Could Ebola spread to the US? WHO emergency sparks fears after American infected in Congo

The World Health Organization has declared an international public health emergency as a growing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa sparks concern that the deadly virus could spread beyond the region — including into the United States.

The outbreak has been linked to dozens of suspected deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda.

Ebola is a zoonotic, viral disease that is rare but life-threatening, according to Cleveland Clinic. Outbreaks typically develop in areas of Africa, starting in species like antelope, fruit bats and nonhuman primates.

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There are four different Ebola strains, also known as orthoebolaviruses. Bundibugyo virus is the strain that has been detected in the DRC outbreak.

While the outbreak does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency, U.S. officials are warning Americans not to visit the area, escalating the State Department travel advisory from a Level 3 to Level 4 on Sunday.

One American tested positive for Ebola on May 17 while working in Congo and is being transported to Germany for treatment with other Americans who are high-risk contacts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of May 18, there have been 11 confirmed and 336 suspected cases, including 88 deaths in the DRC.

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"This is a rapidly evolving situation, and case counts are subject to change," the CDC noted.

While no cases have been detected in the U.S., there is a possibility that it could make its way into American territory, posing a threat to public health.

Dr. Jacob Glanville, a leading immunologist at Centivax in San Francisco, which is developing a universal flu vaccine, spoke with Fox News Digital about the potential spread of Ebola into the U.S.

The doctor noted that the virus has a two- to 21-day incubation period, during which an infected person can show no symptoms and the infection cannot be detected by tests.

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"It is thus possible for Ebola to move across international borders silently, bypassing screening," he said.

"Some travel restrictions from the affected area have been put in place to limit this risk, although as this outbreak was spreading silently for months, it is possible that an infected traveler had come to the U.S. in the past 21 days from the affected areas prior to the travel restrictions."

Glanville noted that while the outbreak is "growing rapidly," one week ago there were fewer than 500 global cases.

"Thus, the chance of an infected traveler having come to the U.S. remains quite low for the time being," he said.

Dr. Robert H. Hopkins, Jr., medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, agreed that the threat to American communities remains low.

"The viruses that cause Ebola pose a very small risk, even to travelers to areas with outbreaks," the Arkansas-based expert told Fox News Digital. "This virus is transmitted only person-to-person via infected blood and body fluids from symptomatic people, and rarely from infected animals."

Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or remains of infected people or animals, including fluids such as saliva and sweat, according to Hopkins.

Cleveland Clinic notes that it is "very unlikely" for Ebola to be an airborne infection.

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The virus starts with flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, vomiting/diarrhea and loss of appetite. Other signs may include a rash or spots of blood under the skin, hiccups, bruising and red, bloodshot eyes.

As the disease is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever, it causes damage to the blood vessels and can lead to more serious symptoms, including severe bleeding or hemorrhaging, neurological disorders and severe vomiting.

For those who have traveled to the outbreak area, Hopkins recommends monitoring for symptoms for three weeks after departing and seeking immediate care if symptoms develop.

Treatments are available, along with a vaccine that can help protect high-risk individuals and prevent further spread, according to healthcare professionals.

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Avoiding contact with blood, body fluids, and sick or deceased people and animals is "highly effective in the prevention of Ebola transmission," Hopkins advised.

"If contact is required, high-quality personal protective equipment is recommended before contact with potentially infectious people and/or materials," he added.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

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Woman says she’s being held against her will after cruise ship hantavirus scare

An American woman who may have been exposed to hantavirus on board the MV Hondius cruise ship is now being forced to quarantine at a facility in Omaha, Nebraska.

Angela Perryman, 47, anticipated having to stay at the National Quarantine Unit for a short time after arriving last week, but on Monday she was served with a federal order to remain quarantined for at least two more weeks, she shared with The New York Times.

The order mandates that Perryman remains in the facility until May 31, which would be a total of 21 days after her arrival. Officials told her that any attempts to leave could result in law enforcement involvement, she said.

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"They won’t let us isolate at home," Perryman, who lives in Ecuador but has a home in South Florida, told the news outlet. "We’re being kept in a secured facility and threatened if we try to leave."

The woman shared that she received a negative hantavirus test result and is not experiencing symptoms. However, she said she did briefly speak with a passenger who later died from the disease.

The federal order, which the passenger shared with the Times, states that it could "constitute a probable source of infection to other people" if Perryman were to leave the facility to travel to another state.

