Newborn rattlesnakes at Colorado ‘mega den’ make their live debut
CHEYENNE, Wyoming — A “mega den” of hundreds of rattlesnakes in Colorado is getting even bigger now that late summer is here and babies are being born. Thanks to livestream video, scientists studying the den on a craggy hillside in…
Rocket scientists build robot probes to gauge melting beneath Antarctic ice shelf
LOS ANGELES — Engineers who specialize in building NASA spacecraft to explore distant worlds are designing a fleet of underwater robot probes to measure how rapidly climate change is melting vast ice sheets around Antarctica and what that means for…
Doctor who helped Agent Orange victims wins Magsaysay Award
MANILA, Philippines — A Vietnamese doctor who has helped seek justice for victims of the powerful defoliant dioxin “Agent Orange” used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War is among this year’s winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards — regarded…
UNICEF issues emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has issued an emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries in collaboration with the Gavi vaccine alliance, Africa CDC, and the World Health Organization, the organizations said in a joint statement Saturday….
Floods in Nigeria kill scores, wash away farmland, raise hunger concerns
ABUJA, Nigeria — Weeks of flooding have killed 185 people in Nigeria and washed away homes and farmlands, the country’s disaster management agency said, further threatening food supplies, especially in the hard-hit northern region. The floods, blamed on poor infrastructure…
Wasn’t polio wiped out? Why it is still a problem in some countries
LONDON — Polio was eliminated from most parts of the world as part of a decadeslong effort by the World Health Organization and partners to wipe out the disease. But polio is one of the world’s most infectious diseases and…
Africa’s mpox outbreaks could be stopped in 6 months, WHO chief says
geneva — The head of the World Health Organization believes mpox outbreaks in Africa might be stopped in the next six months, and he said Friday that the agency’s first shipment of vaccines should arrive in Congo within days. To…
South Africans line up for medical care during Chinese hospital ship stop
China’s naval hospital ship, called the Peace Ark, is on a 13-nation tour of mostly African countries to provide free health care for locals. Over the past week, it was docked off the South African coast where the Western Cape…
Iran’s crackdown on nurses’ protests prompts concern from US, global nurses’ federation
Iran’s crackdown on nurses who have staged unprecedented peaceful protests over poor working conditions in the past month has prompted new concern from the United States and a global federation of nurses’ associations. In one of two statements sent exclusively…
Israel gives go-ahead for Gaza polio vaccination campaign
Geneva — World Health Organization officials say Israel has given United Nations agencies the go-ahead to start inoculating hundreds of thousands of young Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip against polio. A mass polio vaccination campaign to immunize more than…