Erin Prater

Stay informed with Erin Prater’s coverage and analysis.

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A fruit bat captured by CDC scientists in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda on Aug. 25, 2018. The scientists glued small GPS devices to 20 bats in an attempt to determine flight patterns and how the creatures transmit Marburg virus to humans. The West African country of Equatorial Guinea reported its first-ever cases of the virus this week, according to the World Health Organization.

Marburg virus, a relative of Ebola with no approved vaccines or treatments, is spreading in West Africa. Here’s what you need to know

A long COVID patient performs breathing training in a gymnastics room at the Teutoburger Wald Clinic, a rehab clinic for post-COVID sufferers. Nearly 60% of patients with long COVID had organ impairment a year after catching the sometimes deadly disease, according to a new study released Tuesday by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Researchers have uncovered another complication that affects 60% of people with long COVID

Nearly a third of teen girls drank alcohol during the past month, and nearly a quarter have made a suicide plan in the past year, according to a shocking report published Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly a quarter of teen girls made a suicide plan in the past year, according to a startling new CDC report

Racegoers at Sha Tin Racecourse on Jan. 8 in Hong Kong. People are far too concerned with the potential of new and concerning COVID variants evolving in China, one of the country’s top scientists said Wednesday. The Eastern superpower is currently experiencing some of the darkest days of the entire pandemic, with what is almost certainly the largest surge experienced by any country since the novel virus was discovered there in late 2019.

The world needs to ‘calm down’ about the risk of a new COVID variant emerging from China, the country’s former CDC chief says

TOPSHOT – A pelican suspected to have died from H5N1 avian influenza is seen on a beach in Lima, on December 1, 2022. – The highly contagious H5N1 avian flu virus has killed thousands of pelicans, blue-footed boobies and other seabirds in Peru, according to the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR). (Photo by Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP) (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images)

The spillover of bird flu to mammals must be ‘monitored closely,’ WHO officials warn: ‘We need to be ready to face outbreaks in humans’

Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of health emergencies programme at the World Health Organization (WHO), listens during a news conference on the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 2, 2020. The pandemic is drawing to a close, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday. But they refused to rule out a plot twist that could reverse some, if not all, progress made on the disease over the past three years.

‘No one really wants to talk about COVID anymore,’ the WHO’s pandemic lead laments. But the ‘worst case’ possibility of a new coronavirus exists

Infant formula manufacturers have used predatory marketing tactics to prey on the fears of new parents for decades—to the tune of billions of dollars annually, according to a new series in The Lancet, backed by the World Health Organization.

Big Formula’s ‘exploitative’ marketing tactics prey on new parents’ fears, experts say

Doctor holding syringe with vaccine bottle, medicine and drug concept

Cancer vaccines are already a reality—but your doctor might not tell you about them unless you ask

A nurse assists a cancer patient

U.S. cancer deaths are on the decline, but nearly 2 million diagnoses are expected this year

A person wears a mask after New York City health officials issued an advisory strongly urging New Yorkers to use masks, as COVID-19, flu, and RSV cases rise, on Dec. 12 in New York, United States. The Biden administration plans to end the national COVID public health emergency on May 11, it announced Monday, bringing to an end access to free COVID tests, treatments, and vaccines for many.

The U.S. COVID health emergency is set to end in May. From the end of free COVID tests to the return of copays, here’s what it means for you

A tired-looking medical worker removes her mask

The world isn’t ready for the next pandemic, which could be ‘just around the corner,’ global health organization warns

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gestures during a press conference at the World Health Organization’s headquarters in Geneva, on December 14, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Believe it or not, it’s still officially a pandemic, the WHO says. Welcome to year 4 of COVID

CH.1.1 is an Omicron with a concerning Delta mutation—not quite a “Deltacron,” but still potentially concerning, experts say.

What’s CH.1.1? Meet ‘Orthrus,’ a new wildcard Omicron strain with a concerning Delta mutation

Activist Lourdes Naulty poses with her child and other demonstrators during a demonstration urging the Food and Drug Administration authorize vaccines for children under 5 at the FDA on May 9 in Washington, D.C. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee on Thursday recommended the updated Omicron booster formula be used for initial doses of the vaccine—this amid discussion of a controversial dosing regimen that could entail just one booster shot a year, for many Americans.

FDA committee plots future of COVID vaccines, with Omicron formula and potentially annual booster shots

Infants with rickets are “sunned” at the Chicago Orphan Asylum in this undated historical photo. A move to eradicate rickets by fortifying foods with Vitamin D preceded a wave of mysterious infant deaths in the 1930s and 1940s. Now scientists have a better answer as to why.

New study sheds light on mysterious infant deaths nearly a century ago—and could help scientists better understand cancer