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After receiving a medical review within 72 hours, Perryman was told she can appeal the order. She told the Times that she plans to take legal action.

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The quarantine unit includes 20 single-occupancy rooms with negative air pressure systems and en suite bathroom facilities, along with exercise equipment and Wi-Fi connectivity, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security website.

The quarantine order — issued under federal public health authority — was reportedly approved by Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC requesting comment.

Including Perryman, a total of 18 American passengers from the MV Hondius have been monitored at the quarantine unit since last week.

Seven other passengers who left the ship and returned home prior to the outbreak’s discovery are being monitored by their state and local health departments, per the CDC.

"The reason they’re watching these passengers so carefully is that the incubation period can be very long — up to six weeks — and when symptoms hit, patients can deteriorate very rapidly," Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, said during a recent episode of "The Faulkner Focus."

"This is not something that spreads easily like COVID, but because the Andes strain has rare person-to-person transmission, public health officials are being extremely cautious," he added.

At least three people linked to the outbreak aboard the ship have died, while additional passengers have been sickened, according to the World Health Organization.

The federal government last imposed a large-scale quarantine order in January 2020, when nearly 200 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. They were required to remain in isolation for two weeks at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, per the CDC.

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"Typically, we don’t hold people against their will unless there is no alternative," Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the pandemic center at Brown University’s School of Public Health, told The Times.

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'Longevity gene' may protect the brain from Alzheimer's by boosting DNA repair, study finds

A new study suggests that a specific "longevity gene" may help protect the brain from the effects of aging, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The APOE gene (short for apolipoprotein E) helps the body transport and metabolize fats and cholesterol, especially in the brain.

While the APOE4 variant is known to be associated with a significantly higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the APOE2 variant of the APOE gene appears to carry a lower risk.

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Using human brain cells derived from stem cells, researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging explored the reasons for that protective effect. They found that the APOE2 gene improves neurons’ ability to repair DNA damage and to resist "cellular senescence," a process that leads to cells becoming old and worn out.

In contrast, brain cells with the APOE4 variant were more fragile and more likely to show signs of aging and dysfunction, the researchers found.

These findings were also supported by follow-up studies in mice.

"We found that APOE2, a gene linked to exceptional longevity (enriched in centenarians), helps human neurons better repair DNA damage and resist becoming senescent, or aged and dysfunctional," senior author Lisa M. Ellerby, PhD, professor at the Buck Institute, told Fox News Digital.

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"APOE has a well-known role in cholesterol transport, but the new mechanism we have discovered may explain in part why APOE2 carriers tend to live longer and have lower Alzheimer’s risk."

The researchers said they were "very surprised" that the protective mechanism of APOE2 in neurons was DNA signaling and repair.

"APOE2 is so well-known for cholesterol transport that uncovering this major pathway, and seeing it hold up across multiple human neuron models and aged mice, was striking for us," Ellerby said.

The study also found that adding the APOE2 protein to APOE4 neurons reduced their DNA damage after the stress of radiation exposure.

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These findings suggest that future treatments could aim to simulate the protective effects of APOE2 or boost DNA repair systems in the brain, especially for people who carry the higher-risk APOE4 gene.

The findings were published in the journal Aging Cell.

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Christopher Weber, PhD, senior director of global scientific initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago, said this is an "exciting and significant study."

"It shifts attention beyond APOE's well-known role in cholesterol transport toward a new function — shaping how brain cells maintain their integrity as they age — and opens up some new directions for therapy development, particularly for people who carry the higher-risk APOE4 variant," Weber, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.

The Alzheimer’s Association currently has 13 active projects in four countries investigating APOE2’s role in protecting against Alzheimer's disease, he noted.

Caghan Kizil, PhD, an associate professor of neurological sciences at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, recently received a $500,000 grant from the American Brain Foundation to fund research related to the APOE4 gene.

"This study goes beyond the long-known observation that APOE2 is linked to longevity and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and aims to explain why this protection may happen," Kizil, who also did not work on the study, told Fox News Digital.

Kizil agreed that the findings may help explain why some brains stay healthy longer than others, and how natural protective mechanisms may support longer-lasting brain health.

"What I find especially interesting is the idea that Alzheimer’s may partly reflect the brain losing its ability to stay resilient with age," he said. "Growing evidence in the field suggests that APOE-related risk is not only about amyloid buildup, but also about how aging, inflammation, blood vessel health and the brain’s repair systems work together over time."

