Researchers at McGill University have discovered a centuries-old genetic mutation that helps to explain why some French‑Canadians in Quebec are at an elevated risk of pancreatic cancer. Until quite recently, standard genetic tests have not been able to identify this “jumping gene” cause.

The findings, published in the Journal of Medical Genetics, suggest better-targeted genetic testing could help identify people at higher cancer risk who were previously missed.

96 Global Health NOW: Ebola Worries Loom Over #WHA79; and How AI is Accelerating Biosecurity Risks View this email in your browser May 19, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES A diphtheria outbreak in Australia’s Northern Territory—with 133 cases, including one likely death—has spread, with Western Australia, Queensland, and South Australia now reporting up to 90 cases; it’s now the biggest diphtheria outbreak the country has seen in decades, per the country’s health minister, Mark Butler. ABC Australia     As infectious disease outbreaks like hantavirus and Ebola grow more frequent, they are also becoming more damaging, exacerbated by the climate crisis and armed conflict, say the authors of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) report published yesterday; they warn that the pandemic risk is outpacing investment in preparedness, which is undermined by “geopolitical fragmentation and commercial self-interest.” The Guardian   U.S. abortion bans appear to have made it harder for people experiencing miscarriages to receive appropriate—or even any—treatment, per a study in JAMA; as the Oregon Health & Science University-led study focused only on first trimester miscarriages among people with private insurance, the impact is likely an underestimate. The 19th    Nearly half of U.S. teens are on their phones between midnight and 4 a.m., losing critical sleep time on school nights, according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics that tracked 657 adolescents participating in the national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. The Washington Post (gift link) IN FOCUS WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers a speech at the opening of the 79th World Health Organization assembly. Geneva, May 18. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Ebola Worries Loom Over #WHA79     The burgeoning Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda at once overshadowed yesterday’s opening of the 79th World Health Assembly and emphasized the importance of international cooperation. 

• “From conflicts to economic crises to climate change and aid cuts, we live in difficult, dangerous and divisive times,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday at the WHA's opening, per Health Policy Watch. 

Ebola latest:  

• The outbreak has caused 131 suspected deaths and 513 suspected cases, according to DRC health minister Samuel-Roger Kamba, per The New York Times (gift link). 

• 30 cases have been laboratory confirmed and linked to the outbreak in the DRC’s northeastern Ituri Province. 

• 2 cases have been confirmed in Uganda. 

• Tedros said today that he is “deeply concerned about the scale and speed” of the outbreak, Reuters reports. He expects numbers to increase as surveillance, contact tracing, and lab testing scale up. 

• The WHO's Emergency Committee is convening today to discuss the outbreak.  

#WHA79 highlights:  

• “We are witnessing the end of an era, and we must have the courage to build the next one,” Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama said yesterday, noting that global health cuts could lead to 9 million preventable deaths by 2030, the Ghanian Times reports. His own country has lost $78 million in USAID funds, affecting programs in malaria, maternal and child health, HIV, and nutrition.  

• Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for greater investment in global health in the face of “the pandemic of egotism and selfishness,” Health Policy Watch reports. Spain has boosted its official development aid by 30%, he said. Sánchez obliquely castigated the U.S., saying “the country that cut $18 billion from global public health and ODA [official development assistance] has spent more than $29 billion on war.” 

Related:  
  US bans travellers from DRC, Uganda and South Sudan amid major Ebola outbreak – The Telegraph     Your guide to events at the 79th World Health Assembly – WHA Guide 2026     Watch the World Health Assembly sessions – WHO  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HEALTH SECURITY How AI is Accelerating Biosecurity Risks    Advanced biological AI tools are powering a research revolution, allowing scientists to design proteins and viruses—and opening up access to bioengineering knowledge and tools to people outside of labs.     Promise and risk: This new era could pave the way to great medical discoveries—and, scientists fear, for bad actors to misuse in the creation of toxins, viruses, and other bioweapons that can evade detection.     A range of responses: Scientists say a series of safeguards are needed in response to increased risks, including better screening by companies that synthesize nucleic acids to order so they can better identify dangerous sequences.  

• Others say AI tools themselves must have more stringent access controls and flagging systems to prevent misuse.  

