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At least six babies in Pennsylvania have been born infected with measles, with two so sick they had to be admitted to intensive care. The growing outbreak is raising alarm among doctors who are treating the potentially deadly condition. Congenital measles is a disease that’s rarely, if ever, seen in the U.S. (Edwards, 9/24)

Measles cases in Pennsylvania have now reached 835, according to the state Department of Health yesterday, and 43 of them are new. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday listed a single measles death for 2026 on its dashboard—its first confirmed death of 2026—but Pennsylvania is still reporting four recent deaths related to the virus. (Soucheray, 9/24)

Hillsborough County, which remains an active area for dengue fever, declared a state of emergency Thursday over the mosquito-borne illness. So did neighboring Pasco and Pinellas, which took the proactive step to prevent the disease from spreading across county lines. (Mayer, 9/24)

Ten more people have fallen ill in a multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to broccoli sprouts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an update today. The outbreak of Salmonella Bovismorbificans has now sickened 32 people in six states, with three hospitalized. Illness-onset dates range from July 7 to September 3. Of the 27 people who’ve been interviewed, 26 reported eating sprouts or microgreens. (Dall, 9/24)

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recorded eight new H5N1 avian flu outbreaks among commercial poultry, backyard flocks, and commercial turkey operations, with six of the outbreaks reported in Minnesota, while a new study reports H5 avian flu in polar bears in Alaska. Montana and Wisconsin each reported a single poultry outbreak. (Soucheray, 9/24)

The United States on Wednesday said it will give an addition $267 million in humanitarian aid to help contain and alleviate the deadly Ebola epidemic ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sum adds to the $887 million already provided, the State Department said in a statement, and will go toward building Ebola treatment units, helping response teams bury bodies safely, buying medical equipment and expanding programs meant to contain the spread of the disease. (Ombuor, 9/24)

An analysis of more than 58,000 outbreaks of 32 diseases in 169 countries finds that the fragmentation of ecosystems and climate change–related declines in rainfall have driven up the risk of diseases that spread from animals, mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas to people. For the study, published yesterday in Nature, an international group of researchers assessed outbreaks of zoonotic diseases (those transmitted directly from animals to people) such as coronaviruses, Ebola, and mpox and vector-borne diseases (those spread by mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas), including dengue, Lyme disease, and malaria. (Van Beusekom, 9/24)

At least five candidates are in the running to become the next director-general of the World Health Organization, a job that will come with extraordinary challenges. (Branswell, 9/25)

San Francisco reported a record-low number of new HIV infections in 2025, according to the city’s annual AIDS update, but ending the decades-long epidemic remains a stubbornly distant prospect. There were 136 new infections reported last year — 12 fewer than the year before, and a 75% drop over the past 20 years. That number is remarkably low compared to the worst years of the epidemic in the 1990s, when thousands were infected every year, and a testament to the success of antiviral medications to fight the virus and drugs that are highly effective at preventing infection. (Allday, 9/24)

In a statement, the Department of Health Care Finance confirmed the authenticity of the mailer, which it said included an outdated URL ending in “.com” that had previously been used by the agency. The correct website uses “.gov.” The agency apologized to any resident who may have received one with the bad web address. (Bowman, 9/24)

Homelessness encampments in D.C. have largely disappeared a year after President Donald Trump pushed a crackdown. Homelessness is still, however, a major problem in the city. If anything, the combination of Trump’s pressure to push unhoused people out of the capital and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s response have made struggles worse, according to local lawmakers and advocates for D.C.’s homeless population. (Fernández, 9/24)

Volunteers piled boxes of food into trunks in a warehouse in Rock River in southcentral Wyoming. The line of vehicles stretched down the street. Each person had a story, like Susan Griffin. “As soon as I lost my husband, I lost my health, and I ended up on disability. And so I've kinda had to have help since then,” Griffin said. (Edwards, 9/24)

Outside Florida's Department of Children and Families office in Kendall, people stood in line for three to four hours in the South Florida heat, waiting to learn why their Medicaid or food assistance had been cut off and what they could do about it — something the letters the state mailed them often didn't say. (Venkatasubban, 9/24)

