In the wake of a newspaper investigation that questioned the value of the federal BioWatch program for detecting dangerous airborne pathogens, some public health officials familiar with the program acknowledge that it's far from perfect, but they say it's not time to scrap it.
(CIDRAP News) – Faced with a dramatic rise in West Nile virus illnesses and deaths and following medical advice, Dallas County, Tex., officials recently approved the use of aerial spraying for the first time in decades to control mosquito populations.
(CIDRAP News) – A detailed expert assessment of what it would take for the nation to improve its resilience to natural disasters, infectious disease outbreaks, and other emergencies by 2030 found that although the goal is big and wide ranging, a national vision centered on measurable short-term goals could make a big difference.
(CIDRAP News) – The federal grant program that helps states improve their public health emergency preparedness could lose more than $48 million in fiscal year 2013 funding, a 7.8% reduction, if automatic budget cuts kick in, according to a recent report from a Democrat who chairs a Senate appropriations subcommittee.
(CIDRAP News) – Largely as a result of gaps in global influenza surveillance that were exposed during the 2009 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a set of standards designed to improve the collection and use of flu data around the world.
(CIDRAP News) – Gunmen in Karachi, Pakistan, today opened fire on a doctor from Ghana working on a polio vaccination campaign and his Pakistani driver, putting both in the hospital, according to an Al Jazeera report.
(CIDRAP News) – The US government announced a total of $971 million in health emergency preparedness grants to states and territories yesterday, including $619 million for public health departments and $352 million for healthcare systems.
(CIDRAP News) – News reports about possible airflow problems at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) lab in Atlanta are fueling perceptions that the agency isn't following its own rules, but the reported conditions at the lab don't appear to have posed a public health threat, according to some expert observers.
