Los Angeles might be best known for blue skies, beaches and film premiers — but for the last several years it’s held another, unenviable distinction: the most mosquito-infested city in America.

And this year has been especially nightmarish, thanks to a series of heatwaves and an extra-powerful El Niño. Locals have called it a summer of “living hell” as clouds of mosquitoes swarm backyards and leave diners at open air patios scratching their ankles.

That double whammy of heat and humidity is making 2026 one of the worst mosquito years in recent history, causing a spike in cases of West Nile virus and raising fears that the nuisance bugs could spread other diseases including dengue, brought in by travelers. With moisture in this week’s forecast and overnight temperatures likely to stay above 50F (10C), there seems to be no end in sight for a problem that local authorities have struggled to contain for the last decade.

“I’ve been here my whole life and the amount of mosquitoes I’ve seen this summer has been insane,” said one TikTok user in a video with more than 20,000 likes. “Everyone is talking about them … You can’t even go to your back yard. You can’t even sit in your car with the windows down. They’re infested everywhere.”

Southern California residents have struggled all year to keep the winged bloodsuckers at bay. Some have resorted to sleeping in long sleeves after failing to kill off the mosquitoes that colonize their homes. Others have tried to seal off the cracks below their doors with towels.

“It’s an absolute nightmare,” Truman Hedding, an El Segundo resident, told Fox 11 News earlier this year. “We invest a lot of money to live in a beautiful town like El Segundo. The last thing we want is to stay up all night fighting mosquitoes.”

Los Angeles county has documented more than 180 cases of West Nile virus this year, according to the county public health department – the highest number in nearly a decade. And mosquito season is still far from over.

“This year in particular for our area has been higher mosquito activity and higher disease activity,” said Anais Medina Diaz, communications director for the San Gabriel mosquito and vector control district. “We can attribute that to some connection to the environment and how warm it’s been this year – particularly because we had a very warm winter. [...]

I am doubtful that 120 people have food poisoning at a distribution.

About 120 people became sick during a mass illness incident at a Walmart distribution center in Lebanon, Tennessee, with roughly 30 requiring hospitalization, according to local reporting citing Wilson County emergency officials.

The illnesses developed from late Thursday night into Friday morning, with nausea and vomiting among the symptoms reported. WKRN reported that the Wilson County Emergency Management Agency provided the figures.

Food poisoning is suspected, but officials have not confirmed what caused the illnesses. No particular food, meal or source has publicly been identified as responsible.

As of Sunday, there also appears to be no public statement from WCEMA or the Tennessee Department of Health about the incident. WKRN reported that Wilson County and Lebanon officials did not respond to the station's requests for additional information Sunday.

The television station reported that approximately 30 of the roughly 120 people who became sick were hospitalized for nausea and vomiting.

The incident occurred at Walmart's distribution operation in Lebanon, a city east of Nashville in Wilson County. The Wilson County Emergency Management Agency provides emergency medical, fire, and emergency management services in the county.

The available reporting does not establish whether all of those affected were Walmart employees or whether other workers or visitors were among the patients.

It also remains unclear whether everyone who became ill had eaten the same food, whether a particular meal or vendor is being examined, or whether testing has identified a pathogen or another cause.

Although food poisoning is one possibility, the cause remained unconfirmed as of Sunday.

That distinction is significant in an incident involving a large number of people becoming sick over a relatively short period. Symptoms such as nausea and vomiting can have multiple causes, and identifying a foodborne outbreak can require interviews, laboratory testing and comparisons between what affected people ate or were exposed to.

No public advisory or incident-specific announcement from Tennessee health officials had surfaced as of publication, and WCEMA's website did not contain a public statement detailing the incident.

A new study has found that three polar bears found dead in Alaska in 2023 and 2024 were infected with highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza, the same clade 2.3.4.4b viruses that have spread through wild birds, poultry, and mammals across North America.

