Global Pulse

分类： health

  • ‘If only people knew what a tick could do’ – the deadly meat allergies caused by tick bites

    ‘If only people knew what a tick could do’ – the deadly meat allergies caused by tick bites

    Five years after a misdiagnosed allergic reaction nearly killed her 15-year-old son, Myfanwy Webb carries a quiet, heavy regret, looking back at the birthday lunch that set off a chain of missed warnings. Hours after the celebration, Jeremy Webb, a lifelong asthma sufferer, developed severe breathing trouble and vomiting. Paramedics rushed him to hospital, where clinicians flagged a possible meat allergy but ultimately chalked the episode up to an asthma flare-up, sending him home the next day without additional testing or a life-saving EpiPen.

    “I made the wrong decision,” Webb said in an interview, reflecting that she should have pushed for more comprehensive testing. Had clinicians confirmed the reaction was anaphylaxis, her son would have left the hospital with the emergency adrenaline auto-injector that could have saved his life a little over a year later.

    In June 2022, 16-year-old Jeremy died on a coastal camping trip north of Sydney, Australia, after eating a single beef sausage. The death was initially ruled an asthma attack, but a coroner’s inquest pushed by the Webb family delivered a final, groundbreaking ruling in February: Jeremy’s death was caused by tick-induced mammalian meat allergy (MMA), also known as alpha-gal syndrome. His death marks the first globally documented fatal case of MMA directly triggered by eating meat, shining a harsh new light on a little-understood, fast-growing allergy that public health experts warn poses an underrecognized deadly threat.

    Decades before Jeremy’s death, in 2007, Australian allergist Professor Sheryl van Nunen first made the landmark connection between tick bites and MMA, after noticing a clear correlation between exposure and patient symptoms at her Sydney clinic. Australia’s east coast, particularly the region north of Sydney where Jeremy grew up surrounded by dense bushland, is one of only two confirmed global hotspots for the condition — the other is the southeastern United States, though cases have now been recorded on every continent where ticks live.

    In Australia, MMA is caused by bites from the eastern paralysis tick, *Ixodes holocyclus*. Professor van Nunen explains that after two bites, half of all people develop antibodies to alpha-gal, a sugar molecule found in tick saliva. Once sensitized, 15 to 20% of these people develop an allergic reaction to red meat and other mammalian products.

    Tick expert Dr. Alex Gofton, who recently led a major study into MMA’s spread in Australia, says there are several leading hypotheses for why the east coast has become such a concentrated hotspot. Over the past three decades, the population of tick-endemic coastal bush regions has grown dramatically, bringing more humans into regular contact with ticks. The 2020–2023 La Niña years, which brought record rainfall to eastern Australia, created ideal breeding conditions for tick populations, while the COVID-19 pandemic pushed thousands of city residents to relocate to regional bush areas, further increasing exposure.

    Diagnosed cases of MMA have risen 22% annually in Australia since 2000, and Dr. Gofton’s research using national lab data confirms more than 5,000 confirmed and suspected cases across the country — a figure he says is a massive undercount of the true prevalence of the condition. In some hotspot areas, rates exceed 700 cases per 100,000 people.

    Despite the growing spread, diagnosing MMA remains notoriously difficult. Symptoms typically develop three to six hours after eating red meat, meaning they often appear overnight, long after most people have finished their evening meal. For asthma sufferers, anaphylaxis symptoms are frequently mistaken for an asthma attack, as was the case with Jeremy, and the allergy is unpredictable: reactions do not happen after every exposure, and severity varies wildly based on factors including the cut of meat, how it is cooked, whether the person drinks alcohol with the meal, exercises after eating, or is sleep deprived. Professor van Nunen calls MMA an “anytime but not every time allergy.”

    For people with severe hypersensitivity, even indirect exposure can trigger life-threatening anaphylaxis. Sensitized people can react to mammalian derivatives ranging from cow’s milk and gelatin to lanolin in beauty products and laundry softeners, and even stearic acid found in some supermarket plastic bags. Fumes from cooking red meat at barbecues, or close contact with domestic pets that have eaten mammal-based pet food, can also trigger reactions.

    Elizabeth Rowley, a mother of three living in the New South Wales mid-north coast, spent more than 15 years seeking a diagnosis for a mysterious set of symptoms that included memory loss, chronic brain fog, chest pain, full-body aches, and frequent fainting from breathing difficulties. Many clinicians dismissed her symptoms as hypochondria, telling her “it’s not anaphylaxis, get over it.”

