A general view of the World Health Organization (WHO) on April 28, 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland. (Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)
(DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) — The World Health Organization has reported that there is a deadly “unknown disease” spreading in one region within the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Local health officials in Congo are partnering with the World Health Organization to investigate.
The phrase “unknown disease” primarily means that the disease has not yet been identified.
In previous cases, the cases are linked to a known disease, but a lack of available testing leads to lack of certainty.
For example, there was a separate report of an “unknown disease” in December of last year in Congo that was later attributed to illnesses from malaria and respiratory illnesses.
The latest numbers from the WHO’s Africa Region show that there are 431 cases linked to the outbreak and 53 deaths since January.
Early investigations traced the outbreak’s origin to three kids, all under 5 years old, who developed symptoms after eating a bat carcass.
Symptoms included fever, headache, diarrhea and fatigue – which later progressed to signs associated with hemorrhagic fevers and death.
Ebola and Marburg have already been ruled out, officials say. Nearly half of deaths occurred within 48 hours after symptoms start.
“The remote location and weak healthcare infrastructure increase the risk of further spread,” the WHO notes in its report.
(WASHINGTON) — More than 100 intelligence community employees will be terminated and have their security clearances revoked as the intelligence community investigates group chats that allegedly discussed explicit behavior, officials said.
The chats, which were hosted on a chat system for the intelligence community that was maintained by the National Security Agency, took place on a secure intranet called Intelink in two server channels titled “LBTQA” and “IC_Pride_TWG,” according to intelligence community officials.
“This behavior is unacceptable and those involved WILL be held accountable,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted on X.
She said the “disgusting chat groups” were immediately shut down when President Donald Trump issued his executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government, which she called the “DEI insanity the Biden Admin was obsessed with.”
“Our IC must be focused on our core mission: ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people,” Gabbard said.
Deputy Chief of Staff Alexa Henning said in a post on X Tuesday evening, “The DNI sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the NSA’s ‘obscene, pornographic, and sexually explicit’ chatrooms and to terminate their employment and revoke their security clearances. Deadline: Friday.”
Gabbard, in an interview on Fox News, said on Tuesday: “There are over 100 people from across the intelligence community that contributed to and participated in this — what is really just an egregious violation of trust, what to speak of, like, basic rules and standards around professionalism. I put out a directive today that they all will be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked.”
Gabbard added: “Today’s action in holding these individuals accountable is just the beginning of what we’re seeing across the Trump administration, which is carrying out the mandate the American people gave him: Clean house, root out that rot and corruption and weaponization and politicization, so we can start to rebuild that trust in these institutions that are charged with an important mission of serving the American people, ensuring our safety, security and freedom.”
The chat conversations were first reported by the conservative magazine City Journal.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump signed an executive action Tuesday targeting a prominent law firm that represents former special counsel Jack Smith. The memo strips Smith’s attorney of his security clearance as well as any other attorneys at the firm who assisted Smith while he was investigating Trump.
Covington and Burling LLP said it is representing Smith in a personal capacity, and a person familiar with the matter said there is no evidence the law firm played any part in Smith’s criminal investigations of Trump.
The memo Trump signed Tuesday — a major escalation in Trump’s targeting of those he believes to be his political enemies — also directs the Office of Management and Budget to review any government contracts held by the law firm.
“One law firm that provided pro-bono legal services to the special counsel’s office under Jack Smith’s leadership was Covington and Burling,” White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said about the memo as Trump moved to sign it during a ceremony on Tuesday. “As a result of those actions, we’re now going to be suspending and putting under review the security clearances for the attorneys and employees at that firm who worked with Jack Smith’s team. And we’re going to continue holding the people who were responsible for the weaponization of government, who supported it, accountable for what they did.”
Trump asked Scharf about the plans to do this to other law firms and Scharf said that the administration was looking at a range of options to take against other law firms. Trump tossed the pen to an attendee and joked “Why don’t you give it to Jack Smith?” and called him a “deranged” individual.
A reporter asked Trump whether the action to strip the attorneys’ security clearances amounted to political targeting, but Trump cut the reporter off and said that he was the target.
“I’ve been targeted for four years longer than that. So, you don’t tell me about targeting?” Trump said. “I was the target of corrupt politicians for four years, and then four years after that. So don’t talk to me about targeting.”
A person familiar with Covington’s representation of Jack Smith responded to Trump’s action saying, “There is no evidence the firm itself played any role in Special Counsel Smith’s investigation of Trump — and no evidence their representation of Smith had anything to do with his official duties. Separately, Covington is not a contractor to the federal government.”
A spokesperson for the firm added that they recently agreed to represent Smith in an individual capacity and look forward to defending him.
