Among the migrants who have been in Ceuta for several weeks, there are confirmed or suspected cases of tuberculosis, chickenpox, scabies and gastroenteritis. Specialists in public health, epidemiology and infectious diseases explain to SMC España the basic recommendations that must be followed when providing care for this population.
The plague outbreak recorded in the Mallorcan towns of Son Servera and Capdepera in 1820, with an overall case-fatality rate of 78 per cent, has historically been regarded as an episode of bubonic plague, a zoonotic disease normally acquired through the bite of an infected flea carried by animals such as rodents. Now, a study published in the journal PNAS, which has drawn on hundreds of contemporary reports—including daily death tolls—and epidemiological models, suggests that the disease was not transmitted exclusively by infected rodents, but was spread from person to person. Therefore, according to the authors, it may have been the pneumonic or septicaemic forms of the plague.
A new study reveals that the proportion of adults with dementia has risen significantly in Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico over the last two decades, rising from one in ten older adults to almost one in six; a trend that runs counter to that seen in the US and other wealthy countries. Rates remained stable in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The authors urge investment in prevention, dementia screening and care infrastructure. The study is published in JAMA Neurology.
A global analysis of data from more than 232 million people shows that the rise in obesity has slowed or stabilised in some high-income countries since the 1990s among children and adolescents, and, a decade later, among adults. In Spain, this stabilisation or even a slight decline is also observed. In most low- and middle-income regions, the prevalence of obesity continues to increase and, in some cases, has already surpassed that of more developed economies. The study, published in Nature, included 4,050 studies covering the period from 1980 to 2024 across 200 countries.
European regions with the greatest economic inequalities face a higher risk of mortality from both cold and heat, while wealthier regions face a higher risk during heat waves and a lower risk from cold. These findings come from a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and published in Nature Health. According to the authors, the greater vulnerability to heat in regions with higher GDP could be due to a greater presence of heat islands and urbanization in those areas, while the lower risk from cold could be explained by better-insulated homes and lower energy poverty. The results are based on an analysis of a mortality database covering the years 2000 to 2019 and including the urban and rural populations of 32 European countries.
The Ministry of Health has announced that Spain will receive the MV Hondius in the Canary Islands “in accordance with international law and the spirit of humanitarianism”. The government is thus responding to a request from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Union for the cruise ship, which is travelling from Argentina and has an outbreak of hantavirus on board, to dock in the Canary Islands, in the port of Granadilla, Tenerife. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has assessed which passengers should be evacuated from the ship to Cape Verde, where it is currently located, and which will continue on to the Canary Islands. Once there, they will be examined and transferred to their home countries in accordance with safety protocols. The cruise ship is expected to arrive in the archipelago in three or four days.
Between 2010 and 2020, nearly 2.6 million sudden deaths were recorded in Europe. This finding shows an upward trend in sudden death–attributable mortality of 2.9 % per year, with a significantly greater increase in women—although the majority of sudden deaths occurred in men—and clear geographic differences, with higher increases observed in Eastern and Southern Europe. Spain showed the greatest increase among the countries analysed, with an average annual rise of 3.3 %. The results were based on mortality data from the World Health Organization (WHO), covering 26 European countries and more than 53 million deaths. The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health, did not investigate the underlying causes, but the authors hypothesise that differences in cardiovascular risk profiles, access to healthcare, and emergency response systems may contribute to the observed trends.
Counties in the United States closest to operating nuclear power plants have higher cancer mortality rates than those further away, according to a new study led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, published in Nature Communications. Using data from 2000 to 2018, they assessed spatial patterns of cancer mortality in relation to proximity to nuclear facilities, taking into account socioeconomic, environmental, and health factors. Cancer mortality was higher in both men and women, with the strongest associations among men aged 65 to 74 and women aged 55 to 64. The findings do not imply causality.
Adopting a healthy diet at age 45 can add between two and three years to life expectancy in men, and between 1.5 and 2.3 years in women, according to a study based on data from more than 103,000 people in the United Kingdom. The positive impact is greater for men who follow a diabetes risk reduction diet (DRRD) and for women who follow a Mediterranean-style diet (AMED), says the article published in Science Advances.
Measles cases in Europe and Central Asia fell in 2025 compared with 2024, according to preliminary data reported by 53 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. This decline aligns with the preliminary figures published this week by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). According to the WHO, countries in Europe and Central Asia reported 33,998 measles cases in 2025, representing a decrease of nearly 75 % compared with the 127,412 cases recorded in 2024. In Spain, however, the number of cases has increased, as shown by data from the Carlos III Health Institute. A few weeks ago, the WHO announced that Spain had lost its measles-free status.