Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pennsylvania Warns Docs Over Congenital Measles Amid Reports That 66 Pregnant Women Have Been Infected
CIDRAP: Pennsylvania Raises Alarm On Congenital Measles
A new health alert from the Pennsylvania Department of Health is warning doctors about congenital measles, a disease that was once extremely rare in the United States. But now that dozens of pregnant Pennsylvania women have contracted measles in the state’s ongoing outbreak, the potentially fatal infection passed from mother to baby in utero is poised to pose clinical challenges for physicians facing a disease they’ve never seen in practice. (Soucheray, 10/20)
The Hill: CDC Confirms Third Measles Death As Cases Pass 4,400
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added a third U.S. measles death to its national tracker as total cases for 2026 surpass 4,400. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told Reuters the CDC updated its count after the National Center for Health Statistics received a report of a measles-related death and verified the disease was the underlying cause, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. The agency’s database does not specify when or where the death occurred. According to the statement, the CDC is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to develop a standardized case definition for deaths due to measles. (Chakraborty, 10/20)
Stat: Counterintuitive Approach Floated To Boost Measles Vaccine Uptake
With more than 4,400 measles cases in the United States this year, double the number in 2025, public health authorities are desperate to persuade more people to take the virus seriously. But current attempts to drive home that message are being rejected by a sizable and growing part of the population. (Florko, 10/21)
Flu and salmonella updates —
The Colorado Sun: Early Start To Flu Season Prompts Calls For Vaccination In Colorado
Just in time for spooky season, the flu has begun skulking back through Colorado, worrying health officials who fear a repeat of last year’s record-breaking run of infections. (Ingold, 10/19)
CIDRAP: 27 Sickened In Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Raw Oysters
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new Salmonella outbreak linked to raw oysters harvested by the Little Wicomico Oyster Company from the Little Wicomico River harvest area in Virginia. So far at least 27 people in 12 states have been sickened in the outbreak. Five people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. Pennsylvania has had the most illnesses, with eight, followed by New York with four and Virginia with three. (Soucheray, 10/20)
The latest on the Ebola outbreak in Africa —
Bloomberg: Nigeria Ebola Case Widens Record Outbreak Across Africa
Nigeria’s first Ebola infection in more than a decade is widening an outbreak that already spread to several African countries, prompting the continent’s top public-health agency to call for urgent international assistance. The Nigerian case was caused by the Bundibugyo strain, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya said in a statement on Tuesday. The agency is mobilizing support for Nigeria, while intensifying its response in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, he said. (Orjinmo and Kew, 10/20)
AP: Families Who Lost Loved Ones To Ebola Struggle With Grief And Stigma
When a schoolteacher in eastern Congo learned that five of her family members had been diagnosed with Ebola, she was “deeply shaken,” fearing the worst from a disease that carries stigma and is seen by some in her community as evil. Two of her relatives — her brother and his wife — died of Ebola in July at a treatment center in Ituri province, the epicenter of the deadliest outbreak in Congo’s history. (Same Bagalwa, 10/21)
The curious case using AI-created viruses —
The New York Times: Start-Up Claims To Use A.I.-Created Viruses To Treat A Patient
For the first time, scientists say they have used viruses designed by artificial intelligence to treat a human patient. Researchers announced on Tuesday that they had administered the virus, known as a phage, to a patient suffering from a deadly bacterial infection. Phages attack bacteria, and the hope is that this one will kill the microbes causing the infection. Radical Numerics, the start-up that created the viruses, posted a technical report about them on its website. But the company declined to provide information about the patient or the doctors running the trial, citing confidentiality requirements. (Zimmer, 10/20)
