Recent News

By Category: Public Health

The Evolution of Bird Flu, and the Race to Keep Up

(New York Times) On May 20, a 10-year-old girl in rural Cambodia got a fever. Five days later, she was admitted to a hospital, and after two days of intensive care she was dead. The girl was the most recent documented victim of the influenza virus H5N1, a strain that has caused 606 known human Read More »

June 26, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, Countermeasures, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Georgia sees more anthrax cases

(Fox News) At least 30 people in Georgia have contracted anthrax this year, prompting authorities to step up safety measures, medical officials said Friday. Georgia’s Center for Infectious Diseases said that by year’s end the ex-Soviet nation is expected to roughly match last year’s total of 59 cases. That would represent a marked increase from Read More »

June 25, 2012
| Filed under Europe, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, and Public Health
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Ahmedabad hospital on alert as doctor dies of Congo Fever

(Zee News) Ahmedabad: A local hospital is on alert as a resident doctor died of the dreaded Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (Congo fever) here today. Dr Smiral Patel of V S Hospital, who contracted the virus while treating a patient with unknown hemorrhagic viral fever, today died at a private hospital. “We started screening all ward Read More »

June 25, 2012
| Filed under South Asia, Agents & Toxins, and Public Health
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Science: H5N1 Special Issue

(Science) The publication in this issue of the research paper airborne transmission of Influenza A/H5N1 Virus Between Ferrets, plus its newer companion The Potential for Respiratory Droplet–Transmissible A/H5N1 Influenza Virus to Evolve in a Mammalian Host, marks the end of more than 8 months of widely reported controversy over whether some of the data now Read More »

June 22, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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World Health Organization Perspective on Implementation of International Health Regulations

(Emerging Infectious Diseases) In 2005, the International Health Regulations were adopted at the 58th World Health Assembly; in June 2007, they were entered into force for most countries. In 2012, the world is approaching a major 5-year milestone in the global commitment to ensure national capacities to identify, investigate, assess, and respond to public health Read More »