Brown SPH in the news

Sonya Stokes, an emergency room physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, braces herself for a daily deluge of patients sick with coughs, soreness, fevers, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms.

The Trump administration's foreign aid freeze is happening as a deadly Ebola outbreak spreads in Uganda. Some U.S. health officials are concerned that the situation will only worsen with USAID in limbo. Dr. Craig Spencer, emergency medicine physician and associate professor at Brown University School of Public Health, joins "America Decides" to explain.

A flurry of Trump orders has put health researchers in the federal government’s crosshairs, and forced many into an ethical dilemma

A dairy worker in Nevada may have tested positive for a strain of H5N1 bird flu known to have killed one person and severely sickened another. CNN reported Saturday night that a worker tested positive for the D1.1 version of the H5N1 bird flu virus. Confirmation testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is underway.

Two weeks into the Trump administration, external communication from federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the nation and world has gone dark.

Several US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites and datasets related to HIV, LGBTQ people, youth health behaviors and more have been removed after the agency was directed to comply with executive orders from President Donald Trump. Epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo explains the consequences.

Last week, the National Institutes of Health abruptly cancelled long-scheduled grant review panels and shut down external communications — with little explanation.

With federal health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under a temporary freeze on public communications, some data and publications have not been released on their normal schedule.

Many of the World Health Organization’s problems come down to its own mission confusion

A new proposal seeks to limit the amount of nicotine in certain combusted tobacco products.

Bird flu's unprecedented spread among livestock and other mammals in the U.S. has raised fears that another pandemic could be in store.

The U.S. has recorded its first death of a person infected with bird flu.

The patient was a resident of southwest Louisiana who was hospitalized last month with the first known severe case of bird flu in the country.

From weight-loss drugs to nonopioid pain killers to AI, here are some important -- and positive -- trends in health care.

Experts are skeptical that USDA’s theory of viral spread is telling the whole story.

America’s global health commitments keep us all safer

Dean of Brown University School of Public Health Dr. Ashish Jha, Senior National Correspondent for HuffPost Jonathen Cohn, and New York Times Opinion Columnist David French join Katy Tur to discuss Secretary of Health and Human Services appointee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the potential radical decisions he can make regarding vaccines and other health initiatives in America.

Health insurers and hospitals increasingly treat patients less as humans in need of care than consumers who generate profit.

Nearly a year after a wild bird infected with H5N1 avian flu presumably passed its viral baggage to a dairy cow in the Texas panhandle — which has subsequently led to the infection of more than 700 herds nationwide and sickened at least 35 dairy workers — the nation’s agriculture department announced Friday that it will sample the nation’s milk supply to test for the virus.

The question of whether harm reduction efforts are failing remains complex. To delve deeper into this evolving issue, Newsweek has reached out to medical experts for further insights.

With the recent conclusion of the 2024 election, the spotlight now shifts back to Congress as it enters the final weeks of the 118th session. While time is limited and there is much to accomplish, Congress has a critical opportunity to reshape health care affordability, enhance transparency, reduce costs, and lay a strong foundation for future reforms through the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (LCMT) and Health Care PRICE Transparency Act 2.0. Taking action on key provisions during the lame-duck session could serve as a catalyst for addressing issues such as health care consolidation, cost disparities, and opaque pricing structures before turning the page to a new legislative chapter.

The Food and Drug Administration has rejected some products because of concerns about youth users.

State agriculture officials on Thursday banned Fresno-based Raw Farm from distributing its raw dairy products to retailers amid ongoing concerns about possible bird flu infections among its cattle.

The health of the American people is on the line with Trump's appointments

President Donald Trump’s pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services “is an extraordinarily bad choice for the health of the American people,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, warned Thursday.

Canadian health officials announced Tuesday that a teenager infected with H5N1 bird flu from an unknown source is in critical condition.

