Workplace Health News -- ScienceDaily

• GlobalRPH has released a medical news summary for clinicians covering the period from June 29 to July 5, 2026. • A primary focus of this week's update is the shifting geography of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across the United States.

• The Department of Health and Social Care is launching pioneering pilot schemes to allow NHS patients to access cutting-edge medicines months earlier than previously possible. • New funding and a dedicated commissioner have been appointed to improve the safety, fairness, and consistency of maternity and neonatal care across England.

• Health Canada has issued a warning to physicians advising them not to start new patients on the prescription medication TAVNEOS. • The agency is currently reviewing the drug's evidence after concerns were raised regarding the integrity of data from its key clinical trial.

• A federal judge has issued a temporary block on Colorado's first-in-the-nation prescription drug payment cap. • The ruling provides an early legal victory for the pharmaceutical company Amgen, which challenged the policy.

• An international clinical trial has launched to evaluate potential treatments for Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) as patient enrollment begins. • Sponsored by the WHO and coordinated by partners in the DRC, Belgium, and the UK, the study responds to an outbreak in the DRC where over 1,400 people have been diagnosed.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the end of the hantavirus outbreak that was linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius. • While the hantavirus threat has subsided, the WHO issued a critical warning regarding an escalating Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched participant enrollment for the PARTNERS clinical trial to investigate targeted treatments for the Bundibugyo virus. • This specific strain of the Ebola virus is responsible for the current outbreak, yet there are currently no approved preventive vaccines or targeted treatments available.

• The WHO announced the first patient has entered a randomized platform trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to test the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and remdesivir against the Bundibugyo virus. • This clinical trial aims to determine if these antiviral therapies, used alone or in combination, can improve survival rates as Ebola-related cases and deaths continue to rise.

• An autopsy study conducted as part of the NIH’s RECOVER program found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can persist in the hearts of some individuals after they have died from COVID-19. • The researchers presented these unpublished findings via a poster at a pathology conference this spring to highlight the long-term presence of the virus in cardiac tissue.

• A Washington Post investigation reveals that 2026 measles outbreaks are more difficult to contain due to larger unvaccinated networks and a diminished public health response capacity. • State and local health departments lost approximately 10–20% of their epidemiological workforce between 2023 and 2025 as pandemic-era emergency funding and hiring were reversed.

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently battling an Ebola outbreak caused by a viral strain for which no specific treatments or preventive measures currently exist. • To address this medical gap, three new clinical trials have been launched to test potential breakthroughs in treating and preventing the virus.