Nature    Related:      Q&A: Is AI democratizing global health or reinforcing old inequities? – Medical Xpress     FDA clears first AI-based early warning system for sepsis – CIDRAP  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Mpox infections may outnumber diagnosed cases 33 to 1, study suggests – CIDRAP     HHS withdraws amended vaccine advisory panel charter – The Hill     Steep drop in number of people with Affordable Care Act health coverage, analysis finds – NPR    Children’s Mental Health Visits Have Shot Up, Research Shows – The New York Times (gift link)    Thousands of U.S. countertop workers could have damaged lungs, safety expert says – NPR    Kazakhstan Sees Later Marriages and More Equal Partnerships, Study Finds – The Astana Times    RFK Jr. wants meat back on hospital trays, no matter what cardiologists think – The Independent   Issue No. 2918
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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96 Global Health NOW: Ebola Outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern; and We Know How to Stop Disease Outbreaks. Will We? View this email in your browser May 18, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES The WHO should declare the global climate crisis a public health emergency of international concern, per a European climate and health commission; the WHO-convened commission delivered a report to European ministers yesterday on the eve of the World Health Assembly. The Guardian     LGBTIQ+ people are increasingly targeted for violence and discrimination, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said yesterday; consensual same-sex relations are criminalized in more than one-third of countries. UN News 
Mifepristone remains accessible via telehealth prescription and mail delivery after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a freeze on a lower court ruling that would have required in-person appointments for patients to acquire the drug; the underlying legal case remains unresolved and is expected to eventually return to the Supreme Court. Axios 
Hantavirus can survive in human sperm for up to six years, creating potential for sexual transmission even after recovery from the virus, per a 2023 study published in Viruses; while such transmission has not been documented, UK health officials say they were reviewing hantavirus research while monitoring British passengers from the MV Hondius. The Telegraph  IN FOCUS A CBCA Virunga Hospital staff member checks a visitor's temperature before allowing her access to the hospital. Goma, DRC, May 17. Jospin Mwisha/AFP via Getty Ebola Outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern    The WHO has declared an Ebola outbreak centered in eastern DRC a public health emergency of international concern as cases rapidly mount and epidemiologists urgently seek to gauge the spread of the highly contagious virus that has likely been circulating undetected for weeks, reports The New York Times (gift link).  

• The announcement, made Saturday, came one day after the Africa CDC reported that the DRC outbreak was linked to dozens of suspected deaths, and after the confirmation of at least two cases in Uganda. 

Questions around count: 300+ suspected cases and 88 deaths have been reported, per the AP. But epidemiologists warn the scale of the outbreak could be far larger, with the WHO highlighting “significant uncertainties” about the number of infections and geographic spread. 

• The virus is centered in a mining corridor region that Africa CDC director general Jean Kaseya described as “a very vulnerable and fragile region” weakened by conflict and poor health infrastructure, reports NPR. 

• Cases have also been reported in heavily populated areas including Kinshasa, Goma, and Kampala, further complicating response.  

Rare strain, few tools: The outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has only been reported twice before, reports the AP. 

• There are no approved vaccines or therapeutics for the strain, and WHO officials said existing rapid tests initially missed the virus. 

• The response is also impacted by USAID cuts, reduced CDC funding, and the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO, say global health experts, who pointed to a pivotal U.S. role in previous Ebola outbreaks.  

Americans exposed: A small number of Americans may have been exposed in Congo, including at least one symptomatic individual who is being considered for medical evacuation by the CDC, per The Washington Post (gift link).  DATA POINT

1.1 billion
——————
People live in slums, per the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat); how to house them in dignity is a question being discussed at the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, this week. —UN News
  GHN EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY Using the 7-1-7 target, public health officials in El Salvador managed to stop the spread of imported malaria cases and maintain the nation’s malaria-free status. Courtesy of Resolve to Save Lives We Know How to Stop Disease Outbreaks. Will We? 
In December 2024, as cases of cholera were surging in South Sudan, the Ministry of Health recognized and curbed the outbreak in record time, with just six confirmed cases and no reported deaths.     Compare that to what we’re seeing with measles globally—as the disease has made a comeback in countries that had once eliminated it, like the U.S. 
  “The difference isn’t the disease; it’s the response and investment in prevention,” writes Amanda McClelland of Resolve to Save Lives. 
  One tool that’s helping to contain outbreaks—including in South Sudan––is the 7-1-7 target, developed by Resolve to Save Lives and adopted by dozens of communities, countries, and institutions around the world, based on three simple goals:  

• Detect an outbreak within seven days of the first case. 

