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Experts warn Australia is surrounded by a ring of disease hot-spots

Australian biosecurity experts have warned that Australia is surrounded to its north by a 'ring of fire' where new human and animal plagues could appear with very little warning and with potentially dire consequences.

6 Jan 2009

Days could be numbered for Dengue spreading mozzies!

Australian researchers say the days of the Dengue spreading mozzie could be numbered and the news could not have come at a better time.

5 Jan 2009

Bird flu appears again in heavily populated region of India

Another outbreak of deadly bird flu in India has put health authorities on high alert following the deaths of thousands of chickens.

5 Jan 2009

Dengue fever outbreak now in Townsville

While health authorities continue to battle to contain an outbreak of Dengue fever in Cairns in north Queensland, further down the coast an outbreak has now been reported in Townsville.

5 Jan 2009

Pathogenesis of Campylobacter jejuni-related disease

Campylobacters are small Gram-negative spiral rods. Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni), a foodborne organism contracted from untreated water, milk and meat, especially chicken, is one of the most important causes of bacterial diarrhea worldwide. However, its mode of pathogenesis is not clear.

1 Jan 2009

Secrets revealed into devastating 1918 flu pandemic

The secrets of why the 1918 flu pandemic was such a deadly one have been revealed by team of Japanese and American scientists.

30 Dec 2008

Brits battling to cope with 'killer' Australian flu strain

As doctors and hospitals in the UK struggle to deal with a flu epidemic, Brits are being warned that the current outbreak is expected to intensify in the new year as the potentially fatal Australian strain of influenza spreads across the country.

30 Dec 2008

Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal

By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus.

30 Dec 2008

Bird flu returns again to Vietnam

Another outbreak of bird flu has hit Vietnam this time affecting the north of the country.

29 Dec 2008

Man dies from flesh-eating disease

A rare flesh-eating disease has claimed the life of a man in Britain. The 60 year old man Tony Williamson died days after a flesh-eating disease spread through his body from a small cut on the inside of his right arm.

28 Dec 2008

HIV carriers in Malaysia should not be allowed to marry, says government official

One of Malaysia's top politicians has apparently suggested that HIV carriers should not be allowed to marry in order to avoid having sick children.

22 Dec 2008

Cairn's residents threatened with fines over dengue outbreak

Health officials in Cairns in the tropical northern part of Queensland, Australia are battling to contain an outbreak dengue fever in the region.

22 Dec 2008

Dengue fever outbreak spreading across Cairns

An outbreak of dengue fever in Cairns, in far north Queensland, continues to cause alarm as the number now affected has reportedly reached 50 and appears to be rising.

22 Dec 2008

vCJD blood test achieves 100% accuracy

Amorfix Life Sciences has announced it achieved 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity in a second blinded trial of human blood samples using its EP-vCJD blood test in collaboration with the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) in the United Kingdom.

21 Dec 2008

Remote sensing helps tackle tropical disease schistosomiasis in southern China

Scientists are looking to outer space for help in their attempt to prevent new outbreaks of the tropical disease schistosomiasis in southern China.

18 Dec 2008

Researchers hunt for new drugs for Leishmaniasis

Hundreds of millions of people, mainly in developing countries, are disabled by infectious diseases, according to the World Health Organization.

16 Dec 2008

Discovery of new way a man can transmit the HIV virus to a woman

Scientists had long believed that the normal lining of the female vaginal tract was an effective barrier to invasion of the HIV virus during sexual intercourse. They thought the large HIV virus couldn't penetrate the tissue.

16 Dec 2008

Mucosal lining of the female genital tract no barrier to HIV sexual transmission

Contrary to a widely-held assumption about heterosexual transmission of HIV, the normal mucosal lining of the female genital tract is not a foolproof barrier to viral penetration, scientists at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago report at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.

16 Dec 2008

NACCHO to donate up to one million doses of FluMist

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has announced a donation of up to one million doses of FluMist (Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal) by MedImmune in a partnership aimed at increasing influenza awareness and vaccinations in underserved communities and populations.

14 Dec 2008

Researchers develop universal influenza vaccine for animals

A University of Maryland-led science team has developed a universal influenza vaccine for animals that may help prevent or delay another human flu pandemic.

14 Dec 2008