Future research could explore what makes some brains naturally more resilient, and whether those protective mechanisms could be harnessed to help people who carry higher-risk genes like APOE4, according to Weber. 

"In other words, the long-term goal is to help vulnerable brains age more like resilient brains," he added. "We believe the future of Alzheimer’s research lies in preventing at-risk individuals from becoming diseased in the first place."

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There were some limitations to the new study, the researchers noted – primarily that it was not conducted in living patients.

"Our laboratory study in human iPSC-derived neurons and mice describes a biological mechanism and not a clinical treatment," Ellerby told Fox News Digital. "The precise molecular mechanism by which APOE2 stabilizes the nucleus and supports repair still needs to be fully worked out."

The researcher cautioned that people shouldn't make changes to their lifestyle behaviors based on this study alone, and that they would not recommend undergoing genetic testing for APOE purely for longevity.

"The results are complex and difficult," Ellerby noted. "The broader message is that supporting your brain's DNA repair and slowing cellular senescence are good for you."

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Some healthy ways to accomplish this include exercising, getting optimal sleep, optimizing cardiovascular health and avoiding "genotoxic" exposures like smoking. 

"These are all super beneficial to your health, regardless of your APOE variant," the researcher added.

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Murdoch Children’s Research Institute secures $5M grant to prevent childhood disease

The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia will receive a $5 million federal grant to launch a pioneering research team for children’s health.

The grant was announced at MCRI’s 40th anniversary gala in Melbourne on Saturday night.

"For 40 years, MCRI has been a global leader in children’s health research," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told guests at the gala, which was attended by 300 of Australia’s most esteemed medical experts, political leaders, philanthropists and sports luminaries.

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"My government is proud to partner with MCRI, so our world-leading researchers have the best opportunities to support healthier childhoods for Australians now and into the future."

The $5 million will directly support medical research aimed at preventing numerous childhood conditions, including obesity, heart disease, mental health issues and disabilities.

Also announced at the gala, a lead donation from Sarah and Lachlan Murdoch will launch the Horizon Fund — a permanent endowment for MCRI aimed at funding long-term children’s health research and future medical breakthroughs.

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The goal is for the fund to raise between $50 million and $100 million in its first year and to reach $200 million within five years.

The fund is designed to back researchers’ immediate priorities while safeguarding long-term capital for future medical breakthroughs in children’s health.

In 2020, the Murdochs donated $5 million to establish a perpetual fellowship supporting leading researchers in fields including stem cell technology and genomic precision medicine.

Co-founded in 1986 by philanthropist and child health advocate Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and pediatrician and genetics pioneer Professor David Danks, MCRI comprises 1,800 scientists, researchers and clinicians.

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"Dame Elisabeth’s leadership, along with her values, shaped both the direction and the ethos of the Institute we were to become – for all children to live a healthy and fulfilled life," said Sarah Murdoch, who is Dame Elisabeth Murdoch’s granddaughter-in-law and MCRI’s global ambassador and board co-chair. 

"With the generosity of a remarkable group of founding donors alongside the Murdoch family – Sir Jack Brockhoff, the Miller family, and The Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust – the foundations were laid for an Institute designed to bring our brightest minds, to serve all children, not only in that moment, but for generations to come," Ms. Murdoch added.

"I see what is possible when foresight, science, commitment, collaboration and heartfelt generosity come together," she emphasized.

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"Because behind every breakthrough is a child — a family desperate for answers. A future changed because of the commitment by so many."

MCRI Director Kathryn North expressed appreciation at the gala to the prime minister for the $5 million grant.

"From the beginning, MCRI has been guided by a simple but powerful purpose: to give all children the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilled life," North said.

"It reflects a belief that good health is the foundation for a full life, and that opportunity should never be limited by circumstance."

Professor North mentioned the Institute’s focus on developing therapies for previously incurable diseases.

"We are harnessing the power of human stem cell technologies to grow heart patches, functional mini kidneys, blood and immune cells … to better understand disease, and to develop regenerative therapies using a patient’s own stem cells to replace organ transplants and the risk of rejection," she said.

The Institute’s next challenge, North said, is to address chronic conditions like asthma, obesity, allergies and mental health conditions that can persist for decades.

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"These are big problems that will require significant and ongoing support," she said. "Through our work globally, we are helping communities raise their expectations to both deliver and receive the sort of healthcare we take for granted."

"Our ambition now is to translate these partnerships into population-scale solutions that improve the lives of millions of children worldwide," North added. "This is not simply the next chapter for MCRI – it is the work of building the future of children’s health."

