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The Kingdom of Thailand has reported its first anthrax-related fatality since 1994, when a man in Mukdahan province died from the disease after being exposed to an infectious cow. All types of anthrax have the potential, if untreated, to spread throughout the body and cause severe illness and death.
According to the Health Ministry on May 2, 2025, they are tracking hundreds of people who may have been exposed to the bacteria. They found 247 people who were in contact with the disease, divided into 28 people who butchered the cattle and 219 people who consumed raw beef.
The Ministry has given medication to the high-risk contact group.
Located in Southeast Asia, Thailand is home to over 60 million people and is a vacationer's favorite destination in 2025.
Last week, the Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed a human case in North Kivu Province.
Various types of anthrax are caused by a spore-forming bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. There are thought to be a few thousand human cases worldwide each year.
In the United States, Healthcare providers rarely see a patient with anthrax, says the U.S. CDC. Access to anthrax vaccines, such as CYFENDUS™, is controlled by the government.
Despite the significant drop in recent dengue cases, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., today ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to closely monitor the outbreak situation as part of its continued efforts to safeguard the health of Filipinos.
In a media release on May 2, 2025, Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro attributed the significant decrease in new dengue cases to the prompt response of the DOH under its "Alas Kwatro Kontra Mosquito" campaign.
Castro said that from 12,050 recorded dengue cases during March 2 to 15, the figure dropped to 9,289 from March 16 to 29, 2025.
While this decreasing trend is a positive indication, the DOH reported that about 95,000 dengue cases have been recorded since the beginning of 2025. This data represents a 75% increase compared to last year.
The DOH noted the low case fatality rate of 0.36 percent, or about four deaths per 1,000 dengue cases, in 2025.
Previously, the Quezon City Government's City Health Department declared a dengue outbreak.
The DOH's "Alas Kwatro Kontra Mosquito "campaign involves "Taob, Taktak, Tuyo, Takip" as the four basic ways of cleaning and eliminating possible mosquito breeding grounds.
Castro said the government's campaign encourages families, schools, and workplaces to clean potential mosquito breeding grounds daily at 4:00 PM. She echoed the DOH's call for the public to maintain cleanliness and prepare for the onset of the rainy season.
Throughout 2025, a second-generation dengue vaccine has been offered in various countries in the Asia-Pacific Region as a disease prevention option. Unfortunately, the QDENGA vaccine is not available in the United States.
To alert international travelers of this health risk, the U.S. CDC's Global Dengue Advisory included the Philippines, advising travelers to risk areas to prevent mosquito bites.
As the 2024-2025 flu season comes to a close, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported some alarming news in their weekly FluView, Key Updates for Week 17.
Twelve additional children have died from influenza, bringing the total number of influenza-related pediatric fatalities to 216, which surpasses last season's total of 207.
In terms of the specific types of influenza, ten of the deceased children had influenza A, while two were affected by influenza B. Further analysis revealed that the H1N1 strain caused eight deaths, and four were attributed to the H3N2 strain.
Furthermore, the CDC has classified this flu season as a high-severity season overall and for all ages, the first high-severity season since 2017-2018.
And based on data from FluSurv-NET, the cumulative hospitalization rate for this season is the highest observed since the 2010-2011 season.
As of May 2, 2025, the CDC recommends that everyone ages six months and older get an annual flu vaccine as long as influenza viruses are circulating. This advice applies explicitly to those traveling to the Southern Hemishpere, where flu season is just beginning.
Various flu shots remain available at most pharmacies in the U.S.
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recently announced they are intensifying their response to an anthrax outbreak in North Kivu province.
The anthrax outbreak's epicenter is located in four health zones around Lake Edward on the border between the DRC and the Republic of Uganda. It is linked to the ongoing one in Uganda, where seven suspected human cases have been reported in the western Kabale district.
According to a statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 1, 2025, there were 16 suspected cases, one confirmed case, and one related fatality this year.
The WHO states that people can get the disease directly or indirectly from infected animals or exposure to infected or contaminated animal products. Anthrax in humans is not generally regarded as contagious, but human cases of anthrax require hospitalization or treatment with antibiotics.
While human vaccines are in limited supply and used primarily for the protection of selected individuals with possible occupational exposure to anthrax, such as government employees.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Anthrax, which outline preferred prevention and treatment regimens for naturally occurring anthrax.
