Outbreak

• The largest measles outbreak in the United States in more than 35 years has ended, with no new cases reported in more than 42 days, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health. • The outbreak began in October 2025 in South Carolina and resulted in nearly 1,000 confirmed cases over six months, with more than 600 cases occurring in 2026 alone; at least 21 hospitalizations were recorded with no reported deaths. • Canada has been significantly impacted, losing its measles elimination status on November 10, 2025, and reporting 907 cases since the start of 2026, with Manitoba accounting for 556 cases.

• East Bay man in Contra Costa County died after consuming toxic wild mushrooms amid statewide spike. • California recorded 35 mushroom poisoning cases from Nov. 18 to Jan. 4, far above average of under five yearly. • Surge prompts health warnings on foraging risks during wet weather conditions.

• FDA ties multistate E. coli outbreak sickening multiple individuals to cheese made with unpasteurized raw milk. • Highlights risks of raw dairy products in public health alerts. • Investigation ongoing to prevent further cases amid rising food safety concerns.

Data shows 85% of those infected in the state have been not vaccinated against measles as dozens are hospitalizedMeasles: how does it spread and how can I protect my child?Utah has emerged as a major center of measles infections in the US, as an outbreak that has been building for some time continues to expand.State officials reported a total of 602 measles cases on Wednesday tied to an outbreak that started last year and is still ongoing, including 19 newly identified infections, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). Recent exposures have been reported at several preschools and elementary schools. Continue reading...

• Texas health officials reported 156 measles cases as of April 7, 2026, in a Dallas County outbreak starting March 15, with 12 hospitalizations. • 89% of cases unvaccinated, including 45 children under 5; infection rate 90% among exposed susceptibles. • Declared public health emergency; impacts 2 million residents, straining ERs amid 83% vaccination goal miss.

• A norovirus outbreak struck five cruise lines departing from US ports between April 6-7, 2026, sickening 1,237 passengers and 157 crew with vomiting and diarrhea. • Ships including Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas and Carnival's ships reported attack rates up to 12%, with Florida and California ports most impacted. • CDC attributes surges to post-winter travel rebound; experts warn of 20 million annual US cases costing $5.5 billion, urging hand hygiene.

• Measles cases from Texas federal detention facilities infected at least 4 El Paso residents who worked there, marking a community outbreak. • Infectious disease expert Flor M. stated, 'By definition, when more than 2 measles cases occur in a community where there should be 0 cases, this is an outbreak.' • The incident highlights risks of contagious diseases escaping confined settings into wider US populations amid ongoing vaccination policy debates.

• The US measles outbreak has accelerated in 2026 with cases now reported in more than half of the states, marking a resurgence 20 years after official eradication, driven primarily by declining vaccination rates. • Last year, the US reported over 2,000 measles cases (2,213 confirmed) and three pediatric deaths, with the mortality rate matching historical data of approximately one death per 1,000 infected children. • Oregon has diagnosed 13 measles cases so far in 2026 with hundreds of potential exposures in the past week; health experts note that official case counts likely underestimate true infection rates due to unreported cases and undetected transmission indicated by wastewater data.

• The US measles caseload climbed to 1,671 infections with nearly 100 new cases reported in the past week, according to the CDC's weekly update, with the vast majority occurring in Utah. • Utah recorded 73 new measles cases this week and 142 new cases over the past three weeks, bringing the state's 2026 total to 362 cases compared with 197 for all of 2025. • The outbreak spans 32 states and New York City, with 94% of confirmed cases linked to one of 17 outbreaks; Arizona has 71 total cases, Florida has 129, and Texas has 175 cases.

• Florida reported 143 measles cases as of March 21, 2026, with 73% concentrated in Collier County, marking a decline from 139 cases the previous week. • The state has dropped to the fourth-highest number of measles cases nationally as the spread slows, indicating a shift in outbreak trajectory. • The majority of cases remain geographically concentrated, with nearly three-quarters of infections occurring in a single county, suggesting localized transmission patterns.

• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed an E. coli outbreak with illnesses in several states including Texas and Florida, over half affecting children under age 5 as of March 27, 2026. • Three people hospitalized and one developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a dangerous kidney infection, amid ongoing investigations into the source. • The outbreak underscores vulnerabilities in food safety systems, particularly for young children, prompting heightened surveillance and public alerts.

• A measles outbreak in Washtenaw County, southeast Michigan, now includes 7 cases under investigation involving unvaccinated children and adults, with potential exposure at Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital's ER on March 21. • The latest case concerns a young child treated in Ypsilanti, raising concerns that ER visitors may have been exposed to the highly contagious virus. • All confirmed and suspected cases are among unvaccinated individuals, highlighting ongoing vaccination gaps amid the outbreak's growth reported on March 25.

Exclusive: Parental consents in Greater Manchester up 40% as demand surges in various parts of the countrySchool immunisation services and pharmacies are reporting surging demand for routine vaccinations after the Kent meningitis outbreak in which two teenagers died.Thousands of teenagers across England have booked or received jabs in past fortnight against the A, C, W and Y strains of meningitis (MenACWY), and diphtheria, polio and tetanus (Td/IPV). Continue reading...

East Kent hospitals NHS trust says it could have acted sooner to notify UKHSA after first reported case East Kent hospitals NHS trust missed an earlier opportunity to alert the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) of the meningitis outbreak in Kent, it has been reported.According to the BBC, the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate first reported a case to the UKHSA on the afternoon of Friday 13 March. Continue reading...

UKHSA says on Monday morning there has been no change since 20 cases were confirmed on SundayThere have been no new cases of meningitis linked to an outbreak in Kent reported, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.As of 12.30pm on Sunday, 20 cases had been confirmed, with a further nine under investigation. This was no change on the previous day, the UKHSA said in a statement on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Three cases previously confirmed reclassified by UK Health Security Agency after further testingThe number of confirmed meningitis cases linked to the Kent outbreak has fallen from 23 to 20.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Sunday that three cases previously thought confirmed had been downgraded after further testing. Continue reading...

How infections linked to a nightclub escalated into a public health incident requiring a national response is a puzzle experts are still grappling withTyra Skinner had already been violently sick three times when doctors at Kent’s William Harvey hospital realised something was badly wrong. The 20-year-old was rushed into critical care, racked with a pounding headache, a stiff neck and excruciating pain – the hallmark symptoms of meningitis, the disease that had already claimed two young lives in Kent.“She could hardly move, she was in a foetal position. She was so cramped up and sore,” her father, Dale Skinner, 42, told the Guardian. “It was horrendous, to be honest, to see her so helpless and in so much pain.” Continue reading...

Scientific advisory committee to examine impact of offering routine MenB jabs to wider range of peopleThe Kent meningitis outbreak: what is happening and why?Experts are considering expanding the meningitis B vaccination eligibility in response to the fatal outbreak of the disease in Kent.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s review comes after the health secretary, Wes Streeting, asked it to to “re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines” for a wider range of people than those who currently qualify. Continue reading...

Spread appears to have slowed, with just two new cases reported in past day bringing total to 29The Kent meningitis outbreak may have reached its peak, after only two new cases were reported by officials on Friday.The UK Health and Security Agency said that as of 12.30pm on Thursday, there were 18 confirmed and 11 probable cases of meningitis linked to the Kent outbreak, taking the total number of people with the disease to 29. Of the confirmed cases, 13 were meningitis B. Continue reading...

What causes meningitis, what the public health response has been and how the situation differs from Covid The deadly outbreak of meningitis in Kent has fuelled concerns about how far the disease will spread and seen the return of people wearing masks and queueing for vaccines. The scenes are reminiscent of the Covid crisis, but meningitis is very different. Here we look at how the outbreak unfolded. Continue reading...

