分类： health

New Zealand-based dairy giant The A2 Milk Company, owner of one of Australia’s most beloved milk brands, has initiated a voluntary recall of three specific batches of its A2 Platinum infant formula from the United States market after testing confirmed the presence of cereulide, a powerful bacterial toxin.

The recalled products were distributed exclusively to U.S. consumers through three sales channels: the company’s official website, major e-commerce platform Amazon, and regional retail chain Meijer. In total, approximately 16,428 units of the affected formula were sold to customers across the country.

Cereulide, the toxin identified in the recalled batches, triggers acute gastrointestinal symptoms that typically onset between 30 minutes and six hours after consumption. The most common reactions include nausea and repeated vomiting. While most healthy adults experience mild, self-resolving symptoms within a short period, infants face elevated risks due to their underdeveloped immune systems. The toxin can lead to dangerous rapid dehydration in young children, so healthcare providers urge caregivers to seek immediate medical attention if an infant displays any adverse symptoms after consuming the affected product.

The company confirmed that, as of the recall announcement, it has not received any reports of illness, injury, or adverse health events linked to the affected batches. A2 Milk managing director and chief executive officer David Bortolussi moved quickly to reassure consumers that the recall is an isolated incident limited solely to the U.S. market. Bortolussi emphasized that all A2 Milk products sold in other regions, including the company’s key Australian domestic market, remain completely unaffected and safe for consumption.

Full details of the recalled batches are as follows: batch number 2210269454 with a use-by date of July 15, 2026; batch number 2210324609 with a use-by date of January 21, 2027; and batch number 2210321712 with a use-by date of January 15, 2027. The company is advising all customers who have purchased any of these batches to immediately stop using the product, dispose of it safely, or return it to the original point of purchase for a refund.

Shortly after the recall was made public, the company’s shares dropped sharply on the Australian Securities Exchange. The Auckland-based firm’s stock closed down 12% from its opening price, falling from AU$7.27 to AU$6.49 in the wake of the announcement, reflecting investor concern over potential reputational and financial impacts from the incident.

Three deaths linked to a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard an expedition cruise ship have triggered an international public health response, with the World Health Organization’s European branch moving quickly to calm public fears on Monday, confirming the broader population faces only minimal risk of transmission. The incident has also spurred Dutch authorities to launch coordinated planning for the medical repatriation of two currently ill passengers still aboard the vessel.\n\nHans Kluge, WHO Europe’s regional director, emphasized in an official statement that there is no justification for widespread panic or the imposition of travel bans related to the event. He noted that hantavirus infections are rare in human populations, and most cases stem from direct exposure to excrement, urine, or saliva of virus-carrying rodents, rather than widespread community spread.\n\nThis is the first public confirmation from the ship’s operator, Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions, regarding the three fatalities aboard the MV Hondius, which was sailing on an itinerary from Ushuaia, Argentina, to a stopover in Cape Verde, an island nation off West Africa’s Atlantic coast. Of the three people who died, two passed away while the vessel was still underway, and the third died shortly after disembarking. Currently, one passenger is receiving intensive care for the virus in a Johannesburg hospital, while two other passengers on board remain in need of urgent medical attention.\n\nOceanwide Expeditions confirmed that Dutch authorities have taken the lead on a multinational effort to repatriate the two symptomatic passengers from Cape Verde to the Netherlands for treatment. The evacuation is still pending, however, as it requires formal approval from Cape Verdean local health and government officials, a process that remains ongoing as of Monday.\n\nAn Agence France-Presse photographer on the ground in Cape Verde confirmed the MV Hondius remained anchored in the port of Praia, the nation’s capital, as of Monday morning. A spokesperson for the Dutch foreign ministry told AFP that the government is actively evaluating all options to medically evacuate the small group of ill passengers from the vessel, and will take over full coordination of the operation once it is approved.\n\nLocal medical teams have already boarded the ship to assess the condition of the two symptomatic passengers, but Cape Verdean officials have not yet granted permission to move the patients to onshore medical facilities. In a statement, Oceanwide Expeditions noted that full disembarkation and universal medical screening for all passengers and crew require close alignment with local public health protocols, and the operator remains in constant communication with Cape Verdean authorities to advance the process.\n\nThe WHO said it has prioritized support for the response to the hantavirus incident, calling the three deaths a tragic loss of life. “WHO Europe is working closely with all affected countries to provide support for patient care, evacuation coordination, on-the-ground epidemiological investigation, and ongoing public health risk assessment,” the agency said.\n\nTo date, hantavirus has only been officially confirmed in the passenger receiving treatment in Johannesburg. Operator officials stressed that it has not yet been definitively proven that the virus caused the three deaths, nor has the virus been confirmed in the two symptomatic passengers still aboard the MV Hondius. “The exact cause of the fatalities and any potential connection to the suspected outbreak are still under active investigation,” the company said.\n\nAs of Sunday, WHO officials confirmed one laboratory-confirmed hantavirus case and five additional suspected cases linked to the voyage. While human-to-human transmission of hantavirus is rare, the UN health agency noted that it is possible, and the virus can cause life-threatening respiratory illness that requires constant close monitoring and urgent supportive care.