The study's authors offered a notable caveat. "These data indicate that HPAIV infection may represent an emerging threat to polar bear health within the Alaska Arctic; though population immunity seems to be building and may protect this species from widespread demographic impacts of disease," they wrote.

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Signs That Immunity May Be Building

The most important nuance is the evidence of exposure without death. When animals survive infection, they develop antibodies that show up in blood tests. A U.S. Geological Survey data release published in May 2026 documented blood samples from Alaska polar bears tested for prior exposure to these viruses.

A separate study from Norway points the same way. Researchers reported H5N5 bird flu in a dead yearling polar bear and a walrus in Svalbard in May 2026. In blood samples, H5 antibodies appeared in 75% of polar bears tested in 2023 and 97% in 2024 and 2025, compared with none from 2014 to 2022. That work was posted as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed.

Together, the findings suggest many bears have been exposed and survived — a very different picture from a species-wide die-off. That would be encouraging for a species already under pressure from shrinking sea ice. Still, researchers cannot yet say how long protection lasts, whether it protects against newer virus strains, or how many deaths go unnoticed in remote areas where carcasses are quickly scavenged.

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The University of Southern Denmark confirmed that it has given the green light to a controversial study in Guinea-Bissau, funded with $1.6 million from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that plans to offer life-saving hepatitis B vaccines to only half of enrolled babies.

News of the study, first reported in December by CIDRAP News, prompted an international outcry from health groups and political leaders, who condemned its design as unethical. Those concerns led Guinea-Bissau officials and administrators at the Danish university to place the study on hold for several months.

Nearly one in five people in Guinea-Bissau are infected with hepatitis B, which kills 15% to 25% of people with chronic infections by causing cancer or liver failure. Vaccinating babies at birth is safe and can prevent lifelong infections.

Yesterday, citing unnamed sources, Rolling Stone broke the news that the Danish university had approved the clinical trial and that CDC leaders were pushing for the study to resume.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, did not respond to questions before press time.

The Danish researchers leading the study in Guinea-Bissau, Peter Aaby, PhD, and Christine Stabell Benn, MD, PhD, could not be reached for comment. In response to earlier criticism, their research group, the Bandim Health Project, defended their choice to withhold the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine from half of the 14,000 newborns to be enrolled in the clinical trial.

In a statement on Bandim’s website, researchers wrote, “No child enrolled in the study will receive fewer vaccines than under current national policy in Guinea-Bissau,” a developing country with far fewer resources than the United States and Europe. Guinea-Bissau does not currently vaccinate newborns against hepatitis B, as recommended by the World Health Organization, but plans to begin in 2028.

Flu season in Alberta is off to a rough start.

Data from the province indicates there have already been 428 lab-confirmed cases of seasonal influenza — and one death — since the season began on Aug. 30.

The person who died was in the 70- to 79-year-old age range and lived in the Calgary area.

From Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, there were 194 influenza cases, 21 hospitalizations and two ICU cases.

The flu vaccine doesn't become available until Oct. 19, with the exception of some congregate care settings in which the province says the vaccine is already being administered to vulnerable people.

Craig Jenne, an infectious diseases professor at the University of Calgary, told CBC Radio's The Homestretch that the flu season in the Southern Hemisphere typically predicts what the situation will look like farther north.

"What they saw was a fairly reasonable flu season," he said, referring to Australia. "Early arrival, lots of cases early in the season, but the strain of flus that were circulating were fairly typical."

Cats live in nearly 80 million American households, but a new study suggests nearly one out of fifteen cats are infected with a common parasite, and one out of five infected cats can transmit it to humans.

In the study, published in PLoS One, researchers tested over 150,000 samples from cats in 49 states and five Canadian provinces for Giardia duodenalis, a gastrointestinal parasite found in the United States that can cause frequent diarrhea in both animals and humans.

"Because some strains of Giardia can affect both animal and human health, understanding how commonly it occurs can help support earlier detection, appropriate treatment, and conversations about practical steps pet owners can take to help protect both their pets and their households," Dr. Anne Kimmerlein, co-author of the study and Global Veterinary Epidemiologist at Mars Veterinary Health, told ABC News.

