Pakistan continues to be dealing with a polio outbreak as four fresh cases have emerged, pushing the national tally to 37 this year, according to health officials on October 19, 2024. Health officials said that the regional reference laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) in two children-one from each Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In recent cases, a girl has been affected from Pishin, and two boys from Chaman and Noshki of Balochistan, and a girl from Lakki Marwat in KP. These are the first detections of the virus within Noshki and Lakki Marwat this year; isolated cases of poliovirus were previously reported within Chaman and Pishin. The province of Balochistan was the worst hit with 20 cases, Sindh had 10, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had five, and Punjab and Islamabad had one case each.

A gigantic fight against polio has been on going in Pakistan- especially in Balochistan and southern KP-over the last two years. Immunisation campaigns have often been suspended or delayed because of local protests, insecurity, and community boycotts. Consequently, quite a number of children did not get the necessary vaccinations, making existing patches of vulnerability for the virus to flow within those pockets.

Noshki, located near Afghanistan's border, and Lakki Marwat have also recently reported some positive environmental samples that confirm the virus is present here, said a local reference laboratory official. Samples of latest cases are currently under genetic sequencing for checking spread of virus and origin.

As the threat of polio continues to grow, Pakistan has vowed to mount a nationwide campaign against it beginning from October 28. With the zeal to tackle the menace in the most effective manner, over 45 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated across the country.

Today, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain one of the few countries where polio has not yet been eradicated. The WHO said the virus remains a potential serious public health threat in areas with low vaccination coverage and weak surveillance.

India On Alert Against Polio

The country declared itself polio-free since 2014 and has kept the disease on bay almost a decade with very robust vaccination programs; however, two cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus cases reported in recent days from Meghalaya create some amount of doubts over a possible resurgence. Experts observe that in India, despite these detections taking place, strong coverage of vaccination at 90-95% and mandatory surveillance measures keep the risk of this widespread outbreak at bay.

The experts point out, however, that such stable situation in India requires continued surveillance. "Countries like Pakistan and parts of Africa remain at a high risk because vaccination rates in those areas are much lower," Dr. Siddharth, public health expert, said. Vaccination is an indispensable act in order to avoid the spread of this incapacitating disease that manifests most importantly as a nervous system affliction leading to the paralysis of a long period.

With concerted efforts from health authorities, there is hope someday that the scourge of polio will be completely eradicated from the face of the earth and future generations will never suffer from its effects.

In an alarming report, Anthropic, an artificial intelligence safety and research company and developer of the Claude family of large language models, said it blocked multiple accounts that used its AI models in ways that could support the development of biological weapons.

In a report published Thursday, the San Francisco-based AI company described biological misuse as one of the “most serious risks” to increasingly capable AI models. The report covers attempts to misuse Claude between December 2025 and August 2026, including activity involving biology, weapons, cyberattacks, influence operations and surveillance.

It details five cases involving potentially concerning biological research, including chikungunya gain-of-function research, avian influenza, orthopoxviruses, venoms and toxins.

“We're publishing our most detailed threat intelligence report to date. It covers how people tried to misuse Claude—for cyberattacks, influence operations, surveillance, biology, and building weapons—and how we found and stopped them,” Anthropic said on X.

What Did Anthropic Find?

Anthropic identified about 35 potentially concerning “research efforts” over 30 days. It could not determine whether users “intended harm” or were conducting legitimate research.

Five cases involved users circumventing safeguards or regional restrictions:

• Chikungunya: AI was used in a gain-of-function project after safeguards were bypassed.
• Avian influenza: AI-assisted planning was used for experiments aimed at adapting the virus to mammals.
• Orthopoxvirus: AI was used to generate a grant application on viral immune evasion.
• Venoms: AI was used to optimise venom-related molecules.
• Toxins: AI was used to computationally redesign toxins.

Anthropic Says It Stopped The Operations

“We disrupted every operation in the report, and used the lessons from them to strengthen our safeguards,” Anthropic said.

The company said it also shared information with authorities and other AI companies where appropriate.

“These cases are not typical: we’re highlighting some of the most sophisticated misuse we’ve seen,” it said.

Can AI Enable Biological Misuse?

The report comes as former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon resigned this week, stating on X that “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

The 27-year-old AI researcher said it could hack critical infrastructure — or build “extinction-level bioweapons.”

“There’s a lot of ways that the AI could actuate itself in the world,” he said. “If you extrapolate into the future, the level of capabilities of these AIs … they could cause extreme havoc,” Coxon later told CNN.

In July, nearly 1,400 AI company employees signed an open letter urging the US government to regulate the technology and slow its development to ensure its safety.

OpenAI Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki also warned this week that AI capabilities are advancing faster than researchers’ ability to reliably monitor and control them.

Dr Ashish K. Jha, physician, scientist and biosecurity expert, said the Anthropic cases show how AI could lower some barriers to biological research.

“We are sleepwalking into a potentially huge disaster. And it amazes me how little attention it is getting,” Jha said on X.

“Anthropic just published five case studies today of people using Claude in ways that could have helped develop biological weapons. They banned the accounts, traced the networks, and told other AI labs and governments what they found.”

Jha said the barriers that once made biological weapons difficult to develop included “deep expertise, advanced equipment, years of specialized training.” “Those barriers are dissolving. Rapidly,” he said.

Jha also pointed to a case in which Claude blocked a request, after which the operator built a system to route it to a more permissive model.

“In a world of lots of open access models that are getting quite good, this will keep happening,” he said.