• Notify public health authorities within one day of detection. 

• Complete early response actions within seven days of notification.   

A model to follow: The latest installment of the just-published Epidemics That Didn’t Happen report shows 7-1-7 target success stories from countries that used the tool to identify and stop outbreaks quickly—including an Ebola outbreak in Uganda last year. Other countries can follow their lead, McClellan says, and adopt the 7-1-7 target to improve rapid outbreak detection and response.     “We have a choice,” McClellan writes. “We can wait for the next crisis and respond after lives are lost, or we can invest in prevention and stop outbreaks before they spread.”   READ THE FULL COMMENTARY BY AMANDA MCCLELLAN OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Top WHO official: I’m relieved it isn’t bird flu, but we’re in a ‘make or break’ phase for hantavirus – The Telegraph

A Danish Couple’s Maverick African Research Finds Its Moment in RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Policy – KFF Health News

Study reveals hidden trauma of unaccompanied Afghan refugee children brought to UK – The Independent

Efforts to understand America’s drugged-driving problem stalls under Trump – The Washington Post (gift link)

RFK Jr.’s department to make it easier to fire career staff – Politico

With a Friend in Trump, the Tobacco Industry Secures a Lucrative Win – The New York Times (gift link) Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff!

How outbreaks at sea have been helping to shape the global health system since medieval times – The Conversation (commentary)

A revolutionary cancer treatment could transform autoimmune disease – Knowable  Issue No. 2917
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, citing rising cases, cross-border spread and significant uncertainties about the scale of the epidemic.

Brightly coloured nicotine pouches promoted through social media influencers, music festivals and youth-oriented advertising are driving a rapid rise in nicotine use among young people worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday.

At event honouring 116 winners of major awards, keynote speaker and SSHRC Gold Medal recipient Myriam Denov emphasized the importance of listening.

McGill celebrated more than 100 researchers at the 21st edition of Bravo, a gala event May 7 honouring the winners of major provincial, national and international research prizes and awards in 2025.

96 Global Health NOW: The Hunt for Hantavirus Origins; and The Paternal Mortality ‘Blind Spot’ Plus: In Chonkers’ Wake View this email in your browser May 14, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Global health progress is off-target and hard-won gains are being reversed, warns the WHO’s 2026 World Health Statistics report, which found that malaria incidence has increased, measles immunization coverage remains dangerously low, and the decline in maternal and child mortality rates is slowing. Scientific American    U.S. overdose deaths dropped by 14% last year, per new CDC data; but researchers caution that the number of deaths is still high (~70,000) and that cuts to harm reduction programs and the emergence of new illicit drugs could reverse progress. AP    Delayed diagnosis of travel-acquired malaria was common among U.S. children hospitalized for the disease between 2016 and 2023, per a new study published in Pediatrics, which found that malaria was not considered or tested for in 1 in 4 pediatric patients seeking initial clinical care; 51% of those children went on to develop severe symptoms. CIDRAP     Gene therapy was linked to a brain tumor in a boy years after receiving the treatment as a baby, per research presented at the annual meeting of American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy; while the mass was safely removed, it is the first time a gene therapy delivered by the adeno-associated virus has been linked to cancer, say researchers, who also said the rare outcome should not prevent the use of AAV in gene therapy. Science  IN FOCUS An aerial view of Ushuaia harbor in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, on May 13. Edrien Esteves/AFP via Getty The Hunt for Hantavirus Origins
As passengers of MV Hondius quarantine in their home countries, international health officials are racing to pinpoint the origin and transmission patterns of the Andes strain of hantavirus that has sickened 11 people and sparked global alarm.    Epidemiological detective work: Scientists are retracing the route traveled by the virus’s first known victims, a Dutch couple who boarded the cruise ship after crisscrossing Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, reports The New York Times (gift link).  

