Mind & Body · Monday, 28 September 2026

01 Briefing what happened

Rabies almost always kills once symptoms start. This month WHO confirmed Bhutan and Chile had stopped dogs passing it to people

Rabies is carried by dogs and kills almost everyone who gets symptoms. WHO confirmed this month that Bhutan and Chile have ended human deaths from it, by vaccinating their dogs over many years.

99%

of human rabies cases start with a dog's bite or scratch

Four in ten people who die of rabies are children under 15. [3]

44,203

rabies deaths in a year, in WHO's own model for 2021

WHO says the real number is probably higher, because many deaths are never reported. [3]

70 of 100

dogs in an area must be vaccinated to stop the virus spreading

In most of India, dog vaccination falls far below that line. [6]

1972

the last year a dog gave a person rabies in Chile

WHO validated Chile on 14 September, ten days after Bhutan. [2][1]

The lead story — what happened

WHO, the UN's health agency, confirmed on 4 September that Bhutan had ended human deaths from rabies caught from dogs, the first country in WHO's South-East Asia region to do so. [1]
Ten days later WHO confirmed Chile, the first country in South America. Chile's last human case caught from a dog was in 1972. [2]
Rabies is a virus carried in the spit of an infected animal. Dogs cause up to 99% of human cases, and passing it from person to person has never been confirmed. [3]
After a bite, the virus climbs along the nerves to the spinal cord and the brain. [4] Once symptoms appear, it kills in virtually every case. [3]
The climb usually takes two to three months, and there is no WHO-approved test that finds the virus before symptoms start. [3]
Treatment after a bite stops the virus before it reaches the brain: washing the wound for 15 minutes, a course of vaccine, and antibodies injected into deep wounds. [3]
That treatment saves the person who was bitten. It does nothing to stop the virus passing between dogs. [5]
Vaccinating at least 70 of every 100 dogs in an area is what breaks the chain, researchers in India write. [5][6]
WHO calls mass dog vaccination the best-value way to protect people, and says culling street dogs does not control rabies. [3]
Bhutan has had no human death from dog rabies since June 2023, after years of dog vaccination, dog population control and free treatment after bites in all 20 districts. [1] When COVID lockdowns stopped its yearly dog vaccination, protection among its dogs fell. [5]
In the United States, dogs were most of the animal rabies cases in the 1960s. Today over 90% are in wild animals, and fewer than 10 people die a year. [7]
Only three countries have been validated so far, Bhutan, Chile and Mexico, against WHO's goal of no deaths from dog rabies by 2030. [3]

4 of 10

4 in 10 rabies deaths are children under 15

Each figure stands for one in ten people who die of rabies. The four filled ones are children under 15.

Who is involved

WHO

the UN's health agency; its experts check a country's records on the ground and then give the validation
Bhutan's health and agriculture ministries

the two ministries that ran Bhutan's national dog vaccination and dog population programme, with De-suung volunteers
Chile's Ministry of Health

Chile's national health department; it runs the rabies programme, with free vaccination for dogs and cats
WOAH

the World Organisation for Animal Health; it supported WHO's review of Bhutan

How it unfolded

1972 Chile's last human rabies case caught from a dog [2]
2018 WHO sets the rules for confirming a country has ended dog rabies [1]
June 2023 Bhutan's last human death from dog rabies [1]
17-22 Aug 2026 WHO's review team visits Bhutan [1]
4 Sep 2026 WHO validates Bhutan [1]
14 Sep 2026 WHO validates Chile [2]

Where this points

Watch whether countries in Asia and Africa can vaccinate seven in ten dogs year after year, against WHO's goal of no deaths from dog rabies by 2030. [8][3]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Dogs being vaccinated Building↑

Guinea's health minister says more than 290,000 dogs were vaccinated there in three years. [8] Namibia is adopting rabies vaccine hidden in food baits, for dogs nobody can catch. [9] In a Ugandan district, vaccinating dogs at human health clinics reached 74.5% of owned dogs. [10]

