Global Health

Liberian Nurse Who Recovered From Ebola Dies In Childbirth

8:49am February 28, 2017

Steve Inskeep talks to Aryn Baker of Time magazine about a Liberian nursing assistant, who cared for Ebola patients, but who died earlier this month after childbirth because no one would help her.

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Rai competes at the 2014 Manaslu Trail Race, which passes through Nepal's Himalayan landscapes.

What Makes Mira Rai Run?

7:00am February 26, 2017

by Danielle Preiss

She dreamed of a better life outside her village in Nepal. But she was broke and had run out of hope. Then she tried a 31-mile trail race.

Pig farm workers push live pigs into a large grave in Nipah in 1999. To stop the outbreak, the Malaysian government culled almost 1 million pigs, nearly destroying the country's pork industry.

A Taste For Pork Helped A Deadly Virus Jump To Humans

10:00am February 25, 2017

People were dropping dead in Malaysia, and no one could figure out why their brains were swelling. A young scientist solved the mystery. Then he had to get people to believe him.

#CuriousGoat: What's A Good Exit Strategy For A Charity?

9:19am February 24, 2017

by Diane Cole

It's easy for a humanitarian group to go into a country with ambitious goals. It's tougher to figure out how to walk away.

Lucia Adeng Wek holds her 3-year-old son, Wek Wol Wek, who suffers from malnutrition. They're at a clinic in South Sudan run by Doctors without Borders and were photographed on October 11, 2016.

Health & Safety

Who Declares A Famine? And What Does That Actually Mean?

9:19pm February 23, 2017

by Nurith Aizenman

Just as we rank hurricanes and earthquakes, officials have developed a five-phase scale to rank food crises.

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Wedding guests dance at a New Delhi celebration.

Legislator Aims To Stop The Million Dollar Wedding (Or At Least Tax It)

2:17pm February 23, 2017

by Chhavi Sachdev

Wealthy families in India spend a lot on weddings. So do lower income families. A member of Parliament is proposing a bill that would tax the rich and help the poor.

Andie Vaught grasps a stress toy in the shape of a truck as she prepares to have blood drawn as part of a clinical trial for a Zika vaccine at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., in November 2016.

To Test Zika Vaccines, Scientists Need A New Outbreak

1:42pm February 23, 2017

by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez

It's a bit of a paradox, but researchers say they need Zika virus to re-emerge this year so they can test vaccines designed to defeat it.

A typical meal in the Democratic Republic of Congo consists of greens, fufu - a starchy ball made from cassava flour - and meat, such as freshwater fish.

Poverty Plus A Poisonous Plant Blamed For Paralysis In Rural Africa

9:01am February 23, 2017

by Amy Maxmen

Some African countries have long witnessed mysterious outbreaks of paralysis. Affected regions are poor and conflict-ridden, where people's main food is a bitter, poisonous variety of cassava.

Each year thousands of people from around the world tour the Gomantong Cave in Borneo. Although scientists have found a potentially dangerous virus in bats that roost in the cave, no one has ever gotten sick from a trip here.

The Next Pandemic Could Be Dripping On Your Head

10:35am February 21, 2017

Bats, birds and tourists love a good cave. And so do viruses. Scientists say this mixture could trigger a deadly outbreak.

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Sundaygar Moses, now 12, was suffered a gunshot wound as an infant. Due to an infection, his right leg had to be amputated beneath the knee. His new prosthetic is a close match to his skin tone.

Health & Safety

Top Items On This 12-Year-Old's Wish List: 'A Leg, A Bicycle'

7:00am February 19, 2017

by Vicky Hallett

The one-legged orphan in Liberia had figured out how to use a crutch as an improvised prosthetic leg. But he wanted the real deal.