Disease

Coal miners walk through a tunnel at the Consol Energy Bailey Mine in Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania in 2013.

Why Black Lung Disease Is Deadlier Than Ever Before

As President Trump prepares to send miners back to work, a near-obsolete illness is once again ravaging coal country

Black lung x-rays from a patient in Birmingham, Alabama, 1972

Study Uncovers Startling Number of Black Lung Cases in Coal Miners

Miners are contracting the disease with striking frequency and at younger ages than ever before

Genetic testing is opening up new ethical questions for parents.

Now You Can Genetically Test Your Child For Disease Risks. Should You?

Genomics is cheaper and more available then ever, but its usefulness for parents has yet to be proven

Perhaps all this little bug needs is a few good swats.

Swatting May Teach Mosquitoes to Avoid Your Scent

Though it won't work for all species, <em>Aedes aegypti</em> mosquitos seem to have a memory for near-death experiences

Healthcare providers leave a village after completion of a culling operation in response to a bird flu outbreak in Budgebudge, West Bengal, India.

The Pandemic Everyone Fears Is Flu In the Wrong Place At the Wrong Time

Governments should constantly be preparing for outbreaks, instead of just hastily responding to threats as they arise

Dr. Kevin Olival and the USAID PREDICT wildlife team surveying areas for bat trapping at the entrance to a cave in Thailand.

Can Virus Hunters Stop the Next Pandemic Before It Happens?

A global project is looking to animals to map the world's disease hotspots. Are they going about it the right way?

Simply Exhaling May Spread Flu

A new study suggests the virus is found in tiny airborne particles that can be released while breathing

Newborn saiga calf nestling in the arms of a scientist of the joint health monitoring team.

Over 200,000 Endangered Antelope Suddenly Die Thanks to ... Weird Weather?

A change in humidity seems to have triggered bacteria that led to widespread death of the creatures

Are Rats Innocent of Spreading the Black Plague?

Human pests like fleas and lice may be responsible for spreading the pandemic that devastated Medieval Europe

Why Holding in a Sneeze Can Be Dangerous

A 34-year-old man squeezed while holding nose closed, leading to a tear in his throat and a stay in the hospital

An etching of carts laden with corpses in the Piazza San Babila, Milan during the plague of 1630.

How Proteins Helped Scientists Read Between the Lines of a 1630 Plague Death Registry

New tech reveals bacterial contamination, what scribes were eating and how many rats were around

Nilgai antelope, like the cattle fever ticks they carry, are considered an invasive species in places like Texas.

Why We Should Rethink How We Talk About "Alien" Species

In a trend that echoes the U.S.-Mexico border debate, some say that calling non-native animals "foreigners" and "invaders" only worsens the problem

The mummified remains of a small child that bears evidence of an ancient Hepatitis B infection.

16th-Century Child Mummy Had Oldest Known Case of Hepatitis B

Long thought to suffer from smallpox, the genome of the 500-year-old mummy shows signs of HPB

A bat undergoing a UV light treatment

UV Light Could Help Stop the Bat-Killing White Nose Syndrome

Research shows the fungus is susceptible to UV light. The problem is getting bats into the tanning beds

When a Medical “Cure” Makes Things Much, Much Worse

In 1960s Japan, a bizarre outbreak of hairy green tongues failed to set off alarms around the world

The newly lifted funding ban allows for more research of viruses like influenza, SARS, and MERS. But critics worry it's a risky step.

NIH Lifts Ban on Funding High-Risk Virus Research

Manipulating viruses could help prepare the U.S. for future pandemics, but it could also risk starting the next outbreak

Thomas Cole's The Course of Empire: Desolation, 1836

How Climate Change and Plague Helped Bring Down the Roman Empire

We can learn crucial lessons by examining the natural forces that shaped Rome's rise and fall

Two nurses observe a young child suspected to have bird flu at an observation room in the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

Where Would Pandemic Flu Wreak the Most Havoc?

A virulent flu strain would overwhelm developing countries where health care systems are already floundering

Female match workers in the 1870s.

Friction Matches Were a Boon to Those Lighting Fires–Not So Much to Matchmakers

Those who worked in match factories were exposed to white phosphorus, which caused a debilitating and potentially deadly condition

The made-for-TV movie An Early Frost went beyond entertainment and provided actual medical information to families of those living with HIV/AIDS.

In the Early Years of the AIDS Epidemic, Families Got Help From an Unlikely Source

'An Early Frost' was a made-for-TV movie with a purpose beyond entertainment

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