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An Aedes Aegypti mosquito bites a human.

Colombia declares national health emergency with Yellow Fever outbreak

By The City Paper Staff - April 19, 2025

Colombia has declared a national health emergency amid a yellow fever outbreak, with 76 cases and 34 deaths reported. President Gustavo Petro has ordered a mass vaccination campaign, targeting both rural and urban areas. Bogotá has set up immunization points at bus terminals and El Dorado Airport to curb further spread.

Influenza A outbreak puts Bogotá Military Academy under strict quarantine

By The City Paper Staff - February 6, 2024

An Influenza A outbreak at the Military School of Cadets José María Cordova in Bogotá has resulted in a strict quarantine of the institution, and fears that the outbreak could spread among city residents. Cadet Cristopher Blanco died from exposure to the virus.

COVID variant JN.1 pushes Bogotá’s ICU occupancy to 80%

By The City Paper Staff - January 10, 2024

The Colombian capital, Bogotá, is grappling with a surge in cases of the COVID JN.1 variant with ICU occupancy reaching 80%. Health authorities on alert with infectious variant.

The end of Colombia’s Dijon age

By The City Paper Staff - May 8, 2023

France’s Dijon mustard has disappeared from supermarket shelves across Colombia after a resolution by the Ministry of Health to limit the sale of “ultra-processed” foods.

After coalition rupture, Petro to push reforms “on the street”

By The City Paper Staff - April 28, 2023

After a tumultuous week in Colombian politics, President Gustavo Petro will push his reforms on the “street” with a May 1 address from the presidential balcony.

Dr. Francisco Lopera, leading researcher on early-onset Alzheimer's

Colombia’s search for memory and cure for Alzheimer’s

By Richard Emblin - April 2, 2023

Dr. Francisco Lopera found clues in Antioquia that could help uncover the causes of early-onset Alzheimer’s and prevent the gene from mutating.

ICRC medical mission in central Colombia. Photo: ICRC

ICRC reports rise in Colombia’s internal displaced and landmine victims

By The City Paper Staff - March 23, 2023

The most report by the ICRC presents a grim assessment of human rights violations, and the number of persons who are direct victims of the armed conflict in Colombia.

Petro faces crisis of confidence with cabinet resignations

By Richard Emblin - February 28, 2023

The Colombian government of Gustavo Petro has entered crisis mode after three Ministers handed-in their resignations. The crisis erupted after a document leaked on planned changes to the nation’s health reform.

Protests return to Bogotá streets as tensions rise over health “reform”

By The City Paper Staff - February 13, 2023

Colombians are bracing for 48 hours of protests this week that could incite violence and bring mobility in Bogotá to a standstill. Petro is rallying his base to “defend: the government’s health care reform.

Respiratory illnesses and COVID-19 cases rise across Colombia

By Richard Emblin - November 30, 2022

Heavy rainfall and colder than usual temperatures across Colombia presents a worrisome public health situation ahead of December’s holiday season.

Colombia in containment phase with monkeypox outbreak

By Richard Emblin - July 25, 2022

The announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the monkeypox outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, comes as Colombia has registered 11 cases of a virus that was first identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the decades that followed human cases of monkeypox were reported in […]