• Questions surrounding the initial source and incubation timeline have made it difficult to draw a clear line, resulting in some international finger-pointing between Argentina and Chile.   

• Scientists are also trapping rodents to determine whether the virus has spread into new regions beyond Patagonia. 

Scrambling to understand spread: Researchers are also working to grasp the transmission patterns of the Andes strain—the only hantavirus known to spread between humans, reports The Telegraph.  

• That means defining the conditions needed for the virus’s spread: incubation timing, respiratory droplet size, type of contact needed for spread, and the infectious dose needed to overcome immune defenses. 

Risk and response: While American cruise passengers are being quarantined and monitored, the CDC said Wednesday the threat to the public remains low, per Reuters.  

• Laboratories, including the University of Nebraska Medical Center, are rapidly developing diagnostic tests, reports Wired, and refining containment protocols as scientists study possible mutations.  

Misinformation contagion: Meanwhile, COVID-era conspiracy theories are resurging online—but this time, AI is an accelerant, per another New York Times report (gift link). 

• “The conspiracy theories from COVID-19 never really died,” said University of Buffalo misinformation researcher Yotam Ophir. “They lay dormant for a few years.” 

POPULATIONS The Paternal Mortality ‘Blind Spot’ 
New insights are emerging into the understudied crisis of paternal mortality in the U.S., in which new fathers are dying from preventable causes like accidental injuries, homicide, suicide, and overdose in their children’s early childhood, per SciTech Daily.   

• While maternal health and mortality are well-tracked in the U.S., paternal mortality has received little attention, despite its adverse effects on children and families. 

Illuminating the issue: Northwestern University researchers tracked ~130,000 babies born in Georgia in 2017 to see if their fathers died over the following five years, per the study published in JAMA Pediatrics. 

• Among 796 fathers who died, 60% of the deaths were preventable—pointing to “a huge blind spot” in public health. 

Need for more data—and intervention: Researchers are unpacking the factors driving the deaths; however, in an interview with Nautilus, the study’s lead author said birth-related health care visits provide a key opportunity to connect with fathers and provide them with support.   OPPORTUNITY Last Call to Submit for Open Forum Conference! 
There are a few more days to submit abstracts and awardee nominations for the 2026 Open Forum: Next Generation Conference.    Hosted by the National Network of Public Health Institutes, the annual public health workforce development gathering will be held August 24–26 in Nashville, Tennessee. 

• Abstract submissions are open for a variety of presentation formats for five conference tracks including performance improvement, data modernization, public health challenge navigation, and more. 

• Nominate your colleagues, friends, and mentors for this year’s Open Forum Awards, celebrating new and emerging leaders in the public health field. 

Abstract and award nominations are due by Sunday, May 17.  ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION In Chonkers’ Wake
Swim on, Moby Dick: There’s a new white whale in our lives, and his name is Chonkers.    Chonkers is not a whale. But the 1,500+-lb. Steller sea lion brought his own chonky mythos to San Francisco Bay this spring, dwarfing the resident sea lions and drawing “bonkers for Chonkers” crowds to Pier 39, per SFGate—including some who made cross-country pilgrimages “looking for the big one,” as one Atlanta visitor told CBS San Francisco.     We are all drawn to Chonkers—but what drew Chonkers to us? Relatably, he was “very food-motivated,” one expert told the New York Times (gift link); and the easy pickings of anchovies, herring, and rockfish in the bay probably spurred Chonkers to make the unusual 30+ mile trek shoreward. Now that he’s dined, it appears that he’s ditched us, reports Discover.      What now? Bereaved Chonkers-watchers may hope for another visit from the Steller sea lion; but the local harbormaster Sheila Chandor says the Pier 39 docks and their typical dainty, 700-lb. denizens aren’t exactly fit to host him, as this startling video demonstrates.     “He makes them all look like little kittens,” Chandor said.  QUICK HITS It’s Time to Blow Up the Public Health Events Model – Why Should I Trust You?

‘We will not denounce people in distress’: Luxembourg doctors balk at EU migration proposals – Luxembourg Times

French authorities to release millions of sterile tiger mosquitoes – Connexion Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner!

