News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expressed renewed concern today about H5N1 avian influenza, warning of a "possible major resurgence" of bird outbreaks and saying that a vaccine-evading strain has emerged in Vietnam and China.

(CIDRAP News) – A World Health Assembly (WHA)committee that took up a resolution to destroy the remaining stocks of smallpox virus failed to reach an agreement today, despite a working group's attempts to find an acceptable solution.

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity in the World Health Organization's (WHO's) European region is spreading from west to east and is slowly increasing, with several countries reporting that the 2009 H1N1 virus is mainly responsible for severe infections, according to a WHO update.