Patients infected with the Ebola virus were 20% more likely to survive if they were co-infected with malaria, according to a study of Liberians who received care at a treatment center in Monrovia in 2014 and 2015 during West Africa's outbreak. A research team led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) published the findings yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
A study yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases suggests that although the Ebola outbreak originating in West Africa in 2013 was the deadliest to date, that strain of Ebola virus (EBOV) did not possess more aerosol stability than a strain of 1976 EBOV.
General Mills expanded its recall of flour products yesterday after four more people in two states became sick with Escherichia coli infections.
The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health (MOH) reported two deaths from MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) yesterday and today. The fatalities bring Saudi Arabia's total number of deaths from MERS-CoV since 2012 to 608.
In the latest round of lab studies to pinpoint how Zika virus infects and causes birth defects in fetuses, researchers today reported several new clues related to the route and timing of infection, differences between the two viral strains, and even an antibiotic with the potential to block some of the damage.
In its weekly yellow fever situation report, the World Health Organization (WHO) today noted 73 more cases of the disease in Angola, bringing that country's suspected cases to 3,625.
Utah health officials today announced the first known Zika death in the continental United States, in a Salt Lake County resident who died in late June.
US health officials and their Liberian counterparts today announced the launch of a study to assess if a new antiviral drug can cut lingering Ebola virus RNA levels in the semen of men who survived the disease, a strategy that could decrease the risk of sexual spread.
Lessons learned can improve Zika response and US readiness for the next threat, experts said.
Patients with severe disease had high viral levels and extreme immune-system overreaction that led to destruction of healthy tissues.