“For more than 100 years, Covington has represented clients facing government investigations, consistent with the best traditions of the legal profession. We recently agreed to represent Jack Smith when it became apparent that he would become a subject of a government investigation. Covington serves as defense counsel to Jack Smith in his personal, individual capacity. We look forward to defending Mr. Smith’s interests and appreciate the trust he has placed in us to do so.”
As special counsel, Smith led probes into both Trump’s handling of classified material and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Both cases were dropped following Trump’s reelection in November due to a longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
Under Trump’s continual personal attacks, Smith defended his conduct as fully lawful, free of partisan influence and vital to the justice system.
In a letter before he stepped down, Smith personally denounced Trump for levying “laughable” and baseless attacks on the federal prosecutors who brought two criminal cases against him.
Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Egg prices are predicted to increase by 41.1% in 2025, according to a report released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday.
In January, the federal agency had predicted a 20% increase.
The predicted price hike comes as a result of rising bird flu cases, which have had a substantial impact on farms.
According to the report, retail egg prices went up by 13.8% in January, after rising by 8.4% in December.
Overall, egg prices in January were 53% higher than the year before, according to the report.
The national average price for eggs hit $4.95 a dozen for shoppers in January, according to an earlier report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
An increasing number of commercial egg layers are being affected by the bird flu outbreak. The report estimated 18.8 million commercial egg layers were affected by bird flu in January, the report stated.
In another report published by the USDA on Feb. 14, the agency said wholesale egg prices had gone up $0.40 over a 30-day period.
“Offerings are very light to light with little chance for improvement in the near-term as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) continues to impact productive flocks,” the USDA said in the Feb. 14 report.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 70 cases of bird flu recorded among humans, most of which have been mild.
One person has died. The victim — who was exposed to non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds — was over age 65 and had underlying medical conditions, officials said.
(NEW YORK) — Nine people suffered minor injuries after a New York City subway station filled with smoke Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
The incident occurred at the 191st Street station in Manhattan.
The 1 train hit “some kind of piece of equipment” as it entered the station, FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Mike Woods told reporters at the scene. That object then made contact with the third rail, creating sparks and a “smoke condition,” he said.
Emergency responders assessed nine people, who all suffered from “minor smoke inhalation-type related injuries,” Woods said. Some patients were transported to local hospitals, while others declined medical treatment, he said.
Despite the heavy smoke, Woods said there was “no active fire in the train” and that the situation was “under control.”
There was some damage to the tracks, he said. The rail at the station had to be replaced, the MTA said.
Woods called the investigation “complex” due to the depth of the subway station.
The FDNY has turned the scene over to transit personnel for further investigation and repairs.
Authorities do not believe anyone was responsible for leaving the object on the tracks, but transit officials will continue their investigation.
Delays were reported along parts of the 1 line following the incident, the MTA said.
Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Deviations from normal weather patterns are putting several regions in the U.S. at risk for an uptick of disease-spreading pests as winter turns to spring, according to a new analysis.
A surge in disease-spreading pests like ticks, mosquitoes, cockroaches and rodents is expected in regions that experienced especially warm or wet winters this season, according to the National Pest Management Association’s bi-annual Public Health Pest Index.
These pests can spread dangerous diseases such as Lyme disease, West Nile virus, Salmonella, plague, and hantavirus, said Jorge Parada, medical adviser for NPMA with a focus on infectious disease, in a statement. These types of pests can also trigger asthma and allergies, Parada said.
Warm winters typically allows more rats to survive, while unusual weather patterns — such as snow in New Orleans — can present a host of new pest problems, Jim Fredericks, senior vice president of public affairs for NPMA, told ABC News.
Ticks and mosquitoes survive better when it is moist, so regions that experienced especially wet winters will likely see those pests on the rise during the spring, Fredericks said.
“If the temperatures are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, ticks will be active and in search of food,” Fredericks said.
Changes in climate — both in terms of warmer temperatures as well as the extreme weather events occurring as global temperatures rise — will have a greater impact on the threats these pests pose in the future, Fredericks said. The range for pests like ticks are also spreading due to warmer temperatures, Fredericks said.
The top U.S. cities named on the pest index include:
Boston:“Brutal” snowstorms and cold snaps pushed rodents indoors in search of warmth and food sources, according to the NPMA. In addition, a forecasted warmer start to spring could give ticks a jumpstart to the season.
Cleveland:“Mild, soggy conditions” during the winter could allow for pest populations like cockroaches and ticks to flourish as temperatures rise, the analysis found.
“The pathogens that they carry that could cause food-borne illness,” Fredericks said, adding that rodent dander and urine can also exacerbate asthma symptoms.
Denver: “A frigid and snow-packed” start to the season will likely drive house mice into homes and businesses, while white-footed mice activity inside structures could increase in rural areas, according to the NPMA.
