Global Health Briefs

May/June 2026 | Volume 25 Number 3

Coalition will monitor infectious diseases at 2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by 16 cities across North America, expects 6.5 million soccer fans traveling from more than 100 countries. The National Center for Health Security and Resilience, a partnership of Georgetown University and MedStar Health, will operate the Health Security Operations Center (HSOC) to monitor infectious disease transmission across the host cities (11 in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada) in the hopes of mitigating global health risks. HSOC plans to integrate wastewater surveillance, electronic health record (EHR) data, environmental monitoring, open-source intelligence, and international health alerts and then provide daily situation reports with actionable intelligence for state and local public health departments, health systems, and partner organizations. HSOC leads a coalition of more than 30 organizations, including Samsung Electronics America, University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security, Verily Health, and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Ebola outbreak confirmed in the Congo, Uganda

A total of 635 confirmed cases, 127 confirmed deaths and 119 suspected cases caused by Ebola virus disease have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and 19 confirmed cases and two deaths in Uganda as of June 10, according to the DRC and Uganda Ministries of Health. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring the outbreak and working with partners to coordinate and reinforce cross-border surveillance, preparedness, and response measures. Scientists have determined that this outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus, one of four types of ortho-ebolaviruses that cause illness. Ebola virus disease is contagious, spreading through contact with bodily fluids, such as vomit, blood, or semen, and with surfaces and materials, such as clothing contaminated with these fluids. Symptoms of this viral hemorrhagic illness include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and, at times, internal and external bleeding. Medical personnel, trained by the NIH-Fogarty-funded Emerging and Re-emerging Pathogens Research Training Program, have been deployed to the epicenter of the outbreak. In an article published in The Lancet, Fogarty grantee Dr. Jean Nachega highlights the evolving epidemiology of the outbreak, the challenges posed by the absence of licensed Bundibugyo virus-specific vaccines and therapeutics, and the urgent need to strengthen surveillance, diagnostics, clinical care, community engagement, research preparedness, and regional and global coordination. Nachega, who holds faculty positions at University of Pittsburgh and Stellenbosch University, also discusses broader implications for epidemic preparedness and response in Africa and beyond.

Fogarty grantee to lead international Hepatitis B cure team

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded a five-year $24 million grant to a multinational Hepatitis B and HIV Cure Consortium led by Johns Hopkins Medicine with research groups in Brazil, India, Senegal, Uganda, and the United States. The consortium seeks a cure for hepatitis B, a lifelong, incurable viral infection that can cause both acute and chronic disease. Hepatitis B can be prevented by a safe and effective vaccine given shortly after birth. Scientists estimate that roughly 300 million people worldwide are already infected with hepatitis B virus, with more than a million new cases added each year. Sunil Solomon, MBBS, PhD, a former Fogarty trainee, will lead the ‘Shared Resources Core,’ a team within the consortium that is working to create a repository for human specimens (blood, liver tissue, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells) for use by project teams. Solomon is the recipient of several international awards, including a Fogarty Research Fellowship from Brown University and Johns Hopkins University.

Severe childhood malaria linked to continuing cognitive harm

Cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia are the most severe and most prevalent manifestations of malaria, respectively. Together they affect more than one million children annually. Studies have linked these conditions to impairments in overall cognition one to two years after illness and diminished academic achievement up to five years later. The researchers asked: Do these negative effects continue as children become teens? They examined cognitive function and academic achievement in Ugandan children ages 4 to 15 years old for the study. The team evaluated overall cognitive ability, attention, reading and math skills of children who’d experienced an episode of severe malaria and compared these scores to those of matched children without a history of severe malaria. Results showed that childhood cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia are associated with some cognitive impairment and decreased academic achievement in later childhood and adolescence. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study, which was supported by a Fogarty Global Brain Disorders Research program grant. First author Paul Bangirana, PhD, is a former Fogarty Fellow, while senior author Chandy John, MD, is a former Fogarty advisory board member.

