News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – In the history of infectious diseases, coincidence plays an extraordinary role. In 1706, Cotton Mather purchased a slave named Onesimus who happened to come from a tribe that practiced variolation, and so smallpox prevention was introduced to North America.

(CIDRAP News) – Media coverage of infectious diseases such as avian influenza can create the impression that the conditions are more of a threat than they really are, according to a recent study from Canada.