“The white-footed mouse is actually one of the vectors for hantavirus,” Fredericks said.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: “Record-breaking” snowfall is expected to drive rats and mice indoors, and heavy rain forecasted for the area could lead to a rise in tick populations as temperatures rise, according to the NPMA.
Louisville, Kentucky: Rats and mice are expected to enter structures due to extreme cold and historic snowfall. Tick activity may also begin earlier than usual due to a warm spring.
New Orleans: Historic snowfall in the region sent rats and cockroaches into homes, and mosquitoes are expected to make a “fierce comeback” as temperatures climb, the analysis found.
Salt Lake City: Winter conditions could send house mice and white-footed mice indoors.
San Antonio: “Record-breaking warmth” during the winter allowed mosquitoes, cockroaches and ticks to stay active, and a “pest boom” is expected come spring — with a surge in bites, infestations and pest-related health concerns forecasted.
Seattle: A warm, dry start to winter could lead to an increase in rodent and cockroach activity indoors and an increase in tick populations could occur with the spring rains, according to the NPMA.
Washington, D.C.: A “rollercoaster” winter that started unusually warm and ended in heavy snowfall has made rodent activity climb significantly in the nation’s capital, the report states. Tick populations could surge if spring arrives early.
Florida: The group has issued a statewide warning for Florida, pointing to the Sunshine State’s humid climate that allows disease-carrying pests to thrive year-round, the report stated. Although the winter brought dry, cool conditions, a surge is expected this spring as rising temperatures and humidity create ideal breeding conditions.
“We have all of the mosquito species here,” Ryan Carney, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida’s Department of Integrative Biology, told ABC News. “There’s a huge diversity, over 90 species of mosquitoes. Fourteen of those are anopheles, which spread malaria.”
Mosquitoes are the deadliest animal on the planet, killing more than 1 million people per year from the diseases they carry, and Florida is no stranger to outbreaks of mosquito-borne illness. In 2023, nearly 200 people contracted dengue fever, and there were more than 1,500 cases of Zika in the state from 2016 to 2018, Carney said.
A citizen science project run by USF creates artificial intelligence algorithms to help identify and stop disease-carrying mosquitoes before they are able to infect humans and other large mammals.
“These citizen sciences, especially for mosquitoes, are a way that people can report these sightings of mosquitoes or mosquito bites, and that helps us scientists understand the biodiversity of mosquitoes in the area,” Carney said.
(WASHINGTON) — As President Donald Trump’s administration guts the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), former federal workers are being told to say goodbye to their desks — and to do so quickly.
USAID leadership sent an email to agency staffers on Tuesday instructing them that they will have 15 minutes to enter their former offices at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C., to retrieve their personal belongings.
“This Thursday and Friday ONLY–on February 27 and 28, 2025 –USAID staff will have one opportunity to retrieve their personal belongings,” the message reads, which was also posted to USAID’s government website.
“Staff will be given approximately 15 minutes to complete this retrieval and must be finished removing items within their time slot only,” the message continues.
The email includes a timetable giving staff a window in which they can collect their belongings based on their bureau or independent office.
For some, the timeframe is as long as an hour and a half; for others, it’s just half an hour.
The email also contains a lengthy list of prohibited items that USAID staff are not allowed to bring onto the premises, including BB guns, drills, knives, sabers, swords, nunchucks, ski poles, chlorine and liquid bleach.
According to the message, the items referenced “are, and have always been, prohibited from entering the Ronald Reagan Building facility through a security screening post,” which is typically only used by uncredentialled visitors who are subject to additional rules and regulations.
Several USAID officials told ABC News that including this list illustrates how agency employees who dedicated their professional lives to foreign assistance are now being treated like violent criminals.
“It sounds like they think we’re going to try to stage a Jan. 6-style ‘peaceful protest’,” an official said.
The latest directive from USAID leadership comes as 1,600 workers in the humanitarian aid bureau received termination notices over the weekend and thousands more abroad were put on administrative leave.
Prior to Trump’s second administration, more than 10,000 people worked at USAID.
(LONDON) — Israel confirmed it is conducting strikes in southern Syria, as the new Syrian government calls for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Syrian territory.
“We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said regarding the strikes. “Any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country’s terrorist organizations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria will be met with fire.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Ukraine and the United States have agreed to terms on a deal relating to critical minerals and other resources, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
As recently as Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump was repeating that some access to the country’s rare minerals would be necessary to secure a deal involving the nation’s continued support for Ukraine. Trump referred to them as a “security” against the investments that the U.S. has already made and might make in the future, although his claims of how much aid the U.S. has provided to date have been widely disputed.
