BEIJING Reuters Cities in eastern China tightened COVID curbs on Sunday as coronavirus clusters emerge posing a new threat to China s economic recovery under the government s strict zero COVID policy Wuxi a manufacturing hub in the Yangtze Delta on the central coast halted operations at

   HAMBURG Reuters Two more case of African swine fever ASF have been confirmed in farm pigs in Germany Germany s federal agriculture ministry said One was in the western state of Lower Saxony which was previously free of the disease and one in the eastern state of Brandenburg where the disease

   Reuters Coronavirus vaccines tweaked to include the Omicron variant strain can improve protection when used as a booster the European Medicines Agency and other global health regulators said on Friday Following a meeting on Thursday the EMA said global regulators had agreed on key principles

   Reuters Retail investors have flocked to small biotech firms that make women contraceptives after the U S Supreme Court last week overturned the Roe v Wade ruling that recognized the constitutional right to abortion Vanda Research said on Friday The landmark decision has turned the spotlight

   Reuters Novavax Inc said on Friday it expects to provide a COVID vaccine targeting Omicron in the fourth quarter as it accelerates development of shots to protect against the BA and BA subvariants The U S FDA on Thursday recommended COVID vaccine manufacturers change the design of

   LONDON Reuters Patients with monkeypox in the UK have noticeably different symptoms from those seen in previous outbreaks according to researchers in London raising concerns cases are being missed Patients reported less fever and tiredness and more skin lesions in their genital and anal areas

   SEOUL Reuters North Korea claimed on Friday that the country s first COVID outbreak began with patients touching alien things near the border with South Korea apparently shifting blame to the neighbour for the wave of infections in the isolated country Announcing results of an

   Reuters The U S government has ordered million more doses of Bavarian Nordic s vaccine for use against monkeypox outbreaks the Department of Health and Human Services said on Friday The shot has already been cleared for both smallpox and monkeypox in the United States where it is called

   Reuters Britain s Oxford Biomedica said on Friday it had signed a new three year agreement to potentially make AstraZeneca s COVID vaccine beyond but no volumes were defined in an indication of waning demand for the shot Cell and gene therapy firm Oxford Biomedica said in April that it

   Reuters The top courts in Texas and Ohio on Friday allowed the Republican led states to enforce restrictions and bans on abortions after the U S Supreme Court last week overturned the nationwide constitutional right to abortion The Texas Supreme Court late on Friday allowed a nearly century old

   SHANGHAI Reuters Mainland China reported new COVID cases for July of which were symptomatic and were asymptomatic the National Health Commission said on Saturday That compares with new cases a day earlier symptomatic and asymptomatic infections which China counts

   Reuters The maker of a drug used in medication abortions has told a federal judge that the U S Supreme Court s recent ruling eliminating the nationwide right to abortion does not allow Mississippi to stop it from selling the pills in the state GenBioPro Inc which makes a generic version of the

   MILAN Reuters Italy s Agnelli family whose investments include carmaker Stellantis and soccer club Juventus is set to buy a slice of French healthcare group Institut Merieux for million euros million through its Exor holding company The deal announced on Friday by the two companies

   Reuters More than million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and have died according to a Reuters tally Infections have been reported in more than countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December

   Reuters Judges in Florida and Kentucky on Thursday moved to block those states from enforcing bans or restrictions on abortion after the U S Supreme Court last week overturned the Roe v Wade decision that had established a nationwide right to it In Tallahassee Florida Circuit Court Judge

   TOKYO Reuters The Japanese government said on Friday it had lowered its infectious diseases related travel advisory from do not make non urgent trips to travel with caution for China India and other countries as risks posed by COVID infections eased Other countries on the list

   Reuters Russia said on Friday it was ending all restrictions to combat the spread of COVID including the requirement to wear masks citing a steady decline in deaths from the virus However it did not rule out re introducing restrictive measures if the situation deteriorates Consumer

   Reuters Just days after the U S Supreme Court abolished women s constitutional right to abortion Alabama has cited that ruling in a bid to outlaw parents from obtaining puberty blockers and certain other medical treatment for their transgender children The citation came in an appeal by Alabama

   Reuters The U S Food and Drug Administration on Thursday recommended COVID vaccine manufacturers change the design of their booster shots beginning this fall to include components tailored to combat the currently dominant Omicron BA and BA subvariants of the coronavirus If authorized the

   SEOUL Reuters South Korea s unification ministry said on Friday there is no possibility of COVID entering North Korea via contaminated balloons sent by activists in the South North Korea said earlier in the day the country s first outbreak began with patients touching alien things near

   AMSTERDAM Reuters Demand for a Dutch service offering abortion pills surged more than fourfold after the U S Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade a women s rights campaigner said on Thursday Requests for help via the Aid Access website which offers abortion consultations remotely and ships

   NEW YORK Reuters U S health regulators will not require companies to submit new clinical trial data on COVID vaccines that target the now dominant BA and BA Omicron subvariants to authorize those shots but will instead rely on studies showing the efficacy of targeting the earlier BA

   This June story corrects paragraph to say that no injuries were reported after FDA clarifies Reuters U S health regulators on Tuesday classified the recall of some backup batteries of GE Healthcare s ventilators which the company had initiated in mid April as the most serious type

   Reuters The U S Food and Drug Administration recommended COVID vaccine manufacturers change the design of their booster shots beginning this fall to include components tailored to combat the currently dominant Omicron BA and BA subvariants of the coronavirus DEATHS AND INFECTIONS Eikon

   Reuters The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review Pausing immunosuppression improves COVID booster responsePeople taking a commonly used drug for

   Reuters AstraZeneca said on Thursday a combination of its cancer drug Imfinzi and chemotherapy showed promise in a late stage trial in patients with an aggressive form of lung cancer when given before surgery Data showed the combination was more effective in removing cancer cells in tissue

   Reuters Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it is seeking full U S approval for its oral COVID antiviral treatment Paxlovid which is currently available under an emergency use authorization EUA Pfizer said it submitted a New Drug Application for Paxlovid to the Food and Drug Administration for the

   COPENHAGEN Reuters A Danish parliamentary probe on Thursday levelled harsh criticism against the government over its order to cull millions of mink in due to coronavirus concerns potentially paving the way for an impeachment of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen In efforts to forestall the

   Reuters Novartis prefers a spinoff of its generic drug unit over a potential sale to private equity firms Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the matter A challenging macro environment for leveraged buyouts has made the sale route difficult and Novartis sees a

   WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear a challenge to New York s mandate that healthcare sector workers be vaccinated against COVID brought by a group of doctors nurses and others who objected on religious grounds Turning away an appeal by healthcare