Emerging Infectious Diseases
America’s response to potential worldwide biological threats — either naturally occurring or imposed by terrorists — must evolve, experts told the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense during its April 25 public meeting addressing current transnational biothreats and the global security... Read More »
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there has been a troubling rise in cases of illness associated with mosquito, tick and flea bites in the United States over the last 13 years; in fact, cases have tripled.
More than 640,000 cases of illness were reported during... Read More »
Wellcome Trust has earmarked a $3.6 million grant award as a means of aiding the malaria drug research process.
Officials said the funding allotment would benefit the work of researchers from Australia's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and Merck & Co., Inc., which is known as MSD in Australia,... Read More »
Engineers from Lehigh University have earned themselves a 3-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support an unusual means of Ebola outbreak prediction by tracking the ecological factors of bat migration patterns.
The effort follows A New England Journal of Medicine study... Read More »
Scientists have determined the yellow fever virus has the potential to spread into cities around the world where it previously hasn't been seen.
The study findings of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization detailed the mapping of yellow fever... Read More »
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard researchers have created a new tool that better prepares the CRISPR-based diagnostic tool, SHERLOCK, for rapid response to viral outbreaks.
The updates allow clinicians to quickly and cheaply diagnose patient samples and track epidemic spread directly in... Read More »
Bipartisan members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a discussion draft on Thursday aimed at improving the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to deliberate bioterrorist attacks or naturally occurring pandemics in the United States.
The draft... Read More »
Leadership from the Alliance for Biosecurity urged Congressional lawmakers at a hearing on Thursday to increase funding for programs to protect Americans from biological and chemical threats.
Speaking before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and... Read More »
Though found to prevent Zika virus infection in primates, a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies was deemed ineffective in a new study led by the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.
Pregnant rhesus macaques were infected, the infection spread to the amniotic fluid and fetal deaths... Read More »
A recently released study, presented to the 28th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, demonstrated a 2017 reemergence of West Nile Virus (WNV) spreading to new areas in Greece.
In all, scientists found 26 patients with the disease. An additional 19 had WNV fever.... Read More »
Marking a milestone in the fight against vector-borne diseases, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) successfully released radiation-sterilized mosquitoes from drones in Brazil last as part of ongoing efforts to control mosquito populations there.
IAEA, the Food and Agriculture... Read More »
Scientists from the University of Liverpool recently determined the exact means by which bacteria can swap genetic material with one another -- something they conclude can spark the outbreak of infectious diseases.
They have dubbed the process horizontal gene transfer, something that has... Read More »
U.S. agencies need a more predictable and accessible source of funds to support a rapid response to public health emergencies, including outbreaks of disease and bioterror attacks, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) said Wednesday.
Cole addressed a panel of government officials testifying at a House... Read More »
In a new nationwide survey released by the Alliance for Biosecurity on Monday, 73 percent of the 1,612 Americans polled said they would support a congressional decision to increase funding to address biosecurity needs and capabilities.
The survey comes as Congress faces a looming Sept. 30... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions has constructed a new trench from where the Gaithersburg, Md.-based global life sciences company will launch the world’s next line of defense against emerging viral diseases: mobile manufacturing units that can produce hyperimmune therapeutics for known and emerging... Read More »
Researchers maintain they now have knowledge of how the highly contagious norovirus gets started.
Work of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis scientists published in Science showed in mice the virus infects a rare tuft cell - referencing while tuft cells are few in number, the... Read More »
Researchers based at Georgetown University Medical Center recently developed an online tool to enter a mix of local conditions and political constraints in their region to determine how control measures have been integrated.
The app, which was made possible by support from the Bill & Melinda... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is putting its capabilities for transferring patients with highly infectious diseases to the test this week with the largest patient movement exercise in the department’s history.
It is a nationwide test that will be conducted by more... Read More »
After 20 years, scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute have identified how a surface protein of malaria -- TRAP -- interacts with proteins on the surface of human cells, offering a new vaccine target.
The human surface protein in question is a receptor known as an integrin. In their... Read More »
A new blood test published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine claims the ability to predict TB’s onset up to two years prior to its development in people living with active TB.
While other tests currently exist that track TB progression, professor Gerhard Walzl,... Read More »
In a report published in a recent issue of the journal Cell, researchers argued that a refocus of anti-influenza efforts may be needed, with the protein neuraminidase cited as a potentially important point for decreasing flu severity and infection alike.
Historically, flu vaccines have been... Read More »
The explosion of a newly identified coronavirus led to the deaths of nearly 25,000 piglets between 2016-2017 in China and experts have linked the deadly virus to horseshoe bats.
While the virus does not appear to infect people, it has been devastating to swine herds. In turn, the researchers --... Read More »
Focused on the growing threat of antimicrobial drug resistance among their targets, infection specialists have joined researchers from India and France in an antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) program meant to limit use of antimicrobial drug therapies in hospitals.
Currently, there exists no... Read More »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials said the agency is working to address instances of germs with unusual antibiotic resistance genes in the United States.
A CDC Vital Signs report referenced health departments working with the CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance (AR) Lab... Read More »
Yale University researchers have developed a new RNA therapy as a means of combating the West Nile Virus.
Study details published in Cell Host & Microbe showed how the approach, delivered through the nose of mice infected with the virus, reduced the virus in the brain, allowing the immune system... Read More »
Kansas State University (KSU) researcher Megan Niederwerder released a study last week of the risks posed to the United States by swine fever smuggled in by way of simulated feed shipments.
It is the first documentation of the survival of African swine fever in feed ingredients. If swine fever... Read More »
Researchers with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently made a breakthrough on the link between iron supplements and worsening malaria infections, as well as a curious mutation in African populations.
The findings, published in Science, utilized mice and samples from malaria patients.... Read More »
A Brazilian-designed test shows great potential in identifying Zika, being capable of discriminating it from dengue infections with high accuracy, while doing so with an estimated cost of just $3 - $3.70 per patient.
The test detects antibodies against Zika virus in samples of blood serum,... Read More »
Countering previous tests conducted in low doses, a study published by INSERM, France’s Jeremie Guedj and international colleagues concluded that high doses of the antiviral favipiravir may ward off Ebola’s deadly capabilities.
Tests were undertaken on 26 non-human primates infected with... Read More »
United States preparedness against terrorist attacks from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents includes prep and planning for the public, as well as for the first responders who will be on the front lines during a catastrophic emergency event.
Dr. Robert Kadlec, Assistant... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO), in reporting on Nigeria and the massive case of Lassa Fever currently infecting the country, notes that the outbreak shows signs of lessening while stressing further caution.
While Lassa Fever is endemic to Nigeria and a number of other African nations, an... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and HIV Medical Association (HIVMA) have released policy and research recommendations regarding infectious diseases and the opioid epidemic.
IDSA and HIVMA members said they are encouraging Congress and the Trump Administration to pursue... Read More »
A study conducted by the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil shows that triclosan, an antimicrobial compound, may inhibit deadly enzymes and fight otherwise resistant parasites.
Triclosan is a compound used in basic bathroom items like soap, toothpaste, and deodorant. The new study showed... Read More »
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report is touting the benefits of a program credited with expediting Ugandan virus detection.
The CDC-UVRI Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Surveillance and Laboratory Program was lauded in a CDC report published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The... Read More »
Researchers from an international team have pinpointed a genetic fingerprint of proteins linked to deadly Malaria strains, which they say could herald a game changer for vaccine development.
Scientists were focused on the child aspect in this case, which is to say, the fact that the most common... Read More »