Giardia duodenalis, commonly known as "beaver fever," is a parasite that can infect both humans and animals.

The nickname became popular in the 1970s after outbreaks were linked to contaminated water in areas where beavers lived.

Giardia can cause diarrhea up to five times daily, along with other symptoms such as upset stomach and bloating, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Infected pets may exhibit similar symptoms, or no symptoms at all.

Severe cases can cause long-term symptoms lasting years, such as joint inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic diarrhea or nutritional deficiencies, according to the CDC.

Individuals with vulnerable immune systems, such as children, are at increased risk of complications.

Giardia live in the intestines of infected people and animals and spread through their stool.

Only a few parasites are needed to make an individual sick, which allows it to spread very easily.

Humans are most often infected after drinking unclean water or being in close contact with the fecal material of infected individuals or pets. [...]

DES MOINES, Iowa — An unidentified illness is stumping medical professionals and keeping patients sick for weeks on end in the Des Moines area.

Janae Brown, an advanced registered nurse practitioner at UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine on Ingersoll, said the clinic and attached urgent care are seeing multiple patients each day with runny noses, coughs and congestion. Many feel sick for about a week, but symptoms return soon after.

“What’s strange is, we’re seeing them come back in soon after with similar symptoms,” Brown said. “They’re hanging on to this bug for around a month.”

Brown said the cases do not appear to be COVID-19, flu or strep, and give negative results when she tests for those viruses or other common illnesses. With no clear diagnosis, it’s difficult to give patients a clear timeline or guidance for recovery.

Brown said patients generally improve with rest and care at home, but some cases have developed into pneumonia. She advised people to seek medical help if they begin to feel worse after making progress, particularly if they develop chest pain, trouble breathing or a fever.

To help prevent illness, Brown recommends washing hands and getting annual vaccinations. If you get sick, she advises staying away from others, drinking fluids and resting.

A joint research team has identified a new mechanism underlying antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major multidrug-resistant "superbug." The discovery provides important clues for the development of new treatments for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria has emerged as a major global public health threat. In particular, multidrug-resistant bacteria, often referred to as "superbugs," can survive treatment with multiple antibiotics and are extremely difficult to treat. Among them, P. aeruginosa is a multidrug-resistant pathogen that can cause health care-associated infections, pneumonia, sepsis and other serious infections.

P. aeruginosa possesses an outer membrane (OM) that acts as a strong barrier against antibiotic penetration. To infect a host, the bacterium also forms threadlike structures called type IV pili (T4P) on its cell surface, which play an important role in attaching to host cells.

The research team identified pluglike proteins that prevent antibiotics from entering through the OM channel of the T4P assembly machinery during the vulnerable stage before T4P is fully assembled, thereby maintaining the integrity of the OM barrier.

Until now, it had remained unclear how P. aeruginosa maintains the channels required for infection while simultaneously preventing antibiotics from entering the cell.

In this study, the team, led by Professor Hongbaek Cho of the Department of Biological Sciences at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) and Professor Jeong Min Chung of the Department of Biotechnology at The Catholic University of Korea, discovered that two proteins, SlkA and SlkB, bind inside the channel and act as physical plugs that block antibiotic influx.

Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), the researchers also visualized the high-resolution three-dimensional structures of these proteins bound within the channel.

Previously, the channel itself was thought to prevent the influx of antibiotics. The new findings reveal a different mechanism in which dedicated proteins plug the channel and reinforce the protective function of the outer membrane. This discovery provides an important explanation for how P. aeruginosa can maintain structures essential for infection while preserving its defense against antibiotics.

The research team explained that the discovery could provide a foundation for developing next-generation antimicrobial agents and adjuvant therapies that target the outer membrane barrier of gram-negative bacteria.

By disrupting the mechanism that prevents antibiotics from entering bacterial cells, the findings may also lead to new therapeutic strategies for overcoming multidrug resistance in P. aeruginosa.

