Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency Oct. 5 in response to a growing measles outbreak in rural New York and neighboring states. The executive order lets the state respond more quickly and expands who can administer measles vaccines…

Hematology/oncology is the most in-demand physician specialty when ranked by job openings relative to workforce size, according to AMN Healthcare’s 2026 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives released Sept. 16.  The report is based on a representative sample…

Facilities masked and isolated patient actors simulating avian flu in 60% of unannounced drills, according to a CDC study published Oct. 1.  The study, which appeared in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, analyzed 73 drills of a simulated…

Most of the highest-paying cities for nurses reside on the country’s coastlines, according to an Oct. 2 report from nurse.org.  Nurse.org, a news and educational website focused on the nursing profession, used the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for wage…

Flu is spreading unusually early across the western U.S., with some hospitals reporting activity levels typically seen in early winter, The Washington Post reported Oct. 4. About 150 children tested positive for influenza across the Seattle Children’s system in the…

So far in 2026, Florida health officials have recorded 497 dengue cases, including 245 acquired internationally and 252 locally.  With 252 locally acquired cases, Florida — which often reports a high number of these mosquito-borne infection cases every year —…

The State Department and CDC are closely monitoring reports of a suspected pneumonic plague in Russia that may have killed a laboratory researcher and exposed nearly 200 people, News Nation Now reported Oct. 5. “We are aware of reports of…

CMS established a new physician nutrition specialist specialty code, effective beginning Oct. 1. The code helps physician nutrition specialists — physicians with advanced expertise in clinical nutrition in addition to their primary medical specialty — to be more accurately identified…

The CDC is planning a major redesign of its National Health Interview Survey, one of the federal government’s primary ways of measuring population health, to take effect in 2028. The survey would shift from in-person interviews to a “sequential mixed-mode”…

Women now make up 50.2% of osteopathic primary care physicians, the first majority in American Osteopathic Association records. Less than a decade ago, women held 46.3% of DO primary care roles, according to the AOA’s 2026 Osteopathic Medical Profession Report.…