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By Category: International

Rare Rodent-Borne Disease Hantavirus, Connected to Two deaths, Third Illness Confirmed

(The Guardian Express) Hantaviruses are negative sense RNA viruses in the Bunyaviridae family. Humans may be infected with this virus through rodent bites, urine, and saliva or contact with rodent waste products. Some of these viruses can be potentially fatal in humans causing hemorrhagic fever and worse. In recent days two deaths have been the Read More »

August 29, 2012
| Filed under Africa, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, and Public Health
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Guinea worm is poised to become the second human disease to be eradicated

(The Washington Post) Guinea worm disease is reaching the end of its days. The parasitic infection, which has sickened millions, mostly in Asia and Africa, is on the verge of being done in not by sophisticated medicine but by aggressive public health efforts in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world. Read More »

August 29, 2012
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, International, and Public Health
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Russia Says One Dead After Anthrax Outbreak in Siberia

(BloombergBusinessWeek) An anthrax outbreak in a Siberian village left one person dead and 10 others hospitalized as the Russian government declared a state of emergency in the area in a bid to prevent an epidemic. There were at least two other confirmed cases of anthrax infection in the village of Druzhba in the Altai region, Read More »

August 27, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, and Public Health
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Biowatch: Chinese firm taps Rockville biotech for vaccine technology

(Gazette) Rockville biotech Fina Biosolutions is licensing its conjugate vaccine technology to a Chinese company that plans to develop and manufacture pneumonia vaccines. Fina will receive from Chengdu Institute of Biological Products up to $850,000 in upfront and milestone payments, plus sales royalties if the vaccine is commercialized, according to Viqar Aslam, a Fina spokesman. Read More »

August 24, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, International, Public Health, and Research
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Japan resumes beef exports to US after 2-yr halt

(Reuters) Japan is set to resume from Friday beef exports to the United States suspended since April 2010 after foot-and-mouth disease was found in Japanese cows, a farm ministry official said, paving the way for wagyu beef to reach U.S. gourmets. Washington has given the green light for Japanese cattle slaughtered on Aug. 18 or Read More »