    “It was just mentally horrendous more than anything, just trying to find out what it was. I thought I was going crazy,” Rowley said. After finally receiving an MMA diagnosis, she launched a popular Facebook support group for undiagnosed and misdiagnosed sufferers. For many, the condition upends every part of daily life: Rowley was forced to leave multiple bookkeeping jobs after workplace triggers, from restaurant fumes in shopping centers to a boss’s daily morning toast with butter, triggered constant severe reactions. Social events like barbecues and restaurant dinners, core parts of Australian community life, are often off-limits, making casual gathering nearly impossible.

    For 23-year-old Sydney psychology student Remy Williams, who was diagnosed with MMA as a child, the constant need for vigilance around food triggered an eating disorder. She says the most traumatic experience was watching her mother, who also lives with MMA, suffer two near-fatal anaphylactic attacks on commercial flights, one of which almost killed her in front of Remy. “It was incredibly scary,” she said.

    Professor van Nunen’s greatest public health concern is the 85% of people who have developed alpha-gal antibodies — meaning they are sensitized to MMA — but have never experienced a reaction after eating meat, and have no idea they carry the allergy. These asymptomatic sensitized people are still at risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis from medical products containing mammalian derivatives, including gelatin-based vaccines and some cancer treatments. At least two confirmed deaths have already been linked to these hidden triggers: one colon cancer patient died after anaphylaxis triggered by the drug cetuximab, and another died after a blood transfusion contaminated with alpha-gal. Professor van Nunen says the true number of MMA-related deaths is far higher than officially recorded, with only two cases well-documented to date: an American commercial pilot who died after eating a hamburger in 2024, and Jeremy Webb.

    Professor van Nunen notes a critical takeaway from Jeremy’s death: 94.8% of people who die from food allergy-induced anaphylaxis have pre-existing asthma, and the allergic reaction triggers a severe, rapid-onset asthma attack called status asthmaticus that can cause respiratory arrest in as little as four minutes without emergency intubation.

    Since her son’s death, Myfanwy Webb has turned her grief into action, drawing on Jeremy’s own famously positive approach to life to drive public health change. “He fitted everything into it, wouldn’t waste a minute,” Webb said of her son, who loved restoring old car motors. Today, she is working to raise global awareness of MMA, improve clinical diagnostic protocols, and prevent other families from enduring the same loss. She has collaborated with the hospital that misdiagnosed Jeremy to develop new clinician training for MMA, and is co-authoring a research paper with Professor van Nunen that will be presented at an international allergy conference later this year.

    “Now Jeremy’s positive spin is actually helping people, even though he’s passed,” Webb said. “I think he’d be really pleased with us.”

    Public Health Guidance to Prevent Tick Bites and MMA:
    1. When visiting bushland or tick-endemic areas, wear long clothing, tuck socks into trousers, and choose light-colored fabrics to make ticks easier to spot quickly
    2. Avoid lying or picnicking directly on bare ground
    3. Use EPA-approved insect repellents containing DEET or picaridin
    4. Check your entire body (and your pets) for ticks after spending time in tick territory
    5. If bitten by a tick, follow the “freeze don’t squeeze” rule: use a commercial tick-killing spray to kill the tick and let it detach on its own, rather than squeezing it with tweezers, which can force additional toxins and alpha-gal into the bloodstream

  • Rare identical quadruplets born in Australia

    Rare identical quadruplets born in Australia

    In an extraordinarily rare medical event, a 34-year-old Australian mother has given birth to four identical quadruplets conceived naturally, a milestone that medical professionals describe as nearly unheard of. Jenitar Na’amoana and her husband Jortham, who already share four children between the ages of one and 10, received the life-changing news of their quadruplet pregnancy with overwhelming surprise, according to officials from Brisbane’s Metro North Health, which oversees the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital where the birth took place.

    The four baby girls, delivered via caesarean section on July 14 at 28 weeks and four days gestation, are monozygotic quadruplets, meaning they developed from a single fertilized egg that split into four separate embryos. What makes this case even more exceptional is that all four fetuses shared the same placenta—a combination that maternal-fetal medicine specialist and obstetrician Dr. Alexa Bendall, who managed Na’amoana’s care from the earliest stages of pregnancy, calls unprecedented. Medical data puts the odds of naturally conceived identical quadruplets at roughly one in 15 million pregnancies, with naturally conceived quadruplets of any type already carrying odds of just one in 700,000 births globally.

    From the outset, the pregnancy was classified as extremely high-risk. To ensure constant monitoring of both mother and fetuses, the hospital admitted Na’amoana as an inpatient when she reached 25 weeks gestation. “We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well,” Bendall explained in a statement following the birth. “So the fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible and we’re very happy to be a part of it.”

