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Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is recovering at home after being hospitalized for nearly a week for West Nile virus infection. Fauci, a leader of the U.S. Covid-19 response, spent six days in hospital as doctors tried to figure out what was responsible for his illness. It was thought he had a bacterial infection, or had been infected with a tick-borne disease, until a blood test showed he was “strongly positive” for West Nile virus. (Branswell, 8/24)

A rare but deadly disease spread by mosquitoes has nearly a dozen Massachusetts communities on alert, prompting some towns to close parks after dusk, restrict outdoor activities and reschedule public events. ... Ten communities are now designated at high or critical risk for the virus, health officials said Saturday. (Kaur, 8/25)

Sixteen floors above Central Park, Kris White keeps his gentler pathogens behind an unlocked stainless steel freezer door, in brightly colored boxes caked with frost. There’s an orange box of Zika, looking little different from a forgotten package of Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken, and a weakened form of SARS-CoV-2 in forest green. What White calls “the dangerous viruses” — wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and MERS, the camel-borne coronavirus with a 35% fatality rate — are stored under tighter lockdown upstairs. (Mast, 8/26)

The head of the World Health Organization called for global concerted action to control a new mpox outbreak, announcing a response plan that will require at least $135 million over the next six months. "Let me be clear: this new mpox outbreak can be controlled and can be stopped," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a speech to WHO member states on Friday, later posted on social media platform X. (8/23)

The first 10,000 mpox vaccines are finally due to arrive next week in Africa, where a dangerous new strain of the virus – which has afflicted people there for decades – has caused global alarm. The slow arrival of the shots – which have already been made available in more than 70 countries outside Africa – showed that lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic about global healthcare inequities have been slow to bring change, half a dozen public health officials and scientists said. (Rigby, 8/24)

The World Health Organization said on Friday its partners such as Gavi and UNICEF can start buying mpox vaccines before they are approved by the U.N. health agency, to get inoculations to Africa faster as the continent battles an escalating outbreak of the virus. Traditionally, organisations like Gavi, which helps lower-income countries buy vaccines, can only start purchasing shots once they have approval from the WHO. But the rules have been relaxed in this instance to get talks moving, as the WHO's approval is due in a few weeks. (Rigby, 8/23)

St. Louis-area doctors say they’re seeing an increase in interest from patients wanting to get vaccinated for mpox, a virus related to smallpox. Although cases of the disease are not increasing in the region, health officials still recommend at-risk patients get the vaccination for the virus. (Fentem, 8/23)

The claim: Trump warned mpox will be used as an excuse for electoral fraud and lockdowns. An Aug. 15 Facebook post shows former President Donald Trump delivering an address. “Trump warns of lockdowns and election fraud over monkeypox,” the post reads in Spanish. ... Our rating: False. Trump did not say that mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, would be used as an excuse for lockdowns or election fraud. The video is a year old and is referring to then-new COVID-19 variants, not mpox. (Morales, 8/23)

The claim: Mpox is a reaction to COVID-19 vaccines. An Aug. 17 Instagram post includes a video of a woman making an assertion about the real nature of mpox.  “Everyone needs to detox now!!” the post reads in part. “This is NOT a virus!! This is a side effect of the Covid Vaccines.” ... Our rating: False. COVID-19 vaccines have nothing to do with mpox, which is caused by a virus identified more than 60 years ago. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were first administered in late 2020. (Trela, 8/23)

Singapore will screen for mpox symptoms at border checkpoints, boosting precautionary measures against the virus after its outbreak was declared a global health emergency. Temperature and visual screening will start Friday at the island nation’s Changi and Seletar airports, as well as sea checkpoints, for inbound travelers and crew arriving from places where there’s risk of mpox outbreaks, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. Travelers who have fever, rash or symptoms compatible with mpox will be referred for medical assessment, it said. (Ossinger, 8/23)

he Philippines has confirmed two more mpox virus infections of the milder clade 2 variety, its health ministry said Monday, bringing the number of active cases to three. "We continue to see local transmission of mpox clade II here in the Philippines, in Metro Manila in particular," Health Minister Teodoro Herbosa said in a statement. (8/26)