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1 week ago | 
theguardian.com | Melody Schreiber
As tuberculosis outbreaks pick up speed in the US and abroad amid deep cuts in funding for local, state and international public health programs, a resurgence of the deadliest infectious disease – including drug-resistant tuberculosis – could be on the horizon. Increasing funding for public health responses could end tuberculosis (TB) altogether, says James Brookes, an IT specialist from Idaho, who told this to his representatives in Congress on Wednesday.
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1 week ago | 
nhpr.org | Melody Schreiber
After the Trump administration's cancellation of thousands of humanitarian aid programs last month, about 900 programs, operating across the globe, were still receiving funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Over the weekend, however, at least 42 of those programs were informed that USAID had canceled their contracts, which provided funding for the delivery of aid services over a set period of time. The State Department did not say how many contracts had been canceled.
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3 weeks ago | 
thesicktimes.org | Melody Schreiber
Key points you should know:The U.S. leads the global tally of H5N1 cases. Two new, separate spillovers into dairy cows have been detected in Nevada and Arizona in recent weeks, indicating that the outbreak is not under control and is now endemic in cows. Not all infections among people are being detected, raising the risk of co-infection with seasonal flu variants that could result in a more dangerous strain. Flu has been linked to chronic diseases like myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
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3 weeks ago | 
opb.org | Melody Schreiber
Rescue teams are seen at a construction site where a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. A powerful earthquake rocked central Myanmar on March 28, buckling roads in the capital Naypyidaw, damaging buildings and affecting neighboring Thailand as well, where people fled into the streets for safety.
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1 month ago | 
theguardian.com | Melody Schreiber
More US states are reporting measles cases as the Texas outbreak expands, surpassing last year’s total, amid vaccine misinformation and hesitancy. The Texas outbreak could take a year to get under control, one health official said – during which time it may spread to more states.
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1 month ago | 
newrepublic.com | Melody Schreiber
Bird flu is sweeping throughegg-laying chickens in the United States at an unprecedented rate. So far in2025, 30 millionlayers, as they’re known, have been culled, close to the 38million killed throughout all of last year: Nearly 10 percent of thecountry’s annual number of egg-layers have been wiped out. But one of the bigquestions, as egg prices become a potent political football, is this: Are theseshocking infection rates and cull tallies to blame for skyrocketing prices?
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1 month ago | 
yahoo.com | Melody Schreiber
Bird flu is sweeping through egg-laying chickens in the United States at an unprecedented rate. So far in 2025, 30 million layers, as they’re known, have been culled, close to the 38 million killed throughout all of last year: Nearly 10 percent of the country’s annual number of egg-layers have been wiped out. But one of the big questions, as egg prices become a potent political football, is this: Are these shocking infection rates and cull tallies to blame for skyrocketing prices?
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1 month ago | 
opb.org | Melody Schreiber
Secretary of State Rubio (center) flanked by Doug Burgum, secretary of the interior, and President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting on Feb. 26. On Monday, Rubio posted on X that 83% of USAID contracts had been canceled following a review. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThe Trump administration officially canceled 83% of U.S. foreign aid contracts on Monday.
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1 month ago | 
nhpr.org | Melody Schreiber
The Trump administration officially canceled 83% of U.S. foreign aid contracts on Monday. "The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States," Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X early Monday morning. The total number of contracts is about 6,200, representing programs that were appropriated by Congress in the last budget approval.
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1 month ago | 
theguardian.com | Melody Schreiber
As measles cases continue to grow in Texas and New Mexico, with a second death, an unvaccinated adult, reported on Thursday, some Texas cities are seeing shortages amid soaring demand for the highly effective vaccine and as the top US health official, Robert F Kennedy Jr, sows disinformation and mistrust about vaccines.