    Remarkably, Na’amoana avoided every major complication that typically comes with such a high-risk pregnancy, defying all medical expectations. “Jenitar has taken everything in her stride from day one… she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” Bendall added.

    In a touching tribute to the medical team that guided her through the pregnancy, Na’amoana named one of the four girls after Bendall. The newborns are called Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and Alexa—and Bendall says the honor left her deeply moved, calling it “a beautiful tribute.”

    Currently, all four infants are being cared for in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, where they will remain until they reach full term development. Bendall confirmed that as of the latest updates, all four babies “are currently doing extremely well.”

    In the wake of the births, Na’amoana has launched an online crowdfunding campaign via GoFundMe to cover the cost of a new 10-seat van, a necessary adjustment to accommodate her expanded family of 10. Already, the campaign has raised more than 37,000 Australian dollars, equivalent to roughly 19,261 British pounds. In her message accompanying the fundraiser, Na’amoana expressed that while the family is overjoyed by their new additions, caring for four newborns at once has brought unforeseen practical challenges. “Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined,” she wrote. Both parents have said their gratitude to the medical team and the community that has supported them is overwhelming.

  • Ebola death toll in Congo rises to at least 930, including dozens of health workers

    Ebola death toll in Congo rises to at least 930, including dozens of health workers

    In a grim update released on Monday, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Health announced that the total death toll from the rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in the country’s eastern region has climbed to at least 930. Among the most concerning recent developments is the report of 37 new fatalities recorded between Friday and Saturday, marking one of the highest single-day death increments registered since the outbreak was first declared.

    As of Saturday, official data confirms a total of 2,344 diagnosed cases across five affected eastern provinces, a region long plagued by persistent rebel insurgency and instability. First announced on May 15, this outbreak is now classified as the fastest-expanding Ebola event ever documented. Unlike more widely studied Ebola strains, the outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo virus, a rarer variant for which no universally approved vaccine or targeted treatment currently exists.

    Ebola, a highly contagious viral pathogen, initially jumps to human populations from wild animals, then spreads rapidly through direct contact with infected bodily fluids including blood, vomit and semen, as well as exposure to contaminated surfaces such as clothing, bedding and medical equipment. While the disease remains rare in global terms, it causes severe, acute illness that carries an extremely high fatality rate.

    The recent sharp rise in fatalities is directly tied to widespread safety concerns that have severely hampered response efforts in Ituri, the hardest-hit province. According to authorities, at least 12 targeted attacks against Ebola treatment centers and response teams have been recorded since mid-May, most driven by widespread public skepticism, misinformation and harmful rumors about the outbreak. Compounding this crisis, many frontline health workers have halted work in protest over unpaid salaries, leaving critical response gaps. To date, at least 36 infected health workers have lost their lives to the virus.

    Last week, the World Health Organization issued an urgent warning highlighting that roughly 80% of all new confirmed Ebola cases are stemming from unidentified transmission chains. This statistic serves as a clear indicator that the outbreak is outpacing the ability of health officials to track and contain it, even as international and local response teams scale up their operations.

    Analysis of Congolese Health Ministry data reveals that over the first two and a half months of the outbreak, the average weekly increase has reached approximately 272 new cases and 111 deaths. What is more, the rate of growth has accelerated steadily, with a particularly sharp jump in both new cases and fatalities recorded throughout July compared to the opening weeks of the outbreak.

    In its latest statement, the ministry noted that 724 patients are currently receiving care in hospital isolation units, and response teams are ramping up intervention efforts across all impacted health zones. Despite the overwhelming challenges, officials added that care and support capacity is gradually being consolidated, with 22 new patient recoveries confirmed in a single 24-hour period.

  • Health officials identify source of US explosive diarrhoea outbreak

    Health officials identify source of US explosive diarrhoea outbreak

    A rapidly expanding foodborne illness outbreak across the United States has taken a new turn, after federal health officials announced an additional sample of iceberg lettuce from major agricultural supplier Taylor Farms has tested positive for the parasite responsible for thousands of infections.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that the contaminated sample, collected during targeted import surveillance as part of the ongoing outbreak investigation, was traced to a production lot not included in the voluntary product removal Taylor Farms announced last Friday. The California-based agriculture firm, which counts major fast-food chain Taco Bell among its high-profile customers, has already committed to sweeping market action: pulling all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from retail and foodservice locations across the country.