The impact of malaria vaccine in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi

Scientists estimate that the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine (Mosquirix) saved the lives of one in eight children who were eligible to receive the shot in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi from 2019 to 2023. The international team, which included researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, randomly assigned 158 groups (each with a birth cohort of roughly 4,000 children) to either roll out the vaccine in 2019 (79 areas) or to implement it at a later date (79 areas). The inoculation is administered according to a four-dose schedule. By 46 months, nearly 1.3 million children had received the first dose of Mosquirix, while 1.2 million had received the second dose, 1.1 million a third dose, and 436,527 a fourth. Use of the vaccine led to a 13.2% reduction in death, while severe malaria infections were reduced by 21.6%, according to the study published in The Lancet. GlaxoSmithKline and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research jointly developed the vaccine. Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi are the first three African nations to offer the shot.

Article features Fogarty-trained scientist leading Zambian HIV efforts

A recent New York Times article highlighted the work of Dr. Lloyd Mulenga, a former Fogarty grantee who leads Zambia’s national HIV program. The Times notes that, following the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States has continued to pay for a significant amount of the HIV care in Zambia through bridge funding. Zambia also has retained the support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, yet that organization, which is reliant on U.S. support, plans to implement its own budget cuts. Meanwhile, the State Department is negotiating new health assistance agreements with countries that previously benefitted from USAID funding, and, in Zambia, it has tied support to U.S. access to Zambian minerals. The article outlines the necessary cuts to Zambian health systems made by Mulenga to address the reduced funding. While Mulenga acknowledges new infections and increased deaths, he told The Times that he believes the distribution of prevention drugs, including lenacapavir (a shot that provides protection from HIV for six months), may make up for expired programs and initiatives. Mulenga received support from Fogarty through the UNZA-Vanderbilt Training Partnership for HIV-NCD Research program and the AIDS International Training and Research Program.

Study seeks to prevent neonatal deaths in LMICs

Most neonatal deaths caused by infections in low-and-middle-income countries could be prevented through improved clinical care and targeted medical interventions, a new paper published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal suggests. The post-mortem study, conducted by the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network, used minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) to identify the cause of death for more than 2,600 infants who died in the first 28 days of life. The investigation, which was conducted across multiple sites in Africa and South Asia, revealed that infections are involved in 44% of neonatal deaths, and more than 80% of these infection-related deaths could be prevented under current or improved facility-based conditions. The CHAMPS network is a global collaboration that operates in eight countries—Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. The CHAMPS Program Office is part of The Task Force for Global Health, located in Atlanta and founded by former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Bill Foege.

Mock samples speed the development of cancer tests

A team of Rice University bioengineers has produced “mock” patient samples to help accelerate the development of accessible cervical cancer screening tests for low-resource settings. The Rice team collaborated with Emory University researchers and clinicians at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to address a critical bottleneck in global health: the lack of reliable, real-world samples needed to design and validate next-generation point-of-care screening tools for high-risk human papillomavirus, the virus responsible for nearly all cervical cancers. Using insights gained from 32 HPV-positive samples, the researchers created a standardized method for generating artificial samples that mimic the real specimens. The researchers then demonstrated that these artificial samples behave like real clinical specimens when tested using standard laboratory methods and a commercial HPV test. Mock samples could significantly shorten the timeline for developing new, point-of-care HPV diagnostics designed for use in settings without access to complex lab infrastructure, where the goal is enabling health care providers to test and treat their patients in a single visit. This research, which was supported by the National Cancer Institute, appeared in the Journal of Medical Virology.

Renaming a disease in the hopes of better diagnosis and treatment

A condition affecting more than 170 million people worldwide has been officially renamed Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS) following a landmark global consensus study published in The Lancet. The new designation for what was previously called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) recognizes that the condition is not a primarily gynecological disorder, but is instead a complex condition involving endocrine, metabolic, reproductive, dermatological, and psychological health. The previous mischaracterization led to delayed diagnoses, fragmented care, stigma, and missed opportunities for early intervention, noted the study authors, who hope this change will reshape how the condition is diagnosed, treated, and researched globally. The recategorization will include updates to clinical guidelines, medical education, and international disease classification systems, ensuring consistent adoption worldwide.

Updated June 11, 2026

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