New York state has confirmed reports of the first U.S. polio case in nearly a decade, ABC-7 reported July 21. 

Nearly 14,000 people across the globe have contracted monkeypox this year, and five have died, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said July 20.

A combination of severe staffing shortages, financial challenges and rising hospital admissions are straining capacity at Oregon hospitals. Health officials are now asking residents to mask up to prevent further strain on the state's healthcare system. 

At least 18 cases of the newest omicron subvariant BA.2.75 have been confirmed in seven U.S. states as of July 20, early disease surveillance data shows. 

The omicron variant's evolutionary pattern differs from earlier variants and offers hints that the next new strain that emerges may also be in the omicron family, The New York Times reported July 20. 

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a condition that spiked when COVID-19's alpha variant surged in early 2021, is now leveling off, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

The omicron subvariant BA.5's highly transmissible nature and ability to evade immunity is spurring health experts to revisit earlier assumptions about the typical time span between COVID-19 infections, The Wall Street Journal reported July 19.

The omicron "sister variants" BA.4 and BA.5 now account for more than 90 percent of confirmed cases in the U.S., according to the CDC's latest variant proportion estimates.

Some states are relying on their own strategies to ration monkeypox vaccines as confirmed U.S. cases surpass 2,000. 

COVID-19 vaccines were more effective during the winter omicron surge, when BA.1 accounted for most cases, than they were this spring, when BA.2/BA.2.12.1 prevailed, according to a CDC study.  

With omicron-specific vaccines expected this fall, many eligible people who aren't up to date with their boosters are debating whether to get them now or hold off until the updated shots are available, CBS News reported July 16. 

For the first time since late May, the CDC is predicting that COVID-19 admissions will increase nationwide, according to the agency's ensemble forecast from 16 modeling groups.

HHS extended the COVID-19 public health emergency July 15.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all increasing nationwide as the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to spread, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published July 15.

As reported monkeypox cases climb to 1,470 in the U.S. and hit nearly every state, health experts say the delayed response to the outbreak is eerily similar to the onset of COVID-19. 

At least 1,010 probable cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin have been identified among children in 35 countries, the World Health Organization said July 12.

As the highly transmissible BA.5 subvariant spreads nationwide and the federal government is encouraging booster shots for eligible adults, some experts are questioning whether it's time to update the definition of "fully vaccinated."

As of July 13, 1,053 monkeypox cases have been confirmed across 41 states and Washington, D.C., according to the CDC. 

News outlets have been referring to BA.2.75 — the latest omicron relative catching experts' attention — as "Centaurus," but the World Health Organization has not assigned it a name. 

The dominance of the COVID-19 omicron variant continues to persist throughout the U.S., with subvariant BA.5 now accounting for 53.6 percent of the nation's cases, but one expert says it could be hard to predict what will happen next.