News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – A year-long voluntary moratorium on research involving transmissible H5N1 avian flu viruses ended today with a letter from a group of scientists that supports resuming the work in countries that have addressed the biosafety issues involved.

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity in many Northern Hemisphere countries continued its late-season rise last week, with areas such as the United States, Canada, and Europe reporting steady increases.

Though flu activity overall is low, notable increases are occurring in North America, western Europe, and northern China, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report examining the results several developed nations and the European Union achieved when they consolidated oversight of food safety in a single agency, a step often advocated in the United State for solving some of the problems linked to contaminated imported and domestic food.

Maryn McKennaContributing Writer

(CIDRAP News) – This in-depth article investigates the prospects for development of vaccines to head off the threat of an influenza pandemic posed by the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Its seven parts put advances in vaccine technology in perspective by illuminating the formidable barriers to producing an effective and widely usable vaccine in a short time frame.

(CIDRAP News) – International donors at a conference in Mali today pledged US $475 million to battle H5N1 avian influenza, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Dr. David Nabarro, the UN's avian and pandemic influenza coordinator, said he was pleased with the amount, even though has been saying that $500 million to $750 million per year will be needed for the next 2 to 3 years.

(CIDRAP News) – Spain today became the latest country to join the list of nations responding to outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza, as officials reported finding the virus in a wild bird.

(CIDRAP News) – An influenza pandemic would reduce the gross domestic products of the world's major economies by amounts ranging from 9% in China to 3% in Canada, according to a recent report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE).

(CIDRAP News) – A recent exercise that confronted international leaders with a hypothetical smallpox attack showed the potential for tensions between countries that have enough smallpox vaccine and those that don't, according to news reports.