Recent News

By Region: North America

FDA Puts Anthrax Vaccine on Clinical Hold Again

(GlobalBiodefense) PharmAthene, Inc. announced this week it has received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its SparVax anthrax vaccine program has again been placed on clinical hold. SparVax is a next-generation recombinant protective anthrax vaccine being developed for pre- and postexposure protection against anthrax infection. The vaccine has previously been evaluated Read More »

December 18, 2013
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
Share

Emphasis on bioterror can limit efforts needed to fight viruses

(Philly.com) America’s focus on a hypothetical bioterrorism attack is leaving our country more vulnerable to the real threat of a natural spread of deadly viruses. Avian flu recently reappeared in Australia and China. In the Middle East, more than 100 cases of the SARS-like virus MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) have been documented in Saudi Read More »

December 16, 2013
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, and Public Health
Share

Using air transportation data to predict pandemics

(Eurekalert) Computational work conducted at Northwestern University has led to a new mathematical theory for understanding the global spread of epidemics. The resulting insights could not only help identify an outbreak’s origin but could also significantly improve the ability to forecast the global pathways through which a disease might spread.

December 12, 2013
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, Public Health, and Research
Share

Chikungunya in the French part of the Caribbean isle of Saint Martin

(WorldHealthOrganization) On 6 December 2013, WHO was notified of two laboratory confirmed cases of locally acquired chikungunya disease in the French part of the Caribbean isle of Saint Martin. The other part of the isle is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Sint Maarten). These two cases were confirmed by Read More »

December 11, 2013
| Filed under Europe, North America, South America, International, and Public Health
Share

Adjuvanted bird flu vaccine approved by FDA

(FoxNews) The first adjuvanted bird flu vaccine has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Medical Daily reported. A vaccine adjuvant is a substance added to a vaccine in order to improve the body’s immune response to the drug. The two-dose vaccine, used to protect against the H5N1 strain of bird flu, Read More »