Recent News

By Region: Asia/Pacific

The Elusive H7N9 Virus: Chinese Researchers Predict Future Pandemic

(Science2.0) Since February 2013, China experienced an outbreak of the novel H7N9 avian flu, causing 131 cases of infection, and a death toll of 39. This particular H7N9 strain is considered to be one of the most worrisome pathogens since the H5N1 pandemic in 1997; a reputation based on the virus’ ability to spread easily Read More »

June 20, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Biotechnology, and International
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Update to Interim Guidance for Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for the Prevention of HIV Infection: PrEP for Injecting Drug Users

(CDC) On June 12, 2013, the Thailand Ministry of Health and CDC published results from a randomized controlled trial of a daily oral dose of 300 mg of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) that showed efficacy in reducing the acquisition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among injecting drug users (IDUs) (1). Based on these findings, Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

(WHO) The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has announced an additional three laboratory-confirmed cases, including one death with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The first patient is a 63-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions from the Eastern region, the second patient is a 75-year-old man with underlying medical conditions from Al-Ahsa governorate and Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South Asia, Agents & Toxins, International, and Public Health
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NTU designs social media and web system that can predict dengue hotspots

(EurekAlert) When it comes to stopping dengue, social media posts, tweets and a web system may be just what the doctor ordered. Researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have developed a social media-based system called Mo-Buzz that can predict where and when dengue might occur. It combines a web system that taps into historical data Read More »

June 12, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, International, Public Health, and Research
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WHO simplifies pandemic alert system after criticism

(Health24) The World Health Organisation on Monday published a new plan on how to alert the world to possible flu pandemics, following harsh criticism of its handling of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009. The UN’s health agency said it had simplified its alert system and redefined what constitutes a pandemic to put more Read More »