In the United States, access to anthrax vaccines, such as CYFENDUS™, is controlled by the government.
The recent Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Weekly Report confirmed that the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus (ZIKV) has been detected in Africa.
On April 30, 2025, the Africa CDC reported Burkina Faso's first Zika case this year. The patient was a young girl with no travel history in the 15 days before her symptoms began.
A study previously reported that ZIKV seroprevalence was 22.75% in the donor samples in Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa.
In June 2022, these researchers wrote, ' It is essential to strengthen existing arbovirus surveillance in Burkina Faso and more broadly in West Africa by focusing on fevers of unknown origin and integrating vector surveillance to assess the extent of ZIKV circulation and identify the circulating strain.'
There were no Zika cases in the United States as of May 2, 2025.
However, as of December 31, 2024, the U.S. CDC reported 19 non-congenital Zika cases among U.S. residents (1 imported case in Texas). Furthermore, Puerto Rico has been categorized as having a risk of Zika virus transmission for several years.
In 2025, this serious health risk was detected over 9,400 times in the Region of the Americas, led by Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil.
Currently, the only method to prevent a Zika infection is to avoid mosquito bites, as no preventive vaccine has been approved. The leading Zika vaccine candidate is conducting clinical trials in 2025.
The first instance of determining the acceptability and feasibility of incorporating the Tropis needle-free jet injector for intradermal administration of fractional dose poliovirus vaccine (fIPV) produced very positive results.
PharmaJet® today announced the publication of a study demonstrating the benefits of the PharmaJet Tropis needle-free system compared with needle and syringe (N/S) for intradermal administration of fIPV.
Tropis was preferred over N/S by significant margins by both parents (98%) and nurses (98.5%) in Cuba.
Survey respondents cited ease of vaccination, diminished crying, and increased comfort as the benefits of Tropis. Of note, seroprevalence did not differ significantly between Tropis and N/S.
The results indicated significantly fewer adverse events with Tropis (6%) compared to N/S (13%) (p = 0.028).
Paul LaBarre, Vice President of Global Business Development, PharmaJet, commented in a press release on May 1, 2025, “The strong performance of Tropis ID delivery is consistent with results recently seen in WHO-sponsored polio campaigns in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Somalia where Tropis has been used to administer polio vaccinations to nearly 12 million children.”
The study, entitled "Tropis needle-free injector for fractional-dose IPV administration: A pilot study for integration into routine immunization services in Cuba," is published in the journal Vaccine on April 11, 2025.
This was a community-based feasibility survey and poliovirus antibody seroprevalence assay conducted in Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila provinces, Cuba, in 2019–2020 as part of a research collaboration between the Instituto Pedro Kourí in Havana, Cuba, and the World Health Organization.
Based on the updated data posted on Facebook from the South American country of Colombia, the government's yellow fever emergency is expected to continue into May 2025.
As of April 29, 2025, the Ministry of Health has reported 60 cases of yellow fever and 24 related fatalities this year.
While ten departments have reported cases, Tolima and Putumayo are the most affected.
In Tolima, the outbreak has been particularly severe, with over 13 deaths in six months, representing a lethality rate of 41.9%.
Tolima is located about 200 miles southwest of Bogota, a city with over 7 million residents.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Level 2 Travel Health Advisory, yellow fever outbreaks have been reported in new areas in Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru in 2025.
Travelers to these newly affected areas are now recommended to get vaccinated, at least 10 days before travel.
The CDC writes, 'a booster dose may be given to certain travelers or travelers who received their last dose of yellow fever vaccine at least 10 years previously and who will be in a higher-risk setting.'
Since yellow fever is a vaccine-preventable disease, the YF-VAX® vaccine is commercially available at certified travel clinics and pharmacies in the United States.
According to various media reports today, the U.S. government is modifying the method for authorizing or approving vaccines for human use.
“All new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure,” a U.S. HHS spokesperson told The Washington Post in response to an inquiry about HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s comments on the measles vaccine and general vaccine policy.
HHS did not clarify which vaccines this new policy would apply to, according to the Post on April 30, 2025.
The government's Clinical Trials website defines placebo-controlled trials as studies using an inactive substance or treatment that appears the same as, and is administered in the same manner as, an active drug or intervention being studied. The placebo comparator arm of the study is a group of participants who receive a placebo during a clinical trial.
