Emerging Infectious Diseases
Thirty years ago, Nancy Connell was working to get thousands of scientists, including Nobel laureates, to sign a pledge presented at the United Nations, an agreement that said they would not knowingly engage in research that would lead to the development of a biological weapon.
Connell was a... Read More »
A coalition of national organizations representing public health, healthcare providers, biotechnology companies, and researchers this week urged congressional leaders to swiftly approve the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation (PAHPAI) Act of 2018 before Congress adjourns... Read More »
More than 20 scientists from five continents led by Montana State University will study bats in Australia, Bangladesh, Madagascar, and Ghana to research disease prevention.
Scientists hope to uncover the complex causes of bat-borne viruses and what has led them to jump to humans, fueling... Read More »
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau affirmed another 10 million Canadian dollars for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) this week, in an effort to bolster the development of vaccines.
The announcement was made following the recent G20 summit and supports that body’s... Read More »
The Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) at the Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and Groupe de Recherche Action en Santé (GRAS) are launching a vaccine study in Burkina Faso, focused on a typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV).
The study represents their second effort in the area... Read More »
Researchers from the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine have generated six antibodies that could be used to test for and potentially treat the Zika virus.
To date, the mosquito-borne disease has afflicted more than 1.5 million people worldwide, but there is no effective vaccine... Read More »
Federal officials are pushing for the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018 (PAHPA), which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in September, to be signed into law this year.
In a discussion on Wednesday hosted by the Alliance for Biosecurity... Read More »
A team of international researchers began enrolling confirmed Ebola patients this week for clinical trial testing of multiple therapies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Organized by a research consortium coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the trials are in response to... Read More »
In a leap forward for vaccination efforts, researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) have created a polio vaccine that maintains its usefulness without refrigeration.
Though initially believed to be entirely eradicated, there were 22 reported cases worldwide in 2017 due to its... Read More »
Declining stock prices caused by low returns on antibiotic research and development have caused companies to abandon antibiotic R&D, putting additional pressure on the few remaining companies focused on drug discovery.
This is according to a statement recently issued by the Infectious... Read More »
Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and associates recently isolated a human antibody that could potentially neutralize the threat of West Nile virus, according to a report published last week in Nature Microbiology.
If so, it could lead to the first effective treatment of the... Read More »
Merck has started the submission of a rolling Biologics License Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an investigational vaccine to combat the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, the company recently announced.
The V920 vaccine, scientifically known as rVSV-ZEBOV, falls under... Read More »
Phase 1 testing of a vaccine for the Zika virus showed a favorable safety profile in all doses and schedules tested, Emergent BioSolutions announced.
The vaccine, VLA1601, is being developed by Emergent BioSolutions and Valneva SE. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that has been detected in... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) outdated BioWatch Program, launched in 2003 as an early warning system for potential bioterrorist attacks in the United States, is being replaced, a federal expert told members of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense on Nov. 14 during a report... Read More »
A study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that the most serious outbreaks of norovirus could be tracked to a particular genotype of the virus.
The study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, tracked nearly 3,800 outbreaks in the United States... Read More »
Against the backdrop of a spreading Ebola outbreak in Congo, where a worsening war has stymied U.S. aid amid increasing security concerns, the Trump administration is trying to wrap its arms around what is and isn’t working in biodefense against man-made, accidental, naturally occurring... Read More »
Rapidly evolving wearables and 3D printed devices are among the inexpensive and portable diagnostic tools on the market today, some of which can detect and diagnose disease in less than an hour for biosurveillance.
However, developing these devices on a much greater scale for biosecurity... Read More »
A workshop hosted by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America assembled in Baltimore, Md., this week to address the overuse of antimicrobials and to determine the best course for combating drug-resistant bacteria.
The Antimicrobial Stewardship Research Workshop was based on the genuine... Read More »
A survey commissioned by the public education and advocacy group Research!America has determined Americans deem antibiotic resistance as a public health problem with a myriad of treatment implications.
Research!America officials said 65 percent of survey respondents consider antibiotic... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first single-use fingerstick tests for Ebola virus detection, complete with a portable reader system more easily used outside of labs.
While this is the second fingerstick test made... Read More »
With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, InDevR is seeking to improve potency testing for its VaxArray platform in regards to measles and rubella vaccines.
The result, they hope, will be a quicker delivery of vaccines to market and lower production costs, which has proven to be... Read More »
Officials from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department attended the Fifth Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Ministerial Meeting in Indonesia this week to reaffirm U.S. support for the initiative and commit additional funding.
GHSA, which launched in 2014, is a worldwide effort to... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is funding a broad research effort designed to assess elements surrounding the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.
Officials said the CDC recently awarded contracts to Amy Pruden and Marc Edwards, professors in the Charles Edward Via, Jr. Department of... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to increase its support of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA).
The GHSA, launched following the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2013, is focused on pandemic prevention. It helps... Read More »
A study published in Nature Medicine this week revealed that nearly half of tuberculosis (TB) diagnosed patients each year could potentially be cured with treatments shorter than those recommended.
Specifically, the study examined three TB trials previously thought to disprove the efficacy of... Read More »
The possibility of early prenatal screening for and enhanced understanding of the link between Zika infection and fetal abnormalities may have grown, with a University of Southern California (USC) discovery of birth defect-associated biomarkers.
Publishing their findings in the Journal of... Read More »
A report released last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases highlighted the importance of maintaining high measles vaccination coverage to protect those with compromised immune systems.
The report detailed a circumstance in which a 26-year-old man receiving leukemia treatment for leukemia went... Read More »
Though mosquitoes are the feared spreader of Zika virus in the Americas, researchers recently said that it is wild monkeys passing the disease to them, and guaranteeing its staying power.
Published in Scientific Reports, the collaborative effort from researchers of the University of Texas... Read More »
Researchers have found dogs working for the U.S. government are at an increased risk of Chagas disease, and the associated parasite is riddling them with heart disease.
At one time found only in Mexico, Central America and South America, Chagas has begun pressing forward into the United States,... Read More »
Combating diseases such as Ebola, influenza, and a host of other global catastrophic biological risks could be addressed by 15 emerging technologies, many of which are easy to use, high-tech and low cost.
In “Technologies to Address Global Catastrophic Biological Risks,” the report issued... Read More »
A new study found that the immune response to three experimental Ebola vaccines last at least two and a half years, opening the door of possibility for further vaccine development -- far beyond Ebola’s limited scope.
Katie Ewer, the co-author of the study, said the findings could encourage... Read More »
Continued attacks by rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is keeping health officials from combatting the spread of an Ebola outbreak in the affected areas.
With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health has been trying to contain the outbreak, which is... Read More »
A drug currently under development for use against flu pandemics is at risk of being outpaced by the virus it is meant to prevent, according to researchers at Imperial College London and Public Health England.
In a study, the organizations found that two genetic mutations could bring the flu... Read More »
Achaogen recently announced that it would supply data from its discontinued LpxC inhibitor antibiotic research program to Pew’s Shared Platform for Antibiotic Research and Knowledge (SPARK).
"By sharing these data with the wider scientific community, Achaogen has demonstrated true leadership,... Read More »
A genomic analysis published in The New England Journal of Medicine this week revealed that an outbreak of Nigerian Lassa fever cases this year was not caused by any single virus strain or fueled by increased human-to-human transmission.
The analysis followed an unusual surge in Lassa fever... Read More »
