The government is warning people not to handle tiny turtles because of the risk of contracting salmonella. The problem is, it has been warning us for 40 years and we're still getting sick.
Consumers should avoid Maradol papayas from Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak has spread to 16 states, and one death has been reported.
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who leads the Georgia Department of Public Health, has been appointed CDC director. She'll take over as the Trump administration seeks big cuts to the CDC's budget.
U.S. doctors are prescribing opioid painkillers less often and at lower doses, but at rates that are three times higher than their European counterparts, the CDC says.
The CDC says the death rate for black Americans fell 25 percent over 17 years and was especially dramatic for those 65 and older. But young black people are still dying earlier than white Americans.
Officials are working on an emergency import deal for another vaccine that is not licensed in the U.S. Even then, a limited number of doses will be available at only a small number of clinics.
Exposure to the tiny fibers in asbestos can lead people who work around the material to develop mesothelioma, a cancer of the thin membranes that line the chest and abdomen.
The Zika virus continues to impact a small number of pregnant women and their babies in the U.S., and there is no sign of it slowing down. "Zika is here to stay," the CDC's acting director says.
The National Institutes of Health, which funds research in treatments and cures, could lose 20 percent of its budget under the administration's proposal. More money would go for addiction treatment.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants more flexibility in deciding whom to quarantine and why. But critics say the changes the agency has proposed raise civil liberties questions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says smoking rates have fallen from 21 percent of the adult population in 2005 to 15 percent in 2015, when the agency conducted its latest survey.
The fungus Candida auris has infected hospitalized patients with weakened immune systems or other serious conditions. Four of the seven patients died, but it's unclear if the fungus was the cause.
Pregnant women in South Florida can get free Zika tests through the state's health department. But delays in getting back the results are heightening worries and may affect medical options.
The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend using the nasal spray flu vaccine. In late August, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded it wasn't up to snuff.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded its advice to travelers, advising pregnant women to avoid parts of Miami Beach where the Zika virus is spreading.
More than $7 billion in drugs, vaccines and supplies are stashed in warehouses to be tapped in case of a pandemic or an attack with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. NPR got a peek at one.
A few months ago, health officials published a map that made it look like a big part of the U.S. was at high risk for Zika. Now they've released a new map that paints a very different picture.
The message about reducing the risk from the Aedes aegypti mosquito is the same today as it was 70 years ago. This time there's just a new virus involved.
NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Debra Houry, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about new opioid guidelines.
U.S. disease detectives are launching a research project that health authorities hope will produce the most definitive evidence yet about whether the virus is really causing birth defects.
A fungal disease can rob people with HIV of sight and hearing, cause painful headaches, even kill them. A test could detect the disease early enough to wipe it out. So why isn't the test in wide use?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health say they're working to combat Zika. Their plans include developing lab tests and a vaccine.
