JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Some South African organizations that assist people with HIV are in limbo, after the United States put a 90-day freeze on most foreign aid. The U.S. State Department later added a waiver for “lifesaving” aid, but NGOs that have already shut their doors say the next steps aren’t clear, and they are worried this could set back years of progress.

South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world — about 8 million — but has also been a huge success story in terms of treatment and preventing new infections.

That’s largely due to the money poured into expert HIV care here, 17% of which comes from a U.S. program called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR.

But, a 90-day foreign aid funding freeze is in effect, following an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump last month to check if U.S.-funded programs overseas are aligned with U.S. policies. This has caused some confusion in South Africa with health care organizations and their patients.

Thamsanqa Siyo, an HIV-positive transgender woman in South Africa, is anxious.

“People are frustrated, they’re living in fear, they don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Siyo. “They don’t know if it’s stopped temporarily or not temporarily.”

The Cape Town clinic that Siyo used to go to has now been closed for two weeks.

While the State Department has issued a waiver to continue paying for “lifesaving” services, what that includes remains unclear to many South African organizations that receive funding from PEPFAR.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that the waiver was clear.

“If it saves lives, if it’s emergency lifesaving aid — food, medicine, whatever — they have a waiver,” said Rubio. “I don’t know how much clearer we can be.”

The State Department also issued written clarification and guidance on February 1 regarding which activities are and are not covered by the waiver for PEPFAR programs.

The South African government said it was blindsided by the U.S. aid freeze, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who convened a meeting about PEPFAR on Wednesday.

Motsoaledi also said he has sought clarity on the waiver.

“If you say American money cannot be used for LGBTQWI+ and we do the counseling and testing and somebody who falls within that category, transgender, tests positive, can they not be helped?” he asked. “Even if it’s lifesaving?”

Linda-Gail Bekker is a doctor and scientist who heads the Desmond Tutu HIV Center in South Africa.

“This is not one homogenous picture,” said Bekker. “In some places, it’s parts of services that have been stopped. In other places, the whole clinic, if it was supplied by PEPFAR, has been closed down.”

She also said that some transgender health services have been completely closed, and in other areas, counselors haven’t been able to come in.

In addition, she said some services and drugs are no longer available, such as community-based testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medicine that prevents people at high risk from contracting HIV.

Ling Sheperd, who works for Triangle Project, an nongovernmental organization that provides services for the queer community, said there’s a risk of “undoing decades of progress.”

“The impact is devastating,” said Sheperd. “The PEPFAR funding has been a lifeline for millions and it ensures access to HIV treatment, prevention services, and of course community-based health care. And without it we are seeing interruptions in medication supply, clinics are scaling back services, and community health workers have literally been losing their livelihoods.”

About 5.5 million South Africans are on anti-retroviral medication for HIV. Motsoaledi noted that most of that is funded by the government here.

However, he said, a PEPFAR shortfall will affect training, facilities and service delivery. The government said it is working on contingency plans that would reduce dependence on foreign aid in the HIV sector.

On Wednesday, a group of health organizations sent a letter to the South African government saying at least 900,000 patients with HIV were directly affected by the U.S. stop-work orders.
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U.S. dairy cattle tested positive for a strain of bird flu that previously had not been seen in cows, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday, ramping up concerns about the persistent spread of the virus. 

The H5N1 virus has reduced milk output in cattle, pushed up egg prices by wiping out millions of hens, and infected nearly 70 people since April as it has spread across the country. 

Genome sequencing of milk from Nevada identified the different strain, known as the D1.1 genotype, in dairy cows for the first time, the USDA said. Previously, all 957 bird flu infections among dairy herds reported since last March had been caused by another strain, the B3.13 genotype, according to the agency. 

Reuters reported news of the detection of the second strain on Wednesday ahead of USDA’s announcement. 

The second strain was the predominant genotype among wild birds this past fall and winter and has also been found in poultry, the USDA said. It was identified in dairy cattle through an agency program that began testing milk for bird flu in December. 

“We’re seeing the H5N1 virus itself be smarter than all of us,” said Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian.  

“It’s modifying itself so it’s not just staying in the poultry and the wild waterfowl. It’s picking up a home in the mammals.”  

Wild birds likely transmitted the second strain to cattle in Nevada, said J.J. Goicoechea, Nevada’s agriculture director. Farmers need to ramp up safety and security measures to protect their animals, he said. 

“We obviously aren’t doing everything we can and everything we should or the virus wouldn’t be getting in,” he said. 

The Nevada Department of Agriculture said on Jan. 31 that herds in two counties had been placed under quarantine because of bird flu detections.  

It is important for the USDA to contain the outbreak in the state quickly, so the strain does not spread to dairy cattle elsewhere, said Gail Hansen, a veterinary and public health consultant. 

Last year, bird flu spread across the country as infected cattle were shipped from Texas after the virus first leapt to cows from wild birds. 

