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The WHO needs to be retooled to streamline emergency response, avoid political pressure, build country core capacities, and ensure adequate funding, an independent panel says.
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) today recommended in a report that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) BioWatch program not pursue any upgrades to its second-generation (Gen-2) technology for monitoring the country for potential bioterror attacks until it can provide better efficacy data.
One study explores virus survival in semen outside the body, and the other eye problems in a US survivor.
Officials confirm 3 Ebola cases, involving a 15-year-old boy and family members.
US flu activity rose slightly last week, with two regions of the country—the south central and central Midwest—at or above their regional baseline that measures clinic visits for flulike illness, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update.
Researchers have identified an Escherichia coli strain in pigs, pork, and humans in China that is resistant to colistin—a critical last-line antibiotic—and the gene that causes the resistance is readily transferred to other bacteria, posing an epidemic threat, according to a new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Experts recommend a separate entity within the WHO to handle outbreaks and emergencies.
A multistate outbreak of Salmonella Poona linked to cucumbers imported from Mexico has grown by 71 cases since Oct 14, to 838, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in an update.
A series in The Lancet explores how to preserve access, maintain drug effectiveness, and other issues.
One study found Ebola RNA more stable in blood than in urine, and an animal vaccine study showed promise.
Federal and state officials yesterday downgraded the number of Escherichia coli cases linked to Chipotle restaurants in Washington and Oregon to 37, down from 50 on Nov 12.
Vietnam reported small outbreaks of H5N1 and H5N6 avian flu in backyard poultry flocks, according to reports posted yesterday by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), while Hong Kong officials said they had detected an H5 avian flu virus in a dead Oriental magpie robin.
Guinea's last patient is likely the outbreak's youngest survivor, born to a mother who died from her infection.
Earlier this week, a leading expert voiced similar concerns, noting that the WHO hadn't made its voice heard.
Nigeria yesterday notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) of four outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu affecting more than 31,000 poultry, while South Korea yesterday reported 12 outbreaks of H5N8 avian flu involving more than 140,000 birds that occurred in September and October.
A new bipartisan US report details impressive strides made by federal efforts worldwide to reduce HIV/AIDS and says officials would be wise to incorporate the same "strategic health diplomacy" (SHD) approach to other health threats, starting with malaria and hepatitis C, the SHD Initiative said in a news release yesterday.
Three-quarters wrongly think antibiotic resistance refers to patients, not drugs.
Countries in the Americas and Caribbean reported 4,370 recent cases of chikungunya, bringing the outbreak total to 1,768,106, according to a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) update from late last week.
WHO provides new details on 7 recent Saudi MERS cases, 6 of which had healthcare links.
Scientists find that the timing and intensity of MERS virus shedding is similar to SARS.