    Public health experts have stressed a key distinction between the current voluntary withdrawal and a formal mandatory recall: a recall requires companies to actively notify customers and retrieve all affected products from commercial channels, a broader and far more costly regulatory process that carries stricter compliance requirements. Right now, Taylor Farms is working urgently to trace the newly identified positive lot to determine if any of the lettuce remains on store shelves or in consumers’ homes.

    As of the latest updates, no fatalities linked to the cyclospora outbreak have been recorded, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that at least 94 people have required hospital care for severe symptoms of infection. The outbreak was first detected in mid-May, and public health officials note that symptoms of the parasitic illness can take up to 14 days to emerge, meaning new cases are still being added to official counts. Infected individuals typically experience prolonged watery diarrhea, unexpected rapid weight loss, and loss of appetite.

    The CDC has issued a clear public warning advising consumers in five U.S. states—Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia—to avoid eating any shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations. The fast-food chain has already announced it has completed removing all potentially affected Taylor Farms lettuce from its restaurant locations across the affected regions.

    In an official statement released amid the investigation, Taylor Farms said it has “stopped receiving product from the implicated lot, suspended distribution of the iceberg lettuce from Central Mexico, notified [its] customers and [is] continuing to work with the FDA, CDC, and state authorities” to contain the outbreak.

    The current market withdrawal covers products distributed across 27 U.S. states. Beyond Taco Bell, the affected products include Marketside-branded iceberg lettuce sold at Walmart locations across 15 states, the FDA confirmed.

  • How these twins’ rare growth disorder could provide the key to preventing cancer

    How these twins’ rare growth disorder could provide the key to preventing cancer

    Tucked into the winding Andes valleys of southern Ecuador, the small town of Piñas—home to just 8,000 residents scattered across rolling hills—holds an unusual distinction: it hosts one of the highest concentrations of people living with Laron syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disorder that limits adult height to a maximum of 1.2 meters. For 40-year-old twin sisters María Luisa Romero and María del Cisne Romero, both born with the condition, shared experience has been their greatest source of strength through life’s challenges.

    Laron syndrome, also called growth hormone insensitivity, develops when a genetic mutation leaves the body unable to utilize the growth hormone it produces naturally. First identified 60 years ago by Israeli pediatrician Zvi Laron, the condition counts only 840 confirmed cases worldwide, with a large majority residing in the southern Ecuadorean provinces of El Oro and Loja. Genetic research traces the mutation’s origins back thousands of years to Indonesia, before it spread along ancient trade routes. Sephardic Jewish carriers later brought the mutation to the Americas, and generations of intermarriage in isolated mountain communities left Ecuador with the world’s highest prevalence of the condition.

    For the Romero twins, growing up surrounded by other community members with Laron syndrome softened many of the daily struggles that come with the condition. “We always lean on each other, pool our strength, and stand up for one another,” explains María Luisa, sitting beside her sister. “We can share every experience, good and bad, because we know we face the same daily challenges.” Their perspective shifted when they moved away for university, however, where they faced stares and public curiosity from locals who had never met people with their condition—a reminder of the stigma many Laron syndrome patients experience outside their tight-knit community.

    Beyond its impact on height, Laron syndrome has uncovered a surprising, potentially life-changing biological quirk: decades of research show Laron patients experience drastically lower rates of cancer and type 2 diabetes than the general population. Endocrinologist Dr. Jaime Guevara, who has studied Ecuadorean Laron syndrome patients for 22 years, partnered with University of Southern California aging specialist Dr. Valter Longo to investigate this protective effect. The team compared 100 Laron syndrome patients to 1,600 of their normal-height relatives from the same villages, tracking health outcomes over 22 years. In the Laron group, researchers recorded zero cases of diabetes and just one non-fatal cancer. By comparison, 5% of the control group developed diabetes, and 17% received a cancer diagnosis.

    The researchers traced the protection to the core genetic mutation that causes Laron syndrome: a defective growth hormone receptor in the liver that stops the body from producing Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), a hormone that drives growth. Their hypothesis holds that high levels of IGF-1 prevent cancer cells from dying off through the natural process of apoptosis, meaning Laron patients’ naturally low IGF-1 levels cut their cancer risk. Even as they confirm this link, the researchers note gaps remain in their understanding: Zvi Laron, now a professor at Tel Aviv University who has documented 70 years of research on the condition he named, has observed that even Laron patients who received childhood IGF-1 treatment still do not develop cancer, indicating other biological factors are at play. Laron, who is publishing a landmark paper this July cataloging all 840 confirmed Laron cases identified between 1966 and 2025, says research on animal models is ongoing to uncover the full mechanism. “It is the first time we know the exact number of Laron syndrome patients and the many variants of the growth hormone receptor defects,” he told the BBC.

