Disease/Infection News

RSS

Bird flu in Indonesia - source still a mystery

Indonesia's search for the source of the bird flu virus that killed three people near its densely populated capital, Jakarta, has ended in failure, the health minister said this week.

11 Aug 2005

Expert warns of spread of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

An expert on infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is warning that humans can inadvertently help spread infectious organisms beyond traditional state boundaries.

11 Aug 2005

Majority of Americans believe that vaccines are the best hope for controlling the global AIDS epidemic

But while most of those surveyed felt it personally important to help support HIV vaccine research, a majority expressed reluctance to support a friend or family member's participation in an HIV vaccine clinical trial.

9 Aug 2005

Three dead in New Zealand from legionnaires' disease

Three people have died in an outbreak of legionnaires' disease in Christchurch, New Zealand.

9 Aug 2005

U.S. ready to make bird flu vaccine

Even though officials in the United States say more testing needs to be done, the U.S. could begin mass production of an experimental avian flu vaccine by September.

9 Aug 2005

Mosquitoes are most attracted to children infected with malarial parasite

Malaria remains a devastating problem in Africa and understanding the factors affecting its transmission remains a crucial part of the effort to combat the disease.

9 Aug 2005

Officials in China sacked over pig disease cover-up

According to Xinhua the government news agency in China, four officials have been sacked for trying to cover up the trail of dead pigs, early in an outbreak of a swine-borne disease that has killed 39 people in southwest China.

8 Aug 2005

China battles with Anthrax as well as Swine flu

The state media in China has reported that in the northeast of the country anthrax has killed one person and infected 12 more.

8 Aug 2005

China admits to the extent of pig disease

China has, for the first time admitted to the number of pigs which have been killed by a deadly bacteria. The bacteria, Streptococcus suis, or Swine flu, has also claimed the lives of at least 38 people, and made over a hundred sick, who slaughtered, handled or ate the infected animals.

7 Aug 2005

Tests of bird flu vaccine on humans show good results

Experts have been concerned that the bird flu strain, currently prevalent in Asia, could engender a worldwide pandemic, but apparently human tests of an experimental vaccine show it is effective at stimulating the immune system to fight the virus.

7 Aug 2005

Progress to develop vaginal microbicides

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced an agreement with the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) to share information and expertise in an effort to develop vaginal microbicides

4 Aug 2005

Resistance to antituberculosis drugs has been rising in Botswana since 1995

Resistance to antituberculosis drugs has been rising in Botswana since 1995, concludes a Research Letter in this weeks issue of The Lancet. Enhanced interventions for TB control are urgently needed in Botswana to prevent further emergence of drug resistance, state the authors.

4 Aug 2005

Australia to fight HIV/AIDS and improve maternal health in the Philippines

Australia will contribute $2.8 million to a United Nations program to improve maternal health and tackle HIV/AIDS in the Philippines, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson, announced today at the Regional Ministerial Meeting on Millennium Development Goals in Jakarta.

4 Aug 2005

Final tests negative for mad cow disease in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, has determined that the non-definitive test result reported on July 27 is negative for BSE. Tests conducted by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, England, are also negative for BSE.

4 Aug 2005

New surgical cleaning process reduces risk of vCJD

Scientists say a new cleaning process will reduce the risk of hospital transmission of the human form of mad cow disease.

4 Aug 2005

Scientists have a plan to prevent bird flu pandemic

According to scientists the H5N1 strain of bird flu circulating in Asia which could mutate into a lethal strain and cause a pandemic, could be contained.

4 Aug 2005

Containment of a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans may be possible

Though quick to caution about the many things that could go wrong, researchers say that it may be possible to contain a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans, buying precious time for the production of a vaccine.

3 Aug 2005

Successful visceral leishmaniasis vaccine trial in dog

Visceral leishmaniasis, which is the most severe form of that group of diseases, affects 500 000 people in the world each year. It is caused by a protozoan, Leishmania infantum, transmitted by sand fly bites.

2 Aug 2005

Pig fever added to notifiable disease list

Secretary for Hong Kong's Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow said today the move will enable the Government to strengthen surveillance, and aid early detection and implementation of health control measures.

2 Aug 2005

Finding foodborne illness outbreaks sooner, faster

If 25 people eating at a single banquet hall became sick and needed hospitalization, determining the cause could be as easy as checking the dinner menu. But if those same people were scattered across 20 states and became ill after eating food processed at a single site, identifying the link could sometimes be impossible.

2 Aug 2005