Health Headlines
US reports highest number of measles cases since 2019: CDC
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The U.S. has recorded the highest number of measles cases since 2019, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Friday.There are now 712 confirmed measles cases across 24 states, an increase of 105 cases from the prior week, the CDC said.There were 1,274 reported cases in all of 2019.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. ... Read More
RFK Jr. claims curve is flattening in Texas measles outbreak. Does the data agree?
Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images(AUSTIN, TX) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed to imply in recent days that the measles outbreak in western Texas was slowing down.In a post on X on Sunday, Kennedy remarked on the second death linked to the outbreak, which occurred in an unvaccinated school-aged child.About 10 minutes later, Kennedy edited the post to add that the curve has been flattening since early March, when he started sending in reinforcements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- supplying clinics with vaccines and other medications."Since that time, the growth rates for new cases and hospitalizations have flattened," he wrote.However, data from the Texas Department of State Health Services showed that cases are ... Read More
Measles cases in Texas outbreak surpass 500 with 24 new infections confirmed over last 5 days
Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto via Getty Images(AUSTIN, Texas) -- The measles outbreak in western Texas is continuing to grow, with 24 new cases confirmed over the last five days, according to data published Tuesday.Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).Three of the 505 cases are among residents who have been vaccinated with one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. Seven cases are among those vaccinated with two doses.At least 57 measles patients have been hospitalized so far, DSHS said.Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases, followed by children ages 4 and under.Gaines County, ... Read More
HHS and EPA looking into changes to nation’s fluoride guidance
Will Matsuda for The Washington Post via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday he plans to assemble a task force and ultimately change the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance to stop recommending adding fluoride.His comments came during a press conference in Utah, which just became the first state to ban fluoride from drinking water systems.The Associated Press was the first to report Kennedy's intended changes to the CDC guidance.The CDC currently recommends the use of fluoride to prevent cavities.If Kennedy, who has been outspoken in his support for removing fluoride from water, directs the CDC to change its guidance, it could lead to more cities and states removing fluoride ... Read More
2nd child with measles dies in Texas, according to state health officials
Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images(LUBBOCK, TEXAS) -- A second child in Texas has died of measles, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services."The school-aged child who tested positive for measles was hospitalized in Lubbock and passed away on Thursday from what the child’s doctors described as measles pulmonary failure," the statement said, in part. "The child was not vaccinated and had no reported underlying conditions."The University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, said the child had been receiving care for "complications of measles while hospitalized" and also emphasized, as the state health department did, that the child was unvaccinated with no underlying conditions.An unvaccinated school-aged child also died of measles in Texas in late February, according to the Texas Department of ... Read More
16 state attorneys general sue Trump administration over NIH grant terminations
Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Sixteen state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday over its cancellation of research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, argues the cancellation of the grants is "unlawful" and the attorneys general "seek relief for the unreasonable and intentional delays currently plaguing the grant-application process."The defendants named in the suit include the NIH, almost all of the NIH's 27 institutes and centers, NIH director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the Department of Health and Human Services and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.The NIH told ABC News it does not comment on pending litigation. The HHS did not immediately reply ... Read More
Measles outbreak in Texas hits 481 cases, with 59 new infections confirmed in last 3 days
Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images(AUSTIN, Texas) -- The measles outbreak in western Texas has hit 481 cases, with 59 newly identified infections confirmed over the last three days, according to new data published Friday.Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).Three of the cases are among people vaccinated with one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and seven cases are among those vaccinated with two doses.At least 56 measles patients have been hospitalized so far, the DSHS said.Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases, at 180, followed by children ... Read More
RFK Jr. said HHS layoffs are needed as ‘Americans are getting sicker.’ Here’s what the data shows.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images(NEW YORIK) -- About 10,000 people across the United States Department of Health and Human Services were laid off this week as part of a massive restructuring plan.In a post on X on Tuesday afternoon, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the layoffs represented "a difficult moment for all of us" but that "we must shift course" because Americans are "getting sicker every year."An official at the National Institutes of Health with knowledge on the matter, who asked not to be named, told ABC News that the layoffs were an "HHS-wide bloodbath," with entire offices being fired.Sources told ABC News that affected offices included a majority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office on Smoking ... Read More
