Emerging Infectious Diseases
Extreme weather events, a CBRN incident, cyberthreats and infectious diseases having pandemic potential all put Americans on notice for 21st century health security hazards, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says in its newly developed National Health Security Strategy... Read More »
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have conducted a detailed blood sample analysis of Ebola patients that is shedding light on the roles a molecular pathway and microvesicles play in both the virus and potential treatments.
The study turned... Read More »
With 79 measles cases already confirmed this year, the top Democrat and Republican on the U.S. Senate health committee have dispatched a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), urging them to promote vaccine... Read More »
The Boston University global partnership CARB-X has earmarked up to $4.4 million in non-dilutive funding for the development of a new antibiotic that will target infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria.
CARB-X officials said the funds would be allocated to Recida Therapeutics, based in ... Read More »
Preclinical trials shone for a new synthetic DNA vaccine developed by the Wistar Institute this week when results published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases showed complete protection offered against the mosquito-borne Mayaro virus (MAYV).
"Although MAYV was discovered a long time ago and... Read More »
Though strides have been made in the antibiotic pipeline in the last few years, a review released in Clinical Infectious Diseases this week found that they are not enough to combat multidrug resistance.
The report is an update on progress made under the Infectious Diseases Society of America's... Read More »
A University of Kansas geologist recently determined that antibiotic-resistant microbes have spread to the remote arctic soil of Norway and could have severe implications for global human health.
The discovery -- published in the journal Environment International -- found that... Read More »
There’s ample reason to concentrate on the role the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plays in helping the nation defend against biological attacks, one of the most critical being the protection of America’s military troops, said experts Tuesday during a Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense... Read More »
A new study, published in Nature Biotechnology, reveals scientists from the Broad Institute have found a way to examine any human virus more efficiently, cost-effectively and on large scales than previously known.
The CATCH method (Compact Aggregation of Targets for Comprehensive Hybridization),... Read More »
In an effort to raise health care workers’ awareness of and safety around Ebola, the Medical University of South Carolina has launched a new online training program.
The simulation seeks to train health care workers about the potential tolls the disease could take on a population and warns... Read More »
An international effort has created a new model for the identification and study of hosts critical to the spread of infectious diseases.
Such hosts are known as superspreaders, but their superpower is their role in epidemics. Not every infected person has the same potential to damage. Take the... Read More »
Scientists may have a new means of detecting and helping tailor therapies to meet the Zika virus’s onslaught.
The technology in question utilizes optofluidic chips -- a combination of small biological samples used for detection purposes (microfluidics) and integrated optics, which use lasers... Read More »
National Institutes of Health (NIH) early-stage clinical trial findings maintain the investigational Ebola treatment mAb114 is safe, well-tolerated, and easy to administer.
Trial results published in The Lancet outlined the manner in which 18 healthy adults received mAb114 as part of a May 2018... Read More »
Medical breakthroughs and advances in public health systems have enabled countries to contain the effects of infectious diseases, but these gains are tempered by insecurities from forces in economics, globalization, and synthetic biology.
That was the takeaway from The Global Risks Report... Read More »
An investigational Ebola treatment -- mAb114 -- recently passed an early-stage clinical trial without incident, according to a study published in The Lancet.
MaB114 is a monoclonal antibody developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center... Read More »
In recent years, India and the nations of Europe have poured a record amount of funding into research and development surrounding neglected diseases, reaching more than $3.5 billion in 2017, according to the annual G-FINDER report.
The G-FINDER report -- a survey of R&D funding for neglected... Read More »
The possibilities of an experimental tuberculosis (TB) vaccine reached a new stage this month, as researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development began phase 1 human clinical trials.
The new drug is currently called ID93 and has a unique,... Read More »
As an Ebola outbreak continues to affect the Democratic Republic of Congo, leaders from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee are requesting a situation brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In a joint statement issued last week, committee chairman Frank... Read More »
An array of global health entities have joined forces to aid the process of developing epidemic responsive vaccines while also, demonstrating safety, efficacy and deployment preparedness.
University of Queensland officials said the institution has partnered with
the World Health... Read More »
A type of mosquito known to transmit malaria has been detected in Ethiopia for the first time, crossing from the Middle East, India, and China, putting more people at risk for malaria in new regions.
A Baylor University study identified the mosquito, led by Tamar Carter, assistant professor of... Read More »
With the recent completion of their program by Kansas State University (KSU) students, the Biosecurity Research Institute is actively seeking new applicants for its Transboundary Animal Disease (TAD) fellowship.
The next round of opportunities is now being offered for summer 2019 and an... Read More »
The Madariaga virus (MADV), which was initially contained primarily to animals in South and Central America, was identified in eight children in Haiti in 2015 and 2016.
The report, published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, said the symptoms in those children most closely mirrored those of... Read More »
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) recently published in Cell Host & Microbe recently found that a single dose of a new medication could successfully protect against all strains of the Ebola virus.
In tests, the researchers found their drug was capable of protecting... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved the newest version of bipartisan legislation that would keep Americans safe against natural disasters and chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) threats.
Introduced on Jan. 8, the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and... Read More »
Researchers from Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School recently identified and characterized a new genus of filovirus in fruit bats.
Their findings -- published in the journal Nature Microbiology -- called the virus Mengla, for the Chinese county in which it was discovered. It was identified... Read More »
By running data on flavivirus-positive species through a machine-learning model of known mammal and bird species, scientists from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) believe they have honed in on those animals most likely to host future flaviviruses.
Flavivirus refers to troublesome... Read More »
Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Institut Pasteu have potentially found the most likely source of Yemen’s worst cholera epidemic in recorded history.
The disease, which has stricken more than 1 million people and killed nearly 2,500 people since it first appeared in the... Read More »
Researchers in Australia have identified the main factors contributing to pandemic vulnerability in cities as growing populations centered around airports and air travel itself, as population growth outpaces the response capabilities of urban infrastructure.
Such were the conclusions reached by... Read More »
ERADA Technology Alliance Ltd, a diagnostic infectious diseases solutions company, plans to release a saliva test for malaria.
The test is the first to use saliva. Traditional tests use blood and must be processed by trained clinicians.
The test detects a unique biomarker from female... Read More »
A vaccine candidate for the Zika virus shows that it is effective in guarding against the infection in non-human primates and is a promising candidate to protect pregnant women as well, scientists at the University of Hawaii announced this month.
Since the Zika outbreak of 2015 and 2016 in... Read More »
Scientists at Belgium’s KU Leuven Rega Institute recently developed a new vaccine that should prevent Zika virus from causing microcephaly and other serious conditions in unborn babies.
The new research and subsequent vaccine are based on the yellow fever vaccine, a closely related virus... Read More »
Health Canada, the federal drug approval arm for Canada, has approved a vaccine for anthrax developed by Emergent BioSolutions Inc., the global life sciences company announced on Monday.
The vaccine, BioThrax, is designed to immunize people from infectious disease caused by spores of the... Read More »
Pointing to the wealth of data potential locked in the wrist watch-style health monitors developed by Israeli company Biobeat Technologies Ltd., the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe) is fronting nearly... Read More »
In a significant step forward for treatment, scientists from the Gladstone Institutes and the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have identified ways Ebola, Dengue and Zika viruses utilize the body’s cells, as well as a possible way Zika causes microcephaly in... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) introduced legislation Thursday that seeks to reaffirm U.S. commitment to promoting global health security.
The Global Health Security Act would codify how the United States prepares for and responds to public health threats. Typically,... Read More »
