CDC Centers for Disease Control

Signs about measles and the measles vaccine are displayed at the Rockland County Health Department in Pomona, New York., March 27, 2019. (Seth Wenig/AP)

October 4, 2019, 11:45 pm

Measles remains ‘eliminated’ in US despite over 1,200 cases, many ultra-Orthodox

New York health officials declare end of state’s nearly year-long epidemic, which accounted for 75% of nation’s cases and occurred mostly in religious Jewish communities

By AFP

A woman takes a puff from a cannabis vape pen in Los Angeles, December 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

September 9, 2019, 9:25 pm

As vaping-linked mortality spikes in US, Israel issues dire warning

Health Ministry warns use of marijuana oil in e-cigarettes could be deadly; US health officials are probing cause of hundreds of sudden sicknesses and at least 5 deaths

By TOI staff and Agencies

An undated photo showing Rotem Amitai. (Courtesy)

August 13, 2019, 1:43 pm

El Al flight attendant dies 4 months after contracting measles on plane from NY

43-year-old Rotem Amitai, who had been vaccinated with 1 dose out of the recommended 2, becomes 3rd fatality in recent outbreak of highly contagious disease

By TOI staff

In this Friday, May 17, 2019 photo, Starr Roden, left, a registered nurse and immunization outreach coordinator with the Knox County Health Department, administers a vaccination to Jonathan Detweiler, 6, at the facility in Mount Vernon, Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

June 6, 2019, 4:16 am

Number of measles cases in US this year surpasses 1,000

Outbreak deemed the largest since 1992; Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar calls to step up campaign to halt spread of misinformation about vaccines

By AFP

A one-dose bottle of measles, mumps and rubella virus (MMR) vaccine at the Health Department of Salt Lake County, Utah, on April 26, 2019. (Illustrative. George Frey/Getty Images)

April 29, 2019, 11:29 pm

US measles cases climb above 700 for year for first time in decades

Authorities say disease’s spread most prevalent in Orthodox Jewish communities

By AFP

Illustrative: El Al flight attendants stand inside the Boeing 737-900ER aircraft at the Ben Gurion International Airport on October 23, 2013.(Yossi Zeliger/FLASH90)

April 22, 2019, 2:26 am

Health Ministry orders Israeli airlines to vaccinate crews against measles

More than 250 El Al workers inoculated at special center set up at Ben Gurion Airport; flight attendant still in coma after contracting disease on a flight from New York

By TOI staff

Illustrative: A patient getting a measles vaccination in Jerusalem in November 2018. (Courtesy Health Ministry)

April 18, 2019, 9:23 pm

Israel sounds alarm on measles after El Al flight attendant, boy slip into comas

Both patients feared to have suffered brain damage; as disease spreads, report warns some 45,000 Israeli kids may not be vaccinated

By TOI staff

A nurse prepares the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at the Rockland County Health Department in Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, on April 5, 2019. (Johannes Eisele/AFP)

April 15, 2019, 8:25 pm

Measles infections quadruple worldwide in past year, driven by anti-vaxxers

First quarter of 2019 sees 112,000 reported cases, up from 28,000 in same period last year; in US, ultra-Orthodox vaccine skeptics are epicenter of spread

By Agencies

New Square, a village in Rockland County, New York, is home to the Skverer Hasidic group. (Uriel Heilman/JTA)

March 27, 2019, 12:30 am

NY county with large ultra-Orthodox community bans unvaccinated minors in public

Rockland declares state of emergency, imposes drastic step, as outbreak of measles linked to Jewish communities in which vaccination rates tend to be lower

By Mary Esch

In this frame from video, a person walks off an Emirates plane at JFK International Airport to a waiting bus on September 5, 2018, in New York, as emergency response crews gather outside the plane amid reports of ill passengers aboard a flight from Dubai. (WABC 7 via AP)

September 5, 2018, 8:20 pm

Dubai jet quarantined in New York after reports of sick passengers

CDC says 100 of the 520 people being evaluated after complaining of illness, including cough and fever

By AP

The assembly line at Empire Kosher Poultry’s plant in central Pennsylvania is the largest kosher one of its kind in America, with 240,000 chickens and 27,000 turkeys passing through every week. (Uriel Heilman/JTA)

August 30, 2018, 3:50 am

1 dead, 17 sick from salmonella in Empire Kosher chicken

CDC says outbreak of the food-borne infection has shown up in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia; death occurred in New York

By JTA

A baby seen sleeping in a cradle, illustrative photo (Chen Leopold/Flash90)

August 17, 2018, 10:40 pm

Circumcising babies increases risk of cot death, contested new study suggests

Israel-born genetics scholar asserts trauma of procedure tied to prevalence of SIDS, though his claims are rejected as ‘nonsense’ by one pediatrician

By JTA

Illustrative: The Capitol in Washington is seen early Thursday, July 13, 2017, (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

January 20, 2018, 2:07 am

What actually closes in a US government shutdown?

About 850,000 federal workers, out of a total 3.5 million, could be told to stay home without pay until Congress reaches an agreement

By AFP

Sarin gas in 105 mm artillery shells being stored at a US site (illustrative photo: Courtesy)

April 8, 2017, 12:32 am

Sarin: Lethal nerve gas that kills in minutes

Discovered in Nazi Germany, chemical agent was used by Saddam Hussein’s regime to gas thousands of Kurds in 1988

By AFP

Zak Stern, owner of Zak the Baker in Wynwood, Miami, on September 19, 2016 (AP/Lynne Sladky)

September 21, 2016, 10:31 am

Miami kosher cafe celebrates control of Zika

Local baker offers free lunch to pregnant women after state declares area free of virus 45 days after last case

By JTA