Towns killing their dogs Building→

In Hossana, a town in Ethiopia, an estimated 400 to 450 dogs were killed after three children died of rabies. [11] In Telangana, a state in southern India, police confirmed at least 354 stray dogs killed. [12] WHO says culling street dogs does not control rabies. [3]

Nicotine pouches reaching teenagers High↑

Pouch sales passed 23 billion units in 2024, up more than half in a year, WHO says. [13] In Great Britain, 7.5% of men aged 16 to 24 now use them. [14] Use among young people rose in Canada, England, the US and New Zealand. [15]

Untested products in shops Building↑

US poison centres received 3,434 reports about kratom, a plant drug, in 2025, up from 258 in 2015. [16] An advisory panel to the FDA, the US medicines regulator, voted to loosen limits on peptides little tested in people. [17] Sales of magnesium sold for sleep rose about 17% in 2025. [18]

The rest of the day

39 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Ethiopian town forced to kill its dogs

In Hossana, a town in central Ethiopia, three children died of rabies and 80 people went to hospital, the BBC reported in July. [11] Community groups then ordered residents to kill their dogs. [11] A local vet estimated 400 to 450 dogs were killed in a few days, some hanged or beaten. [11] The mayor said about 70% of the town's 10,000 dogs were vaccinated guard dogs, and called the killings illegal. [11] He said police stopped the mass killings within a day. [11]

Why it matters — The order covered vaccinated dogs too, in a town where about seven in ten dogs had been vaccinated. [11] Vaccinated dogs are what break the chain from dog to dog, and WHO says culling does not control rabies. [5][3]
03
Guinea turns one campaign into three

Guinea ran its first nationwide dog vaccination campaign in 2023, vaccinating more than 88,000 animals in 10 high-risk areas. [8] Only the capital, Conakry, came close to the 70% of dogs needed to stop the virus. [8] So Guinea did it again: more than 185,000 animals in 2024 and more than 295,000 in 2025. [8] Its health minister says human rabies deaths fell 47% over the three years. [8]

Why it matters — Only 58% of people bitten in Guinea from 2018 to 2020 got the full course of treatment. [8] Vaccinating dogs prevents the bites in the first place, WHO's report says. [8]
04
Namibia: 23 deaths down to one

Namibia went from 23 human rabies deaths in 2015 to one case in 2025, after strong vaccination campaigns, WHO reports. [9] Injected vaccines struggle to reach dogs that roam free or are too aggressive to handle, WHO says. [9] So in November Namibia hosted a workshop on oral vaccination, where the vaccine is hidden in food baits that dogs eat. [9] Vets and health officials came from across Africa, including Botswana, Malawi and Zambia. [9]

201523 deaths
20251 death
Human rabies in Namibia, in the first and last years WHO gives: 23 deaths, then one case.

Why it matters — WHO, WOAH and the UN's food agency recommend baits alongside injections. [9] WHO says the baits still cost a lot, so countries are working out how to fit them into regular campaigns. [9]
05
India's dog bites fell, then rose

India has more animal bites than any other country, and about 36% of the world's rabies deaths by WHO's count, a study of government data says. [19] Reported dog bites fell from 7.57 million in 2018 to 2.18 million in 2022, then rose to 2.76 million in 2023. [19] In two zones of Delhi, 25.5 of every 1,000 people were bitten in a year, three in four of them by street dogs. [20]

20187.57 million bites
20222.18 million bites
20232.76 million bites
Dog bites reported in India. The fall stopped in 2023.

