Recent News

By Region: Asia/Pacific

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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Ebola Phone Theft: Man Steals From Quarantined Uganda Hospital Patient, Contracts Virus

(Huffington Post) Don’t do the crime if you can’t contract the virus. A man stole a cell phone from an isolation ward in Uganda two weeks ago, but realized he had more than the police to worry about when he began showing symptoms of Ebola, the Daily Monitor reports. The unidentified, 40-year-old thief took a Read More »

August 28, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, 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 »

August 24, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agriculture, International, and Public Health
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Syria Conflict: Russia Warns West Against Unilateral Action On Syria Following Obama Threat

(Huffington Post) Russia warned the West on Tuesday against unilateral action on Syria, a day after U.S. President Barack Obama threatened “enormous consequences” if his Syrian counterpart used chemical or biological arms or even moved them in a menacing way. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after meeting China’s top diplomat, said Moscow and Beijing Read More »