Disease/Infection News

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Bird flu reaches Sweden and Denmark

The National Veterinary Institute in Sweden say that tests done in a laboratory in Weybridge, England, have confirmed that two wild ducks found on its east coast carried the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

16 Mar 2006

Consumer groups worried about plans to scale down mad cow tests

It appears the third case of mad cow in the U.S. discovered this month, has not affected the government's plans to continue its enhanced testing program for the disease.

15 Mar 2006

Latest "Mad Cow" case will affect the lifting of bans against American beef

The U.S. Agriculture Department has confirmed that an Alabama cow suspected of having mad cow disease, did have the fatal brain disease.

14 Mar 2006

Three dead in Azerbaijan from bird flu

According to government health officials in Azerbaijan, three people have died from bird flu there. They are the country's first known cases of the virus in humans.

14 Mar 2006

Myanmar reveals its first case of H5N1 bird flu

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma has found the H5N1 bird flu virus in chickens in what is believed to be the country's first case of the deadly disease.

13 Mar 2006

Cameroon fourth African country to be hit by bird flu

Cameroon has become the fourth African country to be hit by the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

13 Mar 2006

Third U.S. case of mad cow disease

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture routine tests have revealed a third U.S. case of mad cow disease.

13 Mar 2006

New tools in the fight against pneumococci

New tools in the fight against pneumococci - the bugs targeted by vaccines recently announced by the Department of Health - are described by a team led by scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

13 Mar 2006

Chronic kidney disease is rising rapidly worldwide

In the United Kingdom, the annual incidence of end stage renal disease is around 100 per 1,000,000 population. This figure has doubled over the past decade and is expected to continue to rise by 5-8% annually

13 Mar 2006

Chickens, swans, cats and Disneyland - bird flu really gets around!

French trade unions have accused Disneyland in Paris of covering up the death of a swan in the midst of the escalating panic in Europe over bird flu.

9 Mar 2006

Dramatic increase in antibiotic-resistant staph infections

Staph infections resistant to antibiotics, previously only associated with hospitalization or prior contact with the healthcare system, are now widespread in the community and coming home.

9 Mar 2006

Swedish theory suggests treatment for Avian Influenza Infection

Chemotherapy for a disorder of the immune system may - at least in theory - be effective against severe human avian influenza infection, this suggest scientists at the Karolinska Institutet.

8 Mar 2006

China official bird flu toll now 10

The death of young child in China now brings the country's death toll from bird flu to ten.

8 Mar 2006

Cat in the clear - but experts argue over "fire blanket" pandemic plan

At the conclusion of a meeting in Geneva on how to limit the effects of a future flu pandemic, experts remain divided on the chance of success.

8 Mar 2006

Austrian cat has bird flu but no symptoms of the virus

The Austrian health minister says a cat in an animal sanctuary in the southern state of Styria, has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus but as yet they has shown no symptoms of the disease.

7 Mar 2006

Bird flu keeps on going round and round and back to China

A team of experts from Hong Kong and Macao have reportedly met with officials from Guangzhou with regard to the latest human bird flu fatality which occurred there last week.

7 Mar 2006

Spread of bird flu unprecedented

According to experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), meeting in Geneva, the relentless spread of the lethal bird flu virus is far more of a challenge to the world than even AIDS.

6 Mar 2006

Reports of bird flu in the Bahamas are exaggerated

Preliminary field reports on the investigation of unexplained death of birds on the island of Inagua in the Southern Bahamas were exaggerated.

6 Mar 2006

Mosquito virus kills 78 in a month - Indian ocean fears epidemic

While the rest of the world panics about bird flu, the islands of Mauritius, Reunion and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean are in the grip of a mosquito-borne epidemic that has infected thousands and killed at least 78 in a month.

6 Mar 2006