Recent News

By Category: Research

Model reveals quick spread of potential bioterrorism attacks

(HeraldSun)Scientists at Northeastern University in Boston hypothetically released smallpox in London, New York, Paris, and other major cities, and then simulated it being carried by travellers to other countries. They published their findings in Scientific Reports, saying they believe a deliberate smallpox infection would spread to up to four countries before doctors diagnosed it.These maps Read More »

July 25, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Bioterrorism, and Research
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Compound Discovered at Sea Shows Potency Against Anthrax, MRSA

(InfectionControlToday) A team led by William Fenical at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has discovered a new chemical compound from an ocean microbe in a preliminary research finding that could one day set the stage for new treatments for anthrax and other infections such as those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Read More »

July 18, 2013
| Filed under Europe, North America, Countermeasures, and Research
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Study examines characteristics, features of West Nile virus outbreaks

(EurekAlert) An analysis of West Nile virus epidemics in Dallas County in 2012 and previous years finds that the epidemics begin early, after unusually warm winters; are often in similar geographical locations; and are predicted by the mosquito vector index (an estimate of the average number of West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes collected per trap-night), information Read More »

July 18, 2013
| Filed under North America, South America, Public Health, and Research
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Research leads to affordable technology to fight mosquito-borne diseases

(EurekAlert) Technology that hampers mosquitoes’ host-seeking behavior, identified at the University of California, Riverside in 2011, has led to the development of the world’s first product that blocks mosquitoes’ ability to efficiently detect carbon dioxide, their primary method of tracking human blood meals. The initial research was performed in the laboratory of Anandasankar Ray, an Read More »

July 17, 2013
| Filed under Africa, North America, South America, South Asia, Countermeasures, and Research
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UW-Madison study: New bird flu in China could cause global outbreak

(TheJournalTimes) A new kind of bird flu that has killed 43 people in China shows potential in the lab for sparking a global outbreak, according to a study by UW-Madison researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka. “We don’t know how many more changes are needed for this virus to cause a pandemic,” said Kawaoka, a flu expert whose Read More »