Safety

WASHINGTON (AP) — As measles outbreaks popped up across the U.S. this winter, pediatricians waited for the nation's public health agency to send a routine, but important, letter that outlines how they could help stop the spread of the illness. It wasn't... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — One state’s effort to exempt young school-aged children from vaccines appears to have stalled as states contend with a burgeoning measles outbreak. In January, West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order allowing families to apply... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s harsh flu season – the most intense in 15 years – has federal health officials trying to understand if it sparked an increase in a rare but life-threatening brain complication in children. The Centers for Disease Control... Read More

BANGKOK (AP) — The U.S. registered its first death from measles since 2015 this week, as a child who wasn’t vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas. Normally, most U.S. cases are brought into the country by people... Read More

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A person who was hospitalized with measles has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson Melissa Whitfield confirmed the death... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — New York on Friday ordered a weeklong shutdown of all live bird markets in New York City, Westchester and Long Island after seven cases of avian flu were detected at bird markets in the city. Gov. Kathy Hochul... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine advocacy is outside the mainstream. His previous statements on abortion could alienate Republicans. But a new poll finds that not all of his controversial health goals are unpopular — in fact, at least one... Read More

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Vaccination bills are popping up in more than 15 states as lawmakers aim to potentially resurrect or create new religious exemptions from immunization mandates, establish state-level vaccine injury databases or dictate what providers must tell patients about the shots.... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — For the first time since the 2022 countrywide outbreak, bird flu hit a poultry producer in Georgia, the nation's top state for chicken production. The state Department of Agriculture announced Friday that the agency has detected a... Read More

The Texas judge who previously halted approval of the nation’s most common method of abortion ruled Thursday that three states can move ahead with another attempt to roll back federal rules and make it harder for people across the U.S.... Read More

U.S. regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. Food and Drug Administration officials granted a 2022 petition filed by... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — The first U.S. bird flu death has been reported — a person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms. State health officials announced the death on Monday, and the Centers for Disease Control... Read More

Five years ago, a cluster of people in Wuhan, China, fell sick with a virus never before seen in the world. The germ didn't have a name, nor did the illness it would cause. It wound up setting off a... Read More

Cases of a wretched stomach bug are surging in parts of the United States this winter, according to government data. The most recent numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show there were 91 outbreaks of norovirus reported during the week... Read More

California officials have declared a state of emergency over the spread of bird flu, which is tearing through dairy cows in that state and causing sporadic illnesses in people in the U.S. That raises new questions about the virus, which has spread... Read More

WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. started a weeklong campaign Monday to convince congressional leaders he’s the right person to lead U.S. health care policy. He is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, says any of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees seeking Senate confirmation should “steer clear” of efforts to discredit the polio vaccine. “Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures... Read More

Cucumbers shipped to 13 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces and organic eggs sold in 25 Costco stores in five southern U.S. states were recalled this week for potential salmonella contamination. SunFed Produce, based in Arizona, recalled the cucumbers sold... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — The outgoing head of the nation’s top public health agency urged the next administration to maintain its focus and funding to keep Americans safe from emerging health threats. “We need to continue to do our global... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo. The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return,... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two weeks after setting a nationwide deadline for removal of lead pipes, the Biden administration is imposing strict new limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and child-care facilities. A final rule announced Thursday by the Environmental Protection... Read More

A company is recalling nearly 10 million pounds of meat and poultry products made at an Oklahoma plant because they may be contaminated with listeria bacteria that can cause illness and death. BrucePac of Woodburn, Oregon, recalled the roughly 5,000... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fall means it’s time for just about everybody to get up to date on their flu and COVID-19 vaccines – and a lot of older adults also need protection against another risky winter virus, RSV. Yes, you can get... Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Health officials warned Wednesday that the Los Angeles area is seeing more dengue fever cases in people who have not traveled outside the U.S. mainland, a year after the first such case was reported in California.... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles. By the time she turned 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving... Read More

WASHINGTON — Shark Week may have come and gone already, but sharks have remained in the news this summer. After a series of incidents in Florida and Texas in July, isolated encounters between sharks and humans have continued. Many swimmers... Read More

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed into law Thursday a bill that would phase out the use of PFAS, a group of toxic industrial compounds, in firefighters’ protective gear. The chemicals — associated with health problems including several... Read More

WASHINGTON — Aerospace workers and government investigators at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C., laid the blame on Boeing employees and its management for the Jan. 5 blowout of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines... Read More

WASHINGTON — Many people go on diets to lose weight. While reducing food intake may lead to weight loss, reducing your intake too much and for too long can also harm your health. Athletes in particular are often pressured to... Read More

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The warm, soggy summer across much of the Midwest has produced a bumper crop of wild mushrooms — and a surge in calls to poison control centers. At the Minnesota Regional Poison Center, calls from April through July were... Read More