MIKE STOBBE

Medical writer

Stobbe mainly covers public health for The Associated Press.

A sign marks the entrance to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, Aug. 27, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Government shutdown means many CDC experts are skipping a pivotal meeting on infectious disease

An annual conference about infectious diseases is seeing a dramatic attendance decline, in part because Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts can’t participate.

Vials of the Jynneos vaccine for monkeypox are taken from a cooler at a vaccinations site, Aug. 29, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

California mpox cases raise concerns. But health officials say the risk remains low

Investigators suspect that two Californians diagnosed with mpox may be the first U.S. cases resulting from the local spread of a different version of the virus.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner, in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Democratic governors form a public health alliance in rebuke of Trump administration

Democratic governors from 14 states and Guam have launched a new public health alliance. They say the group will coordinate issues across state lines and share data and information about threats, guidelines and emergency preparedness.

Committee member Dr. Martin Kulldorf, speaks during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Chamblee, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

CDC stops recommending COVID-19 shots for all, leaves decision to patients

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has adopted recommendations by a new group of vaccine advisers, and has stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for anyone.

This 1971 microscope photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria, which causes the sexually-transmitted disease gonorrhea. (CDC via AP, File)

Sexually transmitted disease cases fall, but not syphilis in newborns

New government data shows another decline in sexually transmitted disease rates for U.S. adults, but also a continued rise in syphilis in newborns.

This 2019 illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) bacteria. (Stephanie Rossow/CDC via AP)

‘Nightmare bacteria’ cases are increasing in the US

Government scientists say infection rates from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” have been increasing dramatically.

Committee member, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, listens during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Chamblee, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Kennedy’s vaccine advisers change COVID shot guidance, calling them an individual choice

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisers added confusion Friday to this fall’s COVID-19 vaccinations.

Committee member Dr. Martin Kulldorf, speaks during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Chamblee, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Kennedy’s advisory panel recommends new restrictions on MMRV vaccines

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory committee is recommending new restrictions on the MMRV vaccine.

Demonstrators rally for support of the CDC during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, June 25, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Kennedy’s vaccine committee plans to vote on COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox shots

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisory committee meets this week, with votes slated on whether to change recommendations on shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a news conference, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

Trump administration to award a no-bid contract on research into vaccines and autism

Federal health officials intend to award a no-bid contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to investigate whether there is a link between vaccinations and autism.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a female Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, also known as the southern house mosquito, sits on a person’s skin before taking a blood meal in 2022. (Lauren Bishop/CDC via AP)

West Nile virus cases running higher than normal, prompting health warnings

Health officials say West Nile virus infections are intense this year, with 40% more cases than usual. More than 770 cases have been reported as of early September.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), briefs the media during a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU), at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Mpox outbreak in Africa is no longer a global health emergency, WHO chief says

The World Health Organization says it no longer considers the mpox outbreak in Africa to be an international health emergency.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appears before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Kennedy tries to defend COVID-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearing

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced tough bipartisan questioning about his COVID-19 policies in a Senate committee hearing.

President Donald Trump, left, speaks as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listens during a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission Event in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Trump administration agrees to restore health websites and data

Federal officials have agreed to restore health- and science-related webpages and data following a lawsuit settlement with doctors’ groups and other organizations.

A sign marks the entrance to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

With CDC in chaos, scientists and physicians piece together replacements for agency’s lost work

The CDC is in turmoil, with outside groups stepping in to handle work once done by the agency. The upheaval follows Health Secretary Robert F.

Workers and supporters gather to rally for the departing scientific leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outside the CDC headquarters, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

CDC gets new acting director as leadership turmoil leaves agency in chaos

Jim O’Neill, a deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will serve as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, arrives to testify before the Senate HELP Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

CDC director Susan Monarez is fired and other agency leaders resign

The director of the nation’s top public health agency has been fired after less than one month in the job.

An adult New World screwworm fly sits at rest in this undated photo. (Denise Bonilla/U.S. Department of Agriculture via AP)

Maryland resident is diagnosed with New World screwworm. What to know about the parasite

A Maryland resident who traveled to El Salvador has been diagnosed with New World screwworm. It’s the first reported U.S. case tied to travel to a country with a current outbreak.

The campus of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seen in Atlanta, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

HHS moves to strip thousands of federal health workers of union rights

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to strip thousands of federal health agency employees of their collective bargaining rights.

CORRECTS THAT OFFICER WAS KILLED, NOT WOUNDED - A memorial is seen in the aftermath of a shooting near the CDC where DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was killed while responding, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Georgia man may have tried to enter CDC campus two days before he attacked agency

An internal CDC email reveals that the Georgia man who shot at CDC buildings on Aug. 8 likely tried to enter the campus two days earlier.

The campus of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seen in Atlanta, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

At least 600 CDC employees are getting final termination notices, union says

At least 600 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are receiving permanent termination notices.

This electron microscope image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Vibrio vulnificus bacteria in 2005. (Janice Haney Carr/CDC via AP)

How to protect yourself from Vibrio vulnificus, the bacteria found in some coastal waters

States are warning beachgoers about a summertime surge in infections from a frightening, flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters.

A pharmacist holds a Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot on Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

US pediatricians’ new COVID-19 shot recommendations differ from CDC advice

For the first time in 30 years, the American Academy of Pediatrics is substantially diverging from U.S. government vaccine recommendations.

People leave flowers Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at a makeshift memorial in honor of David Rose, the officer who was killed in the shooting at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)

Man fired 180 shots, breaking 150 windows, in CDC attack

The man who attacked the CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Friday fired more than 180 shots into the campus and broke about 150 windows.

Damage from wildfires is seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 11, 2023 . (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

New studies tie unrecognized deaths and health problems to Maui and LA wildfires

Three new studies highlight the severe health impacts of recent wildfires on Maui and in Los Angeles.

A sign outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus in Atlanta is seen as a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices takes place on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

AMA and other medical associations are kicked out of CDC vaccine workgroups

U.S. health officials have told more than a half-dozen of the nation’s top medical organizations that they will no longer help establish vaccination recommendations.

Vials of the measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine are displayed in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

US childhood vaccination rates fall again as exemptions set another record

U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the proportion of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high.

Secretary of Health & Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks alongside U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, during a ceremony announcing that major U.S. ice cream makers will phase out artificial colors by the end of 2027, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Monday, July 14, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned

Seventeen experts ousted from a U.S. vaccine committee are expressing little faith in what the panel has become. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F.

The toes of a baby are seen at a hospital in McAllen, Texas, on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

The US fertility rate reached a new low in 2024, CDC data shows

New federal data shows the fertility rate in the U.S. dropped to an all-time low in 2024 with less than 1.6 kids per woman.

Dr. Henry J. Heimlich uses lifegaurds at Coney Island swimming pool in suburban Cincinnati on Friday, July 9, 1999, to demonstrate how the Heimlich maneuver can help save people from drowning. (AP Photo/Tony Tribble, File)

More elderly Americans are choking to death. Are these devices the answer?

Each year, choking claims the lives of more than 4,100 Americans who are 65 or older. It’s the most vulnerable age group, accounting for about three-quarters of U.S. choking deaths.