More than 11,000 people in Sudan’s eastern state of Kassala have been infected over the past month by Chikungunya, a debilitating mosquito-borne viral disease, but no deaths have been reported, a Sudanese official said Tuesday. Chikungunya is spread by two mosquito species and can cause severe symptoms, which develop three …

When emergency tests showed the telltale right-sided pain in Heather VanDusen’s abdomen was appendicitis, she figured she’d be quickly wheeled into surgery. But doctors offered her the option of antibiotics instead. A new study from Finland shows her choice is a reasonable alternative for most patients with appendicitis. Five years …

As the summer planting season approaches in eastern Zimbabwe, small-scale farmers struggle with familiar questions: When will the rains come, and when should I sow my crops? This year something else is keeping them awake: In late August the government issued a warning about a potential El Niño weather pattern, …

The World Health Organization warns the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading to new parts of conflict-ridden North Kivu province, including areas that border Uganda and Rwanda. Attacks by armed opposition groups in North Kivu have increased in severity and frequency in recent weeks. The …

The Marshall Islands, an atoll-nation vulnerable to sea level rise from climate change, announced steps Monday toward an ambitious plan to cut its greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050. The Pacific country became the first small island nation to present such a strategy to the United Nations amid increasing interest …

Thousands of scientists joined on Monday to accuse the Trump administration of trying to erode the Endangered Species Act in favor of commercial interests with a plan to revamp regulations that have formed a bedrock of U.S. wildlife protection for over 40 years. The extraordinary critique of the administration’s proposal, …

Archaeologists searching Portugal’s coast have found a 400-year-old shipwreck believed to have sunk near Lisbon after returning from India laden with spices, specialists said on Monday. “From a heritage perspective, this is the discovery of the decade,” project director Jorge Freire said. “In Portugal, this is the most important find …

U.S. researchers are reporting progress in helping those paralyzed by spinal cord injuries to stand, and even to take steps. Two teams of medical researchers working separately say an electrical implant that stimulates the spinal cord allowed three paralyzed patients to stand and move forward while they held on to …

Scientists have succeeded in wiping out a population of caged mosquitoes in laboratory experiments using a type of genetic engineering known as a gene drive, which spread a modification blocking female reproduction. The researchers, whose work was published Monday in the journal Nature Biotechnology, managed to eliminate the population in …

Researchers at the European Space Agency are preparing for a historic trip. They say their Solar Orbiter, a modified spacecraft built to withstand the heat, will travel closer to the sun than ever before, which may help scientists study the buildup of solar storms. Arash Arabasadi reports. …

Fatal drug overdoses increased to a record 4,854 last year in Ohio, a 20 percent rise compared with the previous year, according to information reported to the state. Data on unintentional drug deaths provided to the Ohio Department of Health show 2017 was the eighth year in a row that …

At least 14 civilians were killed on Saturday in a six-hour attack by rebels on the town of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials told Reuters, warning the unrest may hamper efforts to quash an Ebola epidemic in the area. The latest outbreak of the deadly disease …

A former Afghan refugee turned doctor in the United Kingdom is using technology and the web to save lives in war-torn and low income countries. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo has more on what the doctor has dubbed “Teleheal,” the charitable organization he recently founded. …

Plastic pollution floating in our seas is creating huge environmental hazards, polluting our oceans and killing animals like seabirds and marine life. But a new study shows young turtles, in particular, are at a higher risk of dying from eating ocean-borne plastic because it doesn’t take a lot of plastic …

What makes food organic and what does the “USDA organic” label really mean? VOA’s Mariia Prus visited a certified organic farm in southern Maryland to find out more and spoke to some consumers about why they prefer organically grown products. Joy Wagner narrates for VOA reporter Mariia Prus in Saint …

The U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports a growing number of children in eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo orphaned by the Ebola outbreak in the region are at risk of stigmatization and abandonment. UNICEF reports a number of children have died from the disease. Others, it says, have …

Keith Green has an unusual fascination with vacant lots. Even on vacation. Out for dinner in Shanghai one recent night, he came across a sight that stopped him short. “Everyone else is taking pictures of the skyline,” he said. “I’m taking a picture of a vacant lot.” ​Scourge of abandoned …

A little green space can make a big difference in blighted city neighborhoods, according to recent research from Philadelphia. It found that turning vacant lots into mini-parks reduced crime and cut rates of depression, especially in low-income areas. VOA’s Steve Baragona went to have a look. …

Scientists are noticing that the numbers of beneficial flying insects like bees, ladybugs, fireflies and butterflies seem to be declining. They can’t be certain about what’s happening, but possible reasons include habitat loss, insecticide use, the killing of native weeds, single-crop agriculture, invasive species, light pollution, highway traffic and climate …

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports substantial progress is being made in containing the spread of the Ebola virus in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It warns, however, that new hotspots are appearing. The WHO says the number of confirmed and probable cases of Ebola in the DRC …

Alcohol kills three million people worldwide each year — more than AIDS, violence and road accidents combined, the World Health Organization said Friday, adding that men are particularly at risk. The UN health agency’s latest report on alcohol and health pointed out that alcohol causes more than one in 20 …

Communities along the U.S. southeast coast are drying out after Hurricane Florence. The storm poured more than 80 centimeters of rain in parts of the Southeastern United States, causing catastrophic flooding. Hurricanes are categorized by their wind speeds. But that’s not always what does the most damage. Some experts say …

A planet-hunting orbital telescope designed to detect worlds beyond our solar system discovered two distant planets this week five months after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, officials said on Thursday. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, better known as TESS, made an early discovery of “super-Earth” and “hot Earth” planets …

A substantial percentage of U.S. military vets store guns loaded and ready to use, according to an American study that could have implications for suicide prevention. “American veterans have a higher suicide risk than demographically matched U.S. adults and most of their suicides are actually related to firearm injury,” said …

A staple of summer — swarms of bugs — seems to be a thing of the past. And that’s got scientists worried. Pesky mosquitoes, disease-carrying ticks, crop-munching aphids and cockroaches are doing just fine. But the more beneficial flying insects of summer — native bees, moths, butterflies, ladybugs, lovebugs, mayflies …