• State officials are warning that spring break 2026 travel season could facilitate the spread of measles across the United States as travelers move between regions with varying vaccination rates. • Health authorities are concerned about potential measles transmission during the high-travel period, with implications for public health preparedness and disease surveillance. • The warning underscores ongoing challenges in maintaining herd immunity and controlling vaccine-preventable diseases during major travel seasons.

Hundreds of students at University of Kent take up offer of meningitis B vaccination amid ‘very unusual outbreak’ The number of cases of meningitis linked to an outbreak in Kent has risen to 27, up from 20, the UK Health Security Agency has said.Prof Robin May, the chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, said it was a “very unusual outbreak”. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: After a spate of infections linked to a nightclub in Kent, some parents and experts are questioning the UK’s vaccination regime It is every parent’s worst nightmare. University students enjoying themselves at a nightclub, only to fall ill a few days later with a potentially deadly illness. So far, two young people have died and more are seriously unwell in hospital after a meningitis outbreak in Kent, which appears to have started at Club Chemistry in Canterbury in early March. Health authorities have launched a major response: 30,000 people have been given antibiotics and up to 5,000 University of Kent students will receive a meningitis B vaccine, the strain that is believed to be behind the outbreak.The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has urged calm, explaining that the risk of transmission is low, urging students to keep going to school and insisting that people do not need to seek private vaccinations. But that has not stopped a rush for jabs, causing a national shortage. The high street pharmacies Boots and Superdrug say they have seen a major spike in bookings, with some locations running out of stock.Middle East | Israel struck Iran’s giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war, hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades.Reform UK | Nigel Farage called for the release of Sean “Diddy” Combs and commended the efforts to free a former Honduran president jailed in the US for drug trafficking. The remarks were made on the personalised video platform Cameo.Assisted dying | Senior ministers believe Keir Starmer will not intervene to give the assisted dying bill further time in parliament as he is wary of opening up new divisions among Labour MPs.Media | The former Google executive Matt Brittin is expected to be named as the BBC’s next director general within days, with the corporation’s board meeting this week for a final discussion about the appointment.Green party | A government led by the Green party would not set targets for GDP growth but would instead focus on people’s mental health, social cohesion and community welfare, Zack Polanski has said in a major speech to set out his plans for the economy. Continue reading...

There is growing confidence that the 20 people diagnosed with the illness have not infected anyone outside the areaHealth officials increasingly believe they have contained the fatal outbreak of meningitis in Kent, with no cases emerging that are not linked to the original cluster of 20.In another boost to efforts to contain the infection, the bug that caused it has been identified as a known strain of meningitis B, the Guardian understands. Continue reading...

• The FDA linked Raw Farm's raw cheddar cheese to seven E. coli O157:H7 cases across multiple states, a strain causing severe kidney issues, hospitalization, or death. • Producer declined recall of two products despite Sunday's FDA alert on March 16. • Outbreak underscores risks of raw milk products, prompting public warnings to avoid consumption.

The cases recorded so far have all been linked to a nightclub popular with students in Canterbury on 5-7 MarchTwo young people have died in an outbreak of meningitis in Kent as private supplies of vaccines run out. Here’s what we know about how the disease spread and what the authorities did to tackle it. Continue reading...

UKHSA says strain involved in outbreak that has killed two people is one that most people are not vaccinated againstGovernment scientists have identified the type of meningitis behind a fatal outbreak in Kent as a strain that most people have not be vaccinated against.Gayatri Amirthalingam, the deputy director of the immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said tests showed it was strain B of the virus. Continue reading...

Cheddar cheese from California-based Raw Farm identified as ‘likely source’ of infections across multiple statesCheese from the country’s largest raw milk distributor have been linked to a multistate E coli outbreak.Raw cheddar cheese from the California-based company Raw Farm has been identified as the “likely source” of several E coli O157:H7 infections in California, Florida and Texas, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), PBS News reported, though no Raw Farm products have tested positive for E coli. Continue reading...