Containing

• Two new reports, including one from the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, analyze the difficulties in containing recent measles outbreaks within the U.S. • The studies focus on a major outbreak that began on October 2, 2025, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, marking the largest U.S. outbreak since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. • Researchers identified complex social and cultural barriers that hinder essential public health efforts, specifically vaccination, testing, and education.

• The CDC has identified containing the spread of Ebola as its top priority amidst ongoing health concerns. • The Trump administration is reportedly disregarding established infectious disease playbooks, raising concerns about the federal response to outbreaks. • The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is offering funding to accelerate the development of vaccines.

Critics hit out at ‘dire’ situation in the country which has the strictest laws around abortion in western EuropeRights campaigners have affixed lockboxes containing abortion pills to sites across Malta, in a campaign designed to highlight the country’s near-total ban on abortion.The 15 black boxes aim to provide practical help to women grappling with the EU’s strictest abortion laws; anyone who is less than nine weeks pregnant and in need of an abortion is invited to send an email to obtain the location and codes to access the pills. Continue reading...

Former Little Mix singer offers £10,000 reward for information about Land Rover taken from Essex drivewayThe musician Jesy Nelson, a former member of the band Little Mix, has pleaded for help after her car, which contained essential medical equipment for her children, was stolen from her driveway in Essex.The black Land Rover is believed to have been taken at about 3am on Sunday in Brentwood. Continue reading...

• US poison centers reported a sharp increase in kratom-containing kava exposures from 2000-2025, serving as an early warning for substance harms. • After a 2002 FDA advisory on liver injury, kava reports declined but rose substantially since 2011, now mostly involving men aged 20+ with serious outcomes and co-use with kratom. • Higher rates of severe medical effects underscore risks of increasing popularity and polysubstance use.