Month: February 2025

Health News

USDA details new plan to tackle bird flu and lower egg prices

Soaring egg prices have consumers boiling, and on Wednesday, the United States Department of Agriculture blamed rising costs on the bird flu epidemic and said it will take new steps to quell the outbreak. The new plan appears to have refocused the department’s efforts around the goal of lowering egg prices. Speaking to reporters at […]

Health News

More Americans identify as LGBTQ+ than ever before, poll finds

The proportion of American adults who identify as LGBTQ+ has risen to 9.3% of the population, according to a Gallup Poll released Thursday. The finding represents an increase of more than 1 percentage point from 2023’s estimate. The proportion of the population identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or non-heterosexual has nearly doubled since 2020 […]

Health News

An intense flu season is filling hospitals with severely ill patients

The US is in the throes of an unusually intense and severe flu season, with hospitalization rates topping the levels seen with Covid-19 at some points of the pandemic. On top of the flu infection itself, doctors say they’re seeing large numbers of patients with some of its most devastating complications. In children, specialists say […]

Health News

Abortion bans in US led to more births and infant deaths, especially among vulnerable groups

Abortion bans in the United States are exacerbating existing health disparities as births increase in high-risk populations and infant mortality rises disproportionately, new research suggests. In 14 states that implemented complete or 6-week abortion bans after the Supreme Court Dobbs decision revoked the federal right to abortion, the fertility rate increased 1.7%, leading to about […]

Health News

‘One of the larger mysteries I’ve ever seen’: Industrial chemical found in illicit fentanyl

The drug supply is constantly evolving, and some experts suggest that a “fourth wave” of the opioid epidemic is underway, in which illicit fentanyl is more frequently mixed with other drugs. New research shows high levels of one unexpected addition: BTMPS, an industrial chemical used as an adhesive in the production of plastics, was found […]

Health News

Bird flu variant found in Nevada cows shows signs of adaptation to mammals

The newer variant of avian influenza that recently infected dairy cattle in Nevada has a genetic change that’s thought to help the virus copy itself in mammals — including humans — more easily, according to a new technical brief from the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. It’s unclear whether these […]

Health News

Judge halts Trump administration cuts to public health research in some states

A federal judge on Monday paused cuts that the Trump administration had made to funding for public health research, issuing a temporary restraining order that applies only in the 22 Democratic-led states that brought a lawsuit challenging the reduction in funding. US District Judge Angel Kelley ordered more briefing in the case, with a hearing […]