For the first time, researchers have found evidence of human-to-human transmission of the new H7N9 bird flu virus, which has killed at least 43 people in China.

A squirrel in Los Angeles County tested positive for the bubonic plague yesterday. By our calculation, that still leaves 24 hours before the top of Gwyneth's head comes off.

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia reported that three more people fell victim to the deadly new respiratory virus, MERS. The total number of deaths, internationally, is now at 30.

A deadly new strain of coronavirus, a SARS-like respiratory virus, has now spread to France, where it has infected at least two people. But it gets even more exciting. After the French health ministry's confirmation of the second infection, the World Health Organization announced that it's likely that the virus can be passed person-to-person.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the world as we know it is almost certainly going to end. Scientists have found evidence of flu in bats and are reporting the existence of a "never-before-seen virus whose risk to humans is unclear," which is almost exactly how the devastating virus in the movie Contagion is billed.

The Lion King is number one at the box office, so it must be, right? Meanwhile in the future, a disease movie holds on, a dark thriller does OK, and Sarah Jessica Parker stalls out.

Today we looked at the weekend success of Contagion, which, among other things, features a gnarly Gwyneth Paltrow death scene (sort of). One commenter needed to confirm a rumor about that scene, and another obliged.

On a slow weekend, a movie about a disease disaster started by Gwyneth Paltrow reigned supreme. Also this weekend, mixed martial arts made a wan debut, The Help continued to rage on, and a few people saw a strange movie.

There's an intriguing back-and-forth going on regarding the movie Contagion — aka The Movie in Which Gwyneth Paltrow Gets Sick and Dies — over at the Sneeze Fetish Forum.

With the Labor Day holiday approaching, it's becoming sadly clear: Summer is over. It's time to turn to autumnal things. That's not all bad, though! Fall movies, for example, are usually the year's best. Let's take a look at this year's selection, shall we?

Here's the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's latest film, Contagion, in which Gwyneth Paltrow plays the Patient Zero of an avian flu epidemic that [SPOILER ALERT] kills a lot of people. Including Gwyneth! No kale juice cleanses or hot stone massages are going to clear up this nasty little bug, no sir. As if that isn't a selling point already, you get Matt Damon as her "grieving" husband (he's so good, you almost believe him), Kate Winslet as a recovering Purellaholic, and Marion Cotillard as a sneeze-ballistics expert. And we haven't even mentioned Jude Law or Morpheus yet! But whatever, the real breakout star of this movie is the bearded doctor who gets to say, "Your wife is dead." That guy is about to become the most popular man on the planet. Congrats, dude! You made it. [via NYM]

The bedbugs are spreading: Now they're at the Brooklyn DA's office.