N.C. State’s former director of sports medicine faces felony and misdemeanor criminal charges after being accused of sexually abusing former Wolfpack male athletes under the guise of treatment, which previously led to more than 30 athletes outlining allegations in years of civil lawsuits. Authorities in Florida arrested Robert M. Murphy Jr. on Wednesday night, and he was being held Thursday in the Marion County jail on out-of-state fugitive warrants from North Carolina. (Beard, 9/24)

A woman is paralyzed from the waist down after a man fell from a tree and landed on top of her during a music festival. On Friday, Sept. 18, Jamie Ulshoffer was at the Louder Than Life music festival at the Kentucky Exposition Center when a man suddenly fell from a nearby tree and landed directly on top of her, according to ABC affiliate WHAS and First Coast News. The Louisville Metro Police Department tells PEOPLE that their office learned that “a tree limb broke,” causing the man to fall. (Anello, 9/21)

Dozens of hospitals statewide will be able to take part next year in research to improve maternal and newborn care as part of the revived Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina. (Fernandez, 9/25)

For most of Kwaneta Harris’ life, menopause was not something she heard people talk about. She didn’t learn about much beyond hot flashes, night sweats and irregular periods in her nursing school training, or at any point during her decade-long career in the medical field. Her mom never passed along tips about that particular stage of life — just as her grandmother never shared any menopause wisdom with her mom. (Norwood, 9/24)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Abortion Is On The Ballot Again As Post-Roe Policies Continue To Evolve

After Missouri voters added abortion protections to the state constitution in 2024, Kelly McCoomb decided to keep her yard sign supporting the measure in the basement of her suburban St. Louis home. Abortion access is important to McCoomb. She wants her daughter to grow up in a state where the option is available if needed, and the sign was a keepsake from the day Missourians voted to reverse the state’s near-total ban. McCoomb also couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d need to display the sign in her yard again soon. (Sable-Smith and Orozco Rodriguez, 9/25)

Biologists at Anthropic announced on Wednesday that they had used artificial intelligence to identify genes in viruses that produce enzymes that work in a new way, the first discovery emanating from a research lab the company opened this spring. “We have chosen biology and medicine as the primary way that we believe the benefits from A.I. can come about,” said Eric Kauderer-Abrams, the head of life sciences at Anthropic. (Zimmer, 9/24)

As artificial intelligence (AI) grows more sophisticated, its use in medical research is becoming both more prominent and harder to detect, leading to what some describe as a flood of mediocre science being published in journals. Even just 6 months ago, AI hallucinations like fabricated references were a big concern. But it's now relatively easy to prompt AI to double-check these things and churn out research with no obvious errors, experts said. (Robertson, 9/24)

The more scientists look for chemicals that can increase breast cancer risk, the more they find. Hundreds of potential breast carcinogens lurk in consumer goods, food, drinking water, pesticides, drugs and building materials, scientists reported in a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Exposure to these chemicals is ubiquitous, the authors warn, yet biomonitoring efforts are failing to measure people’s exposures to most chemicals or assess risks from compound exposures. (Gross, 9/23)

Accounts raise tantalizing questions about what happens inside a brain afflicted by dementia and whether cognitive abilities could possibly be restored. (Hetherman, 9/25)

New Alzheimer's tests and treatments offer business opportunities and hope for improving outcomes for patients. (Adams, 9/23)

NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip's family revealed over the weekend he has been diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) complicated by possible chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In a statement, Waltrip's family said the possible CTE may be related to injuries sustained during his racing career. They said his symptoms are currently minor, but that he will step further away from public life as the disease progresses. It remains unclear what symptoms Waltrip may have at this time. (Chang and Tsapatsaris, 9/24)

Research into human-animal chimeras could have a therapeutic payoff, but the work brings up thorny ethical questions. (Schmidt, 9/25)

A key Senate committee on Thursday approved the nomination of top federal health official Chris Klomp to be deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, clearing the way for him to be confirmed by the full Senate. (Cirruzzo and Wilkerson, 9/24)

