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(CIDRAP News) – The heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cautioned last week that another outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is possible in the United States or elsewhere.

Sep 25, 2002 (CIDRAP News) – This year's West Nile virus outbreak in the United States has far surpassed last year's in number of cases, but the death toll remains lower than last year's, according to the latest count from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(CIDRAP News) – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials say healthcare workers who recently received smallpox shots would not need a second shot in the event of a smallpox outbreak in the next few years, despite a recent CDC advisory suggesting that they might.

(CIDRAP News) – The leaders of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies (CCBS) in Baltimore, probably the nation's best-known biodefense policy institute, announced last week that they are leaving Johns Hopkins to launch a new biosecurity center with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

(CIDRAP News) – An international review panel has concluded that the Singapore man who had the world's first new SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) case since the end of the outbreak probably acquired the virus in a government laboratory where he worked, the Singapore Ministry of Health announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – A drug that researchers hoped would offer the first effective treatment for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)—a sometimes fatal kidney condition that can result from eating food contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7—has proved ineffective in a major clinical trial.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has found Escherichia coli O157:H7 in fewer ground beef samples this year than in past years, suggesting that a year-old initiative to keep the pathogen out of meat is paying off.

(CIDRAP News) – A new blood test for West Nile virus (WNV) is not foolproof but has made the blood supply safer now than it was a year ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The last areas of California under quarantine for exotic Newcastle disease (END) were released yesterday, signaling the end of an 11-month, $160 million battle to control the highly infectious disease of poultry and other birds.

(CIDRAP News) – The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) today announced a new $85 million program to study the human immune response to diseases of bioterrorism and develop vaccines, drugs, and other countermeasures.

(CIDRAP News) – A voluntary smallpox vaccination policy for the public is likely to produce an inadequate level of protection for the nation in the event of a smallpox attack, according to a recent study based on mathematical modeling.

(CIDRAP News) – A Singapore man who tested positive for SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is doing well and will probably be released from a hospital to home quarantine this week, the Singapore Ministry of Health said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials have announced $26.6 million in grants to universities and health systems around the country to improve bioterrorism preparedness training and education for healthcare professionals.

(CIDRAP News) – In response to criticism from smallpox expert Dr. D. A. Henderson, the senior author of a recent study on smallpox immunity has defended his group's conclusion that a single smallpox shot may provide at least some protection for decades or even for life.

(CIDRAP News) – West Nile virus infected 1,067 people the week of Sep 4 to 10, more than double the number the previous week, and claimed 17 more lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far this year there have been 2,923 cases with 54 deaths, the CDC reports in the Sep 12 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. That compares with 4,156 cases and 284 deaths last year.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO), while not dismissing the report of a SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) case in Singapore, said today the case is not a major concern.

(CIDRAP News) – The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) yesterday announced a clinical trial to assess whether a new immunoglobulin product can alleviate or prevent encephalitis in patients infected with West Nile virus (WNV).

(CIDRAP News) – Chinese scientists found that animals sold at street markets in Guangdong, China, carried a coronavirus nearly identical to the SARS coronavirus, according to a report published recently in Science.

(CIDRAP News) – A 27-year-old Singapore man has twice tested positive for SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and is regarded as having a probable case, even though the case doesn't meet the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, the Singapore Ministry of Health said today.

(CIDRAP News) – A recent US intelligence report envisions three possible scenarios for a return of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) this winter, ranging from small outbreaks in a few countries to a repeat of the widespread outbreaks that occurred last winter and spring.