A Canadian teenager is hospitalized in critical condition with suspected bird flu, health officials reported Tuesday. The teen has been receiving care at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver since Friday, the same day an initial test came back positive for H5 influenza.

Researchers around the globe are tinkering with viruses far deadlier than covid-19.

It's officially Election Day, and former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are making their final campaign pushes across the country. As Americans consider which candidates to vote for, and which ballot initiatives to support, experts tell ABC News that election seasons often lead to increased levels of stress, anxiety and uncertainty.

In October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that high-risk adults get a second updated Covid vaccine to bolster their protection against the virus.

NEW YORK — A pig at an Oregon farm was found to have bird flu, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. It's the first time the virus has been detected in U.S. swine and raises concerns about bird flu's potential to become a human threat.

What must be done to reduce the harmful health effects of major storms and make our communities ready for the short- and long-term impacts of severe weather events?

Some states are funding projects with little chance of making a difference, write current and former members of the Rhode Island Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee

Oregon decriminalized hard drugs in 2021 and recriminalized them last month. A new analysis shows the laws likely had little effect on opioid deaths.

SACRAMENTO, California — Health officials across the U.S. are working to prevent a potentially dangerous combination virus as avian flu rips through one of the nation’s largest milk-producing regions during the height of flu season.

A third farmworker has tested positive for bird flu in California, according to the state’s health department. If confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this would be the 17th human case of H5N1 flu in the US since March, when the virus was first detected in cows.

WHO currently deems the risk of spread to nearby countries as high, but global spread low.

People and organizations talk a lot about climate change online, but only 3.1 percent of content mentions connections to health, a new analysis reveals.

Inside your refrigerator and pantry, plastic is everywhere. There’s plastic wrap, storage bags and bins, clamshell takeout containers, beverage bottles, and condiment tubs, of course. Plastics (synthetic polymers) are also a component of the multi-layer material that make up chip bags and encase granola bars. Tin, steel, and aluminum cans, like the type that might hold beans or a soda, are lined with plastic. Even many paper products, such as paper cups and frozen food trays, are coated in–you guessed it–plastic.

With the approach of fall and cooler weather across the United States, officials say the risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus could rise — and they’re taking steps to prevent the creation of a hybrid flu virus that could more easily infect humans.

Infections historically rise during the colder months — but is that still true since COVID is surging now?

Massachusetts and Connecticut are now the first states to ban the use of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” in protective gear worn by firefighters.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the new Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It’s the third time the vaccines have been updated to match circulating strains since the original series. The shots should be available within days. The agency hasn't yet approved a third vaccine, from drugmaker Novavax.

laire Macon in Providence, Rhode Island, has one of the rarest job titles in the United States: overdose prevention center manager.

U.S. health officials now say COVID-19 is an endemic disease. That means it's here to stay – circulating regularly like the flu. Even though that changes how public health officials think about managing the virus, they say it doesn't mean being less cautious or vigilant during surges, like the current one this summer. COVID still poses significant risks for older individuals and those with underlying conditions — and anyone who gets COVID is at risk of developing long COVID.

If it seems like a lot of people are getting COVID right now, you’re not imagining it. We’re in the middle of a worldwide summer COVID-19 wave.

Four years after SARS-CoV2 sparked a devastating global pandemic, U.S. health officials now consider COVID-19 an endemic disease.

Over the past three decades, routine immunizations have prevented 1.1 million deaths and saved the United States $540 billion, the C.D.C. estimated.

BIRD FLU CHECK-IN — More cows and humans continue to test positive for avian influenza, but the CDC maintains that the risk to the public remains low. We checked in with several infectious disease experts to learn more about what the recent outbreak at poultry farms in Colorado means for the U.S. response to the virus.

Coronavirus activity in wastewater reached levels considered “high” or “very high” in 26 states, according to the most recent CDC data.

Even as the H5N1 virus evolves, gaps remain in the nation’s contingency plans for human testing, scientists say.