Why it matters — India has up to 62 million street dogs, about one for every 23 people, which makes vaccinating seven in ten of them a very large job. [6]
06
A third waited more than a day

In Shivpuri, a district of Madhya Pradesh in India, 37% of 422 bitten patients waited more than 24 hours to start treatment. [21] Some found the clinic shut for a holiday, some had to work, some did not know they needed treatment, and some could not afford it. [21] At a rural clinic in Gujarat, only 61.7% of the people who needed the vaccine finished the course. [22] Many who stopped said they felt cured. [22]

Why it matters — No test can find the virus before symptoms start, and once they do it is almost always fatal. [3] So feeling well after a bite says nothing about whether the virus is there.
07
Police count 354 dogs killed in Telangana

Police in Telangana, a state in southern India, confirmed at least 354 stray dogs killed across three districts between late December and mid-January, and arrested nine people. [12] Villagers linked the killings to local election promises to get rid of stray dogs and monkeys. [12] India's Supreme Court is hearing cases on stray dogs, after ordering Delhi's dogs into shelters and then changing that to vaccinate and release them. [12]

Why it matters — A state minister called the killings illegal and inhumane. [12] The court's changed order moved towards vaccinating dogs rather than removing them, [12] which is the method WHO recommends. [3]
08
In Chongqing, half got no care

Chongqing, in China, reported 84 human rabies cases from 2016 to 2024, a low rate of 0.03 per 100,000 people a year. [4] Dogs caused 92.4% of them, pet dogs more often than strays. [4] After being bitten, 51.5% of the people who caught rabies got no treatment at all, and only six had any vaccine. [4] Most were aged 45 or over, and most were farmers. [4]

Why it matters — Even where rabies is rare, the deaths come from bites that nobody treated. [4]
09
Rabies cases fell by half since 1990

A study of Global Burden of Disease data found rabies cases worldwide fell 54% between 1990 and 2021, from 22,035 to 10,181 a year. [23] Ecuador, Mexico and Guatemala cut their rates by more than 99%, through dog vaccination, treatment after bites and shared human and animal surveillance. [23] The highest rates in 2021 were in Nepal, Ethiopia and Malawi. [23]

Why it matters — WHO's own model gives 44,203 rabies deaths for the same year, so the size of the problem depends on who is counting. [3]
10
Reaching seven in ten dogs is hard

In Kyegegwa, a rural district of Uganda, a pilot tried four ways of vaccinating dogs. [10] Vaccinating dogs at human health clinics reached 74.5% of owned dogs; fixed vaccination points reached 29.5%. [10] In Bangladesh, teams vaccinated 9,195 dogs in 12 working days, but over 93% of dogs roamed free and about 30% had no owner. [24] Three ways of counting the dogs gave coverage of 19%, 32% or 47%. [24]

Why it matters — A campaign that cannot count its dogs cannot tell whether it has passed the 70% line. [24]
11
US death rate at a record low

About 3.09 million people died in the US in 2025, early figures from the CDC, the US public health agency, show. [25] The death rate was 689.2 per 100,000, down 4.6% from 2024 and the lowest on record. [25] Rates fell for every age group and for both men and women. [25] Final figures for 2024 had already put US life expectancy at a record 79 years. [26]

Why it matters — Heart disease, cancer and accidents still caused the most deaths. [25] Flu and pneumonia rose to eighth place, and suicide fell from tenth to eleventh. [25]
12
Unsafe sleep in most infant deaths

The CDC studied 4,861 sudden unexpected infant deaths from 2020 to 2024 in its case registry. [27] At least 73% happened with an unsafe sleep factor present. [27] 75% of the babies were on a surface other than a crib, 78% had soft bedding, and 59% were sharing a sleep surface. [27] About 3,400 babies die this way in the US each year, two in three aged under four months. [27]

Why it matters — US paediatricians recommend a baby sleeps on its back, alone, on a flat firm surface with no soft bedding. [27] The registry covers about two in five of these deaths. [27]
13
Progress on infant sleep deaths stalled

The US rate of sudden unexpected infant deaths was 93.6 per 100,000 births in 2024, CDC figures show. [28] It fell sharply in the 1990s, which the CDC puts down to safe-sleep guidance and campaigns. [27] A CDC report says that progress has since stalled. [27] Of 2024's deaths, 40% were recorded as sudden infant death syndrome, 32% as unknown cause and 28% as suffocation or strangling in bed. [29]
- Sudden infant death syndrome40%
- Unknown cause32%
- Suffocation in bed28%
How US sudden infant deaths were recorded in 2024. The labels depend on how much the investigation found.
Why it matters — The CDC says death records often lack the detail needed to tell these three causes apart. [27]
14
US suicide rate dipped in 2024

