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By Category: Public Health

Everything You Want to Know About the Bird Flu Outbreak

Sixteen states have reported cases of highly pathogenic H5 avian flu among flocks of birds like turkeys and chickens as well as wild birds since last December, resulting in the culling of at least 30 million birds. Recently, the disease was confirmed in a flock of 1.7 million chickens in Nebraska. Other states have also Read More »

May 14, 2015
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Public Health
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Potential Mechanism to Combat Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses

A potential mechanism to combat diseases caused by hemorrhagic fever viruses has been discovered by researchers at the University of Montreal’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine.

May 14, 2015
| Filed under Public Health
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Filgrastim Approved for Treatment of Acute Radiation Injury

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of filgrastim (trade name Neupogen) to increase survival of people acutely exposed to high doses of radiation that damage the bone marrow, for example, as a result of a nuclear power plant accident or terrorist attack.

May 4, 2015
| Filed under Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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CDC using new technology to track Blue Bell listeria cases

The government is relying on some new technology — as well as a bit of luck — to track an outbreak of life-threatening listeria linked to Blue Bell ice cream products.

April 23, 2015
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, and Public Health
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Iowa Farm To Kill 5 Million Chickens In Effort To Contain Avian Flu : The Two-Way : NPR

A farm in Iowa is going to destroy more than five million of its chickens in an attempt to curb the spread of the highly infectious avian flu. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the H5N2 avian influenza outbreak Monday, adding that the agency says that there is little chance that humans could become infected.