Emerging Infectious Diseases
A research team has uncovered how W protein -- a viral protein that factors into both Nipah and Hendra virus infections -- targets critical cell functions, leading to suppression of immune responses and spreading of these viruses.
W protein binds to proteins in the host cells and allows for... Read More »
Tuberculosis (TB) has been successfully treated in animals utilizing a non-antibiotic drug, according to scientists at the University of Manchester.
The success makes the drug the first non-antibiotic to successfully treat TB -- a disease that kills around 1.7 million people worldwide each year.... Read More »
As Hurricane Florence, a category 4 storm, bears down on the Carolinas, the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) is warning about the potential for public health threats in the storm’s aftermath.
IDSA points out that with over 1 million people being evacuated from their homes, shelters... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in conjunction with the Duke University School of Medicine, has begun enrolling for a Phase 1 clinical trial of a new antimalarial drug and its efficacy in humans.
This early stage trial is being led by Dr. Michael... Read More »
An international team of researchers published a report last week that analyzed economic and public health data to determine factors that lead to curbing antibiotic resistance throughout the world.
The researchers, which included experts from the Center of Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy... Read More »
Investigators from the Baylor College of Medicine began phase 1 clinical trials this week for a topical cream designed to enhance immune response granted by an influenza vaccine.
The cream, known as imiquimod, is more commonly known for its use on genital warts and skin cancers because of its... Read More »
Concern over the neurologically disastrous -- and sometimes fatal -- effects of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) has prompted the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to invest $2.5 million into a related, five-year research grant.
Leading the team is Kylene Kehn-Hall, an associate... Read More »
Despite the deadly reach of diseases like tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria, the world is not likely to develop vaccines to fight them, according to a financial analysis of the current research and development pipeline.
The analysis was conducted by Duke University’s Center for Policy Impact... Read More »
Scientists across the world are struggling to find ways to combat the spread of antibiotic resistance among bacteria, but rather than make something new, UCLA biologists say the solution could be in combining four or five existing medications.
The UCLA study starkly contrasts the traditionally... Read More »
Mosquitoes could be responsible for the outbreak of yet another disease in North America, according to five researchers from Kansas State University studying the emerging pathogen known as Usutu virus.
That virus has been responsible for the spread of neurological disorders -- such as brain... Read More »
As climate change fuels the spread of mosquitoes worldwide, scientists at Stanford University have created a new model that predicts how temperature will affect the spread of the mosquito-driven Ross River virus.
"Scientists are realizing that warmer temperatures mean longer mosquito seasons and... Read More »
University scientists, working in conjunction with the government of Sierra Leone, have made progress on the PREDICT Ebola Host Project, with the discovery of an Ebola species in Sierra Leone’s bats before human or other animal infection.
It marks the first time scientists have discovered a... Read More »
An international conference held this week in Atlanta, hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Task Force for Global Health, Inc., sought to provide a space for the exchange of information related to infectious diseases.
The event is held every two to three years... Read More »
Scientists from Imperial College London have riddled out the cause of one of the most pervasive viruses on earth: the enterovirus.
"There are many different types of enteroviruses that infect humans,” Dr. Margarita Pons-Salort, co-author of the research from Imperial's School of Public... Read More »
In an article written for the New England Journal of Medicine, field researchers from Central Africa pointed to rapid development as fueling disease outbreaks, due to a growing need for a robust, matching health care infrastructure.
While on the whole, such growth has been beneficial to the... Read More »
A University of Texas--Arlington (UTA) researcher recently won a national grant award to continue his research on “superbugs” through mitochondria, discovering their defense mechanisms as well as new ways to boost immunity and improve infection resistance.
Over the next five years, UTA... Read More »
Experts determined during a recently completed hypothetical bioterrorism scenario, which imagines a smallpox outbreak originating in Fiji, that ample preparedness and response capabilities dictate whether a local outbreak is containable or more likely to become a global pandemic.
“Smallpox is... Read More »
In an article published in Eurosurveillance, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) determined that while listeria outbreaks are clustering with many cases going undetected, implementing a whole genome sequencing method could speed up the detection process.
In a study... Read More »
Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have modeled the workings of a bacterial pump mechanism that aids in the resistance to antibiotics.
These pumps spit out antibiotics before they can do any harm to the offending bacteria. The pump... Read More »
Over the last 40 years, the parasite-driven disease Chagas has breached the borders of what was once its traditional territory, spreading from Latin America into the United States and Europe, according to a new report from the American Heart Association (AHA).
There are an estimated 300,000... Read More »
A new trial underway from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is currently working towards a universal vaccine that would target both Zika and Dengue viruses.
The trial will consist of 28 non-pregnant adults between 18... Read More »
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Global Health Council, NTI Bio, and PATH hosted a simulation exercise for congressional staffers to demonstrate the need for congressional support and action to prevent infectious disease threats.
The exercise, called Clade X: A Global Health... Read More »
Profectus BioSciences, Inc. and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. acquired a contract for up to $36 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) this week to drive the creation of a Lassa virus vaccine.
The three parties are operating under a Framework Partnering Agreement... Read More »
Experts in the fields of biological weapons and related security, along with government officials from around the world, gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, this week for the 2018 Biological Weapons Convention Meeting of Experts.
Their attentions were focused on evolving global preparedness and... Read More »
Tuberculosis (TB) is becoming more resistant to antibiotics over time through genetic changes, but researchers at Colorado State University have discovered that a single mutation may affect strains of TB bacteria in different ways.
Specifically, this applies to isoniazid, one of the first-line... Read More »
As the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to spread, with a total of 48 cases, including 38 killed, as of Aug. 9, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now calling for greater access to affected populations.
This outbreak marks the country’s 10th, but it... Read More »
In an article published in The Lancet, experts from an international Ebola research consortium known as the Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccination (PREVAC) have assessed the current Ebola vaccine candidates across the world, and what remains to be achieved for viability.
PREVAC is... Read More »
As the World Health Organization (WHO) and health agencies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) seek to clamp down quickly on a new Ebola outbreak in the country, they can now count on the expertise of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well.
The CDC has... Read More »
Researchers are still a decade away from seeing a Valley Fever vaccine realized for humans, who are in recent years being infected at a greater degree with the fungal spores that cause the disease. The illness primarily affects people living in the Southwestern United States.
Federal officials... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions said on Thursday it would expand its reach in the public health threats market by acquiring PaxVax, a company that develops specialty vaccines that protect against infectious diseases, including typhoid fever and cholera.
Included in the purchase will be the typhoid fever... Read More »
The University of São Paulo's Biomedical Science Institute has created a line of genetically modified male mosquitoes with defective sperm, which could see deployment in the next year.
By deploying these lab creations en masse, scientists are hopeful they could help control outbreaks of dengue... Read More »
In a new study conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University, an experimental Zika virus vaccine has shown promise in mice with the potential of treating human patients infected with the disease.
"In this study, the vaccine was potent, safe and highly effective, at least in the short... Read More »
West Nile virus has been found in 51 Pennsylvania counties as of Aug. 1 after heavy rains and flooding struck the state.
More than 150 people have been infected within the commonwealth over the past six years.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued an advisory to alert medical... Read More »
The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced last week that tests of cases in the country’s North Kivu province by the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) revealed Ebola in patients.
Though the news came just over a week after the Ministry of Health... Read More »
Two national organizations that represent biopharmaceutical and business interests have penned a letter to each member of the U.S. House of Representatives urging lawmakers to approve the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018, H.R. 6378, before critical public... Read More »
