Outbreak Map Shifts as Utah, Arizona, Washington Grow and Nebraska Reports First Case
Measles activity continued to expand across several US states, with Utah reporting 21 new cases in the past week, bringing its outbreak total to 237 and hospitalizations to 21. Most Utah cases are concentrated in the state’s southwest, and the outbreak remains heavily skewed toward children and unvaccinated people. Arizona’s 2026 tally doubled from 12 to 24, with most cases in Mohave County, tied to a cross-border, two-state outbreak with southwest Utah. In Washington’s Snohomish County, three additional cases brought the total to six, linked to unvaccinated children and multiple exposure settings. Nebraska logged its first measles case of the year in Lancaster County—a vaccinated adult with no recent travel—prompting exposure alerts at a Walmart and urgent care. (CIDRAP)
Genetics and Exposure Sculpt the Immune Epigenome in Distinct Ways: An open-access Nature Genetics paper maps how genetics and exposure sculpt the immune-cell epigenome. Using 171 peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from 110 people, the team profiled exposures including viral infections (HIV-1, influenza A, SARS-CoV-2), bacterial infection (MRSA/MSSA), anthrax vaccination, and organophosphate pesticide exposure. They paired single-nucleus DNA methylation sequencing with single-nucleus ATAC-seq across seven sorted immune cell types. They identify exposure-associated differentially methylated and accessible regions, and show the two layers often shift together. Exposure-linked regions are enriched at enhancers, while genotype-associated regions skew toward gene bodies. Overall, the atlas provides single-cell, multi-layer epigenomic reference maps. The study also links methylation QTLs to disease GWAS signals in specific cell types. (Nature)…