Infectious diseases

‘Unprecedented’ bird flu epidemic sees almost 50m birds culled across Europe

Poultry farmers from Arctic to Portugal reported 2,500 outbreaks in past year, with migrating birds taking avian flu to North America

Tom Levitt

03, Oct, 2022 @7:00 AM

Latest Covid surge a ‘heavy straw on camel’s back’ for every hospital in UK

Health leaders urge vaccination and return to mask-wearing as hospitalisations rise by 37 per cent in a week

James Tapper and Sundus Abdi

01, Oct, 2022 @2:00 PM

Ending mandatory isolation does not mean Covid is over. But we need to move beyond short-term fixes | Catherine Bennett

The virus is here to stay and we have to find sustainable ways of managing it for the long haul

Catherine Bennett

01, Oct, 2022 @2:32 AM

Millions urged to get flu and Covid jabs amid fears of winter ‘twindemic’ in UK

Health officials say influenza and coronavirus could spread widely at same time in months ahead

Ian Sample and Linda Geddes

28, Sep, 2022 @7:12 AM

Grim milestone as Australia’s aged care homes mark 4,000 Covid deaths

Deadliest year of the pandemic so far has seen restrictions ease, staffing pressures surge but vaccinations provide hope

Christopher Knaus

24, Sep, 2022 @12:30 AM

Monkeypox vaccine second doses available for most at risk, says UKHSA

Sexual health clinics will continue to prioritise offering first doses but some will offer second shots

Nadeem Badshah

23, Sep, 2022 @9:09 PM

Covid hospitalisations rise by nearly 20% in a week in England

People urged to get a Covid booster jab if eligible and to stay at home if ill as number of positive tests and patients admitted to hospital on the rise

Nicola Davis Science correspondent

22, Sep, 2022 @5:15 PM

How the climate crisis is fueling the spread of a brain-eating amoeba

Naegleria fowleri grows in warm fresh water, making it well-suited to proliferate as temperatures rise in the US

Katharine Gammon in Los Angeles

21, Sep, 2022 @10:00 AM

Biden says Covid ‘pandemic is over’, despite US daily death toll in the hundreds

President says coronavirus is still a problem but that circumstances are changing and ‘everybody seems to be in pretty good shape’

Staff and agencies

19, Sep, 2022 @5:25 AM

Readers reply: if everyone isolated for a month, would all transmissible diseases disappear?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

18, Sep, 2022 @1:00 PM

Albanese says he looks forward to working with Liz Truss – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Royce Kurmelovs and Stephanie Convery

18, Sep, 2022 @7:38 AM

End of Covid pandemic ‘in sight’, says World Health Organization

Global weekly deaths down to 11,118 on 5 September – the lowest level since March 2020