The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will begin making awards totaling nearly $60 million to states, cities, and territories to support efforts to protect Americans from Zika virus disease and adverse health outcomes that can result from Zika infection, including the serious birth defect microcephaly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is helping the state of Utah figure out a medical mystery: how a person with no apparent exposure to the Zika virus contracted the disease.

According to the Brazilian Tourism Board, approximately 350,000 – 500,000 international visitors and athletes from 207 countries are expected to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Games).

Doctors are increasingly writing new prescriptions for an old remedy- time in nature. As part of the burgeoning Park Rx movement, health care providers throughout the country are encouraging patients to use parks to reap the benefits of nature’s healing properties.

A four-month dance program helped older Latino adults walk faster and improved their physical fitness, which may reduce their risk for heart disease, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Epidemiology/Lifestyle 2016 Scientific Sessions.

The National Institutes of Health last week announced that it was making research into the Zika virus – and how it affects pregnancy and the developing fetus – a top priority.

Public health experts are bracing for the appearance of the Zika virus – which causes severe birth defects among pregnant women who’ve been exposed to it – in the United States. However, they predict that it will not have the same devastating effect that it’s had in South America and the Caribbean.

CDC is working with other public health officials to monitor for ongoing Zika virus‎ transmission. Today, CDC added the following destinations to the Zika virus travel alerts: Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde, and Samoa. On January 15, CDC issued a travel alert (Level 2-Practice Enhanced Precautions) for people traveling to regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory; Brazil; Colombia; El Salvador; French Guiana; Guatemala; Haiti; Honduras; Martinique; Mexico; Panama; Paraguay; Suriname; and Venezuela. Specific areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing are often difficult to determine and are likely to continue to change over time.

Flu viruses found among pigs in China appear able to spread in humans and have the potential to cause a pandemic, researchers say.

The number of measles-related deaths has decreased 79% from 546 800 at the beginning of the century to 114 900 in 2014. New data released by WHO for the Measles & Rubella Initiative, estimates that 17.1 million lives have been saved since 2000, largely due to increased vaccination coverage against this highly contagious viral disease.