Disease/Infection News

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World's poor at huge risk from bird flu

ActionAid International, one of the UK's charity largest development charities which works with over five million of the world's poorest people, has warned that when it comes to the fight against bird flu, in the developing world, making plans is not enough.

22 Feb 2006

High alert as bird flu sweeps relentlessly across the globe

The spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu continues relentlessly across the world with the confirmation that dead swans found in Hungary and Croatia this week also succumbed to the virus.

22 Feb 2006

Concern grows over possible bird flu spread in West Africa

The FAO has expressed growing concern that the bird flu virus H5N1 may spread to other countries in West Africa following the discovery of the virus in Nigeria last week. The effects on a region already facing severe malnutrition would be devastating, the UN agency warned.

21 Feb 2006

Mutations in H5N1 avian influenza viruses

Several recent media reports have included speculations about the significance of mutations in H5N1 avian influenza viruses. Some reports have suggested that the likelihood of another pandemic may have increased as a result of changes in the virus.

21 Feb 2006

Doctors told to loosen up in the interests of hygiene

According to the prestigious British Medical Association (BMA), doctors should abandon wearing ties and traditional white coats to work because they could harbour deadly hospital superbugs.

21 Feb 2006

Animals diseases jumping to humans faster than ever before

According to scientists in the U.S. and Scotland, 75% of the 38 species of harmful organisms and viruses identified in the past 25 years are believed to have "jumped" from animals to humans.

21 Feb 2006

Dynamic duo, Clinton and India join forces to fight HIV/AIDS

Bill Clinton, in a joint venture with the Indian government is about to embark on another initiative in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

21 Feb 2006

Britain too laid back about bird flu

Despite the fact that France's first-known case of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu was found in a duck which is a winter migrant to Ireland and western Britain from Russia and Eastern Europe, authorities in the UK appear to have no immediate plans to order Britain's 25 million free-range chickens to be kept indoors.

20 Feb 2006

Death toll reaches 93 as bird flu hits India, France and Egypt

Health officials in India say they have found the country's first cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, following the death of chickens from the virus on poultry farms in the western town of Navapur.

19 Feb 2006

Bird flu gets a grip on Europe

The European Union has agreed to adopt new measures in an effort to control the hold bird flu appears have gained in the region.

19 Feb 2006

Scientists put ehrlichiosis under the genomic spotlight

Ehrlichiosis is no star of science. This emerging disease has an awkward name, vague flu-like symptoms, and a nasty habit of being caused by bacteria that live inside ticks and flatworms.

17 Feb 2006

More wild birds threatened with slaughter as bird flu spreads across Europe

German officials have confirmed that two swans found on a beach on the Baltic island of Rugen have tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

16 Feb 2006

Self-test for chlamydia via the Web

The notion of offering a self-test for chlamydia via the Web - unique in the world - is the centerpiece of the dissertation that Daniel Novak will be defending at Umea University, Sweden, on March 3.

14 Feb 2006

Nigeria struggling to cope with bird flu and more scares in Europe

The lethal strain of H5N1 bird flu has now reached Nigeria and there is concern as officials there in their efforts to prevent any human infections are having difficulty convincing many poor people not to eat dead poultry.

14 Feb 2006

Control interventions crucial for stopping the spread of bird flu in Africa

The outbreak of the deadly Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus (H5N1) in Nigeria confirms the fears expressed by FAO for quite some time that African countries are facing a high risk of becoming infected by the virus.

13 Feb 2006

African countries should step up surveillance and border controls for bird flu

The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus often spreads through the movement of affected birds, FAO/World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said.

13 Feb 2006

Bird flu found in wild birds in Greece, Italy and Bulgaria

According to European officials, the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in wild birds in Italy and Greece, and in Bulgaria.

12 Feb 2006

New tool to predict epidemics of malaria up to five months in advance

The model uses predictions of climate variability to indicate the level of risk of an epidemic up to five months in advance of the peak malaria season - the earliest point at which predictions have ever been made.

7 Feb 2006

Rotavirus vaccine will protect children against a major killer worldwide

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the licensing of a new vaccine against a disease responsible for tens of thousands of hospitalizations in the United States and hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world each year.

7 Feb 2006

Key genes identified that enable tuberculosis infection to spread

Scientists in India, led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar, have identified five key genes that enable Mycobacterium tuberculosis to acquire the iron it needs to sustain growth and promote infection

5 Feb 2006