A common parasite can decapitate human sperm − with implications for male fertility

If you’ve handled cat litter or eaten raw meat or unwashed produce, there’s a chance you might have a permanent toxoplasmosis infection spread throughout your body.

Bill Sullivan, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University • conversation
May 28, 2025 ~9 min

Cutting HIV aid means undercutting US foreign and economic interests − Nigeria shows the human costs

Withdrawing or reducing aid has immediate and often fatal effects − not only for the countries receiving aid but for people around the globe.

Kathryn Rhine, Associate Professor of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus • conversation
May 19, 2025 ~12 min


How the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service protects public health at home and abroad

The Epidemic Intelligence Service has been a crucial tool in fighting diseases at home and abroad. Its impact would be impossible to replace.

Casey Luc, Health Scientist, University of Illinois Chicago • conversation
April 14, 2025 ~9 min

Bird flu could be on the cusp of transmitting between humans − but there are ways to slow down viral evolution

At the viral chatter stage of an outbreak, pathogens are just starting to infect people in sporadic bursts. It’s a sign that a pandemic may be on the horizon.

Ron Barrett, Professor of Anthropology, Macalester College • conversation
March 31, 2025 ~9 min

Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short − federal support is essential for medical breakthroughs

The National Institutes of Health has been integral to scientific progress in treating countless human diseases. Without its support, patients will ultimately pay the price.

Patrick Mitchell, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Washington • conversation
March 28, 2025 ~13 min

As tuberculosis cases rise in the US and worldwide, health officials puzzle over the resurgence of a disease once in decline

Reports of TB date back to the time of Hippocrates, but the Kansas outbreak shows that the ancient disease is very much a modern-day scourge.

Marcela Henao-Tamayo, Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Colorado State University • conversation
March 6, 2025 ~9 min

Cambridge initiative to address risks of future engineered pandemics

Covid-19 showed us how vulnerable the world is to pandemics – but what if the next pandemic were somehow engineered? How would the world respond – and could we

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Feb. 27, 2025 ~7 min

Prioritise vaccine boosters for vulnerable immunocompromised patients, say scientists

Vaccinations alone may not be enough to protect people with compromised immune systems from infection, even if the vaccine has generated the production of

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Feb. 12, 2025 ~5 min


US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again?

With the devastating 1918 pandemic in mind, US health officials saw an outbreak in Asia and swung into action. What happened offers lessons for today.

Alexandra M. Lord, Chair and Curator of Medicine and Science, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
Feb. 6, 2025 ~8 min

Some viruses prefer mosquitoes to humans, but people get sick anyway − a virologist and entomologist explain why

The virus that causes eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, has evolved to infect mosquitoes. To be able to spread between people, however, it faces extra challenges.

Pilar Pérez Romero, Associate Professor of Virology, University of Notre Dame • conversation
Feb. 4, 2025 ~9 min

/

23