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By Region: Middle East

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

(WorldHealthOrganization) On 27 November, 2013, the National IHR Focal Point of Qatar notified WHO that the Supreme Council for Health and the Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the National Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM) of the Ministry of Health and the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, have detected Middle East Respiratory Read More »

November 29, 2013
| Filed under Middle East, North America, and Public Health
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2009 pandemic flu death toll much higher than official worldwide estimates

(Eurekalert) A research team consisting of more than 60 collaborators in 26 countries has estimated the global death toll from the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 virus to be 10 times higher than the World Health Organization’s count, which was based on laboratory-confirmed cases of this flu. The study, which appears online in PLOS Medicine, Read More »

November 27, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, International, and Public Health
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Polio in the Syrian Arab Republic – update

(WorldHealthOrganization) A total of 17 cases due to wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) have been confirmed in the Syrian Arab Republic. In addition to 15 cases confirmed in Deir Al Zour province, two additional cases have been confirmed, one each in rural Damascus and Aleppo, confirming widespread circulation of the virus. The case with most Read More »

November 26, 2013
| Filed under Middle East, North America, International, and Public Health
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Rapid Sequencing Method Can Identify New Viruses Within Hours

(DiscoverMagazine) In 2009, two teenagers in the Democratic Republic of Congo showed up at their village health clinic, vomiting and with blood in their noses and mouths — hemorrhagic symptoms of the notorious Ebola viruses. In three days they were dead. Yet it took three years for researchers to unmask the likely culprit: a brand-new Read More »

November 19, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, Biotechnology, Public Health, and Research
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Polio rears its head in Syria

(TheNational) When Abu Dhabi hosted the Global Vaccine Summit in April, polio’s days finally seemed to be numbered. Responding to the call from Unicef to see the disease wiped from the face of planet in just six more years, nations including the UAE joined forces with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef and billionaire philanthropist Read More »