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New pancreatic cancer pill could reshape treatment as early trial results stun researchers

A new drug for pancreatic cancer is showing promise in early testing.

Daraxonrasib is a daily pill designed to block cancer signals linked to the RAS gene. It has now finished an early-stage clinical trial — the first time it was tested in people — to evaluate both its safety and effectiveness.

The clinical trial, led by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, tested the drug in 168 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer whose tumors had mutations in the RAS gene. All study participants had previously received at least one chemotherapy treatment.

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The drug is designed to block multiple active cancer signals that help tumor cells grow. This is especially important because more than 90% of pancreatic cancers carry these harmful mutations, researchers said.

Existing and older drugs that target RAS mutations only work on certain types that are uncommon in pancreatic cancer, such as KRAS mutations.

At the 300-milligram dose — the amount that will be used in larger phase 3 trials — about 30% of patients saw a positive response, researchers noted. Overall, about 90% of patients had their cancer either shrink or stop getting worse.

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There were some side effects reported — most commonly rash, mouth inflammation, nausea and diarrhea.

Lead investigator Dr. Brian Wolpin, director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber, commented in a press release statement that this development could change the future of cancer care.

"If supported by data from future clinical trials, daraxonrasib would be a targeted therapy relevant to nearly all patients with advanced pancreatic cancer," he said.

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"This trial provides the first published data showing the safety and broad activity of a RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor in pancreatic cancer," Wolpin went on. "If it proves effective in larger clinical trials, it would signify a substantial shift in how this disease is treated."

In an interview with Fox News Digital, the researcher claimed that daraxonrasib represents "one of the most promising therapy advances we’ve seen in pancreatic cancer."

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This is especially significant since pancreatic cancer has had "very few effective therapies" in the past, Wolpin noted.

"The study also showed disease control in approximately 90% of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, which is extremely exciting," he added.

Wolpin noted that while side effects were common, most patients were able to tolerate treatment with "supportive care measures, and very few patients needed to stop therapy due to side effects."

As this was a phase 1/2 study, it does not "definitively prove" the superiority of daraxonrasib compared to chemotherapy, Wolpin added.

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"The study did not include a randomized control arm that directly compared daraxonrasib with chemotherapy," he said. "That being said, the results for daraxonrasib looked substantially better than what we have seen in prior clinical trials of chemotherapy in patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer."

It also remains unclear how the drug may perform earlier in the disease, as the trial included patients who had already received prior treatments.

For patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer, Wolpin noted that daraxonrasib signals "real momentum" toward effective treatments, but it is still investigational and is not a cure.

"Pancreatic cancer remains a challenging disease, and additional research is needed to determine how best to sequence or combine therapies to provide the most durable responses and cures," he said.

Brian Slomovitz, director of gynecologic oncology and co-chair of the Cancer Research Committee at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, applauded this development in a separate interview with Fox News Digital.

"We are anxiously awaiting the upcoming plenary presentation of RASolute 302 at the ASCO meeting later this month," said the expert, who was not involved in the study. "Greater than 90% of pancreatic cancers have activation of kRAS, which is a major factor in the development and progression of these cancers." 

"If the full dataset results that will be reported later this month confirm what was earlier released, I believe this will be one of the most important breakthroughs in all solid tumors," Slomovitz went on. "Doubling the survival time in pretreated patients is unprecedented."

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The doctor added that the "magnitude of benefit" could "reshape the treatment landscape" and "establish a new standard of care."

"We will need to evaluate the full dataset for efficacy and safety," Slomovitz added. "I am more than cautiously optimistic, and I am truly excited for our patients and their families that suffer from this dreadful disease."

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Frequent museum visits tied to reduced cellular aging, research finds

People who regularly visit museums or participate in creative activities may be aging more slowly on a biological level, according to a new study from the United Kingdom.

Researchers from University College London analyzed data from more than 3,500 adults and found that people who frequently engaged in arts and cultural activities showed signs of slower biological aging in several DNA-based measurements.

The findings were published in the journal Innovation in Aging.

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The study examined activities including painting, photography, dancing, singing, visiting museums and attending cultural events or historic sites.

Researchers compared participation in those activities with "epigenetic clocks," scientific tools that examine chemical changes in DNA over time.

Adults who participated more often, and in a wider variety of activities, tended to show slower aging scores compared to people who rarely engaged in arts or cultural experiences.

