Over the course of 20 days in March 2020, 55 million American children stopped going to school as Covid-19 swept the United States. What was impossible to anticipate then was that millions of those students would not return to classrooms full-time until September 2021, a year and a half later. Those children and teenagers, often…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to conduct a large-scale study to re-examine whether there is a connection between vaccines and autism, federal officials said Friday. Dozens of scientific studies have failed to find evidence of a link. But the C.D.C. now falls under the purview of Health and Human Services Secretary…
Dangerous pathogens left unsecured at labs across Africa. Halted inspections for mpox, Ebola and other infections at airports and other checkpoints. Millions of unscreened animals shipped across borders. The Trump administration’s pause on foreign aid has hobbled programs that prevent and snuff out outbreaks around the world, scientists say, leaving people everywhere more vulnerable to…
The Ebola outbreak in Uganda has worsened significantly, and the country’s ability to contain the spread has been severely weakened by the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign assistance, American officials said this week. The officials, representing a variety of health and security agencies, made the assessment during a meeting with U.S. Embassy staff in Kampala,…
A panel of scientific experts that advises the Food and Drug Administration on vaccine policy — and that has been the target of criticism from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — learned on Wednesday that its upcoming meeting to discuss next year’s flu vaccines had been canceled. The F.D.A. sent an email to members…
Shortly after taking office for the second time, President Trump began making deep cuts to agencies and programs that play critical roles in human health, slashing funding for medical research, halting global health aid and firing scores of workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the campaign to downsize government, which has…
At the nation’s borders, federal workers keep the country safe in many ways: Some investigate sick passengers. Some examine animals for dangerous pathogens. And some inspect plants for infestations that could spread in this country. Late last week, the Trump administration dispatched hundreds of those federal employees with the same message that colleagues at other…
The notices came all weekend, landing in the inboxes of federal scientists, doctors and public health professionals: Your work is no longer needed. At the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s premier biomedical research agency, an estimated 1,200 employees — including promising young investigators slated for larger roles — have been dismissed. At the Centers…
Three dairy veterinarians, including one who worked only in states with no known bird flu outbreaks in cows, had recent, undetected bird flu infections, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The results are based on antibody testing of 150 veterinarians working in 46 U.S. states. The findings were…
A worsening measles outbreak has taken root in Texas, sickening two dozen and hospitalizing nine on the western edge of the state, where childhood vaccination rates have dwindled in recent years. As of Tuesday, 22 children and two adults had been infected, all of whom were unvaccinated, local health officials said. The outbreak comes as…