    If researchers can fully map the protective effect, the end goal is to replicate it in the general population through targeted drug or dietary interventions, creating new cancer prevention treatments. “It would be a great contribution from this wonderful community to the world,” Guevara says.

    For the Romero twins, who have participated in Guevara’s research for years, the knowledge that their condition may help advance global medicine has helped them cope with daily challenges. Still, their experience has also brought a sobering reminder of the limits of current understanding: two years ago, María del Cisne received a colon cancer diagnosis, debunking the pair’s earlier assumption that Laron syndrome offered complete immunity. The diagnosis was a wake-up call, she says: “That made us realise that we weren’t, as we thought, completely immune to these diseases. We had to take care of ourselves, we had to exercise, we had to watch what we ate.” Today, the twins each have an 8-year-old child, neither of whom inherited symptomatic Laron syndrome, and both already stand taller than their mothers. Outside of their medical participation, the sisters run a small artisanal chocolate business and harbor a dream of expanding to open their own factory.

    While Laron syndrome research offers new hope for global cancer treatment, patients today still face steep barriers to care. A medication called Increlex, introduced 15 years ago, can boost childhood growth if administered before puberty, but it is prohibitively expensive and difficult to access. Produced by only one pharmaceutical company, the drug costs more than $800 per bottle, and a child requires at least three bottles per month, putting annual treatment costs above $28,000—out of reach for most families in southern Ecuador. Two-year-old Camila Loaiza, a Laron syndrome patient from Piñas, was supposed to start her first dose six months ago, but her family has yet to access the medication. “I want my daughter to have as normal a life as possible. I don’t want her to be discriminated against because of her size,” says her mother Mayra. For older patients like the Romero twins, who missed the treatment window because Increlex did not exist in their youth, the barrier is a poignant reminder of what could have been. “We now accept ourselves as we are, but the treatment would have saved us a lot of heartache,” María Luisa says. “I’ve accepted myself as I am, I accept myself, and I thank God for who I am.”

  • US links Taco Bell lettuce to diarrhea-causing parasite outbreak

    US links Taco Bell lettuce to diarrhea-causing parasite outbreak

    A widespread foodborne parasite outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people across five U.S. states has been traced to contaminated shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to the fast-food chain Taco Bell, U.S. health officials confirmed Friday.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a joint federal investigation into the cluster of cyclosporiasis cases, which causes severe gastrointestinal illness including explosive diarrhea. Investigators ultimately pinned the contamination on a single Mexican-based lettuce supplier, whose produce was distributed to Taco Bell locations across Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

    As of the latest update, 1,644 people across the five states have received laboratory confirmation of cyclosporiasis infection linked to the Taco Bell outbreak. While no fatalities have been reported, 94 people have required hospital care for their symptoms. The CDC emphasized that this count only reflects confirmed cases tied to this specific outbreak, and does not include unrelated cyclosporiasis infections from other sources across the country.

    Though federal health officials declined to publicly name the supplier, produce giant Taylor Farms issued a statement Friday acknowledging it had supplied the iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell. The company announced it would voluntarily withdraw all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from its distribution chain, a step it called proactive even though the FDA’s traceback points to a single independent farm that accounts for less than 1% of the entire U.S. iceberg lettuce supply. The removal will remain in place indefinitely. Taylor Farms also stressed that none of its branded pre-packaged salads or meal kits are connected to the outbreak, and its products do not include the iceberg lettuce in question.

    Taco Bell followed up with its own announcement, confirming it had voluntarily pulled potentially affected lettuce from locations in the at-risk states. The chain added that the implicated ingredient will be permanently removed from its national supply chain, with replacement stock set to arrive at affected locations within 24 hours.

    Federal health agencies have issued a warning advising consumers in the five affected states to avoid eating shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell locations. Unlike many foodborne pathogens, cyclospora is a parasite that, if left untreated, can cause persistent symptoms lasting more than a month. While the infection is rarely fatal, it often leads to severe dehydration that requires medical intervention.

    This is not the first time fresh produce has been linked to cyclospora outbreaks in the U.S. In past years, the parasite has been found in products ranging from pre-bagged salad mixes and raspberries to fresh cilantro, basil, snow peas and scallions. National health officials recommend two key steps to reduce infection risk: thoroughly washing all fresh produce, and cooking produce where possible, as heating food above 158°F (70°C) kills the cyclospora parasite.

    Michigan has faced disproportionate impact from cyclosporiasis this year, with state authorities reporting more than 5,000 total cases. The FDA noted that discrepancies between state and national case counts are common, as states often include both probable and confirmed cases in their public reports, while national data only tracks lab-confirmed cases linked to specific outbreaks. There is also a standard lag between local case reporting and updates to national surveillance data, which means official counts may rise as new information comes in.

