Thursday, May 28, 2026 - KFF Health News

• The acting director of the U.S. NIH’s infectious disease institute has resigned amidst concurrent outbreaks of hantavirus and Ebola. • Political tension has risen over the Affordable Medicine Act, with critics arguing the legislation failed to provide sufficient relief to Virginians outside of Medicare or hold pharmaceutical companies accountable.

• Following the resignation of Commissioner Marty Makary, the FDA is seeking a new leader to oversee the agency's commitment to accelerating treatment access for rare disease patients. • The urgency is highlighted by UX111 gene therapy, which clinical trials show can reduce toxin buildup for over eight years and slow cognitive decline if administered early.

• Regulatory bodies are increasingly integrating real-world evidence (RWE) into the drug approval process to supplement traditional randomized clinical trials. • This shift utilizes real-world data (RWD) sourced from electronic health records, administrative claims databases, disease registries, and digital health tools.

• WHO advisory groups have selected several candidates for clinical trial evaluation during the current outbreak response, including remdesivir, Maftivimab®, and vaccine candidates rVSV and ChAdOx1 Bundibugyo. • New research highlights durable results from PCSK9 base-editing (VERVE-102) and examines the impact of GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide on health outcomes.

• Author of the new book "Decolonising Disease: Pandemics, Public Health and Pathogenic Novels" explores the intersection of colonialism, imperialism, and epidemic disease. • The work draws critical parallels between the COVID-19 pandemic and historical Ebola outbreaks, specifically those in Congo/Zaire and Sudan in 1976 and West Africa from 2014–16.

• The Ebola outbreak is continuing to worsen, creating significant collateral health and safety risks specifically for women and girls. • In a surprising leadership change, Kyle Diamantas has been appointed as the new acting head of the FDA.

• A hantavirus outbreak linked to a Dutch cruise ship in early May has triggered a surge of health misinformation, mirroring patterns seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. • False claims are circulating that the outbreak was caused by COVID-19 vaccines, based on a misinterpretation of a Pfizer document listing events to be monitored during trials.

• Unproven treatments, including ivermectin, vitamin D, and zinc, are being promoted on social media as cures for hantavirus following a recent cruise ship outbreak. • While vitamin D and zinc are known to support general immune regulation, there is currently no hantavirus-specific clinical evidence to support their use for this disease.

• The U.S. military conducted a strike on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the Pacific Ocean on May 31, 2026. • Three individuals were killed in the operation, marking the fourth such attack carried out by the military within a single week.

• The CDC has issued an interim final rule expanding a public health entry ban to include Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have recently traveled to specific regions. • The ban specifically targets Green Card holders who have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the last 21 days.

• The FDA approved Icotyde (icotrokinra), developed by Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, on March 17, 2026. • The drug is an interleukin-23 (IL-23) receptor antagonist specifically indicated for patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.