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(CIDRAP News) – An internal report prepared by the World Bank estimates that a severe influenza pandemic could kill 71 million people and cause a recession costing more than $3 trillion, Bloomberg News reported today.

The report says that in a severe pandemic, sagging tourism, transportation, retail sales, and productivity, coupled with worker absenteeism, could reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.8%, according to Bloomberg.

(CIDRAP News) – Teams of researchers from several countries today report positive results in the long battle to eradicate polio. At the same time, they acknowledge that the international campaign faces an extraordinary challenge of both biology and economics: While circulation of wild poliovirus may cease, polio vaccination may need to continue for an indefinite period of time.

(CIDRAP News) – State pandemic preparedness has improved over the past few years, but gaps remain, particularly in areas that don't relate directly to healthcare such as continuing government operations, maintaining essential services, and coordinating with the private sector, according to a recent report from the National Governors Association (NGA).

(CIDRAP News) – The Rand Corp., responding to a request from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), recently unveiled a set of proposed standards for cities to use as they establish plans to distribute antibiotics to the public in the event of a bioterrorist attack or other public health emergency.

(CIDRAP News) – In a sign that influenza season is approaching, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that a handful of states have seen sporadic flu cases and that the earliest signs suggest that this year's vaccine is a good match for circulating strains.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that preliminary tests indicate that an arenavirus—possibly a previously unknown one—is responsible for the mysterious febrile disease that killed three people in South Africa and has now sickened a fourth.

(CIDRAP News) – In the face of chronic low influenza vaccination rates among healthcare workers, the leading US society of infection control professionals says it's time to require medically eligible workers to either get the immunization or sign a form saying they understand the risks to patients if they skip it.

(CIDRAP News) – Animal health officials in Germany today reported an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak at a commercial farm in Saxony, signifying the country's first outbreak since December 2007.

The outbreak was detected at a farm in Markersdorf, in east central Germany not far from the border with Poland, according to a report today from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The report said one bird tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today said a mysterious febrile disease that bears some resemblance to a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) has killed three people in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The WHO said the victims so far have tested negative for several VHFs and other infectious diseases, and no new cases have emerged since the latest death on Oct 5.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has contracted with a private biological resource business to set up a system to improve researchers' access to influenza viruses, test kits, and reagents.

(CIDRAP News) – The current financial crisis may be pulling time and resources away from business pandemic planning, but two experts on the topic today told corporate leaders they can improve their firms' survivability during a global health emergency by avoiding specific mistakes.

(CIDRAP News) – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has included avian influenza, Ebola fever, Rift Valley fever, and plague on a list of 12 diseases and pathogens that it believes may spread to new regions as a result of climate change.

(CIDRAP News) – Two biotechnology companies—Crucell, based in the Netherlands, and Integrated BioTherapeutics, based in Germantown, Md.—recently announced that they have received $30 million and $22 million contracts, respectively, from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop single vaccines that would protect against both Ebola and Marburg viruses.

(CIDRAP News) – Seven universities will share $10.9 million in federal funds to study the ability of state and local public health systems to respond to emergencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of children who have died from a combination of influenza infection and bacterial pneumonia—in many cases due to the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)—has risen sharply over the past few years, federal epidemiologists say in a new report that urges flu shots as a preventative.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently issued a public health alert about the Salmonella infection risk of eating improperly cooked chicken entrees after 32 people in 12 states got sick.

(CIDRAP News) – In a recent progress report to Congress on federal influenza pandemic response planning, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recognized a host of obstacles but cited two areas that officials could make headway on: finalizing guidance on allocating antivirals and developing guidance on how to prioritize groups to receive prepandemic vaccine in the early stages of a pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – An interim report from a major study of the US's only licensed anthrax vaccine suggests it may be possible to reduce local side effects without sacrificing effectiveness by changing the injection route and using fewer doses.

(CIDRAP News) – A flu vaccine manufacturer's decision not to build a US facility has highlighted the perpetual mismatch between flu-shot supply and demand—and the reality that the mismatch may undermine plans for pandemic flu vaccines.

(CIDRAP News) – In the influenza pandemic of 1918, those who got sick in the first wave of illness were up to 94% less likely to fall ill when the second and much more severe wave struck, according to a new analysis of historical data.