What we're reading

Cases have risen 80% in the last five years, and the United States now has the highest syphilis rates since 1950

"Plant medicines" were implicated in roughly a third of the country’s suicides. A ban on the most hazardous substances appears to be working

The Chinese government said the only exception will be for families who are adopting the children or stepchildren of blood relatives in China

While China's decision to halt international adoptions addresses some legitimate concerns, it overlooks the unique benefits these adoptions provided

Could raw milk—or a cat—help explain how a person who had no contact with animals caught the virus?

Health ministry to mandate three-week isolation for close contact

A series of "humanitarian pauses" to fighting in Gaza are due to begin on Sunday, to allow hundreds of thousands of children to be vaccinated

In Brazil, wildfires have roared across the Pantanal, a maze of rivers, forests and marshlands that sprawl over an area 20 times the size of the Everg

The UNRWA calls Israel's strategy of promoting alleged misinformation "destructive"

The virus spread by mosquitoes is rare, but serious: about 30% of people with the virus die, and many survivors have ongoing neurological problems

The plan for mpox, covering the six-month period from September 2024 to February 2025, provides a framework for public health preparedness

The case is a 66-year-old man confirmed as having mpox who had transited in a Middle Eastern country before arriving in Thailand