Top News
U.S. Measles Cases Top 4,580, More Than Double All of 2025, as Pennsylvania Deaths Reach 5
The CDC says 96% of this year's cases were unvaccinated or of unknown status, and New York's governor has declared a disaster emergency.
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CDC
28 stories from Planck Standard. Latest: October 25, 2026.
Top NewsU.S. Birth Rate Hits a New Record Low as Women in Their 20s Have Far Fewer Babies
The CDC says the fertility rate fell 1% in 2025, with a 6% drop among women ages 20 to 24, even as births to women 30 to 45 edged up.
Top NewsU.S. Measles Cases Pass 4,000 for the First Time, CDC Reports, Far Above 2025
The agency counted 4,080 confirmed cases as of Thursday, against 2,289 in all of last year. Pennsylvania passed 1,000 cases this week, and New York's governor declared an emergency.
PoliticsPennsylvania Has 731 Measles Cases, 141 Hospitalizations and Four Dead, and Asked the CDC for Emergency Help
The outbreak, centered in Lancaster County's Amish and Mennonite communities, is the worst in the country since 1991. Health Secretary Debra Bogen says the CDC's refusal to acknowledge the deaths 'undermines our response.'
Top NewsA 40-Year-Old Woman Died of Measles in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has logged 676 cases across 37 counties, and fewer than 1% of the patients were fully vaccinated. Nationally, the U.S. has passed 3,000 cases in its worst measles year since 1991.
Top NewsThe FDA Cleared This Winter's COVID Shots. The CDC Panel That Normally Recommends Them Has Not Met All Year
Updated vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Sanofi target the XFG variant behind roughly 40% of U.S. cases. Who has to pay for them is the part nobody can answer.
Top NewsAlfalfa Sprouts Sickened 55 People in 15 States. Forty-Six of Them Had E. Coli
A Minneapolis grower recalled its five-ounce containers after federal health officials tied a rare double outbreak to a single farm. Illnesses began May 31.
Top NewsFive People Have Died of Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Louisiana This Year
The state health department reported nine confirmed Vibrio vulnificus infections in 2026, all requiring hospitalization, against a ten-year average of seven cases and one death per year.
PoliticsThe CDC Finally Has a Confirmed Director Again. The Vote Was 51-44, and Only One Democrat Said Yes
Dr. Erica Schwartz, a retired Navy rear admiral and former deputy surgeon general, takes over an agency that has gone nearly a year without a Senate-confirmed leader since Susan Monarez was forced out 29 days into the job.
Top NewsJalapeños Grown in Sinaloa Have Sickened 345 People in 27 States. Half of Them Ate at Chipotle or Qdoba
The CDC says 36 people have been hospitalized in a Salmonella Javiana outbreak traced to peppers imported from Mexico. Colorado and Minnesota each have at least 110 cases.
Top NewsThe U.S. Has Logged 2,318 Measles Cases This Year — the Most Since 1991, With Five Months Still to Go
The 2026 total has already passed last year's, and 93% of the infections are in people who were never vaccinated. Officials expect the country to lose its measles elimination status this year.
Top NewsCyclospora Outbreak Tied to Taco Bell Lettuce Sickens More Than 1,600 Across the U.S.
Federal health officials say shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico is the likely source of a parasite outbreak that has hospitalized 94 people, even after one lab test came back a false positive.
Top NewsA Parasite Outbreak Explodes Past 4,000 Cases Across 31 States — and the Source Is Still a Mystery
Cases of cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness that causes explosive, weeks-long diarrhea, have already blown past the entire 2025 total, with Michigan hit hardest and no contaminated food yet identified.
Top News'Explosive' Stomach Parasite Sickens More Than 1,000 Americans as Michigan Becomes the Epicenter
The largest cyclospora outbreak in Michigan history has driven the U.S. total past 1,000 confirmed cases, with roughly 40 hospitalizations and investigations underway in 28 other states.
PoliticsJFK Airport Begins Ebola Screening as U.S. Reroutes African Travelers
Enhanced health screenings target passengers from Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda amid ongoing outbreak concerns.
PoliticsTrump Administration Expands Entry Bans to Green Card Holders Over Ebola Fears
CDC announces plans to block legal permanent residents who traveled to Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan citing limited screening capabilities.
Top NewsAmerican Burn Surgeon Dr. Peter Stafford Tests Positive for Ebola Bundibugyo in Eastern Congo as US Activates Enhanced Airport Screening and Outbreak Climbs to 88 Dead
The CDC said Stafford and five other high-risk American contacts have been evacuated to Germany, with a sixth in the Czech Republic, after the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Top NewsU.S. Measles Cases Hit 1,893 — Highest in 33 Years — Putting Country on Track to Lose Elimination Status This Fall
Three deaths and 27 active outbreaks, with Idaho and Montana now showing sustained transmission for more than 12 months — the WHO's threshold for revoking elimination.
PoliticsRFK Jr. Refuses to Back New CDC Director on Vaccines in Tense Congressional Hearing
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declined to commit to supporting CDC Director Erica Schwartz on vaccine policy while denying responsibility for ongoing measles outbreak.
PoliticsRFK Jr. Grilled by Congress Over Measles Outbreak Exceeding 1,700 Cases in 33 States
Lawmakers confronted Kennedy with documented CDC messaging rollbacks as the U.S. faces losing its measles elimination status for the first time since 2000.
PoliticsTrump Nominates Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC Director, Third Attempt After Vaccine Skeptics Failed
A retired rear admiral with an MD, JD, and MPH who served as deputy surgeon general and Coast Guard chief medical officer, Schwartz is the first nominee with mainstream support from public health groups.
TechTrump Picks Qualified Health Leader to Head CDC Amid Agency Turmoil
Erica Schwartz nomination comes as health agency faces multiple leadership shakeups under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
TechTrump Picks Qualified Health Leader for CDC Amid Ongoing Agency Turmoil
President nominates Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC director while the agency faces leadership upheaval under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s controversial tenure.
ScienceScientists Warn H5N1 Bird Flu Is "Completely Out of Control" as Virus Spreads to Cattle, New Species, and Over 70 US Workers
With 71 confirmed American human cases since 2024 and the virus spreading through dairy herds across the country, researchers are sounding alarms about the most serious pandemic threat since COVID-19.
TechRFK Jr. Rewrites CDC Panel Charter, Opening Door to Anti-Vaccine Critics
Health secretary's changes to advisory committee structure could allow vaccine skeptics to gain influence over national immunization policy.
TechCDC Study Shows COVID Shot Benefits as Trump Official Blocks Public Release
Internal research demonstrating vaccine effectiveness remains unpublished despite completion as administration officials intervene.
ScienceKratom Poison Control Calls Surged 1,200% in a Decade, CDC Study Finds, as Potent Derivative 7-OH Fuels New Wave of Hospitalizations
A new MMWR study identified 233 deaths and 538 hospitalizations linked to kratom in 2025 alone, driven by concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine products that bind opioid receptors 13 times more powerfully than morphine.
- Politics
Kennedy's Vaccine Agenda Hits Roadblocks, Diminishing His Clout
Health Secretary's vaccine skepticism poses challenges for Trump administration as top health jobs remain unfilled and court blocks policy changes.
