Disease

As flood waters drop, Brazil faces a waterborne disease outbreak

Natural disasters

Heavy rain hit southern Brazil over the weekend, exacerbating the already unprecedented flooding tragedy the region has undergone since last April. Of the major concerns right now are respiratory illnesses and a bacterial disease that has already killed more than a dozen people.

Palestinians wait for humanitarian aid on a beachfront in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Feb. 25, 2024.

‘Everyone is worried about starvation’: Aid worker discusses dire situation in Gaza

Israel-Hamas war
parent holds child in doctor’s office

Why kids struggle with long COVID

COVID-19
Air quality levels have been bad in Accra since December as harmattan season kicks in across Ghana. The data coming in shows the situation is not improving.

Hazy skies over Accra: Harsh harmattan season in Ghana leads to health hazards, poor air quality

Climate Change
Children stand in front of the building of the Peruvian Congress as part of a call to demand accountability for cancer patients in Peru, September 2023.

Desperate cancer patients in Peru look for options across the Atlantic

Health & Medicine
COWS GRAZING ON A FARM WITH A GEEEN MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE

Cow plague threatening ranches in southern Europe

Disease

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD, is typically found in the tropics and affects cattle, deer and other animals. But due to abnormally high temperatures in Europe, cases are now spreading quickly across Spain, Italy and France. The virus causes internal bleeding, miscarriages and sterility. It’s rarely fatal, but ranchers are concerned for their animals and livelihoods.

man holding a sign with people passing by in the background

Spain to compensate thalidomide victims decades later

Health

Europe’s final victims of a drug scandal dating back more than half a century are finally being compensated. Partially, at least.

landfill

Trash sorters in Ghana face health and safety risks

Health

Waste pickers play an important role in the recycling process. But for waste pickers working in a landfill in Accra, Ghana, it’s dangerous work.

COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York, April 5, 2023.

Pandemic recovery will require much focus and attention, Dr. Atul Gawande says

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed about 7 million people worldwide, ravaging health care systems and economies. Dr. Atul Gawande, head of global health at the US Agency for International Development, spoke with The World’s Carolyn Beeler about how pandemic recovery “will require as much focus and attention as it did when it first started.”

A woman walks outside of a COVID-19 testing center at the Incheon International Airport In Incheon, South Korea, on Feb. 10, 2023. 

‘The pandemic is still with us’: The bumpy road to the end of COVID

COVID-19

Pinpointing the “end” of the coronavirus pandemic depends on the vantage point. The World’s host Marco Werman spoke with Dr. Michael Mina, a leading epidemiologist and the chief science officer at EMed, a digital health care company, along with Zeynep Tufekci, a sociologist and professor at Columbia University, to learn more about the “bumpy, difficult off-ramp” from COVID-19.