The US Food and Drug Administration has approved TNKase or Tenecteplase, which is a thrombolytic or clot-dissolving agent, for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke in adults.

Ischemic strokes happen when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in your brain. It can cause permanent brain damage and death. If enough brain cells die, you can also lose the abilities or body functions those cells control. They are also the most common types of stroke, with 80% of all strokes being ischemic strokes.

How is TNKase administered?

It is delivered as a single five-second intravenous bolus, which is faster than the standard of care Activase or alteplase, which is administered as an intravenous bolus followed by a 60-minute infusion. The manufacturer of TNKase, Genetech said a new 25-mg vial configuration will also be available in the coming months.

How Was TNKase approved?

The approval came at the backdrop of a study that compared TNKase to Activase in patients with acute ischemic stroke. These patients also presented with a disabling neurological deficit. Results show that TNKase was comparable to Activase in terms of efficacy and safety.

How Common Are These Strokes?

In the United States it self, it affects more than 795,000 people each year and is the leading cause of long-term disability. It is also the fifth leading cause of death. Since brain damage can happen if this progresses rapidly, one needs an immediate, fast-acting medical care.

TNKase thus provide a faster and simpler administration which can be critical for anyone. The chief medical officer and head of global product development at Genetech, Levi Garraway, MD., PhD., said, "Today's approval is a significant step forward and underscores our commitment to advancing stroke treatment options for patients."

What Are The Symptoms Of Ischemic Strokes?

Some of the most common symptoms include weakness or paralysis on one side of your face and body. You may also feel trouble speaking or have loss of speech, also known as aphasia. You may faced slurred or garbled speaking, also known as dysarthria. Other symptoms include loss of muscle control on one side of your face, or sudden worsening or loss of your senses, including vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Other symptoms include:

• Loss of coordination or clumsiness
• Blurry vision or double vision
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Nausea and vomiting
• Neck stiffness
• Mood swings or sudden personality changes
• Confusion or agitation
• Seizures
• Memory loss (amnesia)
• Headaches which are sudden and severe
• Passing out or fainting
• Coma

Are There Any Warning Signs?

While these are symptoms one has who is prone to this condition. However, often, many may confuse it with other illnesses. It is best to keep an eye out for warning signs. These could be looking out for yourself or your loved one. Note if there is a sudden loss of balance. Look out for sudden vision loss or changes in one or both eyes. Look for a droop on one or both sides of your face, especially when you smile. Raise both arms and see if one arm sags or drops in a way it usually does not. Note for your speech. Are you as fluent? Are you have trouble speaking? If you see any of such signs, start tracking it and talk to your healthcare provider.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an immediate recall of contaminated Rosabella brand moringa powder capsules that are tied to an outbreak of drug-resistant Salmonella infections, causing fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

This is the second Salmonella outbreak related to moringa powder in the past six months. However, the two cases are not related, the CDC said.

In its latest alert issued in February 2026, the CDC reported seven cases, including three hospitalizations, from seven states linked to Rosabella brand moringa powder capsules.

The agency noted that the capsules distributed by Ambrosia Brands LLC, which is based in the US, are contaminated with Salmonella Newport and have led to one case each in states including Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Washington.

"CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are collecting different types of data to investigate a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Newport infections,” the CDC said.

"Epidemiologic data show that Rosabella brand moringa powder capsules may be contaminated with Salmonella Newport and may be making people sick,” it added.

What The CDC Investigation Found

The median age of the affected patients is 66 years, and 86 percent are females.

The public health officials also conducted a whole-genome sequencing of the seven samples.

The tests revealed that the Salmonella strain associated with this outbreak is resistant to all first-line and alternative antibiotics commonly recommended for the treatment of Salmonella infections.

"This strain also might be resistant to multiple β-lactam antibiotics, including meropenem and other carbapenems, because it carries an NDM-1 carbapenemase gene," the CDC said.

As Salmonella illnesses may not be treatable with commonly recommended antibiotics, the CDC advised to "tailor antibiotic treatment to antimicrobial susceptibility testing results when possible".

Issuing a recall, the CDC stated the capsules are sold on the company's website, Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shein, and eBay.

"If you have any of these capsules in your home, throw them out or return them. CDC and FDA continue to work to identify if there are other products causing illness in this outbreak,” the regulator said.

In January, the regulator had reported an investigation of a Salmonella outbreak linked to dietary supplements containing moringa leaf powder.

What Is The Salmonella Infection?

Food contamination with Salmonella -- an organism -- can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

The CDC noted that in rare cases, the organism can get into the bloodstream and produce more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis, and arthritis.

Salmonella Newport, detected in the recent outbreak, is a serious, often multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterium causing human and animal illnesses. It also ranks among the top three Salmonella serotypes in US foodborne outbreaks.

Noida administration has launched a 10-day measles-rubella (MMR) vaccination drive with an aim to cover students from Classes 1 to 5 across government and private schools. UP State Health Department officials noted that the sessions are also being conducted within the school premises under this campaign to ensure a wider vaccination coverage and ease of access for students and parents.