Tunisia validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem – WHO

White House threatens to withhold Medicaid money from states over fraud – The Hill

On Monday morning it was a busy South Sudan hospital. By Tuesday night it was a bombed-out shell – The Guardian

Want to keep aging at bay? Get some arts and culture every day, study finds – Euronews   Issue No. 2916
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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Decades of gains in the fight against AIDS are under growing threat as donor funding declines and community-based health services collapse in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, the head of the joint UN programme on HIV/AIDS warned on Thursday.

The 2026 cohort of Distinguished James McGill Professors, James McGill Professors and William Dawson Scholars embody ‘the very best of our academic community’.

Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Angela Campbell has named 31 McGill professors as Distinguished James McGill Professors, James McGill Professors or William Dawson Scholars. The internal awards recognize exceptional research achievements.

From fundamental physics to child well-being, McGill researchers advance discovery across disciplines 

McGill has been awarded $18.1 million in federal funding to support 16 Canada Research Chairs – six new and 10 renewed.

Federal fund will support transformative high risk, high reward research across engineering, science, and medicine at McGill.

Icing a sprained ankle or sore muscle, long used to reduce pain and swelling, may in the longer run delay recovery and prolong pain, new research suggests.

In a preclinical study published in Anesthesiology, McGill University researchers found that even though cryotherapy (icing) eased pain in the short term, recovery time was more than doubled in some cases.

96 Global Health NOW: A Silent STI Crisis Among South Africa’s Girls; Medical Rumors Turn Violent in the Congo View this email in your browser May 13, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Maternity care in eastern Chad is “facing enormous pressure,” the UN Population Fund has warned, as the massive influx of refugees fleeing Sudan’s civil war means many women are giving birth in overcrowded clinics with limited medication and equipment. UN News    A French hantavirus patient is critically ill with life-threatening lung and heart problems, and is depending on an artificial lung, doctors say; the hantavirus outbreak centered on the cruise ship MV Hondius has now grown to 11 total cases. AP    ~7 million U.S. children live in a home with a loaded and unlocked gun, finds a new study published in JAMA Network Open, which also found that ~32 million U.S. children live in homes with firearms. NPR    Prescriptions for ivermectin and benzimidazole among cancer patients rose 2.5X after actor Mel Gibson endorsed the unproven treatment on Joe Rogan’s podcast, per a JAMA Network Open study; the needed dose for any anti-cancer effect would be toxic for humans, doctors say, and there have been no clinical trials on the drugs’ safety and efficacy for treating cancer in people. CIDRAP  IN FOCUS School girls being screened at the launch of the Dreams program, aimed at reducing new HIV infections, particularly in adolescents and young women. Durban, South Africa, April 7, 2021. Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty A Silent STI Crisis Among South Africa’s Girls    In South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of STIs in the world, adolescent girls and young women are at particular risk: They are more likely to have STIs than boys and men of the same age, and than older women.     Yet they are also less likely to seek or receive care due to overwhelming stigma and a lack of education, finds research published this spring in the International Journal of Sexual Health.  

• “That silence is as deafening as it is dangerous,” wrote lead study author Zoey Duby in a commentary published in Bhekisisa. 

Gaps in care despite symptoms: Of ~5,000 South African girls and young women ages 15–24 surveyed by researchers with the South African Medical Research Council, many reported at least one STI symptom, with 17.5% reporting genital itching, 8.2% reporting unusual discharge, and 7.0% reporting vaginal pain or burning. 

• Despite these responses, just 16% had ever received an STI diagnosis. 

Barriers to care include:   

• Confusion and misinformation about STIs, including a belief that HIV prevention medication means condoms are unnecessary. 

• Pervasive STI shame and stigma, even in consultations with health workers. In the survey itself, 22.5% of participants preferred not to disclose symptoms. 

Improved education is essential: While schools are key sources of sexual health information, researchers say current lessons focus too heavily on HIV and neglect other STIs. 

• Researchers are urging more “all-in-one, youth-friendly” reproductive health services that combine education, contraception, and HIV prevention with STI testing.  

