Epidemic

New York declares first US measles disaster emergency since 2025 surge

The state expanded the pool of health professionals allowed to administer measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines as cases rise in rural communities.

|ByREUTERS
Measles infection (illustrative)
A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo.

Employee of Russian plague institute dies of suspected pneumonic infection, Trump offers help

Early Russian reports wrote that Shipilova had contracted the pneumonia after breaking a vial of plague bacteria. 

|ByDANYA SAPERSTEIN
Red Cross workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) prepare to lower the coffin of Dr Tibenderana Katho Blaise, who worked at the Centre Medical Evangelique (CME) in Hoho commune and died of Ebola virus in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 26, 2026.

Ebola outbreak in Congo tops 4,000 cases in world's second-largest epidemic

Researchers believe Congo's Ebola outbreak began months before it was officially declared, with the true scale of infections likely much higher.

|ByREUTERS
A Ugandan worker collects a rubber glove from the airing line during a visit by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Mulago National Referral Hospital Isolation Unit, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak.

Uganda declares end to latest Ebola outbreak short of WHO waiting period guidelines

The last Ebola patient in Uganda, a Congolese national, was discharged on June 22, short of the 42-day waiting period required by the World Health Organization to declare the end of an outbreak.

|ByREUTERS

More viruses will jump from animals to people, researchers say.

HIV. Ebola. Swine flu. Bird flu. SARS. MERS. The list goes on, and it’s going to grow longer.

JULY 25, 2020ByJONATHAN WOSEN/TNS
MAGEN DAVID ADOM workers, wearing protective clothing, bring a patient to the coronavirus unit at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan

Coronavirus 'may never go away,' WHO says

More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.

MAY 14, 2020ByREUTERS
A medical professional conducts tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bolinas, a coastal enclave in Northern California where all residents are being tested for the novel coronavirus and its antibodies on Monday, one of the first such efforts since the pandemic hit the United States three

WHO officially declares coronavirus a global epidemic

"Of all the cases reported globally so far, 93% are from just four countries. This is an uneven epidemic at the global level, " said WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

MARCH 11, 2020ByMAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
A woman wearing a mask looks on at a terminal at Ben Gurion International airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel

Coronavirus cases surge across US as Americans face looming outbreak

At least 57 new coronavirus cases were confirmed nationwide on Thursday alone as the virus struck for the first time in Colorado, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas, as well as the city of San Francisco.

MARCH 6, 2020ByREUTERS
U.S. President Trump holds news conference on the coronavirus outbreak at the White House in Washington

Italy plays down coronavirus risk as death toll rises, cases jump

"The epidemic of misleading information will do more damage to Italy than the risk of the virus epidemic itself"

FEBRUARY 27, 2020ByREUTERS
Tourists wear protective masks in Saint Mark's Square in Venice as Italy battles a coronavirus outbreak, Venice, Italy, February 27, 2020

180 Israeli students quarantined after coronavirus exposure

"The potential that someone caught the virus from the [South Korean] tourists is high; whoever doesn't enter quarantine is endangering the public."

FEBRUARY 23, 2020ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Employees work on a production line manufacturing face masks at a factory, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Fuzhou, Fujian province, China February 15, 2020

China reports large drop in new coronavirus cases in heart of outbreak

Chinese officials have said the apparent slowdown in infection rates is evidence that the strict measures are working.

FEBRUARY 20, 2020ByREUTERS
People wearing face masks look for products at a supermarket, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing

14 Americans evacuated from Japanese cruise ship contract coronavirus

The US State Department added in a statement that these individuals were moved to a specialized containment area for quarantine.

FEBRUARY 17, 2020ByREUTERS
Passengers and children stand on the desk of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, as the vessel's passengers continue to be tested for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan February 13, 2020

Israeli invented 'CoughSync' machine to treat coronavirus in China

"It is a completely noninvasive method of clearing secretions that reproduces normal physiology,” said its inventor, Dr. Eliezer Be'eri.

FEBRUARY 16, 2020ByMAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
Dr. Eliezer Be’eri shown treating infant with CoughSync

Deaths from coronavirus outbreak in China surpass those from SARS

Many of China's usually teeming cities have almost become ghost towns during the past two weeks.

FEBRUARY 9, 2020ByREUTERS
Elderly people queue up for free surgical masks from a convenience store, following the outbreak of a new coronavirus, in Hong Kong, China February 7, 2020.