had been confirmed in the county. While case counts are low in Pasco and Pinellas counties (two and seven, respectively), the emergency will allow officials to work to prevent the disease from further spreading across county lines, WUSF reported.
- The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence–informed PubMed tool designed to boost the replication and reproducibility of NIH-funded research. The tool, Linked Discoveries, allows scientists to more easily visualize how an individual research finding relates to the larger body of biomedical evidence. So far, the tool links to more than 29 million PubMed publications.
- This week, Berlin Seeds recalled alfalfa sprout seed after one person became ill and the seed supplier notified the company that the finished sprouts were part of a US Food and Drug Administration investigation of a multistate foodborne illness outbreak caused by Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella Agona. A spent irrigation water sample from one seed lot also tested positive for E coli. The seeds were sold at the company’s store in Millersburg, Ohio, and online from February 13 to August 26 to customers in 44 states.
- The Global Polio Eradication Initiative this week reported seven cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Afghanistan with paralysis onsets in August, one case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in Chad with a paralysis onset in July, and three cVDPV2 cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with paralysis onsets in June and August. Afghanistan now has 32 WPV1 cases in 2026, compared with 21 last year.