As the African country of Nigeria confronts an active outbreak of diphtheria, several countries are alerting international travelers of this health risk.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Level 2 – Practice Enhanced Precautions Travel Health Advisory on July 21, 2023, regarding the expanding diphtheria outbreak in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
As of June 30, 2023, Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirmed diphtheria cases from 33 Local Government Areas in eight States.

In the United States, annual Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV outbreaks typically occur during late fall, winter, and early spring. However, there have been variations in the timing of RSV outbreaks between regions in recent years.
Across both prepandemic and pandemic years, RSV circulation in the U.S. began in Florida, then the southeast, and later in the north and west regions.

The Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman today announced he sent letters to the Chief Executive Officers of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck & Co., Inc. regarding vaccine information during the recent pandemic.
And reporting indicates that the pharmaceutical industry pressured social media platforms to delete posts related to producing low-cost generic vaccines.
This investigation may also examine grants, contracts, and other funding the companies received from the U.S. government.

Over the past few years, leprosy (Hansen’s disease) cases lacking traditional risk factors have increased.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated as of July 11, 2023, leprosy has been historically uncommon in the United States, as the incidence rate peaked around 1983.
According to an Early Release Research Letter, Volume 29, Number 8, August 2023, there is evidence that leprosy, an age-old disease, has become endemic in the southeastern U.S.

Every flu season is different, and each influenza virus can affect people differently, says the World Health Organization (WHO). For the forthcoming 2023-2024 flu season in the United States, numerous studies show that vaccination reduces the odds of hospital admissions.
Since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends an annual flu shot for most people, access to approved influenza vaccines is essential.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recently announced it is collaborating with local partners to begin wastewater testing for poliovirus in Oakland County, Michigan.
After detecting a paralytic polio case in Rockland County, New York, in 2022, MDHHS began working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify communities with a potential risk for polio transmission.

Global health agencies recently warned of the continuing avian influenza (influenza A H5N1) outbreaks in birds and mammals and the increasing risks to people. 
The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today announced two additional human infections since March 2023, increasing England's total to 5 detections since 2021, including one in December 2021.
As of July 10, 2023, 144 individuals from 8 infected premises have been tested, of which four were positive (2.7% positivity).

While the new flu season is beginning in the United States, influenza-related fatalities from the 2022-2023 season are still being counted.
The National Center for Health Statistics Mortality Surveillance data available on July 6, 2023, as of week #26, among the 1,091 pneumonia, influenza, and/or COVID-19 deaths reported, 186 had COVID-19 listed as an underlying or contributing cause of death, and eight listed influenza on the death certificate.

Since its first detection in Brazil in 2015, the Zika virus has become endemic in several countries. Furthermore, the risk of infants being impacted by microcephaly remains a primary concern of pregnant women contemplating international travel.
While the United States has avoided these health risks, other countries continue reporting Zika infections.
During 2023, several countries in the Region of the Americas registered increases in Zika cases compared to 2022.

The U.K.'s Department of Health and Social Care Media Centre recently reconfirmed it would offer a nasal influenza vaccine for the 2023-2024 flu season.
On July 6, 2023, it was announced that over three million pupils in secondary school years, 7 to 11, will be offered a nasal spray flu shot through their school's vaccination program beginning in early September 2023.
Consent letters will be sent to parents and guardians before the school clinics with information on the flu vaccination. School-age immunization providers will deliver the vaccine through the autumn term.