The initiative is part of the state government's ongoing efforts to strengthen immunity against measles and rubella. It is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects children.

Under the Measles-Rubella elimination campaign, the Central government aims to reach 100 per cent immunization coverage by ensuring children receive both doses of the vaccine. According to the 2024–25 Health Management Information System, India’s MMR coverage is currently 93.7 per cent for the first dose and 92.2 per cent for the second.

“The objective is to ensure that no eligible child is left out. Children will be administered an additional dose of the MR vaccine during the campaign. The vaccine is safe and is being provided for free of cost,” Dr Narendra Kumar, Chief Medical Officer of Gautam Buddha Nagar, told the media persons.

What Is Measles?

Measles is a highly contagious disease. It spreads by coughs or sneezes or by touching things that someone with measles has coughed or sneezed on.

Measles, also known as rubeola, is an extremely contagious viral illness that typically causes high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes, and a characteristic rash that begins on the face and spreads downward across the body. It spreads through respiratory droplets and can lead to severe and sometimes fatal complications, including pneumonia and inflammation of the brain known as encephalitis.

Symptoms include high fever, sore or red and watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, and small white spots in the mouth.

What Are The Symptoms Of Measles

Measles has a high transmissibility, and high measles immunity levels are required to prevent sustained measles virus transmission.

This is why herd immunity for measles could be easily breached.

It easily spreads from one infected person to another through breathes, coughs or sneezes and could cause severe disease, complications, and even death.

Symptoms include:

• High fever
• Cough
• Runny Nose
• Rash all over the body

The most unique symptom or the early sign of measles in the Koplik spots. These are tiny white dots that look like grains of salt on red gums inside the cheeks that appear before the red rash starts to appear on a person's face and then the body.

Read: Measles Outbreak In UK: Virus Spreads Among Unvaccinated Children In London

Furthermore, the symptoms of measles are also characterized by the three Cs:

• Cough
• Coryza or runny nose
• Conjunctivitis or red and water eyes

How Long Does The Infection Last?

The progression of the symptom comes in two stages, first is the prodromal stage or Days 1 to 4, where one would notice high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes, sore throat, fatigue, and Koplik spots.

The second stage is called the rash stage or the days 5 to 10 or even more where rash start to appear on the hairline, and then it runs down the body. It lasts for several days and fades in the same order.

The first symptoms, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), appear 7 to 14 days after a measles infection. Often, it could also lead to ear infection, or even diarrhea. Though these complications happen in every 1 in 10 children or individual with measles.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new guidance urging veterinary drug makers to define the duration of antibiotic use in livestock.

The February 2026 guidance, published by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), aims to mitigate the development of antimicrobial resistance and protect public health. It is consistent with previous recommendations by the federal agency that promoted the judicious use of medically important antimicrobial drugs in animals.

The FDA said that the guidance is intended for sponsors of approved new animal drug applications (NADAs) and abbreviated new animal drug applications (ANADAs) containing antimicrobial drugs.

The guidance provides recommendations on how to add duration limits to medically important antibiotics used in or on the medicated feed of food-producing animals.

"The framework outlined in this guidance is intended to facilitate voluntary changes to have all medically important antimicrobial new animal drugs administered in alignment with the principles of judicious use,” the FDA said.

"This guidance provides specific recommendations on how sponsors may facilitate changes to the approved conditions of use of affected products in support of ongoing efforts to mitigate the development of antimicrobial resistance,” it added.

The New FDA Recommendations

Currently, no limit has been set for the approved treatment in food-producing animals. As a result, farmers can use the antibiotics in animal feed for extended periods of time.

The proposed guidelines for “appropriately defined duration of use” labelling will ensure that the drug is used only when animals need it.

The regulator also called the industry to “revise the labeling to include appropriate criteria regarding when to begin and end feeding of the antimicrobial drug.”

The nonbinding guidance also suggests sponsors avoid instructions like “feed until market weight” to define the duration of use.

"The scope of this guidance is limited to those drugs that are approved for use in or on animal feed because all the approved uses of medically important antimicrobial drugs in other (non-feed) dosage forms already have appropriately defined durations of use," the FDA said.

Why Misuse of Antibiotics In Animals Is A Concern

Antibiotic use in livestock and poultry globally is intended to treat, control, and prevent bacterial infections.

However, their overuse and misuse in food-animal production threaten both animal and human health. It is because these promote the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AMR in livestock is a major driver of the 700,000 to over 1 million annual human deaths linked to drug-resistant infections globally.

With roughly 70 per cent of global antibiotics used in agriculture, this misuse contributes to food-borne resistant pathogens and is projected to drive up to 10 million annual human deaths by 2050, as per the World Organisation for Animal Health.

FDA On Antibiotic Use In Livestock

The 2017 guidance issued by the FDA limited the over-the-counter use of medically important antibiotics on livestock.

It also required a prescription and veterinary oversight for all antibiotic use.

Later in 2018, the CVM called for all antibiotics used in the feed and drinking water of food -producing animals to have “an appropriately targeted duration of use”.