Smallpox News and Research

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Smallpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the variola virus, a member of the Orthopox virus family. It is one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity, with a mortality rate as high as 30%. In 1967, the World Health Organization embarked upon an intensified vaccination campaign to eliminate smallpox, which culminated in the successful eradication of the disease globally by 1980.

By the mid-1980s, there were only two known repositories of variola virus: the Institute of Virus Preparations in Russia, and the US CDC. The events in the US in September and October 2001 highlighted the risk that the variola virus might be used as an agent of bioterrorism. Governments around the world are taking precautionary measures to be ready to deal with a potential smallpox outbreak.

Sheffield scientists to showcase novel medical discoveries during International Clinical Trials Day

WORLD-leading researchers and scientists from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield will be giving people in Sheffield and beyond a unique insight into how they can contribute to groundbreaking medical discoveries during International Clinical Trials Day (Wednesday 20 May 2015).

15 May 2015

European Investment Bank supports Bavarian Nordic’s development of Ebola and cancer vaccines

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the world’s largest multilateral bank, today reaffirmed its firm commitment to respond to the Ebola pandemic. The Bank has provided a EUR 50 million loan to Bavarian Nordic, an international biopharmaceutical company, for accelerated development of an Ebola vaccine with long-term efficacy. The financing is also backing research into vaccines for treating other infectious diseases and multiple cancer indications.

12 May 2015

Guinean Government initiates first efficacy trial of Ebola vaccine in Basse-Guinée

The Guinean Government with the World Health Organization initiated the very first efficacy trial of an Ebola vaccine this week in an affected community of the Basse-Guinée, one of the areas where most Ebola cases are found in the country.

27 Mar 2015

Phase III trial to test VSV-EBOV vaccine for preventing Ebola to be launched in Guinea

Based on promising data from initial clinical trials in late 2014, WHO with the Health Ministry of Guinea, Médecins Sans Frontières, Epicentre and The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, will launch a Phase III trial in Guinea on 7 March to test the VSV-EBOV vaccine for efficacy and effectiveness to prevent Ebola.

5 Mar 2015

Chimerix, ContraVir collaborate to develop and commercialize antiviral drug candidate CMX157

Chimerix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, oral antivirals in areas of high unmet medical need, and ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of targeted antiviral therapies, announced today that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration for the further clinical development and commercialization of CMX157.

18 Dec 2014

New hybrid vehicle to improve delivery of DNA vaccines is under development

Described recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the technology is a biomedical advancement that could help unleash the potential of DNA vaccines, which despite two decades of research, have yet to make a significant impact in the treatment of major illnesses.

26 Nov 2014

Dr. D. A. Henderson named recipient of Prince Mahidol Award in Public Health

The Prince Mahidol Award Foundation announced today that its 2014 recipient of the Prince Mahidol Award in Public Health is Dr. D. A. Henderson, Distinguished Scholar at the UPMC Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Maryland.

6 Nov 2014

Gates Foundation awards US$156 million to support PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative

In support of a bold quest to rid the world entirely of malaria, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced an award of US$156 million to PATH to support the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) in building new vaccines that will interrupt the cycle of malaria parasite transmission and help realize the "accelerating to zero" agenda. Such vaccines would ensure that parasite reintroduction is prevented by providing what could be called an "immunological bed net."

3 Nov 2014

Viewpoints: 'Blunders' on Ebola; McConnell's strange logic on Obamacare; temporary victory for Texas women

The point of this is not to flog Presbyterian, though a few lashes might help snap [Daniel] Varga and other administrators back to reality.

17 Oct 2014

SLU researchers work to prevent several serious infectious diseases

Saint Louis University researchers are attacking influenza on multiple fronts as they search for a universal vaccine that protects people from the flu virus that often mutates year to year with deadly consequences.

9 Sep 2014

Viewpoints: Medicare's future finances; 'promising deal' on VA; Texas 'war on abortion'

Medicare got some good news Monday, when the trustees who oversee its finances announced that the fund that pays for hospital care will remain solvent until 2030, four years longer than its forecast from last year.

30 Jul 2014

WIRB-Copernicus Group acquires Alliance Biosciences

WIRB-Copernicus Group, the world's largest provider of regulatory and ethical review services for clinical research, announced today that it has acquired Alliance Biosciences. Formerly a division of Richmond, VA-based Alliance Engineering, Alliance Biosciences was the leading biosafety and biosecurity consulting firm in the United States.

24 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: 'Entitlement meltdown;' improving Medicare Advantage; 'sloppy work habits' at CDC

Each day, 10,000 baby boomers retire and begin receiving Medicare and Social Security benefits. And while five workers supported the benefits of each retiree in 1960, there will be only two workers funding each retiree by 2030. Those who dismiss long-term budget projections should re-read the last paragraph. The retirement of 77 million baby boomers into Social Security and Medicare is not a theoretical projection. Demography is destiny (Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, 7/21).

23 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: Problems in training docs; impact of HHS' territory decision; what Halbig decision might mean

ast week's burst of world disorder was ideal for a news dump, and the White House didn't disappoint: On no legal basis, all 4.5 million residents of the five U.S. territories were quietly released from ObamaCare.

22 Jul 2014

Viruses designed to kill cancer cells could boost effectiveness of chemotherapy to arms, legs

Viruses designed to target and kill cancer cells could boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy to the arms and legs and help avoid amputation, a new study reports.

22 Jul 2014

First Edition: July, 21, 2014

Today's headlines include a story about an effort by regulators to widen insurer networks, as well as a range of other health policy developments.

21 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 18, 2014

Today's headlines include reports from the marketplace, including UnitedHealthcare's move toward the health law's insurance marketplaces and the latest on the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into insider trading related to a health policy change.

18 Jul 2014

Researcher reveals the secrets of Francisella tularensis bacterium that causes tularemia

Tularemia, aka "rabbit fever," is endemic in the northeastern United States, and is considered to be a significant risk to biosecurity -- much like anthrax or smallpox -- because it has already been weaponized in various regions of the world.

17 Feb 2014

Scientists discover potential cure for triple negative breast cancer

Scientists have discovered a potential cure for one of the most aggressive and least treatable forms of breast cancer called "triple negative breast cancer." In laboratory experiments involving human cancer cells, scientists used a virus similar to the one that helped eradicate smallpox to coax cancer cells to produce a protein which makes them susceptible to radioactive iodine.

31 Jan 2014

WSU researchers discover how Nipah virus employs burglary-ring-like teamwork to infiltrate human cell

A team of scientists from Washington State University has discovered how one of the planet's most deadly known viruses employs burglary-ring-like teamwork to infiltrate the human cell.

17 Dec 2013