This winter’s Covid wave in the United States has been the gentlest to date, in a welcome reprieve.

Long COVID impacting more than 1 million children: CDC study suggests A new CDC study published Monday found that more than 1 million children were affected by long COVID in 2023. Higher levels were found in lower-income households. ABC News ABC News

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Long COVID, a condition that occurs when patients still have symptoms at least three months after clearing infection, has been well-documented in adults, but its impact on children has been less clear.

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Uganda begins Ebola vaccine trial after new outbreak kills a nurse and infects 2 other people Ugandan authorities have begun a clinical trial of a vaccine against the Sudan strain of Ebola that has killed one person in the outbreak declared last week ABC News ABC News

...This is the first trial to assess the efficacy of a vaccine against the Sudan strain, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Rubio says he’s acting director of USAID as humanitarian agency is taken over by the State Department | CNN Politics Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that he is acting administrator the US Agency for International Development, confirming the de-facto takeover of the humanitarian agency by the State Department. Jennifer Hansler, Lauren Kent, Alex Marquardt, Kevin Liptak CNN

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US health websites, datasets taken down as agencies comply with Trump executive orders | CNN Several US government health websites and resources have been taken down or modified as agencies comply with executive orders from President Donald Trump. Jen Christensen, Nick Valencia, Jacqueline Howard, Deidre McPhillips, Brenda Goodman CNN

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Trump administration’s communication freeze restricted access to critical bird flu information Veterinarians treating cows are waiting for test results to determine their risk. But they’re facing delays Yahoo News

... the Trump administration has blocked the release of some of the information used to protect against H5N1 and understand this risk, including studies that show how frequently veterinarians who treat cows had been unknowingly infected.

Bird flu crisis enters new phase While the developments may not raise the risk of a pandemic, they could create more havoc for farmers, worsen egg shortages and expose surveillance gaps. Adriel Bettelheim,Tina Reed Axios

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Trump's orders sow chaos in global public health

A recent flurry of executive orders and surprise actions by the Trump administration have roiled the international public health community, leaving healthcare workers scrambling and aid programs in peril. 

On January 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order pausing U.S. foreign development assistance for 90 days to assess “programmatic efficiencies and consistency.” The ripple effects spread immediately. On January 24, the State Department put out a stop-work order halting foreign aid work. And on January 27, the Trump administration placed dozens of officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.