A new study paints a complex picture of the outbreak, suggesting that the virus could be spreading in multiple ways and that it is not always mild in cows.As the bird flu outbreak in dairy cows has ballooned, officials have provided repeated reassurances: The virus typically causes mild illness in cows, they have said, and because it spreads primarily through milk, it can be curbed by taking extra precautions when moving cows and equipment.A new study, published in Nature on Tuesday, presents a more complex picture.Some farms have reported a significant spike in cow deaths, according to the paper, which investigated outbreaks on nine farms in four states. The virus, known as H5N1, was also present in more than 20 percent of nasal swabs collected from cows. And it spread widely to other species, infecting cats, raccoons and wild birds, which may have transported the virus to new locations.“There’s probably multiple pathways of spread and dissemination of this virus,” said Diego Diel, a virologist at Cornell University and an author of the study. “I think it will be really difficult to control it at this point.”The outbreak, which officials first announced in March, has spread to at least 170 dairy farms in 13 states, according to the Department of Agriculture. It has also jumped into poultry farms and infected at least 10 farmworkers exposed to infected cows or poultry.The exact origins of the outbreak remain unknown, but scientists believe that the version of H5N1 that is now circulating in dairy herds probably jumped into cows just once, most likely in late 2023 in the Texas Panhandle.In the new study, the scientists focused on nine farms — five in Texas, two in New Mexico and one each in Kansas and Ohio — that reported outbreaks between Feb. 11 and March 19. When they analyzed samples of the virus taken from affected farms, they found that those samples were closely related to one collected from an infected wild skunk in New Mexico in February.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Science Photo LibraryA woman had to be tested for HIV after being given a vaginal examination with a swab already used on another patient, the health ombudsman has said.

Progress in the quest to help progeria patients suggests that gene editing techniques may help treat other ultrarare conditions.A cure for an ultrarare disease, progeria, could be on the horizon. The disease speeds up aging in children and dramatically shortens their lives. But, until recently, there was no path toward a highly effective treatment.Now, a small group of academics and government scientists, including Dr. Francis Collins, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, is working with no expectation of financial gain to halt progeria in its tracks with an innovative gene editing technique.If gene editing is effective in slowing or halting progeria, researchers say, the method may also help to treat other rare genetic diseases that have no treatments or cures and, like progeria, have aroused little interest from drug companies.After a quarter-century of research, the group is approaching manufacturers and planning to seek approval from regulators for a clinical trial on progeria gene editing.The project “has merit, but also risk,” said Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a gene editing researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, who also advises a gene editing company. He cautioned that although the editing worked well in mice, there is no guarantee that it will work in human patients.Dr. Collins first became interested in progeria while he was training in medical genetics at Yale University in 1982, almost three decades before he was appointed to lead the N.I.H. One day, he saw a new patient, Meg Casey. She was less than four feet tall, hairless under her wig and wrinkled like an older woman. She was only in her 20s.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Getty ImagesWeight-loss treatment Wegovy has been approved by the UK’s medicines regulator, for reducing the risk of serious heart problems in overweight and obese people.

Family handoutsTwo premature babies died within weeks of each other after neglect by a hospital, an inquest jury has found.

A young woman died months after begging her GP for help with her chronic fatigue syndrome, an inquest heard.

Many other conditions have similar symptoms, experts say, so avoid the pull of self-diagnosis.The 6-year-old boy sitting across from Douglas Tynan, a child and adolescent clinical psychologist based in Delaware, clearly did not have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Dr. Tynan was sure of that. But the boy’s first-grade teacher disagreed.He could be inattentive in class, but at home his behavior wasn’t out of the ordinary for a child his age. A voracious reader, he told Dr. Tynan that he liked to bring his own books to school because the ones in class were too easy.What his teacher had not considered was that the child was most likely academically gifted, as his mother had been as a child, Dr. Tynan said. (Studies have shown that Black children, like the boy in his office, are less likely to be identified for gifted programs.)Further testing revealed that Dr. Tynan was correct. The child wasn’t inattentive in school because of A.D.H.D. It was because he was bored.A.D.H.D. is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood and typically involves inattention, disorganization, hyperactivity and impulsivity that cause trouble in two or more settings, like at home and at school.But those symptoms — for children and adults alike — can overlap with a multitude of other traits and disorders. In fact, difficulty concentrating is one of the most common symptoms listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual, and it’s associated with 17 diagnoses, according to a study published in April.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

