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As its name indicates, the causes of CKDu are poorly understood. What’s not in question is that it’s deadly. Symptoms—including vomiting, exhaustion, and weight loss—often don’t appear until the disease is well advanced, by which time damage to the kidneys cannot be reversed. Without access to dialysis or a kidney transplant, there’s little hope of survival. CKDu first gained international recognition for its impact on sugar cane workers in Nicaragua, where it’s killed at least 20,000 young men in the past decade, according to experts who describe it as an epidemic. The disease has also cropped up in other developing countries, including Brazil, Egypt, India, Qatar, and Sri Lanka, predominantly among those such as field hands and construction workers who perform strenuous work outdoors. There’s no data on the number of cases worldwide. (Fernandez, 9/26)

The World Health Organization says governments have agreed to contribute $13 billion a year by 2022 to prevent and treat tuberculosis, a communicable disease that claimed at least 1.3 million lives last year. The agency said Wednesday that countries at a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly committed an additional $2 billion annually for research into TB. (9/26)

When Pascale Yola Gassant went to work as a pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Haiti in 2003, she saw patients with cancer—but could offer no specialists, drugs or radiation therapy to tackle their disease. Distraught, Dr. Gassant says she warned her manager at St. Damien Pediatric Hospital in Port-au-Prince: “These children were left on their own and they would die without care and without treatment.” (Lagnado, 9/26)

Charlie Arrowood does not identify as male or female. So in January, when a new New York City law takes effect, they plan to modify the sex recorded on their birth certificate to one that fits: “X,” a gender-neutral option. Mx. Arrowood, who is transgender, changed both their name and sex on the certificate last year. But putting “male” instead of “female” on the document did not feel quite right either. (Newman, 9/27)

Some benzyl chloride with your vanilla-scented lotion? Consumers may be surprised that their favorite scented products could contain some less-entrancing ingredients, according to a new report. A study released Wednesday by Breast Cancer Prevention Partners found a host of unlisted chemicals in commonly used products, with most coming from the scents used to boost their allure. Many bear celebrity labels or are sold to vulnerable populations, it said. (Coleman-Lochner, 9/26)

Researchers tied three behaviors to higher scores on tests of mental ability in children: at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, nine to 11 hours of sleep a night, and no more than two hours a day of recreational screen time. The new study, in Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, included 4,524 children ages 8 to 11 who were assessed with six standard tests that measure language skills, memory, planning ability, and speed at completing mental tasks. (Bakalar, 9/26)

Following years of reformulating at McDonald's, most of the burgers it serves in the U.S. are now preservative-free. As of Wednesday, the world's largest burger chain says classics like the Big Mac and Quarter Pounder with Cheese are preservative-free, with reformulated buns and sauces. Pickles on the sandwiches still contain artificial preservatives, but customers can request sandwiches without pickles. (9/26)

The USDA has released a list of retail chains that received E.coli-infected ground beef. Tons of ground beef recalled from a Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado, have been blamed for one death and 17 illnesses. According to the USDA, the meat had been shipped to retail locations of Target, Safeway, Albertson’s and Meijer’s, nationwide, as well as Aldi stores in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. (Haflich, 9/26)