Related: Study shows doxyPEP’s diminished effectiveness against gonorrhea – CIDRAP   DATA POINT

1 in 8
————
Deaths averted by the RTS,S malaria vaccine among eligible kids in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi from 2019 to 2023, per an observational study in The Lancet. —CIDRAP
  MISINFORMATION Medical Rumors Turn Violent in the Congo   Over the past year, false online claims about a mystery illness supposedly circulating in the DRC have sparked panic, leading to violence and the killing of four health workers who were conducting vaccine research in the Tshopo province.     Explosion of misinformation: Videos and testimonials shared online described an illness that caused genital atrophy, with pastors and megachurch leaders fueling the viral content with claims of miracle cures.  

• Health workers have been accused of secretly spreading the disease.  

Deadly outcomes: The WHO-backed Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA), which monitors health misinformation, says ~17 killings linked to the rumor have been reported, including the four slain health workers.  

• Meanwhile, AIRA has lost key funding amid aid cuts, leaving it with fewer personnel and resources to combat misinformation.  

Reuters via The Japan Times OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Middle East conflict pollution puts Africa at risk of health impacts – Nature

Dengue outpaces virus-blocking mosquitoes in Brazil – AFP via France24

Marty Makary departs FDA after clashes with Trump over fruit-flavored vapes – The Guardian

European Parliament calls for investigation into undisclosed meetings between EU officials and Philip Morris International – The Examination

The next WHO leader will need to be a multitasking political acrobat – Geneva Solutions

How minimum wage hikes and food stamps fit into suicide prevention – The Washington Post (gift link)

By changing women’s lives, the pill changed the nation – AP

Cities are rehearsing for deadly heat. Will it help when disaster comes? – Grist

Wine’s leftovers could help wean chicken farms off antibiotics – Cornell Chronicle Issue No. 2915
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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A complex international operation to disembark and repatriate passengers from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius has concluded in Tenerife, with the World Health Organization (WHO) praising Spain’s leadership while warning that global coordination must continue in the weeks ahead.

Recycled plastics could help reduce the world’s growing waste crisis, but only if food packaging is carefully regulated to prevent contamination, according to a new analysis from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

96 Global Health NOW: America’s Overlooked Drug Crisis; and Discoveries and Delays in Kala-azar Treatment View this email in your browser May 12, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Palestinians recounted a pattern of sexual violence against men, women, and children by Israeli prison guards, soldiers, settlers, and security agency interrogators to Nicholas Kristof, who shared the interviews in a New York Times commentary (gift link); a separate Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children report, published in CNN today, presents evidence that Hamas and their allies raped, assaulted, and sexually tortured their victims during and after the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, including previously unknown allegations related to the sexual abuse of minors held hostage in Gaza. 
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) following a decades-long push by advocates who say the term “polycystic” is misleading and contributed to delayed diagnosis and inadequate treatment for the condition, which impacts ~170 million women globally. The Guardian Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner! 
A single-infusion therapy of immune cells engineered to recognize HIV could suppress the virus for years, per a small proof-of-concept study slated for presentation at a gene therapy conference today; the therapy has already cured some blood cancers by modifying a patient’s own immune cells to recognize and kill malignant cells. The New York Times (gift link)    Six in ten Americans polled on their awareness of the Trump administration’s reductions to U.S. foreign aid spending and global health programs say the changes have negatively impacted global views of the U.S., per a question in a poll that confirms that Americans’ views on aid cuts and support for people’s health in developing countries fall along highly partisan lines. KFF Health News  IN FOCUS Beer sits for sale in a grocery store in Brooklyn, New York City. January 3, 2025. Spencer Platt/Getty Images America’s Overlooked Drug Crisis  
Every day it kills almost 500 Americans, yet alcohol is so pervasive in U.S. culture that few pay attention to the damage it causes.     STAT reporters Lev Facher and Isabella Cueto do. In their seven-part investigative series (two articles are live so far), they deep dive into the U.S. alcohol epidemic—“a generational failure of the medical and public health systems, of industry, and of government,” as they describe it in their first article (subscription required).       The unacknowledged “public health emergency” includes: 

• Far more alcohol-related deaths in 2024 than opioid-related deaths (178,000 vs. 39,000). 

