A 35-year-old man in China is the first person in that country to become sickened with the H7N9 birdfluvirus this fall. Today, local authorities in the Zhejiang Province confirmed that a man in critical condition testedpositivefor the H7N9 virus, according to There were no new cases of H7N9 reported in September on maintain China, Xinhua says, the last case was reported in August. TheH9N9 outbreakbegan in late March, with most cases reported in April. Reports of new casesstarted to decline...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- TheVibrio vulnificus bacteria that claimed the life of 59-year-old Henry Konietzky in September has now infected a total of 31 people in Florida, killing 10, according to state health department officials. Konietzky contracted the bacteria after . The Palm Coast resident was trying to — an activity he had enjoyed for more than five decades, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. At the time, Henry's daughter Sheila Konietzky, told the paper that her family was "in...

((Thinkstock/Digital Vision)) As the record-breaking 1996 Atlantic hurricane season caused chaos in America, the United Kingdom dealt with its own attack from nature: Mad cow disease. That year, the first human died from the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) — the human form of mad cow disease, according to CBS News. More than 17 years later, researchers have discovered that approximately 1 in 2,000 people carry vCJD proteins, according to a study published in BMJ. The disease can incubate in the...

What do low temps and hot peppers have in common? They both couldhelpburn fat, a new study shows. Exposure to cold and consumption of chemicals found in chili peppers both appear to increase the number and activity of brown fatcells, which burn energy, rather than store it as typical white fat cells do, said Takeshi Yoneshiro, a researcher at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan. The study is the first to show that brown fat activity can be...

Bernadette Leno was diagnosed with stage 1 triple negative breast cancer in Nov. 2010. She participated in an underwater portrait session with photographer Erena Shimoda to celebrate her recovery. (Courtesy of Erena Shimoda) Scuba diver and photographer Erena Shimoda has always loved traveling the world to dive in some of the globe’s most exotic locations. “In the water, you experience true freedom,” she said. She wanted to share this love of the outdoors, water and nature with others. After a...

((AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — When a third-grade student who had been stung by a wasp developed welts on his neck and had trouble breathing, school nurse Amanda Williams had the necessary dose of epinephrine to counter the allergic reaction. A law Tennessee enacted this year makes it easier for schools to stock the life-saving drug. Williams said the emergency room doctor told the boy's parents that he probably wouldn't have survived without the injection at Tellico Plains...

Most of us are chronically sleep-deprived. After awhile, all the skipped ZZZs can leave our brains operating like we’re constantly drunk — seriously. And that’s not all sleep deprivation does to your body. Click through to find out more. (Thinkstock/Stockbyte) Get ready to “fall back” — the end of daylight-saving time is near. (This year, Americans set the clocks back on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 a.m.) Fall also resets our internal clocks, as the days grow shorter and colder...

Air pollution directly affects cognition in elderly individuals, German researchers said at the 2015 meeting of the American Thoracic Society, after analyzing data on the link between impaired lung function and cognitive decline. What are some other health risks from air pollution? Click through to find out. (ThinkstockNadofotos) Earlier this month, about 140 countries agreed to a global treaty that would protect humans and the environment from the negative effects of mercury. The Minamata Convention on Mercury — organized by...

Added sugar is everywhere, padding your waistline and upping your risk for a host of diseases. In the following photos, each cube of cane sugar equals one teaspoon, meaning that each time you eat the listed serving size of these foods, you’re consuming that many teaspoons of sugar. (Edecio Martinez and Camille Mann/Weather.com) America’s climate allows farmers from across the country to grow cane sugar in tropical states and beet sugar in more temperate states — a luxury that few...

((Thinkstock/Chris Amaral)) It might be time for even your dog to consider a more organic diet. As Halloween nears, some pets continue to deal with more tricks than treats because of a mysterious illness outbreak linked to jerky pet food. Since 2007, pet treat-related illnesses infected 3,600 dogs and 10 cats in the U.S. The treats killed nearly 580 animals in that time, according to a new consumer update from the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA admits that the...

Fall leaves clogging your gutters? Cooler temps sending mice and other critters inside your home? If you're experiencing these barriers to healthy home living this fall, you're not alone. Forty percent — or 30 million — of U.S. homes have one or more health-related problems, including water leaks, roofing problems, damaged walls and signs of mice, according to the National Center for Healthy Housing's 2013 report. As we head into winter, one of the deadliest home health hazards — carbon...

((Thinkstock/Zedcor Wholly Owned)) Mother Nature has a funny way of getting people to trust each other. Sometimes, trust can grow in the wake of a destructive storm (it happened after Superstorm Sandy). Sometimes, trust can grow because there’s a lot of spinach in your diet. Increasing the amount of food you eat containing the amino acid tryptophan — such as spinach, fish and eggs — can also increase the amount of trust you have in others, according to a study...