Contamination News and Research

RSS

Two die from mad cow disease in Spain

According to Health officials in Spain two people have died from mad cow disease and these are not the country's first victims.

9 Apr 2008

Nipah virus in rural India and Bangladesh

Nipah virus is a new and deadly brain and lung disease that emerged from Singapore and Malaysia ten years ago.

3 Apr 2008

Feta cheese helps combat food poisoning

Eating Feta cheese made from raw milk in small seaside tavernas when you are on holiday in Greece could be a good way to combat food poisoning, according to researchers speaking today (Thursday 3 April 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

3 Apr 2008

A daily dose of caffeine may help protect against Alzheimer's

A daily dose of caffeine blocks the disruptive effects of high cholesterol that scientists have linked to Alzheimer's disease.

3 Apr 2008

Distinguishing non-TB pulmonary disease from TB

A diagnostic kit shows new promise for distinguishing between tuberculosis (TB) and its infections from disease caused by related mycobacteria family, which mimic TB and other lung disease in symptoms but require distinctly different clinical treatments.

2 Apr 2008

New method for rapid screening large numbers of antigens

A team of Washington State University scientists has devised a method that could lead to the development of vaccines against some of the most troubling infectious diseases we face diseases that have so far been difficult or impossible to vaccinate against.

26 Mar 2008

Sixty-two per cent of Africans do not have access to a proper toilet

Sixty-two per cent of Africans do not have access to an improved sanitation facility -- a proper toilet -- which separates human waste from human contact, according to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation.

24 Mar 2008

Cell therapies for diabetes, cancer

Therapies using stem cell transplants are advancing promising treatments for such conditions as Alzheimer's Disease, neurological diseases and spinal cord injury, and heart disease.

20 Mar 2008

Foodborne outbreaks due to leafy green consumption on the increase

Over the past 35 years the proportion of foodborne outbreaks linked to the consumption of leafy green vegetables has substantially increased and that increase can not be completely attributed to Americans eating more salads according to research presented today (March 17) at the 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia.

18 Mar 2008

Scientists unlock secrets of E coli contamination

Using new genetic techniques, scientists are unlocking the secrets of how E coli bacteria contaminate food and make people sick.

11 Mar 2008

Water contaminants? bottled water no help

What the recent story about traces of pharmaceuticals in our drinking water makes very clear is that access to safe drinking water is an issue that affects everyone.

10 Mar 2008

Heparin shortage, infusion therapy firm intros MaxPlusClear

Maximus, a business unit of leading infusion therapy firm Medegen Inc., has introduced its MaxPlus Clear positive displacement connector for use in patient care.

10 Mar 2008

Discovery of new species of bacteria that can live in hairspray

Scientists in Japan have discovered a new species of bacteria that can live in hairspray, according to the results of a study published in the March issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

10 Mar 2008

New malaria drug also treats toxoplasmosis

A new drug that will soon enter clinical trials for treatment of malaria also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine in the current gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a related parasite that infects nearly one-third of all humans—more than two billion people worldwide.

6 Mar 2008

MIT cell-based sensor technology quickly detects airborne pathogens

Researchers at MIT Lincoln Laboratory have developed a powerful sensor that can detect airborne pathogens such as anthrax and smallpox in less than three minutes.

6 Mar 2008

DuPont and USDA ARS to collaborate on new E. coli test in beef

DuPont and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are teaming up to find new ways to detect an E. coli strain in beef that, even in low concentrations, can cause severe illness.

21 Feb 2008

Massive beef recall in the U.S. of meat for school lunch programs

A slaughterhouse in the United States has been accused of mistreating cows and forced to recall 143 million pounds of beef, the biggest beef recall yet in U.S. history.

18 Feb 2008

Fake antimalarial drugs analysis highlights threat to global health

A unique collaboration between scientists, public health workers and police has led to the arrest by the Chinese authorities of alleged traders of fake anti-malarial drugs in southern China and the seizure of a large quantity of drugs.

13 Feb 2008

Bioniche receives funding to scale-up E. coli O157:H7 vaccine production

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. has announced that it has secured a $5 million commercial loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) in support of the scale-up of vaccine production at its Belleville, Ontario facility.

8 Feb 2008

FDA warns public of contaminated pre-filled syringe flushes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a nationwide recall of all lots of heparin and saline pre-filled flush syringes manufactured by AM2 PAT, Inc., of Angier, N.C. Two lots have been found to be contaminated with Serratia marcescens, a bacterium that can cause serious injury or death.

28 Jan 2008