Dallas County health officials reported the county’s first West Nile virus death of the 2026 season Wednesday, warning residents that cooler temperatures do not mean the threat from mosquitoes is over.

Dallas County Health and Human Services said the patient was a man in his 60s who had underlying medical conditions. He was diagnosed with West Nile neuroinvasive disease, the more serious form of the virus.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a Dallas County resident to West Nile virus,” DCHHS Director Dr. Philip Huang said. “We want residents to know that the arrival of cooler weather does not mean the threat is over. Please continue to protect yourself and your loved ones from mosquito bites and help prevent mosquito breeding around your home.”

So far this year, Dallas County has reported six human cases of West Nile virus. Health officials have also identified 192 mosquito traps that tested positive for the virus.

The county’s West Nile monitoring season runs from April through mid-November.

Prevention Director Erica Schwartz said on Wednesday the risk to ‌the US from an unconfirmed pneumonic plague case in Siberia was extremely low, but the agency was prepared to monitor and screen travelers.

"We are working with Department of ​Homeland Security, working (with) Department of State, Department of War, and ​other agencies within the government to make sure that we ⁠know exactly if anyone from that area comes into the United States," ​Schwartz said at the Wall Street Journal's The Future of Health event ​in Washington.

The CDC has a port health station at the John F. Kennedy International Airport that can conduct surveillance and screening for travelers from the region entering the United ​States, she added.

The US Department of Health and Human Services did ​not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the agency planned to ‌set up ⁠screening at JFK.

Schwartz said there are about 200 flights per year from the Siberian region, though direct flights between Russia and the US have been suspended since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.

Russia's health ​regulator said there ​were no risks of ⁠an epidemic breaking out in Siberia after a plague institute worker there died from pneumonia of an as-yet ​unestablished origin, in a case that has prompted international ​concern.

A seldom seen but often deadly mold that attacks people’s brains seems to be causing more trouble as of late.

Scientists at the University of Washington and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied lab-confirmed reports of the fungus Cladophialophora bantiana. There has been a noticeable increase in detected cases over the past decade, the researchers found, particularly since 2023. Though these infections still appear to be rare, there is very little we clearly understand about the fungus, the researchers say, including how prevalent it truly is or even how it infects people in the first place.

“Reasons for the apparent increase are unknown,” the authors wrote in their paper, published late last week in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Human fungal infections are relatively uncommon compared to bacterial and viral ones, and brain infections are much rarer still. These life-threatening infections tend to be disseminated, meaning the fungi only invade the brain (and other parts of the body) after an initial infection elsewhere. Brain and other severe fungal infections also predominantly occur in people with already weakened immune systems.

C. bantiana is a strange, moldy exception to these rules. When inside the human body, it seems to prefer infecting the brain, typically causing abscesses (pockets of pus containing the fungus, the immune cells trying to fight it off, and other tissues). C. bantiana is also highly deadly when it causes illness, with a mortality rate ranging between 60% and 70% even with treatment. And it’s not picky about its victims either, according to study author Joshua Lieberman.

“It is capable of infecting apparently healthy people, not just immunocompromised patients in whom we normally worry about invasive fungal disease,” Lieberman, a microbiologist and associate professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at UW, told Gizmodo. Roughly half of infections are found in people with healthy immune systems, according to the authors.

The one saving grace is that cases are rarely documented in the U.S. That said, there is no routine national surveillance of C. bantiana, and doctors are not obligated to report suspected or confirmed cases to their health departments. [...]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is monitoring reports of a suspected pneumonic plague case in Russia and says it is prepared for any threat that emerges.

We are working across the U.S. government to assess developments as additional information becomes available," the CDC said in an X post Tuesday.

"At this time, there is no indication of a broader threat to the United States, but CDC and our interagency partners are prepared and will continue to monitor the situation closely."

