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By Region: Asia/Pacific

Queensland Health battles two dengue outbreaks

(The Global Dispatch) Queensland Health is reporting two dengue fever outbreaks in the Cairns and Port Douglas areas, according to a recent press release. With the addition of four newly confirmed cases, Cairns is now reporting 50 cases, while Port Douglas is reporting 17. Health officials are working with residents to get the mosquito population Read More »

February 4, 2014
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, International, and Public Health
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Vietnam reports first H5N1 bird flu death in 2014

(Xinhua) The first death caused by H5N1 bird flu in Vietnam in 2014 has been reported in southern Binh Phuc province, the country’s Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health announced late Monday. The victim, a man at his 52, was hospitalized on Jan. 11 due to symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness Read More »

January 22, 2014
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, International, and Public Health
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Research finds finds potential treatment for drug-resistant H7N9 influenza virus

(EurekAlert) The novel avian H7N9 influenza virus has caused more than 130 human infections with 43 deaths in China. New research, conducted under the supervision of Kansas State University’s Juergen Richt, is showing promise in helping to fight this deadly virus. “Emergence of a novel drug-resistant H7N9 influenza virus: Evidence-based clinical potential of a natural Read More »

January 16, 2014
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, International, Public Health, and Research
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H5N1 strain from Alberta nurse resembles Chinese strain

(CBCNews) Canadian scientists studying H5N1 bird flu virus samples taken from an Alberta woman who died with the infection say that so far it seems to resemble a Chinese strain. Researchers at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory and Alberta’s provincial laboratory isolated samples of the virus and are working on sequencing it.

January 16, 2014
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, International, Public Health, and Research
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U.S. Army tested biological weapons in Okinawa

(The Japan Times) The U.S. Army tested biological weapons in Okinawa in the early 1960s, when the prefecture was still under U.S. rule, according to U.S. documents obtained by Kyodo News. In the tests, conducted at least a dozen times between 1961 and 1962, rice blast fungus was released over paddies to see how it Read More »