Cholera News and Research

Latest Cholera News and Research

New regulations to tackle disease outbreaks given the red light by the WHO

The recent outbreaks of communicable diseases such as SARS and avian flu in particular, have prompted the United Nations health agency’s policy-making body to adopt a new set of regulations concerning responses from Governments and international bodies when new diseases emerge and old ones reappear.

23 May 2005

New set of International Health Regulations to manage public health emergencies of international concern

Today, the World Health Assembly approved a new set of International Health Regulations to manage public health emergencies of international concern. The new rules will "prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease."

23 May 2005

Cholera outbreak on African island Sao Tome - U.N. rushes in aid

Local authorities on the tiny African island of Sao Tome say an outbreak of cholera which has already claimed three lives is now up to 131 cases. Sao Tome is the smallest country in Africa.

10 May 2005

Breakthrough in the understanding of the spread of cholera

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera and is spread by contaminated water and food. Scientists from the University of Haifa and Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, have reported in Environmental Microbiology, an important breakthrough in our understanding of the continental and intercontinental distribution of cholera.

3 Apr 2005

African health care systems: what went wrong?

The last century witnessed unparalleled improvements in the health indicators of many countries in the African Region, particularly reductions in child mortality.

8 Dec 2004

New research aims to reduce deaths and ease burden on hospitals

New research by scientists at Australia's Macquarie University will investigate antibiotic resistance genes in humans in an effort to combat worldwide death rates due to infectious diseases and reduce the growing burden on our health system by decreasing patients' length of stay.

6 Dec 2004

Some New York City stores are selling antibiotics illegally over the counter

In many countries around the world antibiotics are sold without a prescription, a practice that is illegal in the United States.

30 Sep 2004

PAHO outlines health challenges ahead

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Dr. Mirta Roses today presented a report summarizing PAHO's work over the past year in the Americas, during a special session of a meeting of the region's ministers of health taking place at PAHO headquarters this week.

28 Sep 2004

New book predicts a "vaccine century"

A new book published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) predicts that the 21st century will become the "century of vaccines" thanks to rapid developments in the field of immunization.

21 Jul 2004

To date, the U.S. Government has provided a total of $109.4 million of humanitarian assistance to Darfur

As part of the U.S. Government's continuing humanitarian efforts in Sudan's western province of Darfur, eight airlifts will arrive in El Fasher between July 5 and July 14. These shipments will carry 3,150 rolls of plastic sheeting, which is enough shelter for 198,450 beneficiaries.

13 Jul 2004

As humans alter land, infectious diseases follow

As people remake the world's landscapes, cutting forests, draining wetlands, building roads and dams, and pushing the margins of cities ever outward, infectious diseases are gaining new toeholds, cropping up in new places and new hosts, and posing an ever-increasing risk to human and animal health.

5 Jul 2004

Pollution kills more than three milion children under the age of five every year

Around the world, polluted air and water and other environment-related hazards kill more than three milion children under the age of five every year.

24 Jun 2004

Cholera outbreak in Cameroon

WHO has received reports from the Ministry of Health of a total number of 2924 cases and 46 deaths in Cameroon from 1 January to 9 June 2004 in Littoral and West Regions. Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor has been laboratory confirmed.

15 Jun 2004

Myth of disease threat posed by dead bodies after natural disasters unfounded

Fears that dead bodies will spread infection and disease following natural disasters are largely baseless, and simply serve to prolong the suffering of surviving friends and family members, according a scientific article published today.

1 Jun 2004

Scientists have unraveled the behavior of one key component of bacteria

The researchers studied a mechanism of action they call the "magic spot" – an important regulator of gene expression. They describe their results in the current issue of the journal Cell.

29 Apr 2004

76 million people get sick in US, 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from foodborne illness

Foodborne illnesses have a major public health impact in the United States. It is estimated that each year in the United States, 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die as a result of foodborne illnesses, primarily the very young, elderly, and the immunocompromised.

18 Apr 2004