Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Experts race to write guidance to contain first ship-borne hantavirus outbreak

As the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak sails towards Tenerife, World Health Organization officials are racing to draw up step-by-step guidance for what should happen next for the nearly 150 passengers when they finally reach land on Sunday. The hantavirus outbreak – which has killed three people among at least ​eight suspected or confirmed infections - is the first ever recorded on a cruise ship, so some new protocols are needed.

KLM flight attendant tested negative for hantavirus infection, WHO says

The World Health Organisation on Friday said a Dutch KLM flight attendant who had been in contact ​with a woman who died from a hantavirus infection in Johannesburg had tested negative for a possible infection. The woman had been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam on Thursday with ‌signs of a possible infection.

Spain ​tests suspected hantavirus case in Alicante

A 32-year-old woman in the southeastern Spanish province of Alicante has symptoms consistent with a hantavirus infection and is being tested, Spanish health officials said on Friday. The woman was a passenger on the same flight as a patient who died in Johannesburg after travelling on the MV Hondius cruise ship and contracting the virus, Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla told reporters.

US FDA approves Partner Therapeutics' bile duct cancer drug under fast-track review

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Partner Therapeutics' drug for adults with a rare form of bile duct cancer as part of a new fast-track review program, the agency said on Friday. Here are some details:

US CDC classifies hantavirus outbreak as 'level 3' emergency response, ABC News reports

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified the hantavirus outbreak as 'level 3' emergency response, the lowest level of emergency ‌activation, ABC News reported on Thursday citing sources.

US CDC notifies Texas of two state residents on cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has notified the Texas health department that two of the state's residents were passengers on the MV Hondius, a ship that experienced an outbreak of hantavirus while traveling in the Atlantic Ocean. Public health workers in Texas have reached the two individuals, who reported that they were not experiencing any symptoms and did not have any contact with a sick person while aboard the ship.

Analysis-Novo and Lilly gain on signs weight-loss pills could expand the market

Early data from weight-loss pills are lifting shares in Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly as investors bet that easier-to-take drugs could expand the market to millions more patients and help counter pricing pressure. Denmark's Novo, which has struggled to keep pace with U.S. rival Lilly in recent years, saw its shares spike on Wednesday after saying first-quarter sales of its newly launched Wegovy pill were about twice expectations.

US arranging repatriation flight for Americans on hantavirus-hit cruise ship

The United States is arranging a repatriation flight to return American passengers on a Dutch cruise ship hit by an outbreak of a deadly strain of hantavirus, the U.S. Department of State said on Friday. "The Department ‌of State is closely tracking the hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean and maintaining close contact with the cruise ship staff, Americans on board, and U.S. and international health authorities," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

Hantavirus cruise ship part of Antarctic tourism boom that some want better regulated

Tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula is a niche but booming industry powered by deep-pocketed adventure-seekers travelling thousands of miles to marvel at penguin colonies and take "polar plunges" in sight of icebergs. But growing numbers of visitors bring risks including disease, invasive species and pollution to ‌the delicate ecosystems of Antarctica and the remote sub-Antarctic islands that teem with bird life, sea lions and whales.

Researchers identify antibodies that may prevent and treat measles infections

We also report on a study that reveals why females are more prone to autoimmune diseases. HUMAN ANTIBODIES AGAINST MEASLES VIRUS IDENTIFIED

Factbox-How does Spain plan to evacuate passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship?

Spain has agreed to receive a luxury cruise ship carrying 149 people from 23 countries that suffered an outbreak of hantavirus aboard which has killed three people. Four others have been confirmed to be infected and three further suspected cases have been reported. WHEN WILL THE SHIP ARRIVE IN SPAIN?

Exclusive-Kennedy's health officials explored US ban of some widely used antidepressants, sources say

U.S. health department officials last week explored whether they could ban certain drugs in a widely prescribed class of antidepressants as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepared to roll out a plan to reduce their use, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Their interest centered on specific treatments within a class known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, such as Zoloft, Prozac and Lexapro, which have been available in the U.S. for decades, one of the people said. The sources did not say which drugs were being examined for restrictions or how far the inquiries about them had advanced.

US FTC's investigation of trans youth care was 'retaliatory,' judge says

A U.S. judge on Thursday derailed an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, a consumer protection agency, into two medical groups that support ⁠gender-affirming care for transgender youth. U.S. District Judge ​James Boasberg blocked the FTC from demanding documents like internal communications and financial records from the Endocrine Society and World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

Exclusive-White House considering naming ⁠FDA food chief as acting commissioner, sources say

The White House is considering naming FDA Deputy Commissioner Kyle Diamantas, who heads up the agency's food group, as acting commissioner of the agency to replace current head Marty Makary, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Potential names being considered to be the actual nominee to run the agency include former FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn and former acting commissioner and assistant Health Secretary Brett Giroir, according to one of the sources and two other sources.