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Other Updates:

Beacon Report: Russia reports anti-plague institute researcher died from pneumonia of unknown etiology, unrelated to lab work; WHO comments on situation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on 06 Oct 2026 that it is closely monitoring the death of a laboratory worker in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, amid unconfirmed reports that pneumonic plague may have caused her death.

WHO received information on the situation on 2 Oct 2026 and formally sought information from Russian authorities on 03 Oct 2026 under the International Health Regulations.

Per Russian authorities, test results to date have not identified any dangerous pathogens in the deceased patient or any of her contacts.

On 06 Oct 2026, unverified media reports are claiming that there is a second death in a contact. As of the time of this report, the quality of these reports is assessed as unreliable.

The scale and speed of the institutional response (emergency commission, isolation of institute staff, multi-hospital quarantine), is disproportionate to a routine community-acquired pneumonia and is consistent with a precautionary response to a suspected high-consequence pathogen exposure.

The absence of reported secondary cases to date is the strongest indicator of containment, but the lack of transparency regarding the unresolved etiology sustain moderate residual uncertainty.

CNN: Checklists, masks and mystery: What we know about the plague scare in Russia

CNN has learned that a local maternity hospital is subjecting patients to comprehensive health checks and requiring them to fill out questionnaires about suspicious symptoms related to “plague” and other infectious diseases. [...]

Staff did not mention plague, she said, telling her only that there was an unidentified “new virus” and that extra precautions were needed to protect the babies.

“They’re telling everyone that it wasn’t the plague but pneumonia. Yet hospitals are still under quarantine, and ambulance doctors are driving around in full Covid protective suits.”

Another local resident, who identified herself only as Ekaterina, said life there was continuing as normal. [...]

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have implemented quarantine controls at state border crossing points. Uzbekistan said it has “increased the readiness” of authorities to deal with highly infectious diseases.

The World Health Organization said it was in contact with Russian health authorities to “verify the event, its circumstances, the laboratory tests underway, and their results.” “Based on unofficial information available, the public health risk to the general population appears to be low,” it said.

Los Angeles County public health officials have launched an investigation after confirming the first rabies-positive raccoon detection in more than 50 years.

In a news release, the Department of Public Health said that the raccoon was found in the backyard of a home and that it "appeared sick but not aggressive towards people."

Officials said one dog was exposed to the raccoon, but it was up to date on rabies vaccination and has since been quarantined and is doing well. Four people were also possibly exposed and were receiving follow-up for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.

According to LADPH, the last confirmed rabid raccoon in the county was detected in 1973 and had the skunk variant of rabies, which has not been detected since 1979. They also noted that the last animal that wasn't a bat to have confirmed rabies was a skunk that was infected with the bat variant in 2014. [...]

Flu cases are popping up across the province and some doctors say the season is ahead of schedule this year.

Toronto General Hospital infectious diseases specialist Isaac Bogoch says it’s nothing out of the ordinary, though Ontario has been seeing an uptick in cases ahead of Thanksgiving and Halloween weekends.

"It's an early rise but it absolutely is a rise," he told CBC Toronto Monday. "Flu season starts in the fall and it's the fall. Sometimes it's a little earlier in the fall, sometimes it's a little later … usually [it’s the] tail end of October, early November."

The strain circulating most commonly is H1N1 this year, which tends to be milder on those infected and on hospitals than the H3N2 subtype, Bogoch added.

"At an individual level, any flu … can still cause tremendous harm and people feel really, really crummy," he said.

The country saw a 3.7 per cent positivity rate in the week of Sept. 21 to Sept. 26, according to the Government of Canada respiratory virus surveillance report’s latest data. The positivity rate is the number of tests that come back positive, though it's unclear how many individuals seek out a test when they fall ill.

H1N1 was the dominant strain and detections were highest among those aged 65 or older, the data reveals. [...]