• A near doubling of alcohol-related emergency department visits to 5.4 million in 2022 from 2.7 million in 2003. 

• Research that links “heavy drinking to cancer, heart disease, stroke, cognitive decline, developmental disorders, gun violence, injuries …” 

• Economic costs of $249 billion per year. 

Daily toll: Reno, Nevada, emergency physician Jenny Wilson says she sees acute and chronic problems resulting from excessive alcohol use “every single day, multiple, multiple times. Without question.”     The series highlights (free access) how the U.S. is failing, including: 

• Inconsistent screening for excessive drinking. 

• A fragmented treatment infrastructure. 

• Open attitudes toward alcohol consumption during pregnancy. 

• Political deference to a powerful industry lobby.   

Upcoming topics in the series: 

• A new kind of liver crisis. 

• 12-step program’s uneven record. 

• Alcohol during pregnancy. 

• Trump administration’s weakening of alcohol research. 

• Alcohol industry maneuvers behind the scenes. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES NEGLECTED DISEASES Discoveries and Delays in Kala-azar Treatment 
It has been four years since trials for new, shorter kala-azar treatment concluded in East Africa—but the successful new protocols are still not reaching patients, doctors say.     The trial: The DNDi-sponsored trial centered in Eastern Africa, which accounts for 79% of global cases of the deadly parasitic disease kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis. 

• Amudat Hospital in northeastern Uganda gave patients a 14-day regimen of both oral miltefosine and paromomycin. Patients reported faster recovery and less pain compared with older treatments like a standard 30-day injection-only regimen. 

Stalled gains: 2025 funding cuts severely strained services at the hospital and contributed to delays in implementing updated care models.     Nature Africa OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Hantavirus cases rise to 11 as cruise ship passengers quarantine – NBC

Supreme Court extends pause on abortion pill restrictions through Thursday – The Hill

She's trying to outrun pancreatic cancer. Breakthrough treatments give her hope – NPR

Kennedy Is Driving a Vast Inquiry Into Vaccines, Despite His Public Silence – The New York Times (gift link)
No link between maternal COVID infection and birth defects, data suggest – CIDRAP   Giving birth in a hotel room? For some Indigenous women, gaps in care mean few options – CBC

3 simple ways to reduce your body’s exposure to plastic chemicals – The Washington Post (gift link)

Pediatrics group issues new guidance on recess for the first time in 13 years – AP  Issue No. 2914
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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  Copyright 2026 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


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Scientists’ discovery of a molecular “switch” that activates an energy‑burning pathway in mice has the potential to lead to new treatments for bone disease.

The study, published in Nature, sheds new light on brown fat. Unlike white fat, which stores energy, brown fat cells burn calories, producing heat as a byproduct. For years, it was believed this process relied on a single pathway. More recently, researchers discovered a parallel pathway, but how it became activated remained a mystery.

Economic inequality is leaving a deep mark on children’s health, learning and future opportunities – with effects felt well beyond the classroom, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and the UN education agency UNESCO warned on Tuesday. 

96 Global Health NOW: Hantavirus Reveals Gaps in Outbreak Response; and Rising Vitamin K Shot Refusals View this email in your browser May 11, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Manitoba has declared a public health emergency over HIV, amid some of Canada’s highest HIV rates—19.5 cases per 100,000 people, or ~3.5X Canada’s overall rate of 5.5; the aim of the declaration is not to create fear, public health officials say, but to open up options to increase testing and raise awareness. CBC   
The skin disease dermatophilosis has been confirmed in clusters of European men who have sex with men; the disease typically infects livestock, and while the human cases are reminiscent of mpox emergence, researchers say the condition appears mild. STAT    CDC support for PEPFAR will end in September in most countries, as the Trump administration pivots to its “America First” strategy of sending most HIV care funds directly to countries based on bilateral agreements with the U.S.; the move is the “final blow” to the 23-year-old program, public health advocates say. Science 
The UAE has launched a new initiative to combat river blindness via mass administration of medicines, disease monitoring, and the training of local healthcare workers; the effort, to be implemented by Noor Dubai, supports the WHO’s roadmap to eliminate river blindness by 2030. Fast Company  IN FOCUS Passengers are evacuated by small boat from the MV Hondius in the Granadilla Port. Tenerife, the Canary Islands, Spain, May 10. Chris McGrath/Getty Hantavirus Reveals Gaps in Outbreak Response     The global response to the hantavirus outbreak centered on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius is entering a new phase as passengers disembark on the island of Tenerife and evacuate to their home countries.    The decampment raises new concerns in a crisis that has already exposed the challenges of managing a global health response in a post-COVID landscape riddled with severe budget cuts, stalled research, rife misinformation, and strained international relationships.     CDC’s role questioned: Although the outbreak involves Americans, the agency “has been uncharacteristically missing in action,” reports the AP, with the CDC’s first health alert to doctors going out Friday and evacuation and quarantine plans for passengers only being confirmed over the weekend. 

