A Colorado man has tested positive for an H5 bird flu virus, the first such case in the U.S., health officials said April 28. 

Measles cases are rising globally amid a "perfect storm" of circumstances that could cause more large-scale outbreaks, the World Health Organization and UNICEF warned April 27.

Physicians and health experts are closely monitoring an outbreak of acute hepatitis that's affected more than 150 children in 12 countries, including the U.S.

The nation's top infectious disease expert on April 27 said the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, clarifying comments from a day earlier in which he said the nation was "out of the pandemic phase." 

"We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase," Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a televised interview April 26. 

The director of the World Health Organization said a drop in global COVID-19 cases and deaths should be welcomed with caution, since countries have reduced testing and other surveillance measures.

More than half of people living in the U.S. had contracted COVID-19 as of February, including 75 percent of children, new CDC research shows. 

The proportion of COVID-19 cases involving the omicron subvariant BA.2 has declined for the second consecutive week as a new omicron sublineage appears to be gaining a foothold in the U.S., CDC data shows. 

New SARS-CoV-2 variant strains continue to emerge as the virus spreads globally. Here is a breakdown of omicron sublineages and recombinant strains that have made headlines in recent weeks and months.

Modeling suggests COVID-19 cases will continue to rise over the next two weeks, but forecasts are murkier on whether this uptick will also fuel a prolonged, national increase in hospitalizations. 

About 415,000 Americans died of COVID-19 in 2021, making it the third leading cause of death in the U.S. for the second consecutive year, according to provisional data from the CDC. 

At least 169 cases of acute hepatitis among children aged 1 month to 16 years old have been identified in 12 countries, the World Health Organization reported April 23.

Flu activity has held steady in many states but risen in others, with the highest test positivity levels seen in northeast, south-central and mountain states, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. 

For health systems nationwide, COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of clear communication to patients and other stakeholders throughout the community. Over the last two years, being a public health authority is a role many healthcare organizations have grown into.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations increased nationwide this week, while vaccinations dipped, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published April 22.

Routine childhood vaccinations fell nationwide amid the pandemic and are below target levels, the CDC reported April 22. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health disparities along racial and ethnic lines. In response, healthcare organizations are reexamining their role in contributing to these inequities and assessing potential action steps to address this vast and urgent challenge. This work is driving more healthcare leaders toward an essential realization: One of the most subtle and dangerous ways in which the medical profession perpetuates health inequities is through the practice of implicit bias.

Here are seven COVID-19-related research findings covered by Becker's Hospital Review since March 30:

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met April 20 to discuss the nation's COVID-19 booster strategy, according to CNBC.

Twenty days is the shortest known gap between COVID-19 infections in a single patient, new research from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases found.