Disease

A jar containing Ascaris, a parasitic worm that affects over one billion people worldwide

Parasites Are Everywhere. Why Do So Few Researchers Study Them?

Aging parasitologists are working hard to inspire more students to enter the field

The new adaptation of The Decameron is “like a medieval ‘Love Island,’ and it descends into Lord of the Flies chaos,” says actor Tanya Reynolds.

The Real Story Behind Netflix's 'The Decameron'

Loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio's 14th-century collection of short stories, the series follows a group of Italian nobles and servants who flee to the countryside to escape the Black Death

A team of Italian and Egyptian archaeologists discovered the tombs along the west bank of the Nile.

Trove of Tombs Sheds Light on How Ancient Egyptian Families Lived—and Died

The finds include mummies from many social classes, some of whom were buried alongside relatives after succumbing to disease

Tusks and other fossilized remains are all that's left of the woolly mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island thousands of years ago.

What Killed the Last Woolly Mammoths? Scientists Say It Wasn't Inbreeding

New research suggests some catastrophic event—such as a natural disaster or a virus—killed the world's last known population of mammoths on Wrangel Island

The new blood test, researchers hope, will help doctors diagnose Parkinson's disease years before symptoms occur, helping them provide more proactive treatments.

New Blood Test for Predicting Parkinson's Disease With A.I. Shows Promise, Study Suggests

In preliminary research, scientists identified eight protein anomalies in the blood of patients with Parkinson's, which they say can help diagnose the disease up to seven years before symptoms appear

The frog saunas are easy to make and cost around $50 to put together.

'Frog Saunas' May Be the Key to Saving Amphibians From a Deadly Fungal Infection

Providing frogs with sun-warmed bricks inside mini-greenhouses can help them recover from chytrid and make them more resilient against the disease in the future, a new study finds

The cemetery is located near a Spanish colonial church built in Huanchaco, Peru, around 1535.

16th-Century Skeletons of Children Infected With Smallpox Discovered in Peru

The toddlers' remains were buried around the beginning of the Spanish conquest of South America

A new study sheds light on the timeline of the human immune response when confronted with SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious diseases.

Why Are Some People Seemingly Immune to Covid-19? Scientists May Now Have an Answer

Researchers tracked the immune responses of 16 people intentionally exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and pinpointed a gene that seems to help resist the virus before it can take hold

A female Anopheles mosquito, the type that transmits malaria.

Ancient DNA Illuminates the History of Malaria, One of the World's Deadliest Diseases

Researchers extracted parasitic DNA from preserved teeth and bones, revealing how malaria spread across the globe in a new study

Chickens on a poultry farm in Tepatitlan, Jalisco State, Mexico, on June 6, 2024. Outbreaks of H5N2 avian influenza have recently been reported in poultry in Mexico.

Man Infected With H5N2 Bird Flu in Mexico Dies. Here's the Latest on the Virus

The strain is not the same one that has infected U.S. cows and three dairy farm workers, and officials say the risk to the general public remains low

The correspondence is undated, but experts think Kafka wrote it in the spring of 1920.

An Ailing Franz Kafka Curses Writer's Block in This Handwritten Letter to a Friend

"I haven't written anything for three years," he admitted in the note, which will go to auction this summer

Charlotte is a round stingray, a species named for its circular, disk-shaped body.

'Pregnant Virgin' Stingray Won't Give Birth After All—Here's Why

Charlotte, a female round stingray in North Carolina who has gathered a legion of online fans, is no longer pregnant due to a "rare reproductive disease"

Laboratory testing found live Trichinella larvae in black bear meat that had been frozen for 110 days.

Family Members Infected With Parasitic Worms After Eating Undercooked Bear Meat at Reunion

Six people developed symptoms of roundworm infection after consuming grilled black bear meat and vegetables in July 2022, and all have since recovered

Acorns cover the forest floor.

Why Do Trees Drop So Many Seeds One Year, and Then Hardly Any the Next?

A new paper suggests that plants may use slow seed years to prevent the spread of disease

The Black Death killed tens of millions of people in the mid-1300s, but scientists and historians are still trying to figure out how it spread.

Did Body Lice Spread Bubonic Plague? Research Suggests the Parasites Are Better Vectors Than Thought

These blood-sucking insects are capable of transmitting the bacteria that caused the Black Death, according to a laboratory study

Color-enhanced transmission electron microscope images of adenovirus, which is a common cause of respiratory illnesses. Researchers identified adenovirus remnants, as well as herpesvirus and HPV, in Neanderthal remains in a new study.

50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones Have Remains of Human Viruses, Scientists Find

The preliminary analysis is a first step in testing the theory that infectious diseases played a role in Neanderthals' extinction

Rangers clear deceased birds from Staple Island in England, where avian flu had a devastating effect on a seabird colony.

Four Important Questions About Bird Flu, Answered

The virus has killed tens of millions of birds and infected hundreds of species of animals, including dairy cattle in the United States. Here’s what you should know about it

Human-caused biodiversity loss is a major factor that could contribute to more frequent and severe disease outbreaks, according to a new study.

Biodiversity Loss Increases the Risk of Disease Outbreaks, Analysis Suggests

Researchers found that human-caused environmental changes are driving the severity and prevalence of disease, putting people, animals and plants at risk

Previous research had found leprosy in modern red squirrels, and genetic analysis suggested the strain was closely related to leprosy found in medieval humans.

Medieval Squirrels and Humans May Have Spread Leprosy Back and Forth

Archaeologists uncovered evidence of leprosy in a medieval red squirrel in England, and DNA evidence revealed the strain was similar to what was circulating in humans at the time

Josefina "Joey" Guerrero (third from right) received the Medal of Honor With Silver Palm for her actions during World War II, which were “instrumental in saving the lives of many Americans and Filipinos,” according to the award citation.

This Filipina Spy Used Her Leprosy as a Cover to Thwart the Japanese During World War II

Enemy soldiers overlooked Josefina "Joey" Guerrero due to her condition. Later, her heroic actions on behalf of the Allies were largely forgotten

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