A serious public health incident is unfolding on a cruise ship anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, where three people have already died amid a suspected hantavirus outbreak, and Dutch authorities are set to lead a coordinated mission to repatriate two acutely ill passengers still on board, the vessel’s operator has confirmed.

In its first official public statement addressing the crisis, Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions, which operates the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, acknowledged the unfolding “serious medical situation” on the vessel. The ship was mid-voyage, traveling north from Ushuaia, Argentina toward Cape Verde when the outbreak began.

The operator has verified three fatalities connected to the incident: two deaths occurred on board the ship, while a third victim died after disembarking earlier for emergency care. One passenger is already receiving intensive care treatment in a Johannesburg hospital, where hantavirus has been confirmed in their case. Two remaining symptomatic passengers on the MV Hondius now require urgent, advanced medical intervention that cannot be adequately provided on the vessel.

Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed that Dutch authorities have committed to leading a joint international effort to medically evacuate and repatriate the two symptomatic people from the ship’s current position off Cape Verde to medical facilities in the Netherlands. The evacuation and repatriation effort remains contingent on multiple key approvals, most notably formal authorization from local Cape Verdean authorities, which has not yet been granted. While local medical practitioners have already boarded the vessel to evaluate the health status of the two passengers, permission to move them to onshore medical facilities in Cape Verde is still pending.

A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the department is actively assessing all logistical and regulatory options to carry out the medical evacuation of the affected passengers. “If this can take place, the ministry of foreign affairs will coordinate it,” the spokesperson said.

Oceanwide Expeditions added that it remains in constant close communication with Cape Verdean health authorities to coordinate plans for full disembarkation and universal medical screening of all passengers and crew once local approval is secured.

Though hantavirus has been confirmed in the Johannesburg patient, operators emphasize that it has not yet been definitively linked to the three recorded deaths, and neither has hantavirus been confirmed in the two symptomatic patients still on the ship. “The exact cause and any possible connection are under investigation,” the company said.

The World Health Organization released an update on the incident Sunday, confirming one laboratory-positive case of hantavirus and five additional suspected cases. The U.N. health agency noted that while hantavirus infections in humans are rare, human-to-human transmission is possible, and the pathogen can cause life-threatening severe respiratory illness that requires constant specialized monitoring and supportive care.

Hantavirus is most commonly transmitted to humans from contact with rodent excreta, according to global public health data.

Australia is facing the early emergence of an unregulated public health crisis linked to unapproved nicotine pouches, with top medical authorities calling on the federal government to act fast to close regulatory gaps before the problem escalates into a repeat of the nation’s devastating vaping epidemic.

In an official submission shared with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the Australian Medical Association (AMA) is pressing the Albanese Government to immediately close existing loopholes that are allowing unapproved nicotine-containing products to flow freely into the domestic Australian market. As federal AMA vice president Associate Professor Julian Rait emphasized, regulatory inaction right now will allow these addictive products to become deeply entrenched across the country, a mistake Australia has already made with unregulated vapes in recent years.

Currently, not a single nicotine pouch product holds formal approval on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), yet these products are widely available to consumers, including minors, Rait says. Unlike approved therapeutic nicotine products intended to help adults quit smoking, these unregulated pouches are marketed with bright, youth-appealing branding and sold through online platforms with almost no barriers to purchase. Some products have been found to carry extremely high concentrations of the addictive substance: independent, non-industry research has recorded nicotine levels as high as 150mg per pouch – equivalent to 50 cigarettes, given a 30mg pouch matches the nicotine content of a single conventional cigarette.

Beyond addiction, these unregulated pouches carry confirmed negative health impacts for users, Rait explained. Common adverse effects include persistent mouth and gum irritation, gastrointestinal distress, nausea, and elevated blood pressure, with long-term health risks still understudied because of the product’s unapproved status.

The submission also highlights that the combination of fast-growing social media promotion, loose online sales rules, and the rising use of unregulated synthetic nicotine has stretched Australia’s patchwork current regulatory framework to breaking point. Rait warned that without updated, technology-neutral national regulations and consistent cross-jurisdictional enforcement, unlicensed suppliers will keep exploiting grey market gaps to reach Australian consumers.

To address the crisis, the AMA is calling for a suite of targeted public health safeguards. These include mandatory, effective online compliance protocols to remove illicit product listings, clear and standardized health warnings on all packaging, child-resistant packaging requirements to prevent accidental child poisoning, and enhanced national monitoring of adverse health events and poisoning cases to inform ongoing regulatory adjustments.

Right now, Australia’s response to nicotine pouches is fragmented: state and territory governments have implemented inconsistent rules, with only a handful of jurisdictions such as South Australia and Queensland acting to restrict the products under existing tobacco legislation, while others have taken no formal action. The AMA’s proposed national regulatory framework would harmonize rules across the country, simplify enforcement for local authorities, eliminate inconsistencies between regions, and create a unified, robust enforcement environment to block unapproved products from the market.

