COVID-19, Measles, H5N1 Avian Flu and Other Health and Virus UK and World News Update 1st May 2026

COVID-19, Measles, H5N1 Avian Flu and Other Health and Virus UK and World News Update 1st May 2026

COVID, flu and other respiratory ailments are at very low levels in the UK, Europe, and the US... ahhh bliss. New variant B.3.2 isn’t doing anything much right now, and certainly isn’t increasing overall cases (although it is a bit harder on young people than other variants). So if you have a cough, sneezes and sore eyes, consider hayfever... 

The cost of getting prescription drugs into the UK continues to rise, and pharmacists are warning it's becoming impossible to get them at the prices the NHS will pay, and some drugs are increasingly hard to get at all.

The NHS list prices are lower than much of Europe, so with shortages due to disruption to flights and shipping channels, plus increases in the price of oil pushing up transportation costs, wholesalers would rather sell any stocks they do have to other countries. 

210 drugs are currently on an NHS concessions list, which means the NHS will pay extra as it knows they're unavailable at NHS list price, but even the concessions list is becoming out of date and pharmacists are having to pay the shortfall out of their own money.

The BBC has spoken to pharmacists and one gave an example of someone's epilepsy meds. They didn’t even have the whole prescription, yet what they could give left them £9 out of pocket.

This is not a situation that can carry on for long, and it will kill people.

While we're on drug pricing... UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting has awarded himself new powers to decide what the NHS pays for drugs. Previously NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) negotiated on our behalf, and made decisions on what was too expensive. There are suggestions Wes has taken on his new powers so that he can keep the US Administration and Trump happy, and avoiding that sort of dealing is exactly why NICE was founded. At least 31 MPs have voiced objections, and it's not clear whether it's even legal for Wes to do this. 

Last report I told you that a US CDC study which found healthy COVID vaccinated adults were about half as likely to be hospitalised or visit A&E/Emergency had been delayed by US CDC’s acting director, Jay Bhattacharya. That study has now been completely shelved. It has however been shared online, and the only problems I've seen mentioned relate to it not showing the results some people at US Health and Human Services want it to have. 

This is going to be very welcome reading for a lot of you... and possibly surprising. RFK Jr (US Head of Health and Human Services):

"[Long COVID] is a priority for me personally. I have a son who really was debilitated by Long COVID.... We are targeting diagnostics, to make sure there are uniform diagnostics. A very, very complex illness that manifests differently in almost every person. Treatment protocols are different in people, there is no panacea (cure-all), but there are biomarkers that can tell us what kind of treatments work best for what populations. And we're working on identifying those bio-markers, matching them with a treatment and getting the patients together with the appropriate physician."

Fantastic to know Long COVID is being taken seriously - NOW. Last year, when the new US administration was 'reorganising' (closing everything and laying everyone off) Health & Human Services shut down the Long COVID office, and cancelled research projects, including those that were already running, so RFK Jr really could have had Trump Of The Day for this....

Last Friday Trump fired all 22 members of the US National Science Board (NSB). Since 1950 the NSB have been an independent body advising Government and overseeing the National Science Foundation, who annually award $9 billion in research grants. Members sit for 6 years, and over the years have overseen projects including LASIK eye surgery, MRIs, cellphones, the Internet. Plans have been put forward to halve the NSF budget (pah, who needs new science and technology anyway?), and the outgoing NSB members were not happy. It’s not yet clear if the board is just gone, or if it'll be replaced with new more compliant hand-picked members. 

A new study has found Paxlovid DOES NOT reduce the chance of hospitalisation or death from COVID in vaccinated higher risk people. 2 large studies took adult patients who were over age 50 or had greater vulnerability to COVID, and in the first 5 days of illness gave them nirmatrelvir–ritonavir (Paxlovid). Although it reduced viral load, it didn’t make them any less likely to need hospital admission. Ultimately the numbers of patients who were admitted to hospital or died were very small.

UK PANORAMIC trial, 14 of 1,698 participants (0.8%) in the nirmatrelvir–ritonavir group and 11 of 1,673 participants (0.7%) in the usual-care group.

CanTreatCOVID trial, 2 of 343 participants (0.6%) in the nirmatrelvir–ritonavir group and 4 of 324 participants (1.2%) in the usual-care group.

Paxlovid still remains helpful for people with no pre-existing immunity to COVID. 

