Coronavirus Breaking News

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today announced it is gearing up for a record-setting holiday travel season.

On December 22, 2025, the TSA stated it is fully staffed and ready to screen a projected 44.3 million travelers at the nation's airport security checkpoints between Friday, December 19, 2025, and Sunday, January 4, 2026.

The TSA expects the heaviest traveler volume will be on Sunday, December 28, 2025.

The busiest day last year was December 27, when TSA screened just under 2.85 million travelers.

TSA Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Administrator, Adam Stahl, commented in a press release, "We continue to enhance the traveler experience by deploying new technologies and procedures t..."

One of these enhancements is REAL ID.

More than 94% of passengers already use their REAL ID or other acceptable forms of identification.

The TSA began enforcing the REAL ID Act in May 2025, and starting in February 2026, the agency will refer all passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly to an option to pay $45 to use a modernized alternative identity verification system, TSA ConfirmID, to establish identity.

Another enhancement launched in July: TSA PreCheck® "Serve with Honor, Travel with Ease" benefits for the military and uniformed service community. This program includes expedited lanes for service members, free TSA PreCheck for surviving immediate family members of military servicemen and women who lost their lives in the line of duty, and TSA PreCheck discounts for spouses of military and uniformed service members.

With various disease outbreaks currently impacting international travelers, the U.S. CDC recently updated Travel Health Notices for chikungunya, dengue, measles, polio, and yellow fever. Many of these diseases have U.S. FDA-approved vaccines available at travel clinics in late December 2025.

A recent Eurosurveillance rapid communication details Ireland's first known outbreak of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) clade 1b, involving four linked cases from August to October 2025, with cases related to a Dublin hospital.

On December 18, 2025, in Volume 30, Issue 50, the researchers wrote that, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported nosocomial transmission of MPXV clade Ib outside Africa occurred alongside the ongoing rise in MPXV clade Ib importations in countries outside Middle Africa.

This cluster highlights the ongoing possibility of mpox transmission from travel-associated cases. It emphasises the need for a high level of clinical suspicion for mpox in cases with relevant clinical symptoms and travel to countries where mpox is currently circulating.

The Irish outbreak originated with a traveler returning from Pakistan and spread via sexual, household, and nosocomial (in a healthcare setting) transmission. The cases were genetically identical and related to a sequence from Oman in February 2025.

The close relationship between the Oman and Irish sequences highlights the role of international travel in the spread of clade 1b and the potential for global transmission, the researchers added.

Since the second declaration of a public health emergency of international concern for mpox was lifted in September 2025, both MPXV clades I and II, and their subclades, continue to circulate globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) Disease Outbreak News reported in early December 2025.

The WHO considers there to be community transmission of the Mpox virus in various European countries, such as Belgium, Germany, and Spain.

In Ireland, as of December 21, 2025, the MVA-BN (JYNNEOS) vaccine is authorized in response to mpox outbreaks.

And when departing for Ireland or other mpox-risk countries, the U.S. CDC recommends international travelers speak with a travel vaccine advisor regarding immunization options.

While two malaria vaccines are currently in use in Africa, a new, innovative vaccine candidate is advancing in human clinical trials. Results from a study highlight the potential of multistage vaccines to address both infection and transmission, offering a new approach in the fight against malaria.

A new phase 2 randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases reports encouraging levels of protection from an investigational multistage malaria vaccine, ProC6C-AlOH/Matrix-M, against controlled human malaria infection in adults with lifelong exposure to the mosquito-transmitted parasite.

The vaccine candidates, which target multiple stages of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle, the protozoan responsible for the most severe form of malaria in humans, have demonstrated promising efficacy in a study conducted among healthy adults in a malaria-endemic region of Mali.

Researchers, including the Malaria Research and Training Center at the University of Sciences, Techniques, and Technologies of Bamako, evaluated the vaccine's safety, immunogenicity, and protective efficacy. Participants received three doses of the vaccine or a control, followed by controlled exposure to the malaria parasite.

ProC6C-AlOH/Matrix-M achieved an efficacy of 54% (95% CI 9–77, p=0·029) at 12 weeks after the final dose, and 76% (95% CI 36–91, p=0·0022) in a time-to-event analysis, indicating a promising level of protection. 

The study authors note that further research is needed to evaluate the vaccine's performance against naturally acquired malaria and in younger age groups, including children.

In a related commentary published by The Lancet on December 16, 2025, researchers wrote, "Having a first multistage malaria vaccine with proven efficacy is a key achievement, as there is consensus in the malaria community on the need to cover as many parasite stages as possible."

This study's results are essential as malaria transmission occurs in 80 countries across five WHO regions. Last year, there were an estimated 282 million cases of malaria globally reported by the World Health Organization. 

As of December 21, 2025, malaria vaccines, such as R21/Matrix-M™, are not offered in the United States.

In the Republic of Indonesia, the extreme rainfall and floods that struck Sumatra in late November 2025 unleashed devastating humanitarian impacts.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency, areas in Sumatra, such as the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, experienced relentless heavy rain for several days, with over 300 millimeters of rain in a single day.