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A fierce battle with Georgia over a Medicaid experiment with stricter enrollment underscores the vast divide between parties over how to cover lower-income Americans.The Affordable Care Act was once a potent electoral issue that could swing campaigns with its more familiar moniker, Obamacare. But the 2010 health law, a core piece of President Biden’s re-election campaign, did not factor into last week’s Republican National Convention.The Republican National Committee’s platform made only vague reference to a Trump health plan, saying that the party will “increase transparency, promote choice and competition, and expand access to new affordable health care.” Former President Donald J. Trump, who said last year he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to Obamacare, made little reference to health policy in his speech on Thursday accepting the Republican nomination.The fight over Obamacare has instead shifted more to state capitals, in part because a provision of the law allows states — which jointly finance Medicaid with the federal government — to expand their programs to cover more adults.No state represents the continuing divisions over the Affordable Care Act’s place in the safety net more than Georgia, one of the last 10 holdouts that have refused to take up Medicaid expansion.Last July, Georgia officials implemented a stricter alternative to Medicaid expansion, known as Georgia Pathways to Coverage. The new program required participants to show that they were working, enrolled in college or doing community service for at least 80 hours each month — activities that Republican state lawmakers said would encourage a spirit of accountability among recipients of publicly subsidized health benefits.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 28 people had been hospitalized with listeria infections across a dozen states.At least two people have died and more than two dozen others have been sickened in an outbreak of listeria that appears to be connected to meat sliced at delis, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The fatalities were recorded in Illinois and New Jersey, the agency said. In all, 28 people across 12 states have been hospitalized with an infection of the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes since May, the C.D.C. said on Friday.“Many people in this outbreak are reporting eating meats that they had sliced at deli counters,” the agency said, adding that the true number of people infected was most likely higher.New York has reported the most cases at seven, followed by Maryland with six. States that have also reported cases include: Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.Patients who gave samples that tested positive for the bacteria between May 29 and July 5 were 32 to 94 years old, including one pregnant person who recovered, according to the investigation.The C.D.C. said public health investigators were using a national database of DNA fingerprints of bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses to identify specific products that had been contaminated.DNA fingerprinting is performed on bacteria using a method called whole genome sequencing, which showed that bacteria from samples of those infected were closely related genetically, suggesting that people became ill from eating the same foods.The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service was working to identify the suppliers of meats, sliced at deli counters, purchased in the outbreak.“Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food,” the C.D.C. said. “Refrigeration does not kill Listeria, but reheating to a high enough temperature before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats.”The agency said that it had no evidence of listeria bacteria infections tied to prepackaged deli meats.Listeria bacteria, which are naturally found in soil, can contaminate many foods. When ingested, they are most harmful to people who are pregnant, people who are at least 65 years old or those who have weakened immune systems.Listeria infection is the third leading cause of death from food-borne illness in the United States, according to the C.D.C.Possible symptoms from an infection include fever, muscle aches and tiredness. Listeria can cause pregnancy loss, premature birth and life-threatening infections in newborns. For people who are 65 years or older, or with a weakened immune system, listeria often results in hospitalization and sometimes death.Public health authorities in Canada this month reported that two people had died from listeriosis after consuming plant-based alternatives to dairy milk. In June, dozens of ice cream products were recalled by the manufacturer Totally Cool after the Food and Drug Administration warned of possible listeria contamination.In 2023, several listeria outbreaks were reported, including ones tied to leafy greens, ice cream and peaches, nectarines and plums.