The UK continues to report around 25 new confirmed measles cases each week, with 101 in the 4 weeks to 20th April and a 2026 total of 477 so far. (58% in London, 23% the West Midlands, and 8% the North West.)

Across the Americas PAHO (Pan American Health Organisation) reported 14,465 confirmed measles cases from 1st Jan to 22nd March 2026. This is more than the whole of 2025, when 14,503 measles cases were reported, and 32 deaths.

As of 22nd March: "The highest number of cases in 2026 have been reported in Mexico (n= 8,315), Guatemala (n= 3,687), the United States of America (n= 1,664), and Canada (n= 733), with ongoing transmission documented in Bolivia and other countries across the Region."

More up to date, by week ending 18th April, Canada had reported a 2026 total of 907 so far, and as of 30th April, the United States had reported 1,814 confirmed measles cases (almost 80% of last year's total cases).

In better news, the measles outbreak in South Carolina, US, has officially ended, with no new cases in 42 days. Overall since last October the outbreak had around 1,000 cases, with Spartanburg County reporting 940 alone. 33 schools were affected and 874 pupils asked to quarantine. 95.3% of cases were unvaccinated, 90.8% children. The estimated cost to South Carolina is $2.1 million.  

Japan is now suffering with measles. Their health chief has asked for people to be vaccinated after reporting 299 cases by 12th April - higher than the figure for the whole of 2025. He also asked anyone with measles symptoms to stay at home, and not to travel to the doctor by public transport. 

In Europe measles had a resurgence, but thankfully in 2025 figures went down (hopefully they'll stay down).

Romania has been worst affected. In 2024 Romania reported over 30,600 cases, that dropped to 4,198 in 2025 (55.5% of EU cases). Distrust of vaccines and lack of access for some communities are in large part to blame. 

The Guardian report that MMR rates in Romania currently are around 81% for a first dose, and only 60% for a 2nd dose (in some communities as low as 20%). Health officials are concerned that without improvement another large scale outbreak is inevitable, and we aren't likely to have to wait very long. 

Ticks have been doing especially well over the past few years, increasing in number and spreading to new areas - this is in the UK, US and elsewhere. There are also increasing cases of Lyme disease. In Connecticut in the US, a staggering 40% of ticks tested this year have Lyme. Mice and small rodents which spread ticks, and pass Lyme to ticks, are also rising in number. If that isn’t bad enough, studies from the US and Sweden have found that increasingly ticks carry more than one infection capable of passing to humans together in a single bite, and which require different treatments.

Several bird species eat ticks, and several bird species eat small mammals. It is a fragile ecosystem in which we live, and when a butterfly flaps it's wings... The effects of H5N1 on birds, including predatory birds, will have bigger consequences than just killing birds...

Avian Flu has remained quiet, as you'd hope in the non-flu season. The UK has not reported any more infected flocks since 17th April. The US has no more infected dairy herds, and since 17th April has only reported 4 newly infected bird flocks (2 commercial, 2 backyard). Newly detected cases across Europe remain low. 

Cambodia has confirmed their 4th human infected with H5N1 Avian Flu this year. Although all of those who have become infected had contact with sick and ill birds, this does appear to be stunningly bad luck, and a steady rate of infections. 

Cambodia has a new 'hybrid' H5N1 flu reassortment (2 strains of H5N1 mixed together) which may be more easily transmitted to humans from birds, or more easily caught by humans, or both, any of which is a bad thing. Cambodian reporting suggests this reassortment strain has already spread to birds across the 'Greater Mekong' area, replacing other strains and becoming the most prevalent. Cambodian health authorities are thankfully keeping a very close watch for any suspected cases, and educating and informing the public. 

The first of around 4,000 phase 3 trial participants (approx 3,000 UK and 1,000 US) have received a new mRNA H5 influenza vaccine from Moderna. This UK-led project is being supported by £40m ($54.3m) funding from CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), with the aim to be ready in case of an H5 flu epidemic - such as would occur if/when H5N1 Avian Flu manages human to human transmission. Originally this was meant to be a US project funded by Health and Human Services, but funding was cancelled by RFK Jr. The fact it's continued with alternate funding means all involved really, REALLY believe it to be necessary. 

The trial is randomised, blind, placebo-controlled and involves 2 doses for full protection. 

Of all the potential future pandemics, this is the one we've been watching creeping towards us for a long time. We do already have some H5 flu vaccines, but this one should offer broader coverage, and be very quick and cheap to adjust to any specific strain that might evolve to spread through humans. 

