School of Public Health News
Study Shows Higher Rates of Bird Flu in Cats Near Infected Dairy Farms
University of Maryland researchers and their colleagues found that after an H5N1 bird flu outbreak on dairy farms, cats were more likely to have bird flu antibodies the closer they were to the farms. Their study appears in the September 2026 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Fresh solution to wastewater struggle In Nepal
Nestled in the foothills of the world’s tallest mountains, the Namobuddha Municipality of Nepal relies on water from natural springs and mountain snowpack diminished by climate change. Another threat to the water supply comes from the communities themselves.
Experts call on WHO to revisit approach to airborne risk after hantavirus outbreak
With three people dead and 11 cases from the recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, UMD’s internationally renowned expert on airborne viruses, Dr. Don Milton, joins public health colleagues in an opinion piece in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) ...
Growing vegetables—and curiosity
On a bright spring afternoon, a group of bubbly fifth-graders descended upon a small garden patch outside of University Park Elementary School to get pollinator plants settled in the dirt. They tipped coneflowers out of their plastic pots, wiggled their fingers through the plants’ roots to break the...
Student-run study abroad inspires creative public health approaches
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 ...
UMD students win national award for health and finance app
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.
Global FEWture Alliance cross-pollinates disciplines in the Hyattsville Food Forest
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.
Testing the (drinking) waters in Maryland
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.
Elevated E. coli, staph still detected in Potomac river 4 weeks after sewage spill
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. aureus ...
UMD team finds E. coli, MRSA in Potomac River after sewage spill
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.