Recent News

By Region: North America

Rapid Sequencing Method Can Identify New Viruses Within Hours

(DiscoverMagazine) In 2009, two teenagers in the Democratic Republic of Congo showed up at their village health clinic, vomiting and with blood in their noses and mouths — hemorrhagic symptoms of the notorious Ebola viruses. In three days they were dead. Yet it took three years for researchers to unmask the likely culprit: a brand-new Read More »

November 19, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, Biotechnology, Public Health, and Research
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Pentagon To Develop Q Fever Vaccine; U.S. Military To Focus On Biological Weapons Defense

(MedicalDaily) Next month, the Pentagon will host a seminar for researchers interested in developing a vaccine for the virus that causes Q fever, an animal-borne illness “weaponized” first by the U.S. and then the Soviet Union decades ago.

November 18, 2013
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, Bioterrorism, and Research
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Polio rears its head in Syria

(TheNational) When Abu Dhabi hosted the Global Vaccine Summit in April, polio’s days finally seemed to be numbered. Responding to the call from Unicef to see the disease wiped from the face of planet in just six more years, nations including the UAE joined forces with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef and billionaire philanthropist Read More »

November 18, 2013
| Filed under Middle East, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Anthrax bacteria play hide and seek

(EurekaAlert) An EPFL team discovers that, using exosomes, the lethal factor of the anthrax bacterium can travel undetected through the body for days. The bacterium responsible for anthrax develops a strategy reminiscent of the Trojan horse tale. Its pathogenic factor is able to penetrate inside a cell in such a way that it becomes completely Read More »

November 15, 2013
| Filed under Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, Bioterrorism, and Research
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Cambodia confirms new case of avian flu H5N1

(VaccineNewsDaily) The Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia said on Friday that a new human case of the avian flu H5N1 virus was confirmed. The patient is a 10-year-old boy from Sdok Thlok village in Kampot province who was admitted to the hospital on Nov. 7 with fever, cough, sore throat, distended abdomen Read More »