U.S. regulators estimated BQ.1 and closely related BQ.1.1 accounted for 16.6% of COVID variants in the country, nearly doubling from last week, as Europe expects them to become dominant in a month.
Mexico has reported a first case of the severe H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Friday.
The U.S. government is holding talks with health insurers and drugmakers as it sets up the framework for direct negotiations of prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients, a top Biden administration official said on Friday.
An Ebola outbreak in Uganda that has infected 65 people and killed 27 is coming under control and should be over by the end of the year, the country's information ministry said on Friday.
Pfizer's plan to as much as quadruple U.S. prices for its COVID-19 vaccine next year is beyond Wall Street's expectations and will spur its revenue for years despite weaker than anticipated demand for the new booster shot so far, analysts said.
Indonesia's health minister said on Friday that the number of children who had died from acute kidney injury (AKI) rose to 133 from the previously reported 99.
HCA Healthcare Inc on Friday maintained its full-year profit forecast, even as weak third-quarter revenue and concerns about macroeconomic pressures dragged its shares nearly 9% lower.
Syrian refugees in displacement camps are falling victim to a cholera outbreak in Lebanon, already suffering from an economic meltdown that has slashed access to clean water and strained hospitals.
China reported 997 new COVID-19 infections on Oct. 20, of which 214 were symptomatic and 783 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Friday.
Wildfires in Oregon and Washington are blanketing much of America's Pacific Northwest with smoke, choking residents in Seattle, Portland and other parts of the two states with the worst air in the United States, according to government data.