Entrada shares sink after Duchenne drug falls short of expectations

Entrada Therapeutics' drug for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy fell well short of analyst expectations in an early-to-mid stage trial, sending its shares down more than 50% in premarket trading on Thursday. The company ⁠tested the drug, ENTR-601-44, in ambulatory patients aged six to 17 who have a form of Duchenne caused by a gene mutation that can be treated by skipping exon 44.

Trump plans to fire US FDA chief Makary, sources say

The White House signed off on a plan to fire U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, according to sources familiar with the matter, in what could be the next leadership change within the federal health department. The Wall Street Journal earlier on Friday first reported that President Donald Trump planned to fire Makary.

Somalia faces severe malnutrition crisis as WFP warns of aid halt

Somalia faces a severe malnutrition crisis and urgently needs more aid funding to ​avert a catastrophe, the United Nations World Food Programme said on Friday, warning it may be forced to halt humanitarian support from July without additional financing. A combination of multiple failed rain seasons, which have wiped out crops and livestock, and ongoing conflict and insecurity is pushing people in Somalia into dangerous levels of hunger at a time of radical cuts in foreign aid and aid shortages sparked by the war on Iran, the WFP said.

Molina bets on medical cost control for fivefold profit jump by 2029

Molina Healthcare on Friday ⁠forecast its 2029 adjusted profit at about five times its 2026 outlook, provided the health insurer can keep medical costs in check. However, J.P. Morgan and Barclays analysts said the forecast fell short of investor expectations, sending its shares down 5%.

Countries track passengers of virus-hit cruise ship

Countries worldwide sought to prevent the further spread of the hantavirus on Thursday, after an outbreak on a cruise ship, by tracking those who had disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone who had close contact with them since. Three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius.

Fake rumors, real killings: Inside Congo's deadly health misinformation crisis

In Tshopo, a northeastern Congolese province blanketed in rainforest, rumours rippled through villages late last year claiming a mysterious illness ⁠had caused ​men's genitals to atrophy. Within days, testimonials proliferated on social media that amplified the imaginary threat, triggering a real-life panic that turned deadly before the government could react.

Amazon to carry Ozempic at US kiosks, offer same-day delivery

Amazon.com said on Thursday its pharmacy will stock Novo Nordisk's Ozempic pill to treat type 2 diabetes at its kiosks and offer same-day delivery of the drug Novo's Ozempic uses the active ingredient semaglutide to control blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, where the body either fails to produce or resists insulin, the hormone regulating blood sugar. Amazon has been stocking Novo's weight-loss drug Wegovy, which uses the same active ingredient as Ozempic, since January. It announced in April it would also stock rival Eli Lilly's Foundayo pill for weight-loss.

Louisiana presses US Supreme Court to halt abortion pill mail delivery

Louisiana urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to prevent abortion pills from being prescribed through telemedicine and distributed by mail, as the Republican-led state presses its case to overturn a 2023 federal rule that made access to the medication easier. Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill's office in a filing asked the justices to deny emergency requests by two manufacturers of the abortion pill to lift a lower court's decision that ⁠narrowed access to it by blocking the regulation nationwide while the state's legal challenge continues.

Lilly's obesity pill tops 7,000 prescriptions in fourth week, signals modest uptake

Eli Lilly's new weight-loss pill, Foundayo, was prescribed 7,335 times in the U.S. in the fourth week, a modest uptake compared to rival Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill, analysts said. Wegovy pill, launched in January, has the first-mover advantage in the oral weight-loss drug market over Foundayo that was introduced a few months later in April.

New suspected hantavirus cases found in Spain and remote Tristan da Cunha

Two new suspected cases ⁠of hantavirus were reported on Friday, one in Spain and the other on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, as experts race to contain an outbreak that ⁠began on a luxury cruise ship. The announcements in locations thousands of miles apart will fuel concern about a cluster of cases so far associated with three deaths - though the World Health Organization has repeatedly said the risk to the wider public is low and the virus does not transmit easily.

Biotech firm Odyssey hits nearly $900 million valuation as shares rise in Nasdaq debut

Odyssey Therapeutics secured a valuation of $899.9 million after its shares rose 11.1% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday, signaling solid investor demand for biotech offerings. The shares of the autoimmune disease-focused biotech opened at $20, above the offer price of $18.

Factbox-What to know about Tristan da Cunha, the island with a suspected hantavirus case

The UK health security agency said on Friday a new suspected case of hantavirus was identified in a British national on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, as authorities continue efforts to track down passengers from ‌the affected luxury cruise ship and their close contacts. The ship, MV Hondius, stopped on the island on April ‌15.

Argentine authorities say hantavirus patients not likely infected in Tierra del Fuego province

Patients on a luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak could not have been infected in Argentina's southernmost Tierra del Fuego province, said Juan Petrina, director of epidemiology and environmental health for the province, during a press ​conference on Friday. Petrina said the conclusion was based on the time frame between the patients' time in the province and the onset of symptoms.

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