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By Category: International

West Africa Ebola outbreak total tops 1,000

(University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) As 67 new Ebola virus disease (EVD) illnesses in Sierra Leone and Liberia pushed the outbreak total to 1,048 cases, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned about the risk of virus transmission from wildlife, especially fruit bats. Along with new infections, 19 Read More »

July 23, 2014
| Filed under Africa, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, International, and Public Health
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Pork industry signs biosecurity deal

(Radio New Zealand) The pork industry has signed a new biosecurity agreement with the Government. It became just the second sector, after the kiwifruit industry to sign a Government Industry Agreement deed. Under the deal signed on Tuesday at New Zealand Pork’s annual conference in Auckland, the pork industry shares the costs of biosecurity, and Read More »

July 23, 2014
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Agriculture, Biosafety, International, and Policy & Initiatives
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FAO warns of fruit bat risk in West African Ebola epidemic

(FAO) Increased efforts are needed to improve awareness among rural communities in West Africa about the risks of contracting the Ebola virus from eating certain wildlife species including fruit bats, FAO warned today. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are struggling to contain the world’s deadliest recorded outbreak of the virus, which is transmitted by direct Read More »

July 21, 2014
| Filed under Africa, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, International, and Public Health
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First Locally Acquired Chikungunya Case Reported in Florida

(Global Biodefense) Seven months after the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya was recognized in the Western Hemisphere, the first locally acquired case of the disease has surfaced in the continental United States. The case was reported Thursday, July 17 in Florida in a male who had not recently traveled outside the United States.

July 21, 2014
| Filed under North America, International, and Public Health
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TGen-led study finds likely origin of lung fungus invading Pacific Northwest

(AAAS EurekAlert!) Cryptococcus gattii, a virulent fungus that has invaded the Pacific Northwest is highly adaptive and warrants global “public health vigilance,” according to a study by an international team led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). C. gattii, which likely originated in Brazil, is responsible for dozens of deaths in recent years since Read More »