The US is seeing a summer surge in COVID-19 infections, with 35 states reporting rising cases, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The September 9 update said cases are declining in eight states and unchanged in seven. COVID-related emergency department visits remain low, while the probability of the epidemic growing is 73%, as per CDC. The cases are expected to grow in the coming weeks.

COVID Activity Rising In US

COVID activity is elevated nationally, but hospitalizations remain low, with the highest rates among infants and adults aged 65 and older.

California, Nevada and Texas have the highest wastewater levels of COVID among US states, according to CDC data.

A south Texas school district reportedly closed for two days in August due to the spread of COVID, citing the need to “protect the health and safety” of students and staff.

Why Is COVID Rising This Summer?

Experts say the summer wave is not unexpected. SARS-CoV-2 spreads year-round but has developed a seasonal pattern in the US.

“We’ve had two waves (every year). One in the middle to late summer, and the other during the winter,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, toldTODAY.com.

“We’re expecting transmission to peak about a week into September,” said Michael Hoerger, assistant professor at Tulane University School of Medicine was also quoted as saying.

With temperatures dropping and children returning to school, opportunities for transmission could increase.

“We need to be very cautious,” Schaffner added.

Which COVID Variants Are Spreading?

WastewaterSCAN data is detecting XFG, LF.7, NB.1.8.1 and BA.3.2. XFG.1.1 and its sublineages accounted for nearly half of US cases in July, according to CDC data. BA.3.2, or Cicada, accounts for less than 10% of cases and has not taken off in the US.

Although there is no new variant, that does not mean COVID-19 cannot cause severe disease, experts noted.

COVID Symptoms 2026

Symptoms remain similar to those caused by other Omicron strains and usually appear two to 14 days after exposure.

Common symptoms include:

• Cough
• Sore throat
• Congestion
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Chills
• Shortness of breath
• Headache
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea

Many people are reporting an intense sore throat, according to Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York.

“Some people feel like it’s the worst sore throat ever, like razor blades in the throat. But it can be more mild in others," he was quoted as saying to Prevention.com

Nausea and diarrhoea can also occur alongside respiratory symptoms.

While for majority COVID will be a flu-like illness, for some it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia and shortness of breath.

Are Vaccines Available?

Adults over 65, infants, people with weakened immune systems or underlying conditions, and those who have never received a COVID vaccine face a higher risk of severe illness or hospitalization, says Schaffner.

In May, the US FDA voted to recommend an updated 2026-2027 COVID vaccine targeting XFG. On August 28, the FDA approved monovalent 2026-2027 COVID vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Novavax-Sanofi.

The updated vaccines are expected to roll out at pharmacies, clinics and hospitals in September.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects nearly 1 billion adults worldwide and is linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke and increased mortality.

Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, which contain tirzepatide, have shown promise in treating sleep apnea in a new review.

While continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which uses air pressure to keep the airway open during sleep, remains the standard treatment, some people struggle to use it long term. Adherence rates of 30% to 60% limit its effectiveness at the population level. The review showed that GLP-1 medications may be a potential complementary therapy alongside CPAP.

GLP-1 Drugs And Sleep Apnea

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania, reviewed existing evidence on GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) for OSA.

Six meta-analyses found consistent reductions in the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), ranging from 5.7 to 21.9 fewer events per hour.

The Phase 3 SURMOUNT-OSA trials found that tirzepatide reduced AHI by 20 to 24 events per hour compared with placebo. Between 42% and 50% of patients achieved disease remission.

Weight loss is the main established mechanism. GLP-1 RAs may reduce tongue fat and parapharyngel fat, which contribute to airway collapse.

Researchers also identified potential weight-independent effects involving chemosensitivity, leptin pathways and NLRP3 inflammasome suppression, although these mechanisms remain under investigation.

GLP-1 Drugs Vs CPAP

GLP-1 RAs did not match CPAP efficacy, with approximately 22 versus 31 fewer AHI events per hour. Cardiovascular benefits remain unproven, and weight regain commonly occurs after treatment stops.

The researchers said GLP-1 drugs are best positioned as complementary therapy alongside CPAP and other treatments.

The drugs may be appropriate for people with a BMI above 30 who are unable to tolerate CPAP or have obesity-related comorbidities. They are less likely to benefit people without obesity or those with primarily anatomical airway obstruction.

“This review suggests that GLP-1 RAs offer otolaryngologists a disease-modifying adjunct for obesity-related OSA that is best positioned as complementary therapy alongside CPAP, preoperative optimization before upper airway surgery, or potentially to expand hypoglossal nerve stimulator candidacy,” said the researchers in the paper published in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.

What Is Sleep Apnea?

OSA occurs when the airway becomes blocked during sleep, causing breathing to repeatedly stop and restart. These interruptions can occur five to 100 times an hour and can lower oxygen levels and disrupt sleep.

In OSA, the airways become partially or completely blocked when the muscles in the head relax during sleep. This can cause soft tissue to obstruct the windpipe, making it difficult for air to pass through.

While asleep, the chest muscles may work harder than usual to reopen the airway. This can cause jerks, deep gasps and repeated disruptions to sleep.

Symptoms Of Sleep Apnea

Common symptoms include:

• Loud snoring
• Gasping during sleep
• Breathing pauses during sleep
• Morning headaches
• Restless sleep
• Difficulty staying asleep
• Mood changes
• Dizziness
• Dry mouth on waking
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating

People may not notice these symptoms themselves, but a partner or family member may observe them.

Can Sleep Apnea Be Prevented?

Measures that may help prevent or manage sleep apnea include:

• Practicing good sleep habits
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Quitting smoking
• Using CPAP when prescribed
• Avoiding alcohol.