The US suicide rate fell from 14.1 to 13.7 deaths per 100,000 people between 2023 and 2024, CDC statisticians reported this month. [30] That was 48,824 deaths, against 49,316 a year earlier. [30] Rates fell for both women and men, but the report finds no clear trend since 2017. [30] The highest rates were in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota. [30]

Why it matters — The fall covers one year, and the rate is still higher than the 13.0 of 2014. [30] Suicidal thoughts are a matter for a doctor or a crisis line.
15
More US suicides now involve guns

From 2014 to 2024, 516,790 people in the US died by suicide, with 2022 the highest year on record, KFF, an independent US health policy research group, found. [31] Since 2022 the total has fallen a little. [31] But suicides with firearms kept rising and hit a new high in 2024, while other methods fell. [31] Firearms were 57% of all suicides in 2024, up from 50% in 2014. [31]

Why it matters — KFF notes that some suicides may be recorded as accidental overdoses, which would change these shares. [31]
16
Fewer teen emergency visits after attempts

Emergency room visits for suspected suicide attempts were highest among 12 to 17 year olds from 2021 to 2025, a CDC report found. [32] As a share of all emergency visits, they fell 20.8% for that age group and 7% overall between 2021 and 2025. [32] But they rose among adults aged 26 and over. [32] About 2.9 million people aged 12 and over reported a suicide attempt in 2024. [32]

Why it matters — The CDC says prevention is needed in every age group, especially where attempts are high or rising. [32]
17
A century of US suicide records

Researchers joined US suicide records from 1900 to 2021 into one dataset. [33] Over 120 years the overall rate trended down, in cycles. [33] But for people under 35 it has risen sharply since the mid-to-late 1950s, and each generation has faced the risk at younger ages. [33] Suicide by hanging has risen since the 1980s in both men and women. [33]

Why it matters — The authors say the crisis among the young began much earlier, and covers more ages, than is usually acknowledged. [33]
18
Fewer hospital patients catch infections

On any given day in 2023, about 1 in 38 patients in US hospitals had an infection caught in hospital, down from 1 in 31 in 2015, a CDC survey found. [34] It covered 13,653 patients in 218 hospitals in 10 states. [34] Even so, an estimated 518,000 such infections happened in 2023. [34] Pneumonia, infected surgical wounds and gut infections were the most common. [34]

1 in 31US hospitals, 2015
1 in 38US hospitals, 2023
Patients with an infection caught in hospital, on any given day. Fewer patients were infected in 2023.

Why it matters — 61% of these infections were not linked to a medical device or an operation. [34] The CDC and the US agency that runs Medicare track hospitals' infections and make the results public. [34]
19
First guidelines for Ebola and Marburg care

In June, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo fought an Ebola outbreak of the Bundibugyo type, WHO issued its first full guidelines for treating all Ebola and Marburg viruses. [35] The 16 recommendations are built on early supportive care: fluids, treating shock and close watching of patients. [35] There is still no licensed vaccine or drug for Marburg, Bundibugyo or Sudan virus disease. [35] Africa has had 72 outbreaks since 1967. [35]

Why it matters — In the worst outbreaks, 25% to 90% of patients have died. [35] For the viruses with no vaccine or drug, early supportive care clearly improves survival, WHO says. [35]
20
Act on bleeding after birth at 300 ml

WHO and two bodies for obstetricians and midwives issued new guidelines in October on bleeding after childbirth, which kills nearly 45,000 women a year. [36] Heavy bleeding has usually meant losing 500 ml of blood. [36] Staff are now told to act at 300 ml if the woman's vital signs are abnormal, and to measure blood loss with calibrated drapes. [36] The guidance draws on the largest study of the problem so far. [36]

Why it matters — Many of these bleeds happen with no warning sign beforehand, so catching them early is the main defence. [36]
21
WHO backs weight-loss drugs, with limits

