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Coronavirus (COVID-19)

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says origin theories on COVID-19 remain open. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumWHO says probe into COVID-19 virus origin still ongoing

The World Health Organisation chief says "all hypotheses must remain on the table" into COVID-19's origin after critical information wasn't provided.

Staff Writers

Respiratory illness rates are climbing in WA.

HealthLow jab rates see respiratory illnesses run riot in WA

Rates of respiratory infections such as influenza, whooping cough and COVID have increased in WA over the past few months, prompting Australia’s peak medical body to urge people to get vaccinated. 

Rachel Fenner

Australians are being urged to get their COVID booster jab after a surge in infections from the new subvariant NB.1.8.1.

HealthCommentsAussies urged to get COVID boosters as new variant surges

The variant is behind surging infections in parts of Asia, with the World Health Organisation reporting it is spreading faster than other circulating strains.

Caitlyn Rintoul and Ben O'Shea

The subvariant NB.1.8.1 is now the dominant COVID-19 subvariant in Perth wastewater, with concentrations of the virus also increasing.

Public HealthCommentsGrim COVID prediction as cases rise in Perth

West Aussies are being urged to get their vaccines.

John Flint

A vaccine-derived poliovirus incident is the first polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea since 2018. (HANDOUT/AAP)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)Australia funding vaccines after polio find in PNG

Two healthy children in the Papua New Guinea city of Lae have been diagnosed with polio, prompting an emergency vaccination campaign.

Ben McKay

Authorities say the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu is responsible for the death of 17,000 farm chickens. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)Bird flu hits world's largest poultry exporter Brazil

Officials in Brazil, one of the world's largest producers and exporters of poultry, have confirmed the country's first bird flu outbreak on a commercial farm.

Staff Writers

People who are overweight are more likely to experience long-term neurological and mental health symptoms after COVID-19, new research has revealed.

Public HealthCommentsPremiumNew research links symptoms of long COVID to obesity

People who are overweight are more likely to experience long-term neurological and mental health symptoms after COVID-19, new research has revealed.

Hannah Cross

China accused the US of politicising the origins of COVID-19. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)China suggests COVID-19 originated in the US

An official at China's National Health Commission says the next step in COVID-19 origin-tracing work should focus on the US.

Staff Writers

A US government site has been transformed into a page backing a theory COVID-19 leaked from a lab. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)White House website backs theory COVID-19 came from lab

US President Donald Trump's White House has launched a COVID-19 website in which it blames the origins of the coronavirus on a lab leak in China.

Staff Writers

The World Health Organisation says members have agreed on a proposed pact for fighting pandemics. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumGlobal pact to shore up world's future pandemic defence

A global supply chain and logistic network features in a proposed pact to fight future pandemics that has been agreed by World Health Organisation members.

Bipasha Dey and Olivia Le Poidevin

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is a longtime vaccine sceptic. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)Kennedy to travel to Texas after measles-related deaths

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is reportedly planning a rushed trip to Texas after a second child's death there was linked to measles.

Staff Writers

A report has warned the country isn't prepared for another health emergency like COVID-19. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumCOVID response failed human rights amid fresh warning

Health experts have warned Australia is less prepared for the next pandemic as a report details instances of governments ignoring human rights during COVID-19.

Rachael Ward and William Ton

A deadly virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, has infected people across three states. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumHealth alert as mosquito virus spreads in three states

A second case of the deadly Japanese encephalitis has been detected in regional Victoria after a handful of cases were reported in NSW and Queensland.

William Ton

Symptoms of an illness in the Democratic Republic of Congo include fever and internal bleeding. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)DR Congo mystery illness kills 50 within hours

Health experts say an unknown illness has killed more than 50 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, within 48 hours of symptoms appearing.

Staff Writers

The CIA says a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely. (AP PHOTO)

The NightlyCIA reveals new stance on COVID outbreak origin

The CIA has dramatically changed its position on where it believes the COVID virus came from, just days after Donald Trump appointed a new director.

Erin Banco

The CIA says a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumCIA leans towards lab theory for COVID outbreak origin

Both a lab origin and natural origin remain plausible theories for the COVID-19 outbreak that caused a global pandemic but the lab is more likely, the CIA says.

Erin Banco

The Marburg disease detected in Tanzania has a fatality rate as high as 88 per cent. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)Tanzania confirms outbreak of Marburg virus

Tanzania's president says a sample from a part of northern Tanzania has tested positive for Marburg disease, a highly infectious and often fatal virus.

Staff Writers

The World Health Organisation says the risk to the public from H5N1 bird flu remains low. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)WHO says bird flu risk low after US reports first death

A human has for the first time died in the United States after being infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, health officials say.

Staff Writers

France says bird flu outbreaks have been confirmed on two poultry farms in the Normandy region. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumFrance loses disease-free status as bird flu reported

The highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has been detected on two poultry farms in France.

Gus Trompiz

This summer's first case of Japanese encephalitis has been confirmed in a Victorian resident. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumSummer's first case of mosquito-borne virus detected

Japanese encephalitis, a potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus, has likely been detected in a resident in regional Victoria.

Holly Hales

US health authorities say a person with a severe case of H5N1 infection has been hospitalised. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)US confirms first severe human case of bird flu

The first known instance of a severe human illness linked to the bird flu virus has been registered in the United States, health authorities say.

Staff Writers

The World Health Organisation says more health kits for malaria are being sent to Kwango province. (AP PHOTO)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)DR Congo mystery illness is 'severe form of malaria'

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say an unidentified disease circulating in the country's southwest is a severe form of malaria.

Staff Writers

A new updated COVID booster vaccine is now available to all West Australians, while a wave of infections across the State continues to surge.

HealthCommentsPremiumPeople urged to protect themselves amid new COVID wave

A new updated COVID booster vaccine is now available to all West Australians with infections in the State currently surging.

John Flint

New Zealand's vaccine mandates came at a cost of creating social fissures, an inquiry has found. (Andrew Cornaga/AAP PHOTOS)

Coronavirus (COVID-19)PremiumNZ COVID commission finds mandates mostly justified

Vaccine mandates could have been lifted sooner, according to a New Zealand royal commission into the pandemic response.

Ben McKay