  • Health experts urge caution over mandatory US military testosterone screenings

    Health experts urge caution over mandatory US military testosterone screenings

    The U.S. Department of Defense has launched a controversial new health policy that is dividing military leaders and top medical professionals: earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that all active-duty male troops aged 30 and older will be required to complete routine screening for low testosterone, also clinically known as hypogonadism. Under the new framework, service members who receive a low testosterone diagnosis will be offered access to testosterone replacement therapy, commonly shortened to TRT, if their providers deem it necessary. Hegseth has framed the policy as a critical investment in troop performance, arguing that optimizing hormone levels will preserve the U.S. military’s greatest tactical advantage: the individual war fighter.

    In a public video released Wednesday to promote the initiative, Hegseth stated, “Our most decisive tactical advantage will always be the individual war fighter. We have a sacred duty to maintain that advantage which is why we must constantly look for new ways to optimise your performance.” The policy targets a large group of service members: 2024 military data counts more than 375,000 active-duty men over 30, with an additional 305,500 serving in the National Guard and reserve forces. To date, the Pentagon has released few concrete details about how testing will be rolled out or administered across the force of 1.3 million active-duty troops.

    While the policy aligns with a booming national trend of rising TRT use and mainstream cultural interest in testosterone optimization, leading medical professionals who spoke to the BBC are sounding urgent warnings about the risks of mandatory broad screening, arguing that the policy is fundamentally misguided and likely to cause avoidable harm to healthy troops. Data from a May 2026 study published in JAMA Network estimates that roughly one in 10 adult men in the U.S. meet the clinical criteria for hypogonadism, a rate that climbs steadily with age, reaching up to 38% for men over 45. But experts emphasize that a low blood test result alone does not justify starting TRT.

    Current clinical standards from the American Urological Association require two key criteria to prescribe testosterone therapy: confirmed low blood hormone levels and documented symptomatic health issues linked to hypogonadism, such as persistent low mood, reduced libido, and unexplained loss of muscle mass. For otherwise healthy people with asymptomatic low testosterone, the risks of unnecessary TRT far outweigh any potential benefits, experts say. Common harmful side effects include a dramatic drop in sperm count and permanent or long-term infertility, as well as shrinking of the testicles. In many cases of unnecessary TRT, it can take a year or longer for natural sperm production to return to baseline levels after stopping treatment.

    More severe potential complications include increased risk of irregular heartbeat, blood clots, and abnormal breast tissue growth. Dr. James Anaissie, a Texas-based urologist and co-author of peer-reviewed research on testosterone deficiency, explained to the BBC that aggressive mass screening increases the likelihood of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, noting that symptoms associated with low testosterone can also stem from dozens of unrelated health conditions. “This is the problem with routine screening,” Anaissie said. “People start treating problems they don’t need to treat.”

    Dr. Joseph Alukal, professor of urology and director of men’s health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, went further, calling the Pentagon’s program “misguided.” Alukal explained that starting TRT is a lifelong medical commitment: once the body becomes accustomed to external testosterone, it often loses the ability to produce natural hormone at pre-treatment levels after stopping therapy, leading to worse hypogonadal symptoms than patients started with. “Screening aggressively is going to create that mess for some number of patients,” he said.

    Beyond clinical risks, experts warn that delivering safe TRT at military scale creates significant logistical challenges, particularly for deployed troops. Effective TRT requires regular injections (typically one or two doses per week) and frequent blood monitoring to keep hormone levels within a safe, therapeutic range, as levels can fluctuate dramatically during treatment. Sudden interruptions to treatment, common during combat deployments where consistent medical access is not guaranteed, lead to uncomfortable “crash” symptoms including severe fatigue and low libido, even if they do not cause immediate life-threatening harm.

    The Pentagon’s new policy comes amid a years-long surge in TRT use across the U.S., where the number of people seeking therapy jumped from 7.3 million in 2019 to 11 million in 2024. The growing popularity of testosterone optimization has been fueled in large part by mainstream cultural influence: high-profile public figures including podcaster Joe Rogan have openly discussed their personal TRT use, while a wave of social media influencers associated with the “looksmaxxing” trend have promoted testosterone as a near-miracle drug for boosting energy, muscle growth, sexual function, and bone density. Anaissie noted that it remains unclear whether the rise in TRT use stems from a real increase in clinically diagnosable hypogonadism, or simply more healthy men chasing the purported lifestyle benefits of hormone therapy.

