Cholera News and Research

Latest Cholera News and Research

AmeriCares, Baxter team up to deliver IV solutions to prevent cholera outbreak in Haiti

AmeriCares and Baxter International Inc. have teamed to deliver additional lifesaving intravenous solutions to Haiti as part of their ongoing effort to stem the cholera outbreak. AmeriCares has been working around the clock to distribute IV solutions, oral rehydration salts, antibiotics, hand sanitizers and other critical aid since the outbreak was reported in October.

From Baxter International Inc. 21 Dec 2010

Cholera deaths in Haiti top 2,500, health ministry says

The Haitian health ministry on Sunday said there had been 2,535 cholera deaths since the outbreak hit in mid-October, "dashing hopes the fatality rate might be beginning to taper off," Agence France-Presse reports.

21 Dec 2010

U.N. says it will investigate source of Haitian cholera epidemic as death toll rises

The U.N. is looking into establishing an independent commission to identify the source of Haiti's cholera epidemic, Alain Le Roy, the U.N. under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, said on Wednesday, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports. "We are urging and we are calling for what we could call an international panel," Le Roy said at a news conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York. "We are in discussions with (the U.N. World Health Organization) to find the best experts to be in a panel to be completely independent," he added.

17 Dec 2010

Clinton calls for Haiti to resolve election dispute

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday "warned Haiti its foreign aid is being imperiled by political stalemate following disputed elections, spelling more trouble for a nation struggling to recover from a huge earthquake and cholera epidemic," Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Dec 2010

Senator Leahy calls for U.S. to suspend direct aid to Haiti's government, visas for Haitian officials

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, "on Friday urged President Barack Obama's administration to suspend direct aid to Haiti's government and visas for its top officials until it ensures a fair and democratic outcome to disputed national elections," Reuters reports.

14 Dec 2010

Origin of Haiti cholera epidemic traced to South Asia

The strain of cholera currently sweeping through post-earthquake Haiti originated in South Asia, conclude scientists who did a rapid genetic analysis of bacteria collected from Haitian patients. The finding supports the notion that the cholera bacteria fueling the outbreak arrived on the island via recent visitors.

13 Dec 2010

Study finds Haitian cholera strain resembles one from South Asia, carries mutation that increases severity

"Detailed genetic tests confirm that the cholera strain that has killed more than 2,000 people in Haiti came from South Asia and most closely resembles a strain circulating in Bangladesh," according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Reuters reports (12/9).

13 Dec 2010

Haitian cholera pathogen closely related to 'El Tor O1' variant from South Asia

Scientists from Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. and Harvard Medical School have successfully employed single molecule, real-time (SMRT™) DNA sequencing technology to rapidly characterize the pathogen responsible for the recent deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. Published online Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the results provide the first whole genome sequence analysis and most detailed genetic profile to date of the Haitian Vibrio cholerae outbreak strain.

10 Dec 2010

Vibrio cholerae evolves two new mechanisms to cause similar disease

New clinical strains of cholera appear to have evolved a distinctly different mechanism to cause the same disease according to research published in the current issue of the online journal mBio-.

9 Dec 2010

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

9 Dec 2010

Haitian health ministry says more than 2,000 have died from cholera; Report identifies outbreak's source, some dispute findings

More than 2,000 people have died of cholera in Haiti since late October, Haitian officials said on Monday, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (12/6). According to Haitian health ministry figures, a total of "2,013 people have died from the water-borne bacterial infection and 88,789 cases have been recorded," Agence France-Presse writes (12/6).

9 Dec 2010

Vaccine World Summit to be held in New Delhi 1-3 March, 2011

From the 1st to the 3rd of March 2011, vaccine leaders from developing and developed world will meet at Vaccine World Summit in New Delhi. The event will be hosted by IMAPAC, in partnership with DCVMN (Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network).

8 Dec 2010

Johnson & Johnson commences recommended cash offer for Crucell

Johnson & Johnson and Crucell N.V. today announced that Johnson & Johnson, through its newly formed indirect wholly owned subsidiary, JJC Acquisition Company B.V. (the Offeror), is making a recommended cash offer for all of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares (Ordinary Shares) in the capital of Crucell N.V. (Crucell), including all Ordinary Shares represented by American depositary shares (ADSs), each ADS representing one Ordinary Share at an offer price of EUR 24.75 per Share (the Offer).

8 Dec 2010

Scientists work together to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet. As leaders of two large structural genomics centers, they've experimentally determined 500 three-dimensional protein structures from a number of bacterial and protozoan pathogens, which could potentially lead to new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics to combat deadly infectious diseases.

8 Dec 2010

Biomagnetics updates prototype bench top version of IOBS biosensor

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, cholera and malaria detection, and other innovative technologies, today announced that an updated prototype bench top version of the Integrated Optical Biosensor, originally developed at Los Alamos for research purposes, is now complete.

3 Dec 2010

Red Cross field hospital treats people who have contracted cholera in Haiti

Canadian Red Cross will deploy its new field hospital to treat people who have contracted cholera in Haiti. The field hospital was created as part of the First Responder Initiative, a partnership with the Government of Canada.

2 Dec 2010

Biomagnetics identifies second biomarker for tuberculosis assay

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, cholera and malaria detection, and other innovative technologies, today announced the identification of a second biomarker for development of a tuberculosis assay.

2 Dec 2010

USA today examines why aid for Haiti goes unspent

Ten months after the magnitude-7 earthquake that killed 230,000 people and destroyed at least 60% of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince, some relief agencies have not spent the bulk of the donations they raised after the disaster.

2 Dec 2010

American Red Cross announces additional $2 million to combat cholera epidemic in Haiti

The American Red Cross announced today it is committing an additional $2 million to combat an escalating cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed more than 1,700 people and sickened more than 75,000.

30 Nov 2010

University of Adelaide researcher leads collaboration for universal flu vaccine

A University of Adelaide researcher is leading a collaboration between Australia and Indonesia on the production of a universal flu vaccine. The frequent arising of new influenza strains represents the greatest challenge to health authorities as it renders currently available vaccines ineffective, says Dr Mohammed Alsharifi, the Head of the Vaccine Research Group at the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide.

30 Nov 2010