News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – An expert group convened by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) at its headquarters in Washington, DC, on Dec 17 discussed a possible cholera vaccine for Haiti and suggested developing a global vaccine stockpile.

(CIDRAP News) – In the most detailed analysis to date on the Vibrio cholerae strain that has sparked Haiti's outbreak, researchers confirmed that it most closely resembles a South Asian variant not previously seen in the region and that it is more lethal than other strains.

(CIDRAP News) – A report by an epidemiologist sent by France to assist Haiti with the cholera response said United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces from Nepal are the most likely source of the outbreak, though others deny the claims or say the findings are inconclusive.

(CIDRAP News) –Cholera deaths are climbing in southwestern Haiti, an area that had been previously spared by the outbreak, as health officials face prevention challenges from local beliefs that the disease is caused by supernatural forces.

(CIDRAP News) – Demonstrations and violence surrounding a national election in Haiti have disrupted some parts of the cholera outbreak response, as international aid groups issued pleas for more medical volunteers to staff treatment centers.

(CIDRAP News) – Satellite tracking of wild birds in Asia suggests they may be spreading H5N1 avian influenza from India or Tibet to Mongolia when they fly north in the spring, according to a recent report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).