In December WHO issued a global guideline on the weight-loss injections liraglutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide for adults with obesity. [37] It makes conditional recommendations, to be used alongside diet, exercise and support. [37] Obesity was linked to 3.7 million deaths in 2024, WHO says. [37] It expects fewer than 10% of the people who could benefit to get the drugs by 2030. [37]

Why it matters — WHO also warns that demand has spread fake and poor-quality copies of these drugs. [37]
22
WHO's first infertility guideline

WHO issued its first global guideline on infertility in November, with 40 recommendations. [38] About one in six people of reproductive age face infertility at some point, WHO says. [38] In some places one round of IVF costs twice the average household's yearly income. [38] The guideline starts with simple advice and steps up to insemination or IVF. [38]

Why it matters — WHO names untreated sexual infections and smoking as leading causes that can be prevented. [38]
23
An antibiotic after sex, WHO says

In May WHO made its first recommendation on doxycycline, a common antibiotic, taken after sex to prevent some sexual infections. [39] Evidence shows it cuts the risk of syphilis and chlamydia, and it may cut gonorrhoea in some places. [39] WHO says it should go first to people who have recently had these infections, especially syphilis. [39]

Why it matters — WHO asks countries to watch for the germs becoming resistant to the antibiotic. [39]
24
Dengue medicines for children

Dengue, a virus spread by mosquitoes, has no licensed treatment. [40] More than 14 million cases and 10,000 deaths were reported in 2024, about twice the numbers for 2023. [40] In June WHO published its first list of dengue treatments to develop for children. [40] At the top is a monoclonal antibody, a lab-made immune protein, already being tested in children from age five. [40]

Why it matters — Young children are at higher risk of severe dengue, and WHO wants them studied early rather than after adults. [40]
25
Kratom poison reports up 1,200%

US poison centres received 3,434 reports about kratom in 2025, a record, against 258 in 2015, a CDC report found. [16] Over 11 years there were 14,449 reports. [16] Most involved men and adults aged 20 to 39, but reports among people aged 40 to 59 rose fastest. [16] Of 233 kratom-linked deaths, 184 involved other substances as well. [16]

2015258 reports
20253,434 reports
Reports about kratom to US poison centres, in the first and last years of the CDC study.

Why it matters — Mixing kratom with other drugs led to more hospital stays and more serious outcomes. [16]
26
7-OH: a leaf chemical made strong

Kratom is a tree from South-East Asia whose leaves are eaten fresh or brewed as tea. [41] The leaf holds only traces of 7-OH, a chemical that acts on the same receptor in the brain as opioids, often more strongly than morphine. [41] US shops sell products enriched with 7-OH under the kratom name. [41] In 2025 the FDA recommended controlling some 7-OH products alongside opioids. [42]

Why it matters — Concentrated 7-OH skips the body's own slow conversion, so users get far more of it than a leaf would give. [41] State health departments have reported deaths and severe poisonings. [41]
27
Trump floats approving 7-OH

In May, President Trump said his government was looking very seriously at approving what he called natural 7-OH. [43] STAT, a US health news site, reported that it was not clear what he meant. [43] In June the New York Times reported that Markwayne Mullin, now the US homeland security secretary, had pushed kratom's case inside the Trump administration. [44] He had disclosed an investment of up to $1 million in Botanic Tonics, a kratom company. [44]

Why it matters — The Times says kratom has been linked to liver damage, seizures and thousands of deaths. [44]
28
A senator asks about donations

Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the US Senate Finance Committee, opened an inquiry into the Trump administration's moves on flavoured vapes and kratom, STAT reported in August. [45] He alleges favours in return for large donations from the tobacco and kratom industries to the campaigns of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the US health secretary. [45] He asked Kennedy and the heads of two companies, Reynolds American and the kratom firm Botanic Tonics, to answer by 31 August. [45]

Why it matters — Wyden wrote that both industries will fill petrol stations and corner shops with products that make children and teenagers curious. [45]
29
FDA panel eases peptide limits

