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Yellow fever virus, a flavivirus, is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Illness ranges in severity from a self-limited febrile illness to severe hepatitis and hemorrhagic fever. Yellow fever disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings, laboratory testing, and the possibility of exposure to infected mosquitoes. There is no specific treatment for yellow fever; care is based on symptoms. Steps to prevent yellow fever include use of insect repellent, protective clothing, and vaccination. Yellow fever occurs in tropical regions of Africa and in parts of South America. Yellow fever is a very rare cause of illness in U.S. travelers. The last epidemic of yellow fever in North America occurred in New Orleans in 1905.
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Scientists use mathematical tools to identify animal species that transmit diseases to humans

Scientists use mathematical tools to identify animal species that transmit diseases to humans

Spanish and US scientists have successfully identified animal species that can transmit more diseases to humans by using mathematical tools similar to those applied to the study of social networks like Facebook or Twitter. [More]
Researchers target possible new weapon in fight against malaria

Researchers target possible new weapon in fight against malaria

Researchers are targeting a possible new weapon in the fight against malaria, science that could also be applied in the fight against other devastating mosquito-borne illnesses, according to a Vanderbilt study published in PLOS ONE. [More]
Mosquito repellent and human odour: an interview with Dr James Logan, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Mosquito repellent and human odour: an interview with Dr James Logan, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Mosquitoes can carry parasites and other organisms that cause deadly diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. So, protecting yourself against their bites is very important. [More]
WHO: Single dose of vaccination sufficient to confer life-long immunity against yellow fever disease

WHO: Single dose of vaccination sufficient to confer life-long immunity against yellow fever disease

The yellow fever 'booster' vaccination given ten years after the initial vaccination is not necessary, according to WHO. [More]
Rising temperature induces key changes in dengue virus

Rising temperature induces key changes in dengue virus

Researchers have discovered that rising temperature induces key changes in the dengue virus when it enters its human host, and the findings represent a new approach for designing vaccines against the aggressive mosquito-borne pathogen. [More]
Scientists reveal new technique to introduce disease-blocking bacteria into mosquitoes

Scientists reveal new technique to introduce disease-blocking bacteria into mosquitoes

Scientists have revealed a new technique to introduce disease-blocking bacteria into mosquitoes, with promising results that may halt the spread of diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and potentially malaria. [More]
Peter Piot to be recognized with Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for Medical Research

Peter Piot to be recognized with Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for Medical Research

Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, will be awarded the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for Medical Research, the Government of Japan have announced. [More]
Sanford-Burnham enters into partnership to test furin for treatment of dengue fever

Sanford-Burnham enters into partnership to test furin for treatment of dengue fever

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and 60- Pharmaceuticals, LLC, have entered into a partnership to test furin, a human proteinase, as a drug target for the treatment of dengue fever, one of the most common infectious diseases in the tropics and subtropics. [More]
BioCryst fourth quarter revenues decrease to $4.1 million

BioCryst fourth quarter revenues decrease to $4.1 million

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2012. [More]

Viewpoints: Gov. Jindal calls Medicaid an 'outdated model;' GOP's opposition to 'Big Government' hurts effort to revamp entitlements

As the implementation of Obamacare unfortunately nears, every governor must decide whether to expand Medicaid. This is not a simple question. Expanding Medicaid will significantly burden state budgets across the country. [More]
NIH's candidate vaccine safe in treating dengue

NIH's candidate vaccine safe in treating dengue

A candidate dengue vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been found to be safe and to stimulate a strong immune response in most vaccine recipients, according to results from an early-stage clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. The trial results were published online on January 17 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. [More]

Study investigates different approaches to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases

A special issue of Pathogens and Global Health, published by Maney Publishing, investigates different approaches to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquitoes can transmit a number of pathogenic diseases including dengue fever, yellow fever, and malaria. [More]

Yellow Fever kills 164 in Sudan's Darfur; Agencies working to vaccinate people in region

"Yellow fever has killed 164 people over the last three months in Sudan's Darfur, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday," Reuters reports. According to a joint statement, "Between 2 September and 29 November, the total number of suspected yellow fever cases has reached 677, including 164 deaths," the news agency writes. [More]

Dropping of cold chain requirement for meningitis vaccine will improve access, IRIN reports

IRIN examines how the WHO's recent declaration that the MenAfriVac meningitis A vaccine can be transported or stored for up to four days without refrigeration will affect immunization campaigns in Africa's meningitis belt, which runs from Senegal to Ethiopia. [More]

Sudan launches yellow fever vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4M

"Sudan has launched a massive vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4 million people against an outbreak of yellow fever in the restive region of Darfur, the U.N. said Monday," according to the Associated Press. [More]

Yellow fever kills more than 100 people in Darfur; WHO, health ministry to provide immunizations

"More than two million people in Sudan's Darfur region will be vaccinated against a rare yellow fever outbreak suspected of killing 107 people since late September, health officials said on Tuesday," Agence France-Presse/France 24 reports (11/13). In a joint statement, the WHO and the Sudanese Ministry of Health said the mosquito-borne disease has spread throughout the western territory, which "has been plagued by conflict since rebels took up arms in 2003," Reuters notes. [More]

Yellow fever outbreak in Sudan's Darfur kills 67, WHO reports

"A yellow fever outbreak in Sudan's Darfur region has killed 67 people so far," and "the number of cases has more than doubled since the start of the epidemic last month," the WHO said in a statement on Wednesday, the U.N. News Centre reports. [More]
New method of testing for West Nile virus

New method of testing for West Nile virus

While the United States has largely been spared the scourge of mosquito-borne diseases endemic to the developing world-including yellow fever, malaria and dengue fever-mosquito-related illnesses in the US are on the rise. One pathogen of increasing concern in the U.S. is an arbovirus known as West Nile. [More]
People need to protect themselves against West Nile virus

People need to protect themselves against West Nile virus

As this year's threat from the West Nile virus continues, one infectious diseases expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham says a vaccine is not in our near future, so people need to protect themselves. [More]

Magazine examines efforts to biologically alter bugs to fight human diseases

Pacific Standard magazine examines efforts by researchers around the globe to biologically modify bugs to fight human diseases, such as dengue fever. "Biologically altering bugs isn't entirely new; it's been done for nearly half a century to protect crops. ... [More]