Also in Global Health News: Cholera death in DR; TB vaccine study; Rising food prices

Jan 24 2011

Dominican Republic Reports Country's First Cholera Death Following Outbreak In Haiti

"Dominican Republic on Sunday confirmed that a 53-year-old Haitian man has become the country's first death from cholera and announced the immediate start of a broad disease control and monitoring operation" around the eastern town of Higuey where he was being treated and later died, Latin American Herald Tribune reports (1/24). BBC writes that soon after the first reports of the cholera outbreak in Haiti took place, the "Dominican Republic tightened its border controls and health checks to try to stop cholera from spreading … But with tens of thousands of Haitians travelling to the Dominican Republic to seek work, the task was always going to be a difficult one." The article notes Higuey is the site where the first cholera case in the country was reported in November 2010 (1/23).

New TB Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise In Mice, Study Finds

BBC reports on a new tuberculosis vaccine that is effective at offering mice protection against active and latent TB, according to a study published in Nature Medicine (1/23). "The current leading vaccine, the BCG, does not prevent TB infection; it only prevents the bacteria from becoming active. Therefore, patients can still develop the disease later in life when the vaccine wears off," the Argentina Star reports (1/24). "However, the new vaccine, developed by a team at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, is able to trigger an immune response to both active and latent TB," the BBC adds. However, the researchers caution additional studies are needed to see if the vaccine produces similar outcomes in human patients (1/23).

World Bank President Describes Challenges, Possible Solutions To Mitigate Effects Of Rising Food Prices On Developing Countries

In a Q&A with Newsweek on the future of the global economy, World Bank President Robert Zoellick addresses the impact of rising food prices on developing countries. "The biggest challenge facing most developing countries is the risk of a big boost in food prices. ... When prices of staple foods soar, poor countries and poor people bear the brunt," Zoellick said, before outlining several efforts that can be made to "assure food security in the face of rising prices" (Schneiderman, 1/23).