An FDA advisory panel narrowly voted to let specialist pharmacies make peptides including BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV. [17] Peptides are short chains of amino acids, and these are sold online for healing and muscle despite little testing in people. [17] Several panel members work for clinics or businesses that sell peptides. [17] The FDA does not have to follow the vote, but often does. [17]

Why it matters — Kennedy calls himself a big fan of peptides and has worked to reverse limits set under the Biden administration. [17] The US Anti-Doping Agency says nobody knows if there is a safe dose of BPC-157. [17]
30
WHO warns on pouch marketing

WHO published its first global report on nicotine pouches in May. [13] Pouches are small sachets placed between gum and lip that release nicotine through the lining of the mouth. [13] Retail sales passed 23 billion units in 2024, up more than 50% on the year before. [13] Some products come in strength tiers named for beginners and experts, with up to 150 mg of nicotine, and some packaging copies sweets. [13]

Why it matters — WHO says regulation in many countries is limited or absent. [13] Nicotine is addictive and can affect a teenager's developing brain. [13]
31
Young men drive the pouch boom

In Great Britain, 7.5% of men aged 16 to 24 use nicotine pouches, against 1.9% of young women and 1% of all adults, researchers at University College London found. [14] Use among young people went from under 1% in 2022 to 4% in March 2025. [14] The survey of 127,000 people was published in Lancet Public Health, a medical journal. [14]

Why it matters — The researchers point to marketing aimed at young men, such as Formula 1 sponsorship and influencers. [14] A UK bill would ban sales to under-18s. [14]
32
Pouch use up in four countries

Surveys of 44,736 young people in Canada, England, the US and New Zealand found awareness of pouches rose from 2022 to 2024. [15] In 2024 about one in ten 16 to 19 year olds in England had tried them, and about one in twenty in the other three countries. [15] Teenagers gave curiosity, using them without being noticed, and fun as their reasons. [15]

Why it matters — Young adults said they used pouches to deal with stress or anxiety, out of curiosity, or because they are less harmful than smoking. [15]
33
More US smokers try pouches

Among US adults who smoke, vape or have quit, use at least once a month rose from 4.7% in 2022 to 7.8% in 2024, a rise of 66%. [46] The share who had ever tried them rose from 16.1% to 22.8%. [46] Use was higher among men, among people who both smoke and vape, and among people who had quit. [46]

Why it matters — The researchers say it is not yet known whether adults use pouches to quit smoking or to stay quit. [46] In Britain, pouches were part of 6.5% of attempts to quit smoking in 2025. [14]
34
Two teenagers poisoned by pouches

Doctors described two children poisoned by nicotine pouches, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. [47] Within 20 to 90 minutes they had symptoms including dizziness, vomiting and loss of consciousness. [47] Blood tests confirmed nicotine poisoning, and both recovered with supportive care. [47] Pouches pass nicotine through the mouth straight into the blood, and many carry large doses. [48]

Why it matters — The doctors stress that less harmful than cigarettes is not the same as harmless. [47]
35
Zyn on TikTok

Researchers analysed 132 TikTok videos under hashtags such as #zyn, a brand of nicotine pouch. [49] The most common theme, in 44% of the videos, presented pouches as a popular trend. [49] Another fifth showed them as something for boys. [49] Men appeared far more often than women as the users. [49] When side effects appeared in videos, they were played down. [49]

Why it matters — The authors say TikTok makes pouches look trendy and fairly harmless to the young people who watch it. [49]
36
A nerve implant for arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis causes painful, long-lasting inflammation of the joints. [50] The vagus nerve runs from the base of the brain to the heart, lungs, spleen and gut. [51] Its signals can turn down the body's inflammation. [50] A trial tested an implant that stimulates the nerve in 242 patients whose advanced arthritis drugs had failed or could not be tolerated. [50] After three months it helped 35.2%, against 24.2% with a switched-off implant. [50] The FDA approved the device, made by SetPoint Medical, in July 2025. [51]

