Health

Maricopa County health officials have confirmed the first West Nile virus death of the season. The victim is said to be an “older adult with underlying health conditions,” health officials say. Seventeen human cases of West Nile, which is typically spread through bites from infected mosquitoes, have been confirmed this year in Maricopa County. Here’s more information about West Nile …

A health alert has been issued for British tourists travelling to a popular European destination this summer as two potentially fatal diseases have been detected.  In Italy, health authorities have reported the first locally acquired cases of both dengue and chikungunya, mosquito-borne viruses that are typically found in tropical regions like South America and India.  Both were previously considered primarily …

COVID-19 is showing up at high levels in parts of New Orleans’ wastewater this month, offering a quiet signal that the virus is circulating again, even as other respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses remain low. According to WastewaterSCAN, a national virus monitoring network, the West Bank treatment plant, which serves about 50,000 people, is currently in the “high” category for COVID …

Summary: A massive Danish study shows that most mental illnesses—like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression—occur in people with no close family history of the condition. Analyzing data from over 3 million individuals, researchers found that while heredity increases risk, most diagnosed individuals do not have affected relatives. This challenges stigma and clarifies that mental disorders arise from complex genetic and …

singh srilom/Shutterstock Photographs have been circulating online for years that supposedly depict where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet. In the photographs, there is a clearly visible line between the two, and the water on each side of the line is a different color. This has led to online speculation that the …

Dogs really can be trained to smell Parkinson’s disease, according to new research from the United Kingdom. In a double blind trial, a Golden Retriever and a Labrador were able to sniff out which skin swabs came from people with Parkinson’s. The smell of the oily secretions seemed to hold secret clues. “The dogs in this study achieved high sensitivity …

Image credits: Getty Images The warm temperatures of the summer are perfect breeding climates for a variety of bacteria that thrive in increasing temperatures. These developed and quickly rising bacteria are strong enough to battle the immune system and lead to severe health problems, including death.In 2025, a rare flesh-eating bacteria led to the death of four people in Florida. …

Nassau County health officials are sounding the alarm and issuing an imminent public health threat due to the spread of rabies. The Nassau County Health Department reports that there have been 25 positive rabies tests since last July. This marks the worst the situation has been in nearly a decade, since the county announced it had eradicated terrestrial rabies in …

“They Were Born Disease-Free”: UK Scientists Use Three-Parent IVF to Deliver 8 Healthy Babies and Eliminate Deadly Genetic Disorders  Rude Baguette Researchers announce babies born from a trial of three-person IVF  MIT Technology Review Babies made using three people’s DNA are born free of hereditary disease  BBC The babies born with DNA from three parents – podcast  The Guardian How a third parent’s DNA …

Richard Sagredo Walking just slightly faster helps older people stay active for longer, and stave off frailty. Taking just 14 steps per minute more than their usual pace led to “meaningful” improvements in physical well-being for seniors who were frail or at risk of becoming frail, according to new findings. The research team explained that frailty is a medically defined …