“Without urgent federal action, we risk repeating every mistake that allowed the vaping epidemic to take hold and harm a generation of young Australians,” Rait said.

Twelve years ago, Chrissy Walters’ life changed forever. Six months after welcoming her long-awaited first daughter into the world following years of fertility struggles, the Toowoomba resident was rushed to hospital with a severe internal bleed. After multiple tests, biopsies and specialist appointments, the 39-year-old received a devastating diagnosis: advanced cervical cancer.

Today, after more than a decade of grueling, invasive treatments, Walters’ cancer has spread throughout her body, and her condition is terminal. For her 12-year-old daughter, cervical cancer has been a constant presence throughout her life – the family began having open conversations about Walters’ mortality when the girl was just three years old. Now, as her daughter reaches the age Australia’s national immunization program targets for HPV vaccination, Walters holds onto the hope that her daughter’s generation will be the first to grow up free of the disease that is taking her life.

Australia is well on its way to making that hope a reality. On track to become the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat – potentially beating its 2035 target – the nation has built on decades of local innovation and public health investment to reach this historic cusp. The story of Australia’s progress begins in 2006, when University of Queensland scientists Ian Frazer and Jian Zhou developed Gardasil, the world’s first effective vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common high-risk cause of cervical cancer. A year later, Australia became the first country to roll out a national HPV vaccination program for adolescent girls, expanding the program to include boys (who can be asymptomatic carriers of the virus) in 2013.

Alongside widespread vaccination, Australia has implemented a world-leading screening program that has drastically improved early detection. In 2017, it became one of the first nations to replace traditional pap smears with more sensitive HPV-based screening, which only needs to be completed once every five years. It also introduced the option of self-collected samples, a change public health officials call a game-changer for people who avoid screening due to anxiety about pelvic exams, or barriers like limited time or geographic distance from healthcare services.

Public health experts define elimination of cervical cancer as fewer than four new cases per 100,000 people annually. As of the latest data, Australia already records 6.3 new cases per 100,000 women, down from double that rate when national record-keeping began in 1982. Most notably, 2021 data recorded zero new diagnoses of cervical cancer in women under 25 – a landmark that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. Karen Canfell, a leading epidemiologist at the University of Sydney and global pioneer in cervical cancer control, says the end of cervical cancer as a widespread public health threat is in sight. “It’s not all women of all ages yet, but you can see that concept of elimination being realised,” she notes.

Canfell adds that Australia’s early investment in vaccination and screening has served as a blueprint for the World Health Organization’s global elimination strategy, making the country a trailblazer in the first global effort to eliminate any form of cancer. “Public health innovations in Australia sort of gave a general exemplar for WHO to follow,” she says.

Despite this remarkable progress, significant challenges remain. The latest progress report highlights a small but concerning decline in vaccination coverage across the country, with stark disparities for First Nations communities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women currently face twice the rate of cervical cancer diagnoses and three times the mortality rate of non-Indigenous Australian women, due to long-standing barriers to healthcare access that often lead to late detection. On current trends, cervical cancer elimination for Indigenous Australian women will not come until 2047 – 12 years after the national 2035 target.

Researchers add that other barriers, including lingering vaccine hesitancy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising healthcare costs, and missed school-based vaccinations among students who have missed class time, are slowing progress. Many families also remain unaware that the HPV vaccine is fully free under Australia’s universal healthcare system, and there is no systematic national program to help children catch up on missed doses. “There’s not a lot of a concerted effort to get them back in if they’ve missed it… The onus is very much on families to get their child caught up on that vaccine,” explains researcher Jocelyn Jones.

Beyond Australia’s borders, high implementation costs remain a major barrier to replicating the nation’s success in low- and middle-income countries, which often lack the robust public health infrastructure and funding needed to roll out widespread vaccination and screening programs. Global aid cuts have exacerbated this gap: in 2025, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced the end of American support for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance that supplies HPV vaccines to developing nations. Australia has stepped in to support neighboring nations including Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea to pursue their own elimination goals, but Canfell notes that high-income countries hold a unique advantage. “To say the obvious thing, we are obviously lucky to be in a high-income country where we have a form of universal healthcare and access for all,” she says.

Canfell argues that eliminating cervical cancer is a worthwhile long-term investment for all nations, pointing to not only the saved lives and societal benefits but also tangible economic returns: when women do not die prematurely from cervical cancer, they remain active in the workforce and boost national economic productivity.

Currently, Australia is in a quiet global race to be the first to reach elimination, with Sweden and Rwanda targeting 2027 and the UK targeting 2040, though all other nations currently lag behind Australia on key coverage milestones. For terminal patient Chrissy Walters, who describes living with cervical cancer as a full-time job that has left her with debilitating side effects, crippling fatigue and crippling financial stress even under Australia’s universal healthcare system, the progress could not come soon enough. While she will not live to see a world free of cervical cancer, she holds onto the hope that her daughter’s generation will never have to experience the pain and loss the disease has brought her family. That future, for Australia, is now within reach.