A recent study release from the UK Office for National Statistics has finally hit the press, and shows 'healthy life expectancy' in the UK has fallen dramatically since 2019:

In 2022-2024: "Males in the UK could expect to spend 60.7 years (77% of life) in "good" general health, compared with 60.9 years (73%) for females; these were decreases of 1.8 and 2.5 years, respectively, compared with the last non-overlapping period (2019 to 2021)."

It doesn't take a genius to work out that long term damage from COVID (Long COVID or PASC - Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID) could be a factor.

The disparity between wealthier and poorer areas is massive. In Richmond, London, average healthy life expectancy is 69.3 years for men and 70.3 years for women. In Blackpool it is just 50.9 years for men and 51.8 years for women. Almost 20 fewer years of good health.

50 or 51 years old is a very long way from retirement, and the national averages of less than 61 years for both men and women are far below current UK retirement age of 66 (rising to 67 in a couple of years), so it's no wonder the number of people claiming inability to work because of ill health is rising. 

The German Armed Forces have decided that on the grounds of data security they will NOT be awarding contracts to Palantir - the Peter Thiel owned company which has been given multi-million contracts to run UK NHS data systems (as well as MOD, GCHQ, Home Office, DEFRA, Government Digital Services and many more...). 

On Friday 17th April in Texas, USA, work finally began on a new $750 MILLION screwworm facility. By the end of 2027 it should be able to distribute 100 million sterile flies a week, with an ultimate production of 300 million a week. 

Screwworm flies were beaten South in the 70's, 80's and 90's after a concerted effort by North and South American countries. For the last 28 years a sterile fly production plant in Panama has been holding fort alone, producing 100m flies a week, and distributing them at the Darien Gap to prevent flies heading back North. In late 2024 this failed and screwworm flies were found in Southern Mexico. A plan was put into place, and a facility in Mexico is due to open this Summer, but the US facility has struggled to move quickly. The screwworm's advance has been considerably faster, in fact they could even reach Texas this month.   

One thing which the UK COVID inquiry has made patently clear to everyone, and this is genuinely upsetting, is that UK's second COVID wave was horrific - and almost totally avoidable. Tens of thousands of people did not have to die. 

Module 2 found that there were, in the words of Christina Pagel of IndieSAGE: "Missed opportunities, delayed decisions, a refusal to learn, a downplaying or failure to believe advice from SAGE, and a general unseriousness on the part of government".

Well over twice as many people were admitted to hospital with COVID during the second wave than the first, and it went on from September 2020 to April 2021.

Module 4 brought all of this into sharp reality, by looking at the victims and hearing from the bereaved. It included testimony from staff, who saw death in much greater number than ever before, repeated week after week, and including their own colleagues - who had by far a greater chance of severe illness or death from COVID than the general population. 

It's pretty harrowing, but Christina Pagel has written it up very sensitively over on Substack at "Making sense... of evidence, data and the stories they tell".

We mustn't forget, we must never rewrite history. It’s too easy now to think "it wasn't so bad", but the truth will always be that it was. 

Trump of the day:

It's RFK Jr, who has had to testify to the senate over his allocations for the spending of the US Health and Human Services funding. 

- In defence of his stance that measles vaccination doesn't stop measles like we think it does, RFK JR cites two studies. Senator Bill Cassidy is quick to find both studies and point out that the first study actually finds 'measles vaccination stops measles like we think it does', and: "The second study was published before the vaccine came out".

- When discussing price decreases for therapeutics (a good thing!), RFK Jr has some crazy maths and says: "President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that's a 600% reduction."

Ermmm, what?... nope. Sorry RFK, there is only one way to calculate percentages. 

- Senator Warnock did not hold his tongue, telling RFK Jr: "I think you're dangerous to the American public and you ought to be fired. And if you're not fired, you ought to have the decency to resign. You're way in over your head." Yowch.

In the 18 months since it began, Martha's Rule may have saved the lives of over 500 adults and children.

Martha's Rule is named after 13 year old Martha Mills. Despite her parent's concerns, she died from sepsis when the hospital team looking after her didn’t appreciate how ill she was, and her consultant was not present to make decisions. Now patients, relatives and staff can call a number and initiate a rapid review of care from a different team. Over 12,000 calls have been made so far, with 1 in 3 identifying a patient who was deteriorating when they shouldn't be. More than 1,000 of these calls were made by staff. As a result 524 patients were moved to specialist hospitals or wards, intensive care or high dependency.

