Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New World Screwworm Cases Rise And Expand Into New Mexico
Two more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed, including one outside the main cluster in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping a pest that could potentially devastate the nation's cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday. So far, there are four confirmed cases: three calves in Texas and a dog from neighboring Lea County, New Mexico. The dog, which the USDA initially reported as a Texas case, lives in New Mexico and was reclassified as the first in that state. The animal's travel history is being investigated. (Collins, 6/8)
On the Ebola outbreak —
The Trump administration, fearing that international travel could accelerate the spread of Ebola as the World Cup hits America, is pressuring Europe to dramatically shift its strategy for preventing infections, sources tell Axios. (Isenstadt, 6/9)
Police in Kenya have fired tear gas to break up a protest in the central town of Nanyuki against the construction of an Ebola quarantine centre for US citizens. Small groups of demonstrators, who were waving Kenyan flags, carrying placards and holding a coffin with the word "Ebola" written on the side, were demanding the plan be reversed. (Rukanga, 6/9)
Efforts to trace contacts in the Democratic Republic of Congo to try to contain the country's ​Ebola outbreak have improved but are below target, the World ‌Health Organization said on Tuesday. There have been 550 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 101 deaths, according to the WHO's latest figures, as well as 94 ​suspected cases. (Le Poidevin, 6/9)
In March 2025, Nicholas Enrich was the top U.S. official for global health when two major events were happening at the same time: The Trump administration was dismantling USAID, and an Ebola outbreak was spreading in Uganda. It was Enrich's job to manage the U.S. response. He says he was stymied at every turn. (Tanis, 6/8)
On mpox and covid —
A Dutch virologist who has been honored for helping to advance the development of the Covid vaccine now finds himself under the microscope of U.S. federal investigators. The virologist, Dr. Vincent Munster, has been charged with conspiring to smuggle vials full of deactivated mpox and other biological materials into the United States in January, according to a criminal complaint unsealed last week. Dr. Munster, 53, leads the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a National Institutes of Health center in Montana. (Livni, 6/8)
From 2021 to 2023, American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIANs) reported higher rates of COVID-19 and long COVID than their non-AIAN counterparts, according to a non–peer-reviewed study published on the Research Square preprint platform. Led by a researcher from the US National Bureau of Economic Research, the study team surveyed more than 20,000 adult respondents, including public-use files (datasets stripped of identifying information) and an oversample of AIANs, to the California Health Interview Survey from 2021 to 2023. (Van Beusekom, 6/8)
For many people, the ability to work from home is one of the COVID-19 pandemic's most enduring changes. Remote work has increased significantly since the start of the pandemic, rising from roughly 7% of US workers in 2019 to 28% in 2023. But a new study suggests that the shift away from the office may have come with a cost: more time spent alone and poorer mental health. (Bergeson, 6/8)
