Comprehensive biomedical research must continue its crucial role in preparing the world for the next pandemic or other far-reaching public health emergency, whether it be caused by a novel influenza strain, Ebola, or some other transmissible pathogen, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and colleagues wrote in a commentary in the Journal
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) that the 2016-17 flu season was dominated by influenza A (H3N2), and the flu vaccine was only 34% effective in protecting recipients against that strain and 42% effective against all strains.
Genetic analysis of a virus from Uganda revealed that it is 87% identical to MERS-CoV.
Yesterday Brazil's health ministry reported 129 new suspected cases of yellow fever this week, with two more states, Goias and Matto Grosso do Sul, reporting infections. The country now has 550 suspected or confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne disease.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) posted two reports yesterday detailing three new outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu in Nigerian chickens. Nigeria—along with fellow West African nations Cameroon and Ghana—are struggling with H5N1 in their poultry populations.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) say their research shows that viruses much like the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) coronavirus (CoV) are still lurking in horseshoe bats in China and could jump to humans.
The scientists described their research in a Mar 13 article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The panel's concern was fueled by the threat of an airborne virus spread more easily than Ebola.
The use of antimicrobial drugs in farm animals raised for food increased 4% from 2013 to 2014 and a dramatic 22% from 2009 to 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday in its annual report on such drug use.
Scientists find that the timing and intensity of MERS virus shedding is similar to SARS.
The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Saudi Arabia's ministries of health and agriculture have launched a joint program for comprehensive MERS-CoV research on the Middle East, Arab News reported today as the country's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported no MERS cases for the 7th straight day.