Recent News

By Region: Asia/Pacific

Most virulent form of dengue outbreak alarms national capital

(Times of India) Delhi is seeing an outbreak of the most dangerous and virulent form of dengue virus this season. Genetic analysis of the virus strains in circulation in India has shown that the national Capital is seeing a massive circulation of dengue virus serotype 2 that causes hemorrhagic fever, triggering a high mortality rate.  Read More »

Genetically modified food-crops: blessing or curse?

(The Express Tribune) There is immense pressure on developing countries to adopt genetically modified (GM) crops in the shortest possible time to supposedly ensure food security and boost agricultural productivity. Being a signatory to the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights, however, Pakistan is obliged to protect intellectual property rights (IPRs) of multinational organisations  Read More »

Long-term public health support needed to tackle infectious disease outbreaks

(EurekAlert) Outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as swine flu (H1N1) threaten global health and should be considered by funding agencies and humanitarian organizations as development issues rather than emergency situations, requiring long-term support and investment, according to US experts writing in this week’s PLOS Medicine. The authors from several US institutions, led by Tiffany Bogich  Read More »

Texan tracking down disease outbreaks around the world

(States Man) Joel Montgomery spends most of his time working with his team of epidemiologists to suppress outbreaks of dengue fever and Rift Valley fever in Kenya. “Both are mosquito-borne diseases that can be fatal,” Montgomery said. “We’re concerned about Rift Valley fever getting to the U.S., because it can infect cattle.” But on a  Read More »

Countries to Examine Options for Strengthening Bioweapons Convention

(Global Security Newswire) Nations are set at a yearly gathering next week to consider means of bolstering compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention and building on its ability to impede the creation or employment of arms-usable disease agents and toxins, the United Nations said. The meeting of treaty signatories would examine advancements since the 2011  Read More »