    The push for broader TRT access also aligns with the cultural priorities of the current Trump administration, which has centered “traditional masculinity” as a key cultural theme. Top administration officials have openly embraced testosterone as part of personal health and anti-aging routines: Hegseth, known for publicly projecting a hyper-masculine image through combat training photos and public appearances, spearheaded the new military policy. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who made headlines for a viral photo of himself grappling with venomous snakes with his bare hands, has cited testosterone as a core part of his own anti-aging protocol. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration, which Kennedy oversees, announced plans to roll back existing public health warnings on TRT, a move that will make the therapy far more accessible to the general public. In January, Kennedy revealed on a podcast that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services leader Dr. Mehmet Oz had evaluated President Donald Trump’s testosterone levels, and found the 70-plus-year-old president had “the highest testosterone levels that he’s ever seen for an individual over 70.”

  • Taco Bell removes lettuce from menu in US after links to explosive diarrhoea

    Taco Bell removes lettuce from menu in US after links to explosive diarrhoea

    One of America’s largest fast-food chains, Taco Bell, has enacted a precautionary removal of lettuce from menus across multiple undislosed US states, following reported connections between produce from one of its suppliers and a nationwide parasitic outbreak that has already sickened thousands of people. The company confirmed the move in an official statement to the BBC, framing it as a proactive step taken “out of an abundance of caution” after coordinated discussions with public health regulators.

    According to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 7,000 cases of cyclosporiasis — the gastrointestinal parasitic illness linked to this outbreak — have been confirmed across 34 states as of the latest reporting. The parasite, which spreads exclusively through contaminated food or water, has been concentrated heavily in Michigan, where over 3,300 infections have been recorded, accounting for nearly half of all national cases.

    Taco Bell has announced that the affected lettuce from its implicated supplier will be removed from the supply chain indefinitely, with replacement produce set to be rolled out to affected locations. While no formal public health recall or advisory has been issued to date, the chain emphasized that public health safety is a collective responsibility shared by food service operators, their producer partners, and government regulators. The company has declined to publicly name either the supplier or the specific states where lettuce is being removed from menus, though multiple US media outlets have identified the produce supplier as Taylor Farms. The BBC has reached out to Taylor Farms for comment on the reports, and no response has been released as of yet.

    Public health experts note that cyclosporiasis infections have an unusually long incubation period, with symptoms typically emerging roughly two weeks after exposure to the parasite. The most common and debilitating symptom is persistent watery diarrhea that can last for multiple days, alongside other notable effects including sudden unintended weight loss and reduced appetite.

    Tracing the source of cyclosporiasis outbreaks presents unique challenges for public health agencies, industry experts told the BBC, with difficulties compounded in recent years by funding cuts to federal public health institutions. “This isn’t like detecting a needle in a haystack. It’s like detecting a microscopic portion of a needle in a haystack,” explained Steven Manderach, executive director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials, highlighting the extreme difficulty of pinpointing the parasite in contaminated food supplies.

  • ‘Moment of joy’ as Uganda discharges last Ebola patient

    ‘Moment of joy’ as Uganda discharges last Ebola patient

    Uganda has reached a critical milestone in its fight against the ongoing regional Ebola outbreak, with the country’s last confirmed active patient discharged from treatment facilities. No confirmed active infections remain across the nation, officials confirmed, triggering a 42-day mandatory waiting period that will end with an official declaration of Ebola-free status if no new cases are documented.

    The outbreak in Uganda traces back to early May, when health authorities confirmed the first case of the Bundibugyo Ebola strain in a patient who crossed into the country from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to seek medical care. The DRC has been the epicenter of the current regional outbreak. Over the course of the response, Uganda recorded a total of 20 confirmed cases, the vast majority of which were travelers crossing from the DRC, with just two fatalities reported.

    In contrast, the Ebola outbreak in the DRC has grown far more severe: official government data from the central African nation shows more than 2,000 confirmed infections and 796 deaths to date. Experts warn the actual caseload is likely far higher, with a World Health Organization official noting earlier this week that the true number of infections could be four times the official recorded figure. The virus is also believed to have circulated undetected in DRC communities for months before the outbreak was formally declared just two months ago, leaving authorities playing catch-up in their response.

    Speaking after the discharge of Uganda’s final patient, Health Minister Dr. Chris Baryomunsi called the milestone a momentous occasion. “It demonstrates that with early detection, prompt treatment and a strong health system, Ebola can be defeated,” he said. Despite the positive development, Uganda’s Ministry of Health has urged the public to maintain caution and remain vigilant against a potential resurgence of the virus. In a public statement posted to X, the ministry advised, “If you develop symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding, seek immediate medical care.”