“We didn’t get a hold on it before,” Hansen said. “We want to avoid that same scenario from happening in Nevada.” 

Dairy herds that were formerly infected may be at risk again from the second strain, experts said. 

“Now it looks like we have new strains of virus that may escape some of the immunity associated with the other strains of viruses that could exacerbate the epidemics among animals and wildlife,” said Gregory Gray, a University of Texas Medical Branch professor studying cattle diseases.  

“It’s alarming.”
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BUENOS AIRES — President Javier Milei has ordered Argentina’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization due to profound differences with the U.N. agency, a presidential spokesperson said Wednesday.

Milei’s action echoes that of his ally, U.S. President Donald Trump, who began the process of pulling the United States out of the WHO with an executive order on his first day back in office on Jan. 21.

Argentina’s decision is based on “profound differences in health management, especially during the [COVID19] pandemic,” spokesperson Manuel Adorni said at a news conference in Buenos Aires. He said that WHO guidelines at the time had led to the largest shutdown “in the history of mankind.”

He also said that the WHO lacked independence because of the political influence of some countries, without elaborating which countries.

Argentina will not allow an international organization to intervene in its sovereignty “and much less in our health,” Adorni said.

The WHO is the United Nations’ specialized health agency and is the only organization mandated to coordinate global responses to acute health crises, particularly outbreaks of new diseases and persistent threats such as Ebola, AIDS and mpox.
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Scientists are testing a novel technique to deter poachers targeting endangered rhinoceroses for their prized horns. As part of a pilot study in South Africa, researchers have injected small, radioactive pellets into the horns of live rhinos. The goal is to make the horns radioactive so there is less demand for them on the black market. Marize de Klerk reports from the UNESCO Waterberg Biosphere Reserve.
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Washington — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial environmental lawyer turned public health critic, cleared his first hurdle on Tuesday to become the nation’s top health official when the senate finance committee voted to advance his nomination for a floor vote. 

Republicans voted together to advance his nomination, while Democrats all opposed. 

His nomination now will face a full senate vote, despite concerns about the work he’s done to sow doubts around vaccine safety and his potential to profit off lawsuits over drugmakers. 

To gain control of the $1.7 trillion Health and Human Services agency, Kennedy will need support from all but three Republicans if Democrats uniformly oppose him. 

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is also a physician and sits on the finance committee, voted to advance Kennedy’s confirmation. Last week, during Kennedy’s hearings, Cassidy repeatedly implored Kennedy to reject a disproven theory that vaccines cause autism, to no avail. He ended the hearing by saying he was “struggling” with the vote. 

“Your past, undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments, concerns me,” Cassidy told Kennedy. 

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky are all seen as potential no votes, too, because they voted against President Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee and have expressed concerns about Kennedy’s anti-vaccine work. 

In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, McConnell declined to say how he would vote on Kennedy’s nomination but reiterated “vaccines are critically important.” 

Democrats, meanwhile, continue to raise alarms about Kennedy’s potential to financially benefit from changing vaccine guidelines or weakening federal lawsuit protections against vaccine makers if confirmed as health secretary. 

“It seems possible that many different types of vaccine-related decisions and communications — which you would be empowered to make and influence as Secretary — could result in significant financial compensation for your family,” Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote in a letter sent over the weekend to Kennedy. 

Kennedy said he’ll give his son all of the referral fees in legal cases against vaccine makers, including the fees he gets from referring clients in a case against Merck. Kennedy told the committee he’s referred hundreds of clients to a law firm that’s suing Merck’s Gardasil, the human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer. He’s earned $2.5 million from the deal over the past three years. 

As secretary, Kennedy will oversee vaccine recommendations and public health campaigns for the $1.7 trillion agency, which is also responsible for food and hospital inspections, providing health insurance for millions of Americans and researching deadly diseases. 

Kennedy, a longtime Democrat, ran for president but withdrew last year to throw his support to Trump in exchange for an influential job in his Republican administration. Together, they have forged a new and unusual coalition made up of conservatives who oppose vaccines and liberals who want to see the government promote healthier foods. Trump and Kennedy have branded the movement as “Make America Healthy Again.” 
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Uganda began a vaccine trial Monday against the Sudan strain of Ebola that has killed one person in the outbreak declared last week.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday in a post on the X social media platform that the trial was “initiated with record speed, only three days since the outbreak was declared, while ensuring full compliance with international and national regulatory and ethical requirements.”

Officials have not identified the vaccine manufacturer that is providing the East African country with access to more than 2,000 doses of the candidate vaccine.

WHO is supporting Uganda’s response to the outbreak with a $1 million allocation from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies.

So far, there has been only one death attributed to the virus — a nurse who worked at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Two more cases were confirmed on Monday. The Associated Press reported they were members of the nurse’s family.