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The association appeared even stronger among adults over age 40.

Researchers also noted that the effect sizes were comparable to those linked to physical activity, one of the most widely studied behaviors associated with healthy aging.

Jessica Mack, a health and wellness expert and founder of The Functional Consulting Group who was not involved in the study, said the findings reflect a growing understanding that health is influenced by more than exercise and nutrition alone.

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"Arts and cultural engagement may be associated with slower epigenetic aging, with effects comparable in some measures to physical activity," Mack told Fox News Digital.

She said activities such as visiting museums and engaging with music or art may help reduce stress, improve emotional regulation and increase social connection.

"These are not ‘extra’ lifestyle activities," Mack said. "They may be deeply connected to how the body manages inflammation, stress hormones, mood and overall resilience."

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Mack added that people experiencing stress, social isolation, retirement or caregiving responsibilities may especially benefit from meaningful cultural engagement.

Experts cautioned, however, that the study does not prove arts engagement directly slows aging.

"This is an observational study, not an experiment," Professor Steve Horvath of UCLA, a longevity researcher and pioneer in epigenetic aging research who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.

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"So when researchers find that the people who go to museums have younger epigenetic age, we cannot tell whether the museum visits slowed their aging, or whether their slower aging is what allowed them to keep visiting museums," he said.

Horvath said both explanations may be true to some degree, though he described the research as "methodologically careful" and worthy of further study.

The findings remained consistent even after accounting for factors such as smoking, income, body weight and other lifestyle habits.

He added that regardless of whether arts engagement is directly slowing biological aging, staying socially and mentally active is still associated with healthier aging overall.

"The prescription is the same," he said. "Keep going."

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Fitness influencer says one simple habit can help anyone get back in shape

Fitness influencer and trainer Mark Langowski, known on social media as @bodybymark, hosted a pushup and plank competition in New York City this week, where he urged the public to get up and get moving.

On his platform of nearly two million Instagram followers, Langowski asks fit people to share their workout routines. He was able to meet more in-shape New Yorkers at his Washington Square Park meet-up, in partnership with Oikos yogurt on May 12.

A male and a female winner who achieved the most pushups or held a plank the longest were gifted $500 each.

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Besides the cash prize, the inspiration was to get more people moving, Langowski shared during an interview with Fox News Digital.

"[It’s] a way to encourage strength and overall fitness in New York City and all around the country," he said.

"We got together and we're doing a plank competition, pushup competition. We had a guy just do 111 pushups. We're just getting people moving."

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Langowski said the attributes of a great competitor include strength, humility and confidence.

"The people who ... did the most, they didn't say they were going to do the most," he said. "And there were other people who said they could do 150, and they did 70."

Having a bit of humility helps make a good competitor, the trainer added.

Pushups and planks mark a "good general baseline" for measuring fitness level, according to Langowski. Some other basics include pull-ups, squats and endurance challenges, like running a mile — the kind of basics included in an elementary school fitness assessment.

For those who haven't yet mastered these basics but want to get in better shape, Langowski shared some advice on how to get started.

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"Get with a trainer or someone who knows how to progress you," he advised. "A lot of people are like, 'I can't do a pushup, so I'm never going to do one.’ That's not the way."

Langowski recommends starting with pushups on your knees or against a wall, then gradually progressing to standard pushups by moving onto your toes and lowering yourself fully to the ground before pushing back up.

"You'll be surprised after you do that for a couple weeks, a couple months, a couple years – you're going to be able to do a lot," he said. "Nobody was born being able to do 111 pushups. They put in the work and they started somewhere."

The trainer noted that in addition to practicing, it's just as important to give the body rest and to support muscle growth with proper protein intake and an overall healthy diet.

But perhaps the most crucial step toward getting in shape, according to Langowski, is having the motivation to get started

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"I know that's easy for me to say – I've been in fitness and been relatively fit most of my life," he said. "And I know a lot of people are sitting on the couch and they either feel sorry for themselves or they're going through a tough time … You’ve just got to get out there."

The trainer suggested starting with a simple walk — even just around the block — with no gym equipment required.

"You don't need an expensive gym membership to get in good shape," he said. "Most of the people that I stop on the street, they don't have a gym membership at all. They do it in their living room."

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"And that's where you can do the exercises I mentioned – the squats, the lunges, the pushups," Langowski went on.

"So, I would encourage people just to start, but also to get some friends or get a trainer, someone to support you and do it safely."

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