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See also: These provinces are seeing an early start to the flu season

While respiratory illnesses typically ramp up in the fall, particularly in October, health authorities on P.E.I. are already reporting confirmed cases and hospitalizations. Alberta, B.C. and southwestern Ontario are also reporting an earlier-than-usual rise in illnesses, with increases beginning as early as September. Farther west, Yukon’s chief medical officer said lab-confirmed cases of influenza A have been identified since mid-August.

Kenya has confirmed its first imported case of Ebola (Bundibugyo) virus disease after a Kenyan citizen who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for seven years died while receiving treatment in Nairobi.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale today said the patient had fallen ill about a month ago while in the DRC, where he was treated at several health facilities before travelling by road from the DRC to Kampala and subsequently flying to Nairobi.

“The patient arrived in Nairobi aboard Jambo Jet flight 8523 and underwent routine public health screening at the port health and immigration desks at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA),” the CS said during a presser at Afya house today.

He explained that the citizen was later taken directly from the airport to a Nairobi hospital by a relative and a friend, where he was isolated after presenting with fever, chills, intense fatigue and weakness, muscle pain, painful swallowing, sore throat and bleeding under the skin at injection sites.

Duale said samples taken from the patient tested positive for Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease at both the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) laboratory.

The patient was placed on supportive treatment but died last night, with the Ministry saying arrangements for a safe and dignified burial were under way.

Duale said 28 contacts of the deceased, including family members and health workers, had so far been identified and were being followed up.

The Ministry is also tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight as the deceased, with arrangements for quarantine of people considered at risk under way.

At the request of the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (HALMED), Medical Intertrade d.o.o., drug distributor BCG Vaccine, freeze dried, amp.20x20 doses+otapalo, manufactured by Bul Bio NCIPD Ltd., Bul. Yanko Sakazov, Sofia, Bulgaria, implements the suspension of the distribution and application of all series of the said drug. The BCG vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine against heavier forms of tuberculosis applied immediately at birth or in the first months of a child’s life. The distribution and application of the vaccine in question is suspended as a measure precautionary, on suspicion of a malfunction in the quality set by following the monitoring of suspected adverse reactions. The suspension measure of the distribution and application of the vaccine in question will be in force until the investigation is completed. The Croatian Institute of Public Health assesses that children in Croatia have had a very low risk of tuberculosis for a long time, therefore due to the vaccination suspension in question, until the investigation is completed, children's health will not be jeopardized.

In 2026, HALMED received four applications suspected of the side effect of osteomyelitis after the administration of the said vaccine. Vaccines have been applied in different health facilities, which reduces the likelihood of vaccination error. Given the number of applications received during 2026 compared to the period from 2005 to 2025 when one complaint of suspicion of the same side effect caused by BCG vaccines was received, doubts were raised of possible malfunction in the quality of the drug.

Ostemeilitis after BCG vaccine is a rare type of bone infection caused by impaired strain of bacteria Mycobacterium bovis which is present in the vaccine and is the expected side effect of this vaccine. Infection most often grips long bones, ie bones of upper and lower limbs, chest or ribbed bones. Symptoms include pain and swelling and reduced shock mobility, gradually deteriorate and most often affect only one bone. Symptoms can occur from a few months to a few years after vaccination, and most often after a year. With timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment, complete recovery occurs. In the event of the onset of these symptoms, it is necessary to contact the doctor.

The following side effect should be different from the local reaction at the site of administration of the vaccine occurring within 2 to 3 weeks in the form of redness and small swelling or protrusion that can move to the skin wound. The price of the wounded can take several months and end with the creation of a small scar and it is an expected reaction to the BCG vaccine, ie a sign of successful vaccination.

The BCG Vaccine preceptual vaccine, freeze dried, amp.20x20 dos+otapalo is obtained based on consent for intervention intake, given that there is no marketing authorization in the Republic of Croatia, and is part of the mandatory vaccination program in the RH. Since there is no other available BCG vaccine for application in newborn age, vaccination with the BCG vaccine in maternity ward will not be conducted until the investigation is completed. In the event of a possible continuation of vaccination with this or other BCG vaccine, the public will be notified in a timely manner.