Why it matters — By 12 months 52.8% had improved, though by then everyone had the implant switched on. [50] SetPoint Medical paid for the trial. [50]
37
Three years on the arthritis implant

An earlier, smaller study put the same kind of implant into 14 people with rheumatoid arthritis who had failed an average of 4.8 drugs. [52] Eleven were followed for 36 months. [52] At three years, 7 of the 11 had a meaningful fall in disease activity; two used the implant alone and five added a drug. [52] No infections from the device and no heart problems were reported. [52]

Why it matters — The study is small, and several of its authors work for SetPoint Medical, which makes the device. [52]
38
A decade of nerve stimulation in Crohn's

Researchers followed nine people with Crohn's disease, a long-term inflammation of the gut, who had vagus nerve implants, for four to ten years. [53] Three were still in remission on the implant alone at ten years. [53] Others managed on it for three to seven years before needing drugs or surgery. [53] Their anxiety and depression scores fell below the level of illness. [53]

Why it matters — The authors say it is the longest record of its kind, and should be read as a small proof of concept. [53]
39
Magnesium sleep sales grow faster

Sales of sleep supplements containing magnesium rose about 17% in 2025, against about 5% for melatonin, the New York Times reported, citing market data. [18] A sleep doctor at Duke Health told the paper that a few limited studies support magnesium for sleep, and whether it helps at all is still debated. [18] Magnesium helps nerves send messages and takes part in over 300 processes in the body. [54]

Why it matters — A supplement mainly helps people who lack magnesium, and a lack is hard to test for because most of it sits in bones and tissues, a dietitian told the BBC. [54]
40
A magnesium trial paid for by its maker

A six-week trial gave 100 adults who slept badly either 2 grams a day of Magtein, a magnesium supplement, or a dummy pill. [55] Scores on a thinking test improved more with Magtein. [55] But a sleep-tracking ring found no difference in sleep between the two groups. [55] People's own reports improved on one sleep measure and not on two others. [55]

Why it matters — Threotech, which makes Magtein, funded the trial and helped design it. [55]

02 Lesson why it matters

To keep rabies out of people, vaccinate the dogs

Rabies passes from dog to dog, so countries end it in people by vaccinating about seven in every ten dogs.

The twist

Treating a bitten child saves that child, and the virus keeps moving among the dogs. Vaccinating seven in ten dogs stops it moving at all.

The picture

70 of 100

dogs vaccinated in an area

Each dot is a dog. When about 70 of every 100 dogs in an area are vaccinated, rabies stops passing between them.

How it works

Rabies lives in dogs and passes from one dog to the next in bites
A bitten person is not known ever to pass it on to anyone
Washing, vaccine and antibodies save that person, one bite at a time
The virus carries on among the dogs, so the bites keep coming
Vaccinate about seven in ten dogs and it stops passing between them
With no rabies left in the dogs, people stop dying of it

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

Hossana's dog killings

The town ordered dogs killed even if vaccinated, where about seven in ten were, so it removed dogs that were already stopping the virus passing on.
Guinea's three dog campaigns

One campaign reached 70% only in the capital, so Guinea repeated it every year, and its minister reports 47% fewer human deaths.
Namibia's food baits

Dogs too wild to hold for a needle leave a gap in the 70%, so Namibia is adopting vaccine hidden in food baits those dogs eat.
Chongqing's untreated bites

Half the people who caught rabies got no care after the bite, and dogs were the source in nine cases out of ten.

Where you've seen this

Measles in schools

when enough children are vaccinated, the virus cannot reach the next child, and even a child who cannot have the jab is protected

Malaria and bed nets

treating each fever saves one person; nets and spraying cut the mosquitoes that carry it to the next

Cholera and clean water

fluids save each patient; a clean water supply stops the next case from starting

The catch

It holds only while the vaccinating is repeated every year and at the borders: when COVID lockdowns stopped Bhutan's dog campaigns, protection among its dogs fell.

