News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Jeffrey P. Koplan, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 1998, has announced he will leave the position March 31.

April 28, 2003 (CIDRAP News) – Viet Nam has, as of today, been removed from the list of countries with local transmission of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), meaning it has successfully contained the disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

(CIDRAP News) – The worldwide cumulative case count for SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) topped 6,000 today with the addition of 207 new cases, including 176 in China, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Twenty-six more SARS deaths were reported, bringing the global total to 417.

June 26 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday reported the first probable case of SARS in Japan, involving a 33-year-old Taiwanese man who came to Tokyo on June 21 for sightseeing.

(CIDRAP News) – A recent US intelligence report envisions three possible scenarios for a return of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) this winter, ranging from small outbreaks in a few countries to a repeat of the widespread outbreaks that occurred last winter and spring.

(CIDRAP News) – Animal disease outbreaks and concerns, including avian influenza and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), are currently reducing global meat and animal exports by about one third, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Two billion people around the world get sick from unsafe food each year, but following five simple rules could significantly reduce that toll, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal researchers report they have succeeded in infecting monkeys with fatal smallpox, creating the first animal model of the disease for use in testing vaccines and treatments for humans.

(CIDRAP News) – The recent series of cases of avian influenza in a single province in Vietnam has increased concern about whether the nature of the illness is changing.

(CIDRAP News) – The recent outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza among wild waterfowl in western China could provide a launching pad to spread the disease throughout Asia and beyond, according to two reports published by leading science journals today.