You saved lives guys. Thanks for making the call. 

Reasons to celebrate:

- Congratulations to the Bahamas for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV. 

- And congratulations to Algeria and Australia for officially eliminating trachoma as a public health problem. Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness.

Algeria is the 10th country in the WHOAFRO region and the 29th worldwide with this achievement, and Australia is the 30th. 

Australia has recorded ZERO cases of cervical cancer in women aged under 25 in 2021 (currently aged under 30). These young adults were all offered the HPV vaccination as teenagers (in 2024 Scotland had the same result).

Cervical cancer was already rare in people under 30 (although I've known 2 personally), but you can't get better results than this. Lets hope we see the same results in 10, 20, 30 years time. 

It's the weekend - hurrah! For the UK and a lot of the world it's a May Day Bank Holiday weekend - bigger hurrah! Hopefully you'll get some nice weather and some time off, and you will be able to relax and spoil yourself a little. Plan something for yourself, remember you are important too - it isn't just about other people. I've no idea yet what I'm going to treat myself with, but we are 2 weeks into both of my teenagers doing their exams, so simply not having any exams for 3 days will be a refreshing break! 

I'll be back in 2 weeks. Until then... Play Outdoors, Drink More Water, Save The NHS... 

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Sources recurring e.g.COVID

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

UK Health Data 

https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/

UK latest COVID cases UPDATES THURSDAY 4pm

https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/respiratory-viruses/covid-19

GP surveillance England Primary Care 

https://www.rcgp.org.uk/representing-you/research-at-rcgp/research-surveillance-centre/public-health-data

UK Norovirus weekly update

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-norovirus-and-rotavirus-surveillance-reports-2025-to-2026-season/national-norovirus-and-rotavirus-report-week-44-report-data-to-week-43-data-up-to-26-october-2025

US CDC respiratory dashboard 

https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data/index.html

Reference pages H5N1 

https://bnonews.com/index.php/human-cases-of-h5n1-bird-flu/

https://www.paho.org/en/topics/avian-influenza

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/hpai-confirmed-cases-livestock

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-avian-influenza-latest-situation-in-england

Infectious disease tracker

https://promedmail.org/

https://www.paho.org/en/news/6-1-2025-paho-launches-interactive-dashboard-monitor-avian-influenza-ah5n1-americas

Moo flu B3.13 / generally mild human

Wild bird flu D.1.x / generally severe human

Measles Sit Rep US CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

UK cases Measles 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-epidemiology-2023/confirmed-cases-of-measles-in-england-by-month-age-region-and-upper-tier-local-authority-2025

Canada Measles

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/measles-rubella/

Predominant in humans

H1N1

H3N2

Influenza A and B can cause severe symptoms, Influenza C generally only mild symproms (no vaccines necessary for type C).

H1 - more likely to make you vomit and cough

H3 - more likely to give you a higher fever

Sources Images

Image WHO achievements 2025 

https://x.com/i/status/2048764609864077361

Image Australia cervical cancer

https://x.com/i/status/2045084850411983165

Farm animals can pass infections, so follow guidance when on farm visits UK HSA

https://x.com/i/status/2050170610324586638

Cranberry juice staves off UTIs, but doesn't fix them Image UK HSA 

https://x.com/i/status/2049881634401292490

Sources Text

COVID Sit Rep

https://open.substack.com/pub/bhawkins3/p/covid-situation-report-april-30-2026?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=354hjt

Drug pricing UK pharmacists

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c202jqn3jzro

Dozens of MPs oppose Streeting’s new power to say what NHS pays for drugs | Wes Streeting | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/26/mps-oppose-wes-streeting-power-to-say-what-nhs-pays-for-drugs-nice

Wes Streeting overrules NICE on pharmaceutical pricing

https://x.com/i/status/2048336974172324308

CDC blocks publication of report showing COVID vaccine efficacy | CIDRAP https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cdc-blocks-publication-report-showing-covid-vaccine-efficacy

RFK Jr says we under-reacted to COVID because his son has Long COVID

https://x.com/i/status/2048381270363603299

Long COVID team disbanded last year by RFK Jr

https://x.com/i/status/2048468127315349680

2 weeks into the job RFK Jr closed the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice 

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/24/trump-administration-shuttering-office-of-long-covid-research-and-practice-00246836

Trump cancelled funding for Long COVID research

https://x.com/i/status/2048415080262320551

National Science Foundation Board fired 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-fired-national-science-foundation-board-b2965242.html

