Recent News

By Region: North America

Ebola outbreak kills one, infects three in DR Congo

(AlertNet) An outbreak of Ebola has killed one person and is believed to have infected three others over the last week in northeastern Congo, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday. The outbreak is in Isiro, a busy town in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Oriental province, which shares a border with Uganda, but the Read More »

August 20, 2012
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, Agents & Toxins, International, and Public Health
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Will the Candidates Tell Us about Their Policies on Pandemics and Biosecurity?

(Scientific American) A new strain of H3N2 influenza virus transmitted from pigs to humans has caused U.S. patient cases to spike in the past two weeks. During the same time period, an Ebola virus outbreak in Uganda killed at least 14 people. Both these outbreaks are demanding cooperation among scientists and political leaders. Back in Read More »

August 20, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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British anthrax death sparks outbreak concern

(Reuters) A British drug user has died from anthrax, health authorities said on Friday, triggering concerns a European outbreak of the rare infection among people who inject heroin may be worsening. The user was possibly infected by contaminated heroin and there were at least seven other similar cases across Europe, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) Read More »

August 20, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, and Public Health
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Florida Health Officials on Look Out For Bioattack Ahead of GOP Convention

(Global Security Newswire) Medical practitioners in the Tampa, Fla., area have been asked to be “extra vigilant” as they forward information on disease incidents to public health officials ahead of this month’s GOP convention, the Associated Press reported on Friday. Any signs of a biological weapons attack that could involve such highly infectious disease agents as plague Read More »

August 20, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, and Public Health
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BioWatch: Public Health Officials Respond to Criticisms

(Global Biodefense) The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) yesterday published an interesting summary of the public discourse on the BioWatch pathogen surveillance program following a highly critical investigative article published by a major newspaper last month. Days after the LA Times published the article, Alexander Garza, Chief Medical Officer for the Department Read More »