Access routes to several affected areas, including Aceh Tamiang, Central Aceh, Gayo Lues, Langkat, Sibolga, and South Tapanuli, were previously completely cut off. Access has been gradually restored by air, and land routes are now passable for vehicles, says Human Initiative, an Indonesian charitable organization.

Reports indicate that 1,006 deaths, with 217 people reported missing, and more than 5,400 people were injured as of December 13, 2025.

The U.S. CDC says there may be an increased risk of waterborne, vector-borne, and fungal diseases, including cholera, malaria, and invasive mold infections, as well as increased risk of injury and drowning.

In Jakarta, the Ministry of Health is reminding the public to be aware of leptospirosis, which often appears as a post-disaster disease following floods and landslides. This disease usually goes undetected because its initial symptoms resemble a common fever, but it can be fatal if treatment is delayed.

The Director General of Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Murti Utami, emphasized in a media release that leptospirosis requires serious attention, especially in flood-affected areas. "Leptospirosis often goes unnoticed because the symptoms are mild at first."

"However, if treatment is delayed, this disease can lead to serious complications and even death," said Murti Utami.

If you plan to visit Indonesia in 2025, travel clinics offer medications and vaccination services for these diseases. 

Additionally, avoid contact with floodwater and follow all instructions from local authorities.

And for U.S. citizens in the impacted areas, check the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia for alerts. Consider enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive security updates and information about emergency assistance.

Furthermore, as of December 19, 2025, the Embassy advises against travel to the provinces of Central Papua and Highland Papua due to civil unrest.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reissued a Level 2 travel notice, advising travelers to practice enhanced precautions due to the ongoing Chikungunya fever outbreak in Guangdong Province, Republic of China.

Since July 2025, this mosquito-transmitted virus has been challenging China's public health systems on the mainland,

And in Hong Kong, where over 10 local Chikungunya cases have been reported, the popular hiking area, Tsing Yi Nature Trails, was recently closed.

These outbreaks highlight the need to improve surveillance of viral mutations.

According to China CDC Weekly (7(49): 1528-1532), the circulating strain of the Chikungunya virus in Foshan, Guangdong, belongs to the East/Central/South African genotype, not the Indian Ocean Lineage. However, the specific mutations in the viral genome remained unclear.

China's CDC wrote that these mutations are known to enhance viral replication and virus transmission efficiency in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. 

On December 17, 2025, the U.S. CDC stated that we can protect ourselves from this disease by preventing mosquito bites and that vaccination is recommended for travelers visiting an area with a chikungunya outbreak.  

The CDC also advises pregnant women to reconsider travel to these affected areas.

If you do visit these areas of China, seek medical care immediately if you develop fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash during or after travel.

The leading mosquito-borne disease in the United States is not Chikungunya or Dengue; it's the seldom-discussed West Nile Virus (WNV).

Now found in 45 states, WNV causes more illnesses and deaths than any other mosquito-borne disease in the continental U.S., says the U.S. CDC.

As of December 17, 2025, the CDC reported over 2,000 individuals infected with WNV this year. Colorado is an unfortunate leader with 284 cases. Texas has reported 4 WNV-related deaths.

And 1,404 WNV-related Neuroinvasive disease cases in 2025

AMA infectious diseases director Erica Kaufman West, MD, recently addressed the ongoing risks of WNV in the USA. =

A study published by the JAMA Network Open (Vol. 8, No. 12) concluded that older people with a history of chronic kidney disease or conditions affecting blood flow to the brain have about double the risk for developing neuroinvasive disease that can lead to paralysis and death following WNV infection.

"In 2025, there's been a substantial increase in West Nile virus activity with 41% more severe-disease cases and 32% more deaths than what is typically seen," Dr. Kaufman West said in a press release on December 5, 2025.

Physicians don't always have WNV on their radar in patients at high risk for infectious disease—but they should, the AMA added.

And in Europe, 14 countries have reported a total of 1,112 locally acquired human cases.

The countries with the highest number of WNV cases include Italy (779 cases, 72 deaths), Greece (96), and France (62), followed by Serbia (62), Romania (49), and Spain (36). Other countries reporting cases are Hungary (14), Croatia (4), Albania (3), and Germany (2), along with North Macedonia (2), Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Türkiye.

Unfortunately, there have been 97 reported deaths due to the virus in Europe in 2025.

According to the European CDC, these figures are lower than those seen in 2018, 2022, and 2024, years when virus circulation was particularly intense. Italy's data in 2025 represents the highest number of human WNV cases ever reported in a single year. 

Both the CDC and ECDC say there is no licensed WNV vaccine for humans yet.

However, several candidates are in clinical trials, focusing on technologies such as live-attenuated or DNA-based vaccines. Therefore, personal protection is the primary human prevention tactic.

While human vaccines are pending, effective equine vaccines are available and widely used, alongside mosquito control.