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration voiced support for the safety of long-established vaccines at a hearing Thursday, even as senators questioned her about the White House’s efforts to upend childhood immunizations. Dr. Heidi Overton is currently serving as a White House adviser and has worked on a series of Trump health initiatives, including an executive order last month that called for splitting up and spacing out decades-old childhood vaccinations. Overton, a physician, stood beside Trump in the Oval Office when he falsely remarked that the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine could be “quite lethal.” (Perrone, 9/24)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s future aides keep repudiating his views about vaccines. Since senators balked at confirming surgeon general nominee Casey Means, a parade of Health Department nominees have endorsed vaccination as the best way to prevent infectious diseases and rejected Kennedy’s supposition that vaccines cause autism. (Paun, 9/24)

In one Virginia race and others, Democrats are highlighting the rising costs of health care and possible closures of facilities, putting Republicans on defense. (Schneider, 9/24)

As Democrats release a flurry of midterm ads portraying GOP cuts to Medicaid as a threat to rural healthcare, Republicans have countered with ads claiming Democratic candidates in Texas and Pennsylvania would put dozens of rural hospitals out of business by creating a public health insurance option. But the ads cite an industry-backed study whose assumptions don’t apply to all public option proposals. (Cuno-Booth, 9/23)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: �������ýҕ�l Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Healthcare A Vague But Potent Issue For Election 2026

Healthcare, in particular its rising costs, is a key issue for voters in both parties this fall. But lawmakers are offering a variety of remedies on the campaign trail, suggesting that neither party has an agreed-upon approach. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has apparently backed off a plan — for now — to create a political board to review scientific grant awards from the National Institutes of Health. (Rovner, 9/24)

James Copenhaver, one of three campaign rally attendees shot in 2024 during an assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump, has died in Pittsburgh, his lawyer said Thursday. He was 76. Copenhaver was in the bleachers during the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop, grazing Trump’s right ear with one bullet. Copenhaver was struck in the arm and in the abdomen, wounds that left him with lingering injuries and walking with a cane. (Johnson and Carr Smyth, 9/25)

The American Medical Association and American Hospital Association are asking the Department of Homeland Security to exempt clinicians from a proposed $103,265 fee on H-1B visa petitions. The AMA warned the fee would make recruiting physicians to underserved areas “next to financially impossible.” (Twenter, 9/24)

A group of Democratic lawmakers want answers from the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following reports that roughly a dozen transgender service members never received separation pay following their forced exits from the military. (Mordowanec, 9/25)

The anti-abortion group Students for Life of America on Thursday filed a notice of intent to sue the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over alleged inaction over the Endangered Species Act, an escalation of the group’s years-long effort to use environmental laws to restrict abortion drugs. The organization alleges more than 50 tons of medical waste are flushed into water systems each year as a result of abortion drugs, causing significant environmental harm. Environmental scientists dispute that. (Weixel, 9/24)

The Food and Drug Administration has warned a major compounding pharmacy that it violated federal law by making copies of blockbuster weight-loss drugs in "inordinate amounts." The letter to Empower Pharmacy marks the first time the FDA has waded into a fierce debate about when a pharmacy's legitimate work of customizing a medication crosses the line into mass-copying of patented FDA-approved drugs. (Gilbert, 9/24)

Accusations of retaliatory firings have been met with denouncement of an "increasingly aggressive" national smear campaign against Prime Healthcare. (Muoio, 9/24)

Nurses at Central Maine Medical Center voted overwhelmingly Thursday night to form a union, with a tally of 204 to 21. (9/24)

The union representing about 150 doctors at Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and its Unity campus in Fridley announced Wednesday that it has reached a tentative agreement for a first contract with the health system. (Zurek, 9/24)

Leah Mohnkern had heard there were delays in financial aid disbursements at the Morehouse School of Medicine, but she didn’t realize how serious the problem was until a few weeks ago when she learned a classmate was struggling to afford meals. “She’d basically been eating snacks as her primary source of energy for weeks,” said Mohnkern, a second-year medical student. “It was really hard to hear because obviously studying is really challenging … You can’t do it on an empty stomach.” (Armesto, 9/25)

UnitedHealth has named a longtime corporate strategy and workforce management executive as its inaugural chief administrative officer as the healthcare behemoth continues to overhaul its leadership amid intense scrutiny of its business practices. As CAO, Jodee Kozlak will work to modernize and align UnitedHealth’s operations across different businesses. She’ll oversee a portfolio that initially includes human resources, real estate, procurement and corporate security, according to a Thursday press release. (Parduhn, 9/24)

