Measles spreads to New York, Vermont

News brief

Vermont and New York health officials are reporting their first measles cases of the year.

The new diagnoses bring the total number of measles cases in the United States this year to 910, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States reported 2,280 measles cases last year, the largest number in three decades.

The New York measles case was diagnosed in an unvaccinated infant, according to The New York Times.

The Vermont measles case occurred in an adult in Washington County who became sick after recent international travel, according to the Vermont Department of Health.

Vermont health officials said the measles virus was detected in in wastewater in Washington County through the department’s wastewater monitoring program last week. Health officials said they “cannot definitively link” the measles case to the virus found in wastewater.

In South Carolina, meanwhile, the state department of public health today reported 17 new measles cases since Tuesday, bringing the total number to 950. The outbreak, which began in the Upstate region in October 2025, is the nation’s largest.

Mexico reports 28 measles deaths

Canadian health officials have confirmed 135 measles cases this year, after reporting more than 5,400 cases in 2025. Canada lost its measles elimination status last year after reporting ongoing measles spread for 12 months.

In the Canadian province of Manitoba, a rural doctor is warning that the region may not have enough hospital beds for measles patients, who must be assigned isolation rooms to prevent the airborne and highly contagious virus from spreading to other patients.

Mexican health officials said Wednesday that 28 people have died of measles and 9,074 people have been infected in an ongoing outbreak that began last year.

Data released Wednesday by the Florida Department of Health reports 46 confirmed measles cases in Collier County as of February 7.

Quick takes: Centivax’s universal flu vaccine trial begins, Listeria outbreak ends, Somalia reports polio case

News brief

Mary Van Beusekom, MS

California-based biotechnology firm Centivax has launched a phase 1A randomized clinical trial evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of its universal influenza vaccine candidate, Centi-Flu 01, the company announced yesterday. Participants in the first-in-human trial, which includes an open-label, active-controlled phase, are healthy adults aged 18 to 64 years or 65 and older. “Unlike conventional seasonal influenza vaccines, which must be reformulated annually to attempt to match predicted circulating strains, Centi-Flu 01 is designed to focus both antibody and cellular immune responses on conserved regions of the influenza virus that cannot mutate and are shared across strains and distance subtypes,” the company said in a news release. “This approach aims to generate broad, consistent, and durable immunity against both seasonal and pandemic influenza.”
The outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections that sickened 28 people and hospitalized 27 in 19 states, including seven who died, is over, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced yesterday. One pregnancy-related illness resulted in fetal loss, the FDA said. Cases were linked to cooked fettucine, linguine, and farfalle pasta that weren’t sold directly to stores. Nate’s Fine Foods, Inc., recalled the products on September 30, 2025, and the last infection began on November 16.
Today, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GEPI) reported one vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) case in Somalia. No details were provided.