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What is bird flu, and why worry about it?
The H5N1 outbreak in the United States is heating up. Here’s what you need to know. I’ve been writing about bird flu for some time now, but I realized I’ve never really talked about what it is, how people are getting sick, and why it’s a threat. The past few months brought a few worrying…
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What gives me hope
As the Trump administration attacks science and expertise, and a measles outbreak is already testing its laidback approach to health, ordinary people are fighting back. There’s a good/infuriating article about anti-vaccine sentiment in West Texas during the growing measles outbreak there. It’s really illuminating and I recommend reading it, if you’re able. This line has…
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Texas pharmacies are running low on measles vaccine
The surge in demand comes as a second measles death is reported in New Mexico — and as the top U.S. health official promotes misinformation on measles. There are now 198 known cases, 23 hospitalizations and one death from measles in Texas, and 30 known cases and one death in New Mexico. But if you call a…
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Should I be worried about measles?
Here’s the lowdown on measles in the U.S., and whether you should get a measles booster. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has only been health secretary for a few weeks, but already he’s facing a test that reveals his approach to infectious diseases. A measles outbreak is spiraling in the American Southwest, with a total of…
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Health websites struggle with outages, plus more weekend emails
The websites for the NIH and other health agencies are experiencing technical difficulties this weekend. And there’s a new “five things” email — now due every Monday. The website for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the agency responsible for overseeing federal research in the U.S. and one of the premier research organizations in the…
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Bird flu hospitalizes two people and is now endemic in cows
As the Trump administration struggles to find its footing on the outbreak, state collaboration will be key Two people, a woman from Wyoming and a man in Ohio, have been hospitalized with H5N1, the CDC said in a routine flu update on Friday. The woman is still in hospital, while the man has been released to…
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USAID begins laying off U.S. employees
The Trump administration put nearly all of USAID’s 4,700 full-time employees on paid administrative leave at midnight last night. By 10 pm yesterday, employees began receiving form letters saying their last day will be April 24. “To start sending these [letters] out at 10 p.m. on a Sunday night was horrendous,” a source told me.…
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Conflicting advice on “last week” email
On Saturday afternoon, federal employees received an email asking what they did last week. Then the confusion set in. Some employees refused to open the email, which was from an unusual address through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), for fear that it was a phishing attempt. Some inboxes sent the email directly to spam.…
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What federal employees did last week
All federal employees received a short email on Saturday afternoon with unusual instructions. The subject line was “What did you do last week?” Here’s the entirety of the message, which was marked high priority: Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do…
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What RFK Jr. and other nominees will mean for our health
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a decades-long vaccine conspiracist and AIDS denialist, was confirmed as head of Health and Human Services yesterday. Other nominees are still waiting for their hearings. First, we’re going to talk about RFK Jr. and what all this means. But then I want to talk about the nominations for other health agencies…
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Thousands protest the destruction of U.S. aid agency—and experts fear other agencies are next
Thousands of people gathered at the US Capitol on Wednesday after the shocking announcement that the US Agency for International Development was putting nearly all of its employees on leave and recalling thousands of officers from their postings abroad. I was there to report for the Guardian, and today I wanted to share photos from the rally.…
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It’s time to become a public health superfan
If you’re looking for ways to take action, try getting involved with local and state public health. I wrote for The New Republic today about what Donald Trump’s victory means for public health. There’s a lot to unpack about what will likely happen, but I wanted to highlight what we can do about it. In…
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RFK Jr doesn’t need a Trump admin job to control public health
The two most influential anti-vaxxers in the U.S.—Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump—are teaming up, which could give Kennedy control over health agencies. At his Madison Square Garden rally last week, Donald Trump talked about his new (or, at least, newly public) partnership with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the most powerful anti-vaxxers…
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Survivor from Hurricane Helene: “Please don’t have a short, passionate outpouring of love”
On Sunday, I published a story with The Guardian about the health outcomes from Hurricane Helene. For this story, I interviewed a man named Jerry McNeely, a professional fly fishing guide (and former radio host, and former blues musician who toured the world… truly a man of many talents) who is from Swannanoa, N.C., one…
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Two preemies die, dozens more in peril as Gaza hospital loses power
How many children should die? I’m easing back from maternity leave, and I’m more committed than ever to write about health and science. So let’s dive in. One of the biggest health stories on the globe right now is the crisis in Gaza. Hospitals are running out of electricity, health workers and facilities are being…
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