Scientists sue NIH, HHS, RFK Jr. over termination of research grants
(boonchai wedmakawand/Getty Images)(WASHINGTON) -- Researchers who had millions of dollars' worth of grants terminated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are suing the federal government in the hopes of stopping any further research cancellations.The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday evening against the NIH and its director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.Among the plaintiffs are Dr. Brittany Charlton, an associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who said all of her grants were terminated because they allegedly "no longer [effectuate] agency priorities," according to termination letters."Why am I standing up? I am a scientist, and ... Read More
More cities, counties start to remove fluoride from public drinking water
Grace Cary/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- More cities and counties across the U.S. are moving to ban fluoride in public drinking water after Utah became the first state in the country to do so.The Miami-Dade County commissioners voted 8-2 on Tuesday to stop adding fluoride to the public water supply.Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez, who sponsored the legislation, referred to fluoride as a "neurotoxin" and that studies show it "should not be in the water."Florida surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo has previously recommended removing fluoride from public water supplies, citing potential harms, according to local ABC News affiliate WPLG.In a statement last year, Ladapo claimed that "more research is necessary to address safety and efficacy concerns regarding community water fluoridation."Opponents, including Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava, argue fluoride is safe and essential ... Read More
Supreme Court takes up bid to defund Planned Parenthood
Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The battle over taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood takes center stage at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in a dispute over South Carolina's exclusion of the group from the state Medicaid program because it provides abortions.On the line is the ability of Medicaid beneficiaries to freely choose a healthcare provider, including physicians at Planned Parenthood who provide services other than abortion, like contraception treatments and cancer screenings.South Carolina's two Planned Parenthood clinics have served mostly low-income, minority women for more than 40 years. Hundreds of their patients are Medicaid recipients.The case also implicates the millions of federal dollars Planned Parenthood receives in the form of reimbursements for treating Medicaid patients each year.According to Planned ... Read More
12 months and 70 cases since the first human bird flu infection: Are we any safer?
Kevin Carter/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- One year ago, the first bird flu infection in a human in the United States was reported in a Texas dairy worker, just weeks after the virus had been found in cattle for the first time ever.While the virus has spread in birds for decades, in recent years it has started to infect more and more mammals including cows, bears and racoons -- and even house cats are getting sick.In the 12 months since the first human case, at least 70 people have been infected. There was one death linked to a human infected with bird flu in Louisiana.ABC News' medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton was granted rare access inside the race to stop bird ... Read More
Intermittent fasting can be hit or miss, but research suggests ‘sweet spot’ can help some stick to their diet
JGI/Jamie Grill via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Cutting back on calories three days a week may lead to more weight loss than daily dieting and may be more effective than other types of so-called "intermittent fasting," a new study suggests.In a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers asked participants to reduce their calorie intake by 80% of what their body needed to maintain weight on three non-consecutive days each week. On the remaining days, they had no calorie restrictions, but were still encouraged to make healthy choices.Over the course of a year, people in the intermittent fasting group lost nearly 17 pounds—about 60% more than those who were asked to trim back their daily calories by ... Read More
Utah becomes 1st state to ban fluoride in drinking water
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images(SALT LAKE CITY) -- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill this week making the state the first in the nation to ban fluoride in public drinking water.Under the bill, a person "may not add fluoride to water in, or water that will be introduced into a public water system" and a "political subdivision may not enact or enforce an ordinance that requires or permits the addition of fluoride to water in, or water that will be introduced into, a public water."The bill does allow pharmacists in the state to prescribe fluoride supplements and directs the Division of Professional Licensing to establish guidelines for those prescriptions.Cox had previously indicated that he would sign the bill. The law is ... Read More
Measles outbreak in Texas is spreading beyond the Mennonite community: Officials
Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images(LUBBOCK, Texas) -- When the first measles cases were confirmed in western Texas, health officials said the infections primarily affected the Mennonite community.Mennonites, who are part of the Anabaptist Christian church, have a small presence in the United States -- and Texas in general -- but they have a large presence in the South Plains region the state, and in Gaines County, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.Many Mennonite communities are close-knit and under-vaccinated, which may have contributed to the spread of measles among members of the community.But health officials are starting to see cases spread beyond the Mennonite population.It is spreading beyond this community, "unfortunately," Katherine Wells, director of public health for the city of Lubbock ... Read More
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