News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Early diagnosis and treatment were crucial in helping a Florida man beat the odds by recovering from inhalational anthrax, a rare and often deadly disease, according to a Minneapolis physician who treated him.

(CIDRAP News) – After a second round of committee negotiations today, the World Health Assembly (WHA) agreed to postpone setting a date for destruction of the world's remaining smallpox virus stocks for another 3 years.

(CIDRAP News) – Delegates from 193 countries met today in Geneva at the start of the World Health Assembly (WHA), which will address several infectious disease topics, including a report from an independent pandemic review committee, a virus-sharing agreement, and the fate of the world's remaining smallpox virus stocks.

(CIDRAP News) – Given the potential for a bitter diplomatic battle at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May, an expert on smallpox-related policy is recommending that the United States agree to the destruction of the remaining stocks of smallpox virus—or at least be prepared to destroy all but a remnant of them.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization's (WHO's) plan to build an international emergency stockpile of smallpox vaccine drew support from member countries at their recent annual meeting in Geneva.

The World Health Assembly (WHA) "welcomed progress on WHO's work to establish a global smallpox vaccine reserve," the WHO said in a statement during the meeting, which ended last week.

(CIDRAP News) – An influenza virus—especially one genetically manipulated for increased virulence—would be an attractive weapon for bioterrorists, according to physicians writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

(CIDRAP News) – The United States deserves good marks for its efforts to improve core aspects of public health preparedness in the past year, but the nation performed generally poorly in international aid and cooperation to reduce threats to public health, according to the American Public Health Association (APHA).