• 17 U.S. cruise passengers returned to the U.S. early today, reports NPR; one American tested “mildly” positive for the virus and another showed “mild symptoms,” the HHS posted. Passengers are headed to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska. 

• Acting CDC director Jay Bhattacharya told CNN that the agency didn’t want to cause public panic, but infectious disease experts say the agency’s quiet “underscored the nation’s diminished global role in the face of health threats,” reports Axios.  

Lack of treatments: Hantavirus is a known threat, so why aren’t there vaccines or treatments? Despite decades of research, there has been “no strong external pull” to develop treatments for the rare disease, reports The Telegraph.  

• One pilot project researching hantavirus spillover was eliminated under NIH cuts last year.  

• Still, some promising treatments in the pipeline could be expedited, researchers told The New York Times (gift link).  

Erosion of trust: Meanwhile, virus-related misinformation has run rampant, reports The Guardian.     The future of global cooperation: The struggle to trace the virus across borders has proven to be a “mammoth effort,” per The Independent. And in a year when countries have withdrawn from the WHO, a message of gratitude from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to the people of Tenerife makes the case for collaboration: “The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.”      Related: I’m fighting misinformation online. False hantavirus claims follow a now-familiar playbook – STAT (commentary) DATA POINT

3,000+
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Attacks on healthcare in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, per the WHO. “This cannot be normalized,” says Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, emphasizing that each attack marks a violation of international humanitarian law. —UN News
  CHILD HEALTH Rising Vitamin K Shot Refusals    With growing distrust in medical interventions, U.S. hospitals are reporting a sharp increase in parents rejecting newborn vitamin K shots. Pediatricians fear deficiency-related deaths are rising as a result. 
  Why the shot matters: The vitamin K injection has been a standard part of postnatal care for decades because it helps infants clot blood and prevents rare but dangerous brain bleeding.  

• Babies who skip the shot are far more likely to suffer severe bleeds, lasting injuries, or death. 

Doctors alarmed over declines: A 2024 JAMA Network study found that rates of vitamin K refusal reached 5% nationwide—a 77% spike since 2017.  

• While deficiency-related deaths are not tracked, doctors warn that the growing rejections are contributing to the hundreds of infant brain-bleeding fatalities that occur each year.  

ProPublica  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS NHS cancer nurses exposed to toxic chemicals linked to miscarriage due to inadequate PPE – The Independent     Measles Wild-Type Virus Detection Through Wastewater Surveillance in Sandoval County, New Mexico – JAMA Network Open    Nigeria: Sokoto, Sightsavers Step Up Vaccination After Meningitis Kills 33 Children – Daily Trust via allAfrica    FDA cliffhanger: Makary’s fate in limbo – Axios    A U.S. Senate Candidate Says Foreign Truckers Are Making America’s Roads Unsafe. His Own Truckers Have Caused Harm. – ProPublica    As Ranks of Uninsured Grow, Minnesota’s Hospitals Are Among Least Charitable in Nation – KFF Health News    WHO Gender Parity Dips Amidst Staff Cuts, but Women Advance Slightly in Professional Ranks – Health Policy Watch     New research reveals how music can transform exercise from a chore to a joyful habit – University of Jyväskylä Issue No. 2913
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues: http://www.globalhealthnow.org/subscribe

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The passengers and crew have disembarked from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius in Tenerife and many have returned to their home countries, as the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said the operation demonstrated a “triumph of solidarity”.