And the whole of it

A child walking to school in Hossana, or in Delhi, is protected from rabies only if most dogs across the town are vaccinated. That includes dogs the child never meets. No single family can arrange that on its own.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Bhutan and Chile ended human rabies from dogs by vaccinating their dogs over many years, and WHO confirmed both this month. In Hossana in Ethiopia and in villages in Telangana in India, people killed hundreds of dogs instead, a method WHO says does not control rabies.

Why it works on us — Three children dying in one town makes killing every dog feel like action, even though about seven in ten of the town's dogs had been vaccinated.

Who gains

People in Bhutan and Chile — Both countries keep vaccinating dogs and give treatment after bites, and neither has had a human death from dog rabies in years. [1][2]
Nicotine pouch makers — Sales passed 23 billion units in 2024, while WHO says regulation in many countries is limited or absent. [13]
Kratom companies such as Botanic Tonics — Allies inside the Trump administration pushed kratom's case, and one of them held an investment of up to $1 million in the company. [44]
Clinics and firms that sell peptides — People who work for them sat on the FDA panel that voted to loosen limits on what they sell. [17]
Magnesium supplement sellers — Magnesium sleep sales rose about 17% in 2025 while the evidence is still debated. [18]

Who pays

Children in Asia and Africa — Four in ten rabies deaths are children under 15. [3] Most deaths are where dog vaccination and treatment after bites are hard to get. [23]
Dog owners in Hossana — Residents were told they faced fines and arrest unless their dogs were killed, vaccinated or not. [11]
Poor families after a bite — Treatment after a bite cost about $108 on average in 2018, for people who may earn $1 to $2 a day. [3]
Teenagers using nicotine pouches — Two children, aged 13 and 15, were poisoned after using pouches, with symptoms including loss of consciousness. [47]
People who mix kratom with other drugs — Mixed use accounted for 184 of 233 kratom-linked deaths in US poison centre reports. [16]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

How many people rabies kills each year.

WHO's model gives 44,203 deaths for 2021 and says many are never reported. [3] A study of Global Burden of Disease data counts 10,181 cases for the same year. [23] Other studies still quote 59,000 or 74,000 deaths a year. [19][24]
02

How many dogs a campaign really vaccinated.

In Bangladesh, three ways of counting the same dogs gave 19%, 32% or 47%. [24]
03

Whether Guinea's 47% fall in deaths will be confirmed.

The figure comes from Guinea's health minister, quoted by WHO, and the story gives no yearly death counts. [8]
04

Whether US sudden infant deaths are rising or falling.

A CDC page says the rate has been rising since 2020, and gives 93.6 per 100,000 births for 2024. [28] A CDC report puts 2022 higher, at 100.9. [27]
05

Whether the dip in US suicides will last.

The 2024 rate was lower than 2023's, but the CDC finds no clear trend since 2017. [30] Suicides with guns reached a new high in 2024. [31]
06

What natural 7-OH means, and whether the US government will approve it.

President Trump used the phrase in May, and STAT reported that it was not clear what he meant. [43]
07

Whether Kennedy and the two companies answered Senator Wyden.

The deadline was 31 August, and no answer is in today's sources. [45]
08

Whether nicotine pouches help smokers quit or start young people on nicotine.

Pouches were part of 6.5% of quit attempts in Britain in 2025, while use rose fastest among young men. [14] US researchers say it is not known whether adults use them to quit. [46]
09

Whether the FDA will follow its panel on peptides.

The vote was narrow and does not bind the FDA. [17]
10

Whether magnesium helps sleep at all.

A sleep doctor told the New York Times it is still debated. [18] The one trial here was paid for by the supplement's maker, and a sleep-tracking ring found people on it slept no better than people on a dummy pill. [55]

04 Hope carry this

WHO confirmed this month that Bhutan and Chile have ended human deaths from rabies caught from dogs. Bhutan's last was in June 2023, and Chile's last case was in 1972.

Also true today

Namibia went from 23 human rabies deaths in 2015 to one case in 2025.
The US death rate fell to a record low in 2025, and it fell for every age group.
On any given day in 2023, 1 in 38 patients in US hospitals had an infection caught there, down from 1 in 31 in 2015.