Australia's avian influenza outbreak is experiencing a worrying new development—the virus is beginning to hit wild birds on a large scale, with seabirds and pengs dying one after another.

This time, the situation was not just about "finding a few infected birds."

Recently, large numbers of seabird deaths have been observed in South Australia and Tasmania, with over 1,000 Crested Terns found dead at one location in South Australia

The Michigan health department on Wednesday confirmed a locally acquired case of eastern equine encephalitis, a rare mosquito-borne disease.

The patient, a resident of Roscommon County, is the first human case of the disease reported in Michigan ‌since 2021, ⁠the state ⁠health department said, adding that no animal Eastern equine encephalitis activity was detected in Michigan prior to this.

On 13 Aug 2026, the Government of Castile and León confirmed a case of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Salamanca province; the patient — a 71-year-old male with pre-existing conditions — is believed to have been infected via a tick bite in a small village in the Béjar region and is hospitalised in serious condition at Hospital Gómez Ulla in Madrid. This case is the third case in Salamanca province and the fourth case reported in Spain in 2026 so far.

ECDC reported one confirmed case of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in the Tropojë district, northern Albania; disease onset was 22 Jul 2026, with hospitalization on 24 Jul 2026. The patient is a livestock farmer who owns animals. The patient subsequently recovered and was discharged from the hospital. Diagnosis was confirmed on 04 Aug 2026 via dual laboratory methods: CCHF virus RNA detection by RT-PCR and CCHF-specific antibodies by serology. Tropojë District had not previously been recognized as endemic for CCHF. However, cases have occurred elsewhere in the same county, Kukës, most recently in 2023.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Kent County Health Department (KCHD) and Ionia County Health Department have identified a human case of influenza A H1N2 variant (swine flu) in an Ionia County resident who was a swine exhibitor at the Kent County Youth Fair. The fair took place Aug. 3-8 at the Grand Agricultural Center of West Michigan in Lowell.

The individual tested presumptive positive at the MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories for swine flu and was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday.

MDHHS and KCHD have been reaching out to swine exhibitors and their families who visited the swine barns at the Kent County Youth Fair to identify any additional illnesses in those who may have been exposed to influenza from infected pigs. KCHD has alerted providers in the area to watch for patients presenting with respiratory symptoms who report exposure to swine or visited the fair.

One laboratory-confirmed human anthrax case was reported in Samukh District, Azerbaijan. The infected individual had a history of contact with cattle, suggesting animal-to-human transmission. Nine contacts who were exposed to the sick animal were identified, isolated, and tested. Authorities have traced all known contacts and placed them under medical observation. Officials stated there is no evidence of wider community transmission and the situation is under control. Anthrax is a zoonotic disease usually acquired through contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products; human-to-human transmission is extremely rare. Public health and veterinary authorities are conducting epidemiological investigations and response measures.

A new genetic variant of the Bundibugyo virus, which causes a form of Ebola disease, has been identified by scientists studying the 2026 epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The study, published in the journal "Nature Medicine," concludes that the strain circulating today is not a resurgence of the variants that caused previous outbreaks in the region. On the contrary, it appears to have emerged from a new transmission of the virus from animals to humans.
However, the exact animal source of the virus remains unknown. Researchers reached this conclusion by analyzing 22 genomes of the virus from patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

Source link:

The Ministry of Health of the State of Querétaro (SESA) confirmed a new case of human myiasis caused by the screwworm, bringing the state cumulative during 2026 to five people affected by this disease. Human myiasis is an infestation caused by the larvae of the fly Cochliomyia hominivorax, known as cattle screwworm.

Kabale District has recorded three deaths from laboratory-confirmed Rift Valley Fever, with health authorities stepping up disease surveillance and response measures amid concerns over continued transmission among livestock.