    Uganda has built up robust response protocols over the past two decades, having weathered multiple Ebola outbreaks during that period. Current measures include immediate isolation of suspected cases, comprehensive contact tracing to stop chains of transmission, and widespread public outreach to educate communities on symptom recognition and prevention. From the earliest days of the current outbreak, Uganda activated tightened entry screening and other public health protocols to limit the spread of the virus from the DRC, a strategy that public health experts say has contributed to its successful containment so far.

    As Uganda celebrates its progress, the DRC continues to struggle to bring the outbreak under control. The escalating crisis has prompted new travel restrictions from the United States, which recently announced that all U.S. citizens returning home after visiting the DRC must complete a 21-day quarantine in a third country before being allowed entry into the U.S. Previously, travelers from the DRC were able to enter the U.S. through designated airports after passing through routine health screening.

    This new policy has drawn concern from international aid groups. Franklin Graham, CEO of an organization that operates multiple Ebola treatment centers in the region, told Reuters the restriction could discourage U.S. medical workers from volunteering to respond to the outbreak in affected areas, worsening the already strained public health response.

    Ebola is a viral illness that targets the body’s immune system and organs. The virus is naturally hosted by wild animals, most commonly fruit bats, and zoonotic spillovers to humans typically occur when people handle infected animal carcasses. Once established in human populations, the virus spreads exclusively through direct contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood.

  • DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreading faster than reported: UN

    DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreading faster than reported: UN

    Two months after an Ebola outbreak emerged in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations has issued a stark warning that the epidemic is spreading far more rapidly than official tracking has captured, with its true scale potentially reaching two to four times the size of published case counts.

    As of July 11, official data logged nearly 2,000 confirmed infections and more than 700 deaths across five affected provinces, already ranking this event as the third-largest recorded Ebola epidemic in history and the fastest-growing outbreak the global health community has faced in modern history. Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, confirmed the alarming acceleration following a visit to the outbreak’s epicenter in Bunia, Ituri Province, telling reporters in Geneva that the past month has seen the sharpest single-month case growth of any Ebola outbreak the WHO has ever responded to.

    In recent days, Ihekweazu noted, the outbreak has hit some of its highest single-day infection peaks, with more than 80 new confirmed cases recorded in a single 24-hour window. The most worrying trend, health officials emphasize, is that a large share of new fatalities are occurring in community settings, with patients dying before they can reach formal treatment facilities. Caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola strain – for which no approved vaccines or targeted treatments currently exist – the outbreak has already spread beyond its original Ituri Province epicenter to neighboring Haut-Uele and Tshopo provinces. While roughly 95 percent of cases remain concentrated in Ituri, hidden, untraced transmission chains are driving the epidemic’s expansion.

    WHO epidemiological modeling estimates that the true caseload is vastly undercounted. “You have to imagine that this is a fire. There’s something driving the fire in its heart, and it’s also expanding at the same time,” Ihekweazu said. Even with improvements to diagnostic testing and disease surveillance, roughly 80 percent of new confirmed cases are not linked to already known contact chains, confirming that large portions of transmission remain undetected by response teams.

    The outbreak has also taken a heavy toll on the frontline workforce: the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has confirmed at least 112 infections and 35 deaths among healthcare workers responding to the crisis. For aid organizations operating on the ground, rapidly shifting outbreak dynamics have made containment efforts far more challenging. Frederick Lai Manantsoa, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in DR Congo, explained that persistent insecurity, large-scale population movement and internal displacement have made routine surveillance and contact tracing increasingly difficult. “The success of the response depends on how quickly we can identify suspected cases, isolate them and cut the chain of transmission,” Manantsoa said. “There are several dynamics of the outbreak which make surveillance and contact tracing extremely complex.”

    Despite the grim outlook, global and local health authorities have recorded important progress toward addressing the outbreak. This week marked the launch of new clinical trials focused on developing effective treatments and preventive interventions for the Bundibugyo strain, marking a new phase in the global response. The EBO-PEP platform trial, based in Ituri Province, aims to recruit nearly 1,000 high-risk contacts across DR Congo and neighboring Uganda to test whether antiviral medications can prevent infection after exposure to the virus.

    Africa CDC has pledged $1 million to support the trial, while the governments of DR Congo and South Africa have committed an additional $5 million in combined funding. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the trial a potential turning point for Ebola response, noting that the research could create a “game-changing approach” for preventing infection among exposed people and improve global capacity to bring future outbreaks under control quickly.