Recent News

By Region: Europe

WHO To Convene MERS Virus Panel

(TheScientist) The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene an emergency committee on Tuesday (July 9) to determine whether a new coronavirus that is responsible for 42 deaths, mostly in Saudi Arabia, constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern,” according to Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s assistant director-general for Health and Environment, who announced the plan Read More »

July 8, 2013
| Filed under Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, and International
Share

Immunotherapy Is Beginning To Have A Major Impact For Patients With Cancer And Infectious Diseases

(MedicalNewsToday) The idea of fighting infections and even cancers by inducing protective immune responses may now be a step closer to clinical practice. Researchers have removed a major obstacle to widespread use of so-called adoptive transfer therapy, in which a patient receives “killer” immune cells targeting a disease agent. Existing technologies can easily provide T Read More »

July 5, 2013
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biotechnology, and Research
Share

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – update

(WHO) The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Saudi Arabia has announced two additional laboratory-confirmed cases and two deaths in previously confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Saudi Arabia. The new cases are a 69 year-old male and a 66 year-old male from Riyadh. Both were admitted to hospital on the Read More »

July 5, 2013
| Filed under Europe, Middle East, North America, and International
Share

New studies fine-tune H7N9 severity estimates

(CIDRAP) A lull in the number of H7N9 cases in China has given experts a chance to sift the data to fine-tune the clinical picture of the disease, which now suggests that it is less serious than earlier assessments, with more mild infections than previously thought. Some of the obstacles to gauging H7N9’s true severity Read More »

July 5, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, and Research
Share

World’s food standard body praised as safety net for consumers

(WHO) As Codex Alimentarius, the world’s top food standard body for consumer protection and fair practices in international food trade, celebrated its 50th anniversary, the FAO and WHO Directors-General and national governments united in their praise for its benefits. “Today, Codex standards are the benchmark standards for food safety. There is no competition,” Dr. Margaret Read More »