Trump said the U.S. has spent $350 billion toward Ukraine, though he has not cited where he’s gotten that figure.
Government resources place the amount of aid appropriated by Congress for Ukraine since the war began in 2022 at $174 billion.
“That is why we must have an agreement with Ukraine on critical minerals and rare earths and various other things as security. And I think that that’s happening. I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” Trump said on Monday during a joint press conference with France’s President Emmanuel Macron. The two leaders met to discuss a path forward to resolving the Russia-Ukraine war, which entered its third year this month.
The senior official also told ABC News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to visit Washington, D.C., on Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — When billionaire Elon Musk posted on X last weekend that all federal employees would soon receive an email demanding details of their work from the past week, senior White House officials — who had not been fully briefed on the plan — were initially caught off guard, multiple sources told ABC News.
Musk’s email would then set off widespread confusion across the federal government. It created tension among members of Trump’s Cabinet, as multiple agency heads told their employees to hold off on replying until they themselves were briefed on the situation.
At one point shortly after the Saturday evening email, sources familiar with the discussions said senior White House staff debated issuing guidance to their own employees, informing them that they did not need to reply. Late Monday night, the Office of Personnel Management said that White House staff were exempt from the exercise, citing the Presidential Records Act.
The lack of communication between Musk and President Donald Trump’s top advisers in the White House, who are responsible for executing his second-term agenda, is the latest in a series of controversial moves by the world’s richest man since he arrived in Washington last month that have begun to divide some of those closest to the president.
Musk’s whirlwind approach — marked by rapid gutting of the federal workforce and dominating national headlines — has sparked a rift among some in the White House and Trump’s inner circle, sources told ABC News. Some close to the president have bristled at Musk’s frenetic pace and his apparent disregard for coordinating with senior officials around the president. Others, however, have expressed support for the tactics and embraced Musk’s fast-paced efforts so far, hailing them as a long-overdue shakeup of a stagnant system.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing Tuesday that “the President and Elon, and his entire Cabinet, are working as one unified team, and they are implementing these very common-sense solutions,” adding that more than 1 million federal workers had responded to Musk’s “What did you do last week?” email, including herself. Leavitt said that Musk would attend Trump’s first Cabinet meeting set for Wednesday.
But as Musk has ripped through the federal workforce at a breakneck pace reminiscent of his approach at his own companies, the White House has, at times, first learned of his actions through media reports or his own posts on X instead of through the usual chain of senior staff, sources said, which has ruffled feathers among some top officials who view the billionaire’s methods as increasingly out of control.
But while Musk has some detractors in Trump’s orbit, he has gained support from some of the most powerful voices around the president, including Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and U.S. Homeland Security adviser, and Katie Miller, a senior adviser to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts who is married to Stephen Miller, sources said.
Still, even with some in the White House growing frustrated with aspects of Musk’s first few weeks in Washington, sources said there is hesitancy to intervene, given not only the billionaire’s immense wealth but, perhaps more importantly, his vast influence given his larger-than-ever profile and his ownership of X.
Some concerned with Musk have resigned themselves that the Tesla CEO is unlikely to be reined in anytime soon and are instead focused on managing the situation as best they can until his special government contract comes to an end later this year, though it is not immediately clear if Musk plans to leave Washington then, either.
“Some love it, some can’t wait for [Musk] to leave — bottom line is he’s not going anywhere anytime soon,” a source familiar told ABC News.
In response to this story, a senior White House official told ABC News, “Any insinuation that senior leadership in the Trump White House is not properly being advised on the actions of DOGE is completely false. As an SGE, Elon Musk works directly with the president of the United States and senior members of his team to coordinate the effective and efficient execution of the president’s agenda.”
“The American people widely support the mission of DOGE. Look no further than the Harris poll in which a vast majority of Americans support the mission of DOGE. Anyone who is seen as objecting to this mission in either party is objecting to long overdue change in Washington. If you’re not going to be a part of the solution, you are now a part of the problem,” the official added.
The South African-born businessman spent $270 million to help Trump get reelected. When Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, he empowered Musk to slash federal spending and make key decisions about the future of the U.S. as a lead adviser in the newly created DOGE.
ABC News previously reported that Musk initially wanted an office in the West Wing, but told people he thought what he was given was too small, multiple people familiar with his comments told ABC News, and has since taken up offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where he brought in sleep pods for his young staffers as they worked deep into the night.
Musk has been designated as a special government employee. His companies Tesla and SpaceX have been awarded $18 billion in federal contracts over the last decade. Some of this money has come from agencies the president asked Musk to review, but Musk dismissed the notion that there could be conflicts of interest.
“No, because you have to look at the individual contract and say, first of all, I’m not the one, you know, filing the contract — it’s people at SpaceX,” he told ABC News earlier this month.