NSB fired

https://x.com/i/status/2048453901930660058

Paxlovid doesn’t help most people with COVID

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2502457

Measles UK 

https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/vaccine-preventable-diseases/measles

Measles cases dropped in Europe and Central Asia in 2025

https://www.unicef.org/romania/press-releases/measles-cases-dropped-europe-and-central-asia-2025-compared-previous-year-risk

‘It’s a powder keg’: Romania leads EU measles cases as vaccination rates collapse | Romania | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/18/romania-eu-measles-cases-vaccination-rates-collapse

Measles US

https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

Measles South Carolina. 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/south-carolina-measles-outbreak-ends-us-cases-near-1800

Measles Canada

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/measles-rubella/

Japan measles 

https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2026042400358/

PAHO measles report published 27th April

https://reliefweb.int/report/mexico/paho-situation-report-measles-region-americas-14-april-2026

Bad Tick year US effect of H5N1 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/u-s-doctors-warn-of-a-potentially-bad-year-for-tick-borne-diseases

Raptor losses lead to increase in mice 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ContagionCuriosity/s/r1Pzgk45mR

https://www.reddit.com/r/ContagionCuriosity/s/UZ7bwbJtRM

Tick co-infections

https://www.idsociety.org/science-speaks-blog/2026/rising-tick-co-infections-highlight-a-changing-pathogen-landscape/

Cambodia 4th human infected H5N1

https://cambodianess.com/article/cambodia-confirms-4th-h5n1-case-in-2026-raising-fears-of-wider-outbreak

Cambodia reassortment H5N1

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/erik-karlsson-4099391a9_cambodia-h5n1-avianinfluenza-ugcPost-7444611107992035328-9Fvd

Cambodia H5N1

https://moh.gov.kh/en/notice/detail/497

Moderna H5 avian flu vaccine 

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07496450

BMJ H5 flu trial

https://www.bmj.com/content/393/bmj.s759

NIHR UK flu vaccine trial H5

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/bird-flu-vaccine-trial-launches-prepare-potential-pandemic

WAPO H5 flu trial

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/04/21/mrna-bird-flu-vaccine-trial-rfk-cuts/

Healthy life expectancy UK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20q07w3gl9o

Healthy life expectancy UK stats 

https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/analysis/healthy-life-expectancy-trends-in-the-uk-a-watershed-moment

Study ONS healthy life expectancy 2024 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/healthstatelifeexpectanciesuk/between2011to2013and2022to2024

Cadwallader Palantir contracts

https://x.com/i/status/2049419961735532703

German military quote Palantir

https://x.com/i/status/2049073755889045737

Screwworm fly production US 

https://www.chron.com/texas/article/south-texas-plant-screwworm-threat-usda-22214580.php

Screwworm fly background wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochliomyia_hominivorax

https://open.substack.com/pub/christinapagel/p/the-uk-covid-inquiry-has-laid-bare?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=354hjt

RFK Jr - there is only one way to calculate percentages. 

https://x.com/i/status/2046991286649884740

Sen. Warnock to RFK: "I think you're dangerous to the American public and you ought to be fired. And if you're not fired, you ought to have the decency to resign. You're way in over your head."

https://x.com/i/status/2046992500796068193

Clip 2: RFK JR cites another study. 

Clip 3: Cassidy finds the first study and suggests the study contradicts RFK JR’s claim. 

Clip 4: Cassidy finds the second study and points out the study 

https://x.com/i/status/2047059533755990083

Martha's Rule 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/01/marthas-rule-may-have-saved-more-than-500-lives-in-england-since-2024

Bahamas eliminates neonatal HIV

https://www.who.int/news/item/22-04-2026-who-certifies-the-bahamas-for-eliminating-mother-to-child-transmission-of-hiv

Algeria eliminates trachoma

https://www.who.int/news/item/23-04-2026-algeria-eliminates-trachoma-as-a-public-health-problem

Australia eliminates trachoma

https://www.who.int/news/item/29-04-2026-australia-becomes-the-30th-country-to-eliminate-trachoma-as-a-public-health-problem

Australia cervical cancer elimination

https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/hpv-vaccination-and-screening-help-australia-get-closer-to-eliminating-cervical-cancer/

Scotland cervical cancer elimination 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/cervical-cancer-elimination-scotland-expert-group-final-report/pages/5/

Scotland HPV

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c19132k8ke0o