The World Health Assembly (WHA) again did not decide on when the last laboratory stocks of variola virus, the pathogen that causes smallpox, should be destroyed, Nature reported today on its news blog.
Five more cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea as of May 12 have been reported by that country's ministry of health, bringing the cumulative number of clinical cases in the outbreak to 248, according to an update yesterday from the World Health Organization (WHO). The number of deaths remains at 171, unchanged from the agency's May 8 update.
China reported two more H7N9 influenza infections today, along with two deaths in patients whose illnesses were announced earlier.
The H5N8 strain of avian flu has been found in wild geese in the same South Korean province that has seen H5N8 outbreaks in domestic ducks, according to a story today in The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper.
Early findings from sequencing of the H5N1 virus that recently caused the death of a Canadian woman suggest that it is similar to strains previously seen in China, according to a CBC News story yesterday.
California researchers say they have determined that a mosquito neuron that detects human breath also detects human skin odors, and they report the discovery of two compounds that may reduce the insects' ability to zero in on humans.
A 37-year-old Riyadh resident has died of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, according to a brief translated statement from the Saudi Arabian health ministry today.
Texas health officials last week confirmed 18 dengue cases in the southern part of the state, 7 of which are believed to be locally acquired and not contracted during travel to a dengue-endemic area, Scientific American reported yesterday.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced the release of a strategic plan and expansion of early notification requirements aimed at further enhancing its efforts to avoid drug shortages and to solve them quickly when they do occur.
The new dengue subtype is the first in 50 years and could complicate vaccine development.
