By Clement Bonnerot and Jessica Donati
DAKAR, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to surpass 4,000 cases this week and has been described as the fastest spreading on record since it was officially declared in May.
It is already the world's second-largest ‌epidemic after West Africa's 2014-16 outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, when the World Health Organization recorded more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.
Delayed detection, ‌overwhelmed surveillance, military conflict and a lack of vaccines and treatments for the species of the virus involved have allowed the disease to outrun containment efforts this time.
HOW FAST IS IT SPREADING?

#epidemic #clement #ebola

A youth softball coach was charged with simple ****** ault after a fight broke out in the handshake line following a game Wednesday night in Morris County.
The coach, 54, of Florham Park, was charged with two counts of fourth degree simple ****** ault for his role in the fight, according to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.
In video of the fight obtained by NJ.com, two coaches came together following the handshake line after a 12-and-under league game in Denville's Police Activities League between between Little Falls and a team of girls from East Hanover and Florham Park. Shoving ensued and coaches from both teams quickly jumped in as the fracas spilled down the first base line as players and spectators looked on.
Tempers eventually cooled as the coaches were separated with help from the game's umpire, the video shows.
The physical altercation is the latest incident involving adult coaches feuding at a youth sporting events, an epidemic that has grown increasingly more violent and common across fields and gyms in New Jersey. Simultaneously, pressure is mounting on high school athletic officials and state lawmakers to quell the trend.

#coaches #park

The last patient being treated for Ebola in Uganda has been discharged from hospital, leaving the country with no active confirmed cases of the deadly disease.
At a ceremony marking the occasion Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi described it as "a moment of joy".
The first case of this outbreak in Uganda was confirmed in May. He was a man who had travelled for treatment from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the epidemic where almost 800 people have died.
In his latest briefing on the outbreak, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was now the world's third‑largest on record and was spreading at an alarming speed in DR Congo.
He warned it was happening more quickly than any previous outbreak and that 80% of new cases in DR Congo were from previously unknown transmission chains.

MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 16: Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid goes down with an injury during the Copa Del Rey match between Real Madrid and Celta de Vigo at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on January 16, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the World Cup with my family. It has rekindled a genuine passion for the game and deepened my appreciation for the skill, strategy, and athleticism that define elite soccer. Yet one persistent element continues to undermine the spectacle: the epidemic of fake injuries.
I simply cannot get past it.
Nor, it seems, can many others. A 2014 survey of soccer fans found that 83 percent cited feigning injuries as a major annoyance—the top complaint in the study.
As a practicing neurosurgeon who specializes in complex spine surgery, I see the brutal realities of genuine trauma every day—patients with spines shattered in car wrecks, falls from height, and legitimate spine sports injuries. These high-energy injuries often cause lifelong consequences that demand months or years of recovery.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Even as it battled the deadliest drug epidemic in American history, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets of New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, according to three current and former DEA agents and government records reviewed by The **** ociated Press.
DEA agents repeatedly monitored shipments of fentanyl pills — but did not seize them — as federal prosecutors sought to bring bigger criminal cases against traffickers of a synthetic opioid that the White House last year designated a " weapon of mass destruction."
Agents and experts, however, said the tactic amounted to a gamble with public safety that potentially imperiled communities in and around Albuquerque and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.
"We poisoned our community to make cases," DEA Special Agent David Howell told AP in a series of interviews in New Mexico. "Through our own willful blindness, we get to say, 'We don't really know what happened to the drugs.' But we 100% got people killed."
The DEA has long contended it would not be plausible to seize every shipment of every drug. But the strategy of allowing staggering amounts of counterfeit painkillers to hit the streets shocked several veteran agents who spoke with AP.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Even as it battled the deadliest drug epidemic in American history, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets of New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, according to three current and former DEA agents and government records reviewed by The ****** ociated Press.
DEA agents repeatedly monitored shipments of fentanyl pills — but did not seize them — as federal prosecutors sought to bring bigger criminal cases against traffickers of a synthetic opioid that the White House last year designated a " weapon of mass destruction."
Agents and experts, however, said the tactic amounted to a gamble with public safety that potentially imperiled communities in and around Albuquerque and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.
"We poisoned our community to make cases," DEA Special Agent David Howell told AP in a series of interviews in New Mexico. "Through our own willful blindness, we get to say, 'We don't really know what happened to the drugs.' But we 100% got people killed."
The DEA has long contended it would not be plausible to seize every shipment of every drug. But the strategy of allowing staggering amounts of counterfeit painkillers to hit the streets shocked several veteran agents who spoke with AP.