Hospitals’ increasing use of artificial intelligence for patient coding has increased the frequency of inpatient stays classified as medically complex—boosting the bills sent to payers despite no apparent changes in the care being delivered, according to a new claims analysis from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. (Muoio, 9/24)

Prisma Health has agreed to acquire 36 urgent care locations in South Carolina from Novant Health. The deal, slated to close Nov. 1, involves an estimated 500 employees, according to a Thursday news release. Financial terms were not disclosed. (DeSilva, 9/24)

The Cigna Group plans to integrate technology from artificial intelligence giant OpenAI to bolster its offerings for patients with complex health conditions. The collaboration will initially focus on oncology, aiming to streamline support care for cancer patients. For example, the company said one capability will provide oncology nurses and case managers across Accredo Specialty Pharmacy and Cigna Healthcare with AI-based tools to aggregate patients’ clinical, pharmacy, behavioral and benefits information. (DeSilva, 9/24)

Providers and payers are deploying clinicians and technology to senior living communities in collaborations aimed at lowering the cost of care for older adults. Programs that offer healthcare services within senior living communities have been growing and could create a new source of revenue for providers. The challenge is getting enough residents onboard to make the initiative cost-effective for providers and payers. (Eastabrook, 9/24)

After the collapse came the dust. It billowed across Lower Manhattan in the wake of the 2001 World Trade Center terror attacks, turning people into ghosts as they trudged to safety. It blew into buildings through broken windows and air intakes, settling into carpets, curtains and upholstery and leaving a fine powder on surfaces. People wrote messages in the dust coating the windows of buildings. (Goodman, 9/19)

Sometimes you can win an argument just by repeating yourself over and over. That’s a lesson from the tobacco industry’s battle with the Biden-era Food and Drug Administration over its proposed ban on menthol cigarettes. (McLure, 9/25)

The real opportunity is pill-form peptides that could hit big pharma’s most profitable franchises. (Wainer, 9/25)

Doing more than one thing at once, especially on screens, can become addictive, which harms the functioning of our brain and nervous system. (Kerr, 9/21)

For as long as she can remember, Minnie Hatch has experienced tons of infections, including those of the urinary tract, sinuses, skin, and ears. Doctors frequently treated her with antibiotics. When she was about 19, she began having distressing gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, including diarrhea and vomiting. (Holohan, 9/24)

It began with numbness. The violinist Jennifer Koh was giving a solo recital in Santa Fe 10 years ago when, early in the first piece, she realized she couldn’t feel her right hand. She got through the performance, thanks to muscle memory. When she returned home to Manhattan from New Mexico, the problem went away after about a week. But the numbness came back three months later, and then nine months after that, lingering for weeks before disappearing as mysteriously as it arrived. (Barone, 9/24)

I’m confident in my mastery over what doctors do — and less confident about my continued mastery of an ever-evolving universe of facts. (Rachael Bedard, 9/25)

By mid-September, the Pennsylvania Department of Health had reported four confirmed measles-associated deaths, surpassing the highest annual number of measles-associated deaths in the United States since 1992. Pennsylvania public health professionals are sounding the alarm as the number of measles cases statewide exceeds 800, with cases clustering among communities with a history of vaccine hesitancy. (Denys T. Lau and Jennifer D. Schoendorf, 9/25)

Pennsylvania officials have confirmed four measles-related deaths. Two, according to reports, are children. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been embroiled in a public battle of semantics over how to characterize the circumstances. To the rest of the nation, the debate obscures a more obvious problem. Measles — a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable and sometimes fatal disease — is on the rise. (9/25)

During the pandemic, we all heard some variation of “they died with Covid, not from it.” The phrase is back, this time attached to measles. On Aug. 25, Pennsylvania reported two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster. That day, a county commissioner relayed the coroner’s office’s position that one person had died “WITH measles, but not FROM measles.” (Jess Steier and Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, 9/25)

Obesity has been seen as something patients could overcome through lifestyle changes rather than recognized for what it is, a chronic disease. (Disha Narang, 9/25)