Measles-linked deaths recorded since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took office have surpassed those recorded in the previous 20 years combined.

Since 2025, there have been five confirmed deaths related to measles—three CDC-confirmed measles deaths in 2025 and two deaths in 2026.

---

Public health officials say with the rise of conspiracy thinking at the highest echelons of our national government, the next pandemic response could be so much worse. But they did have one potentially innovative and surprising, if disconcerting, solution to our national public health information crisis: A.I. has the potential to help stave off a conspiratorial catastrophe during the next pandemic.

---

Center’s Tracking Report brings vital information to readers everywhere
PROVIDENCE — “Public distrust of public health guidance from the government is being fueled by what seems to be a never-ending, ubiquitous — and dangerous — current of phony science and false claims,” Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo states in the Pandemic Center 2025-26 Impact Report.

As kids embark on a new school year, newly released data shows that more kindergartners are heading to class with vaccine exemptions.

Jennifer Nuzzo, the director of Brown University's Pandemic Center, said that rise in vaccine exemptions is enough to cause concerns about disease outbreaks in schools.

---

Accelerating Defence and Health Capabilities for Medical Countermeasures Readiness

In a combative interview on CNN, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opened the conversation with a throwback claim.

“We had the highest death rate from COVID of any nation on earth,” Kennedy said. When host Dana Bash challenged him, Kennedy doubled down: “What I said was accurate. We had the highest death rate from COVID.”

---

A food-borne parasite wreaking havoc on digestive systems has Americans on alert this summer.

A parasite present in water and food contaminated by human excrement is making life miserable for thousands of Americans. The parasite is cyclospora and the illness it causes is cyclosporiasis. Most who contract it can recover without needing treatment, though it can persist for a month or more. (A long time to endure symptoms that include “explosive diarrhea.”)

---

Plans are underway to launch a phase 3 trial of an existing Ebola vaccine to fight the ongoing deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO told Healio.

---

President Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing what his administration framed as "gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations" for 11 "core" vaccinations.

The order follows previous steps by the administration to reduce the number of vaccinations a typical American child receives, including a government report published in January that found that kids in the U.S. get more shots than kids in peer nations.

---

The 2026 Africa Health Security (AHS) Index was developed with that principle and goal in mind. This independent assessment of health security capacities across Africa provides leaders with evidence so they can direct resources and strengthen resilience against future epidemic and pandemics threats.

To mark the release of the Index, NTI, the Brown University Pandemic Center, Economic Enterprise, and Science for Africa Foundation hosted a discussion to highlight the Index’s findings. The conversation brought together African and global experts who outlined remaining capacity gaps and offered recommendations to advance health security across the continent.

Americans have been frightened for weeks by cyclosporiasis, a sickness with diarrhea-like symptoms caused by a parasite on shredded iceberg lettuce.

Now, with more cases potentially on the horizon, fearful customers are turning to alternative sources of lettuce not hit by the outbreak. One of those providers is Little Leaf Farms in Shirley.

---