Recent News

By Region: South America

Cholera in Mexico – update

(WorldHealthOrganization) The Ministry of Health in Mexico has reported an additional five cases of infection with Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa toxigenic. The five cases occurred in the geographic zone of la Huasteca, an area where urbanization, availability of drinking water and basic sanitation services are limited.

October 28, 2013
| Filed under North America, South America, and International
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Policing the New Scientific Frontier of Synthetic Biology

(ForeignAffairs) Ongoing research and discoveries in the life sciences — the latest and most promising involving synthetic biology — have led to extraordinary advances that will benefit society. But criminals and terrorists could manipulate such advances to disrupt public safety and national security. Since its founding in 1923, Interpol has learned that the most effective Read More »

October 28, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, Biosafety, Bioterrorism, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Fighting a Deadly Dengue Fever Outbreak in Honduras

(DoctorsWithoutBorders) An epidemic of hemorrhagic dengue fever is spreading through San Pedro Sula, Honduras’s second largest city, with more than three times as many cases as last year. This form of dengue can be deadly, with children most at risk. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have launched an emergency response to bring down Read More »

October 25, 2013
| Filed under North America, South America, Countermeasures, International, and Public Health
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First New Dengue Virus Type in 50 Years

(AAAS) Scientists have discovered a new type of the virus that causes a centuries-old pestilence, dengue. The surprising find, announced at a major dengue conference here today, is bound to complicate efforts to develop a vaccine against a tropical disease that is becoming a more pervasive global menace. But it could shed light on where Read More »

October 22, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, South America, International, and Public Health
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Biology’s Brave New World

(ForeignAffairs) In May 2010, the richest, most powerful man in biotechnology made a new creature. J. Craig Venter and his private-company team started with DNA and constructed a novel genetic sequence of more than one million coded bits of information known as nucleotides. Seven years earlier, Venter had been the first person in history to Read More »