Monkeypox virus DNA was found on high contact surfaces in the Utah home of two infected individuals, the CDC said in an Aug. 19 report. 

While health experts have referred to New York's polio case as the "tip of the iceberg," a national outbreak similar to COVID-19 or monkeypox is not expected, USA Today reported Aug. 19.

The highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 remains dominant in the U.S. But another omicron offshoot, BA.4.6, is slowly gaining traction, CDC estimates on variant proportions show. 

The nation's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases decreased by nearly 10 percent this week, marking the fourth consecutive week of decline, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Aug. 19.

Preliminary reports on monkeypox vaccinations suggest the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, and some breakthrough cases are occurring, the World Health Organization said during an Aug. 17 media briefing. 

Renaming monkeypox will not solve missteps in the nation's response to its outbreak and would do little to prevent hateful people from shaming others, a physician writes in a piece published Aug. 17 in The Atlantic.

Though COVID-19 in the U.S. has plateaued, uncertainty still surrounds the trajectory of the pandemic and symptoms associated with the virus. 

A child in Nebraska is suspected to have died from a rare instance of being infected by a brain-eating amoeba, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said Aug. 17.

Global monkeypox cases have increased by about 20 percent for the second week in a row, with nearly 7,500 new monkeypox cases reported last week, the World Health Organization said in a news conference Aug. 17. 

Next week, NYC Health + Hospitals will expand its wastewater surveillance program to test for polio and monkeypox, alongside COVID-19 and flu,, the New York City-based system said  Aug. 15. 

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, acknowledged the agency failed to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and committed to prioritizing future public health responses through a series of changes, The Washington Post reported Aug. 17.

Researchers have raised concern over the potential for modes of monkeypox transmission beyond intimate contact after detailing the case of an infected man with no recent sexual contact whose highest-risk exposure was attending a crowded outdoor event that was not primarily attended by gay and bisexual people.

The highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to gain dominance in the U.S. and now accounts for nearly 90 percent of all cases nationwide, according to the CDC's latest variant proportion estimates.

Changes in the genetic makeup of the polio virus suggest it has been spreading somewhere in the world for a year, a report from the CDC found.

The nation's shortcomings in responding to the monkeypox outbreak around messaging and vaccines are strikingly familiar to those of the pandemic, health experts told PBS NewsHour in an Aug. 15 report. 

Researchers in France have detected monkeypox virus on samples collected as part of routine sexually transmitted infection screenings of aymptomatic men who have sex with men, accoring to findings published Aug. 16 in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Around 98 percent of COVID-19 reinfections are occurring in patients previously infected with the virus more than 90 days ago, suggesting that waning immunity — rather than highly transmissible variants — is propelling the uptick, according to Helix, a lab that helps the CDC with viral surveillance. 

COVID-19 hospitalizations appear to be plateauing nationwide, a trend that will likely continue through the end of the month, CDC forecasting suggests. 

Health officials investigating a polio case have detected the virus in wastewater in New York City, suggesting "likely" local circulation of the virus, the New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Aug. 12.

The World Health Organization is accepting proposals to rename monkeypox in an effort to align with "current best practices" for naming diseases and avoid offense to any group.