The nurse sought treatment at several hospitals and had also consulted with a traditional healer before tests confirmed an Ebola diagnosis, according to authorities.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa said in a statement after the outbreak was confirmed, “We welcome the prompt declaration of this outbreak, and as a comprehensive response is being established, we are supporting the government and partners to scale up measures to quicky identify cases, isolate and provide care, curb the spread of the virus and protect the population.”

Uganda’s Health Ministry has identified at least 234 of the nurse’s contacts, according to the AP. Containing the virus could prove challenging in Kampala with its population of 4 million people.

The symptoms of Ebola, an often-fatal disease, include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health care workers and family members caring for someone with Ebola are at high risk for contracting the disease.

WHO said Ebola “is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g., bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.”

Ebola’s fatality rate is around 50%, WHO said on its website, but it also said that fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in some outbreaks.

The outbreak in Uganda is the first Ebola outbreak since U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

Some information was provided by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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The recent outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in the U.S. and the potential for it to mutate has raised concerns among the scientific community that it could result in human-to-human transmission and a new pandemic. Farmers are also concerned about the potential impacts on their livelihood. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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Arlington, Virginia — A baby food maker is recalling edible sticks meant to ease teething pain over a possible choking hazard. 

Gerber announced Friday that it was recalling and discontinuing its brand of “Sooth N Chew” teething sticks after receiving customer complaints about choking. The company said one emergency room visit had been reported. 

The teething sticks are edible teethers marketed to parents and guardians of children six months and older. They come in strawberry-apple and banana flavors. 

Gerber said it was working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the recall. 

Customers who bought the teething sticks should return them to stores where they were purchased for a refund, the company said. 

Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a health care provider. For any additional support needed, Gerber is available 24/7 at 1-800-4-GERBER (1-800-443-7237). 

The company says it is working with the U.S. FDA on this recall and will cooperate with them fully. 
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TOKYO — Japan’s space agency said Sunday it successfully launched a navigation satellite on its new flagship H3 rocket as the country seeks to have a more precise location positioning system of its own. 

The H3 rocket carrying the Michibiki 6 satellite lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a southwestern Japanese island. 

Everything went smoothly and the satellite successfully separated from the rocket as planned about 29 minutes after the liftoff, said Makoto Arita, H3 project manager for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. 

Officials said it is expected to reach its targeted geospatial orbit in about two weeks. 

Japan currently has the quasi-zenith satellite system, or QZSS, with four satellites for a regional navigation system that first went into operation in 2018. The Michibiki 6 will be the fifth of its network. 

Michibiki’s signals are used to supplement American GPS and will further improve positioning data for smartphones, car and maritime navigation and drones. 

Japan plans to launch two more navigation satellites to have a seven-satellite system by March 2026 to have a more precise global positioning capability without relying on foreign services, including the U.S., according to the Japan Science and Technology Agency. By the late 2030s, Japan plans to have an 11-satellite network. 

Sunday’s launch, delayed by a day due to the weather, was the fourth consecutive successful flight for the H3 system after a shocking failed debut attempt last year when the rocket had to be destroyed with its payload. 

Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as key to its space program and national security and has been developing two new flagship rockets as successors to the mainstay H2A series — the larger H3 and a much smaller Epsilon system. It hopes to cater to diverse customer needs and improve its position in the growing satellite launch market. 

 
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department said Saturday that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — the world’s leading HIV initiative — was covered by a waiver for life-saving humanitarian assistance during a 90-day pause in foreign aid.

Just hours after taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump ordered the pause so foreign aid contributions could be reviewed to see if they align with his “America First” foreign policy. The U.S. is the world’s largest aid donor.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio initially issued a waiver for emergency food aid and then Tuesday for life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter and subsistence help. However, the lack of detail in Trump’s order and the ensuing waivers has left aid groups confused as to whether their work can continue.

So, Saturday the State Department’s Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy issued a memo, seen by Reuters, clarifying that PEPFAR was covered by the Jan. 28 memo and spelling out what activities were allowed.

These include life-saving HIV care and treatment services, including testing and counseling, prevention and treatment of infections including tuberculosis (TB), laboratory services, and procurement and supply chain for commodities/medicines. It also allows prevention of mother-to-child transmission services.

“Any other activities not specifically mentioned in this guidance may not be resumed without express approval,” it said.

More than 20 million people living with HIV, who represent two-thirds of all people living with the disease receiving treatment globally, are directly supported by PEPFAR.

Under Trump’s foreign aid pause, all payments by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) stopped Tuesday — for the first time since the fiscal year began on Oct. 1 — and have not resumed, according to U.S. Treasury data. On Monday USAID paid out $8 million and last week a total of $545 million.

The Trump administration is also moving to strip a slimmed-down USAID of its independence and put it under State Department control, two sources familiar with the discussions said Friday, in what would be a significant overhaul of how Washington allocates U.S. foreign aid. 
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