Emerging Infectious Diseases
Ways to develop effective vaccines for Lyme disease and the need to stop the infection were published Thursday in an issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The paper is based on highlights from a conference of industry, government, and academia experts earlier this year.
Lyme disease is caused... Read More »
Mathematical modelling could make efforts to predict and control disease outbreaks much easier and more reliable, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Waterloo, University of Maryland, and Yale's School of Public Health.
"Mathematical models of disease spread... Read More »
The global nonprofit research and development organization Battelle won a two-year contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week, for research on vaccines for influenza strains.
Under the terms of the contract, Battelle will assist the CDC in expanding its vaccine... Read More »
The Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) issued a call Tuesday for funding applications for platforms capable of developing any number of vaccines to respond to as-yet-unknown emerging infectious diseases and unknown pathogens.
Such pathogens, collectively labeled Disease X,... Read More »
Reps. Mike Levin (D-CA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) recently introduced a bill targeting $10 billion investment in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supporting antibiotic resistance and rare diseases research.
“The National Institutes of Health support critically important research... Read More »
A model created by the University College London could be used to predict the next Ebola outbreak by tracking how changes to ecosystems combined with human societies affect the disease’s spread.
The model takes into account factors such as human population, land use, and the impact of climate.... Read More »
A team of scientists led by Dr. Florian Klein successfully showed how the human immune system responds to the Ebola vaccine currently being used to fight an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and create antibodies against the Ebola virus.
Involved in the study of the rVSV-ZEBOV... Read More »
Model-based predictions of mosquito species distribution need to be improved in many parts of the country, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found.
Researchers assessed and combined previously developed computational models to generate new predictions of where Aedes aegypti and... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has achieved a milestone, with more than 50 approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the past 12 years of health security solutions it helped develop.
The approvals and licensures are for products that... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed last week marketing of the OraQuick Ebola Rapid Antigen test began, marking the first time a rapid diagnostic test for Ebola was permitted in the United States.
OraSure Technologies, Inc will market OraQuick. The test detects Ebola virus... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) made $14 billion in funding commitments for the Global Fund, which was established to fight HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria.
The funding commitment, announced at the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference in Lyon, France, will be spread over three... Read More »
In an effort to enhance support for its development, the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) granted priority medicine (PRIME) designation in September to a new chikungunya virus vaccine candidate developed by Emergent BioSolutions Inc.
“Emergent is pleased to... Read More »
While the bacteria listeria and the associated infection known as listeriosis has been well known for decades, an international research team recently discovered the most virulent species to date, able to infect and kill humans and animals.
This discovery was isolated in China, by scientists... Read More »
In a survey published this week in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists concluded that the market has thus far failed to support new antibiotics for the increasing troubles of drug-resistant superbugs.
"New drugs against CRE... Read More »
The New York State Department of Health declared last week the end of a nearly year-long measles outbreak within the state that had put the United States at risk of losing its measles elimination status.
In all, 1,249 cases of measles ravaged the United States over the year, according to the... Read More »
A U.S. tuberculosis vaccination trial utilizing edible sensor technology has reportedly cured 100 percent of participants, leading researchers to suggest that the technology could be a “game changer” in high-risk countries.
A part of Wirelessly Observed Therapy (WOT), the ingestible sensor... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) recently toured the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station mosquito lab to learn more about research into Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).
The lab tracks and researches vector-borne diseases, and in 2017, received a five-year, $10 million grant from the... Read More »
The number of Ebola survivors from the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) topped 1,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The survival rate is largely due to an increase in the amount of medical interventions.
“The recent... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) this week named Dr. Thomas File, Jr. as its newest president, along with five new board members.
File intends to lead the organization in a fight against antimicrobial resistance, developing relationships with state and regional infectious... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute Inc. of Washington, D.C., with about $20.5 million to develop vaccines against Marburg virus and Sudan ebolavirus infections.
Both diseases are caused by the same family of viruses... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week approved Bavarian Nordic to market a new, alternative smallpox vaccine known as JYNNEOS.
JYNNEOS is a live, non-replicating vaccine specifically made for adults. It is an alternative to the existing ACAM2000, which though licensed, cannot be... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is launching a network of research centers that will work to develop better influenza vaccines.
NIAID – which is part of the National Institutes of Health -- will provide up to $51 million in funding for the initiative, called... Read More »
Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), a mosquito-borne virus, recently led to the deaths of three Michigan residents, and U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) is pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for details of their efforts to halt it.
In addition to the three fatalities, EEE... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded a $67 million contract to BioFactura for the advanced development of its Smallpox Biodefense Therapeutic to treat smallpox.
While smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, the threat of bioterrorism remains. To fill the... Read More »
Under a $30 million contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), three institutions have been selected to create new centers of immunology research to advance tuberculosis (TB) vaccine development.
The three... Read More »
A new report issued by leaders in international health says the world may face great risk from pathogens, including a rapidly moving, highly lethal pandemic projected to kill 50 to 80 million people and wiping out nearly 5 percent of the world’s economy.
High-impact respiratory pathogens, such... Read More »
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar co-hosted Wednesday the “Meeting of Regional Ministers of Health on Ebola Preparedness and Response” during the 74th United Nations General Assembly.
Foremost on the ministers’ minds were the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the... Read More »
Scientists may have changed the way Chikungunya vaccines can be designed, produced, and stored, with the creation of a new type of synthetic vaccine that can be stored at warmer temperatures without the need for refrigeration.
The results of the vaccine study, published in Science Advances... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the vaccine Jynneos to treat smallpox and monkeypox in adults.
It is the only currently FDA-approved vaccine for this disease.
“Following the global Smallpox Eradication Program, the World Health Organization certified the eradication of... Read More »
Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) leaders are expressing support for a recently signed public health order focusing on vaccine technology development, prioritization, and emphasizing vaccination importance.
President Donald Trump announced the executive order in advance of what is... Read More »
One of the largest research contracts ever awarded to the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) was announced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) this week, to the potential tune of more than $200 million over the next seven years.
Initially, the... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for Global Health was designated as a Collaborating Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).
The designation -- the first awarded to a CDC/WHO collaborating... Read More »
The Sept. 14 gas explosion that stoked a fire at a Russian bioweapons facility in Siberia where viruses and bacteria including smallpox, Ebola and anthrax are stored reminded the world that humans are only one catastrophic biological event away from a pandemic that could kill tens of millions of... Read More »
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense to propose a plan and budget to modernize the development of flu vaccines.
The plan must be submitted within 120 days. The goal is to improve preparedness for... Read More »
Proposed funding allocations by the Senate Appropriations Committee address some of the most urgent threats to public and individual, the Infectious Diseases Society of America said.
The bill’s allotment of $168.5 million for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)... Read More »
