VARANASI, India – Outside the ancient city of Varanasi in northern India, UMD undergraduate Zoe Baber ‘27 co-leads a workshop with middle school students at the Vidyashram-South Point School on a book they created telling the story of “Esha” (or E.coli), how it spreads in water and what actions can prevent it.

University of Maryland students Ananth Kudaravalli, Maahe Kunvar and Alia Mulbagal placed first in the Innovation Lab at the 2026 Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) annual meeting, held in Virginia in March. 

On a recent cool Friday afternoon just south of campus, a group of students from UMD’s College Park Scholars and College of Arts and Humanities came together to usher in spring with a timely volunteer project. 

The Hollewas have lived happily in their home in a tidy neighborhood in rural Adamstown, Maryland for over a decade. But during the last eight months these empty-nesters have been troubled by the water coming out of their faucets: it’s often brownish-yellow, with a strange sediment.

Nearly a month after a wastewater pipe broke and spewed hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River just north of Washington, D.C., the latest water testing results from the University of Maryland School of Public Health continue to show high levels of E. coli and S.

Following one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history, University of Maryland researchers have detected high levels of fecal-related bacteria and disease-causing pathogens in the Potomac River, raising urgent public health concerns and underscoring the risks posed by aging sewer infrastructure.

This year’s flu season is turning out to be brutal. As a new variant known as subclade K spreads rapidly, a study out today offers clues as to how to avoid the annual sickness. 

A University of Maryland study of Baltimore houses with recent sewage backups revealed that most had toxic bacteria that could potentially infect residents who touch a contaminated surface or breathe contaminated air.

A UMD study out in JAMA Network Open this fall is the first to show that drought and extreme heat are linked to more violence in intimate relationships.  

You may have noticed more people around you with a runny nose, chills or coughing. These can be the telltale symptoms of COVID-19, the highly infectious disease that is making a come-back this fall, now with a new strain in the mix.