Emerging Diseases

Most emerging infectious diseases come from animals. We must invest in their health

Lung cancer in women emerges as a distinct disease

Deadly fungus and lung parasites are hammering wild rattlesnakes

A sweeping new study of wild snakes in the southeastern US has revealed a hidden health crisis slithering beneath the surface. Researchers found that many snakes are carrying multiple infections at once, with a dangerous fungal disease called ophidiomycosis — or snake fungal disease — emerging as one of the biggest threats. Pygmy rattlesnakes appeared especially vulnerable, frequently infected with both the fungus and a parasitic “snake lungworm.”

Distinct Auditory Thalamocortical Pathologies Underlie Emerging Neurophysiological Dysfunction in a Cln3 Mouse Model of Batten Disease

CLN3 disease, the most common form of the Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (NCLs), causes progressive cognitive decline and language impairment in humans. A pathological hallmark is the accumulation of storage material within neuronal lysosomes resulting from mutations in the CLN3 gene. We previously identified parallel deficits in auditory duration mismatch negativity (MMN), an electroencephalography (EEG)-based marker of auditory change detection, in individuals with CLN3 disease and in...

Avian influenza (bird flu) in Europe, Russia and the UK

Avian influenza (bird flu) in Europe, Russia and the UK Preliminary and updated outbreak assessments for avian influenza (bird flu) in Europe, Russia and the UK. Documents Details Preliminary and updated outbreak assessments for avian influenza (bird flu) in Europe, Russia and the UK. We monitor any major, notifiable or new and emerging animal disease outbreaks worldwide.

'We thank India': Africa CDC on emergency Ebola aid as Congo battles Ebola outbreak

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has welcomed emergency medical assistance provided by India to support efforts against the worsening Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), expressing gratitude for New Delhi’s support during the public health crisis. In a post on X, Africa CDC said the emergency diagnostics, therapeutics and medical supplies donated by India had been delivered through its Eastern Regional Coordinating Centre in...

These Ebola Researchers Are Stuck in US Due to Trump’s Funding Cuts

The Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases were launched during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group lost its funding under Trump in part due to conspiracy theories.

Genomic connectivity and the spread of adaptive insecticide resistance alleles in Anopheles arabiensis from East Africa

Population connectivity and adaptive gene flow in disease vectors can shape the emergence and spread of insecticide resistance, with direct implications for control strategies such as insecticide spraying or the use of bed nets for malaria control. Using whole-genome sequencing, we first resolved the geographic population structure of the major but understudied malaria vector, Anopheles arabiensis, across the East African region, including the geographically diverse country of Ethiopia. We...

Fluorescent nanosensor detects key gut biomarker in minutes for faster testing

Fluorescent nanosensor detects key gut biomarker in minutes for faster testing Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor A research collaboration has developed a novel fluorescent nanosensor capable of rapidly detecting indole-3-propionic acid (IPA), an emerging biomarker linked to gut health and disease. The breakthrough is described in the team's paper, "Fluorescent Nanosensor for Indole-3-Propionic Acid Detection in Gut Health Monitoring," published in the journal...

Localized, High-resolution Geographic Representations with Slepian Functions

arXiv:2602.00392v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Geographic data is fundamentally local. Disease outbreaks cluster in population centers, ecological patterns emerge along coastlines, and economic activity concentrates within country borders. Machine learning models that encode geographic location, however, distribute representational capacity uniformly across the globe, struggling at the fine-grained resolutions that localized applications require.