By Emma Farge, Jennifer Rigby and Clement Bonnerot
NAIROBI/LONDON/DAKAR, June 17 (Reuters) - Health workers battling an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo lack the personnel to identify suspected cases, the ambulances to transport them and even the construction materials to build isolation wards, officials and aid workers ‌told Reuters.
A month after the World Health Organization declared an international emergency, the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain has grown to more than 800 ‌confirmed cases, with warnings mounting that it could become the worst on record — surpassing the 2014-16 West Africa epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people.
Health teams are so stretched that tens of thousands of contacts of those cases remain untraced, Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters, pointing to insecurity and the urban, mining-heavy setting of the outbreak as central obstacles.
"After four weeks we have an outbreak in an urban area where there is insecurity, where there is this mining and trade activity, and also where we are not reaching all the people who must be in the contact list," he said late on Tuesday.

The American doctor who contracted Ebola while working on a humanitarian mission in Congo has returned to the United States and said he's feeling well after recovering from the potentially deadly disease.
Dr. Peter Stafford, his wife, Rebekah Stafford, and their four children all arrived safely on Monday, according to Serge, a Pennsylvania-based Christian missions organization. Stafford has been Ebola-free since May 30, the organization said.
"I am filled with gratitude to God for preserving my life, to all those who prayed on my behalf, and to the many medical providers who cared for me," Stafford said in a statement. "I am feeling well and thankful to be reunited with Rebekah and the kids. Our prayers continue for those in Congo who are facing this devastating epidemic and for the ongoing efforts to control the disease."
Other missionaries and their families who were serving in Congo alongside Stafford have also been released from care and monitoring and have returned to the U.S., Serge said.
Stafford was working with the missionary group in Congo when he contracted the virus last month. He was evacuated to a hospital in Berlin to receive care on May 20 and was discharged on June 6, according to Serge. His wife, also a doctor volunteering with the organization, and their four children were also evacuated and quarantined.

The World Health Organization has said efforts to contain the Ebola epidemic are “catching up”, despite the virus having had a “big head start.”
This week, WHO reported a major drop in the number of suspected Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) outbreak, after testing ruled out many of them.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday there were now 344 confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC outbreak and 116 suspected cases — a significant drop from the 1,000-plus suspected cases.

How public health officials are tracing people who came in contact with hantavirus victims

NEW YORK (AP) — Hantaviruses do not spread easily between people, which makes health officials confident the recent outbreak on a cruise ship that has killed three people will not turn into an epidemic.
But, still, they need to make sure. So health officials in several countries are contact tracing: trying to identify and follow people who may have come in contact with passengers who got sick or died.
Hantaviruses usually spread when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings. While human cases are rare, small outbreaks have been documented around the world. But the Andes virus implicated in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. And viruses can change.
Scientists are trying to learn more about the virus as fast as they can, including whether it has mutated and how exactly it spreads.
The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who might have been exposed, keep tabs on them in case they come down with symptoms, and prevent them from spreading it to others.

https://www.yahoo.com/news...

New WHO guidance signals major shift in obesity treatment

The World Health Organization on Monday released new guidance on GLP-1 medications for adults with obesity, recommending their long-term, continuous use when clinically appropriate. The medications covered include semaglutide (Wegovy), liraglutide (Saxenda) and tirzepatide (Zepbound).
The recommendations, published in the medical journal JAMA, emphasize that these medications alone are not a solution to treating the global obesity epidemic. Obesity is a chronic disease that needs lifelong care and is best treated with long-term GLP-

Thanksgiving foods fuel a silent epidemic affecting millions of Americans

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a silent killer that lurks among us, helping to claim millions of lives every year.
According to a new study published in The Lancet, the number of kids under age 19 who have high blood pressure has doubled worldwide since 2000. The rest of the population isn’t faring much better either: In the US, nearly half of Americans have hypertension — twice the rate from a generation ago.
Many Americans, particularly young adults, don’t know they have high blood pressure.

The anguish of gay Americans who were called “sexual psychopaths” in Congress fueled the first public demonstrations for gay rights in the nation. The fight for dignity continued through the AIDS epidemic and the battle for marriage equality.

Sports gambling epidemic

Attorney General to Chamber of Commerce: Business community impacted by meth epidemic -