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One person dead in Iowa from Lassa fever, state health department says

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services on Monday confirmed the death of a middle-aged eastern Iowa resident from Lassa fever. The individual had recently returned from travel to West Africa, where it is believed the person contracted the…

Pakistan, Afghanistan launch polio vaccination drives as cases resurge

Islamabad —  Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan simultaneously launched fresh vaccination campaigns against polio Monday amid a resurgence in cases in the only two countries globally where the virus continues to be endemic and paralyze children. The World Health Organization reported…

McDonald’s Quarter Pounder returns after E. coli testing rules out beef

LOS ANGELES —  McDonald’s announced Sunday that Quarter Pounders will again be on its menu at hundreds of its restaurants after testing ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to the popular…

How to prepare for potential health effects of upcoming end to daylight saving time

The good news: You will get a glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It’ll be dark as a pocket by late afternoon for the next few months in the U.S. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time…

NASA astronaut released from hospital after return from space station

washington —  A NASA astronaut who was hospitalized upon return from the International Space Station for an unspecified medical condition was released Saturday in “good health,” the U.S. space agency said. The four-member Crew-8 mission splashed down off the coast…

NASA astronaut hospitalized upon return from extended stay in space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida —  A NASA astronaut was taken to the hospital for an undisclosed medical issue after returning from a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton, the space agency said Friday. A…

Climate finance to take center stage at COP29

BERLIN, Germany —  Close to 200 countries are scheduled to negotiate a new climate finance target for the Global South at the U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November. Dubbed the “Finance COP,” next month’s conference…

Four astronauts return to Earth after being delayed by Boeing’s capsule trouble, Hurricane Milton

Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton. A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida…

How Afghan, Pakistani clerics battle polio vaccine misinformation

Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, the top cleric in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, has seen up close the devastating effects of polio. Two of his own kin were once paralyzed, victims of a scourge that has been vanquished worldwide yet refuses to…

Snakebite victims in Southern Africa struggle to get antivenom

Snakebites are classified as a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization. In South Africa and other countries in the region, there are numerous barriers to getting the antivenom necessary to save limbs and lives. But scientists are working…