Emerging Infectious Diseases
According to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health, a monoclonal antibody treatment, MR191-N, successfully protected nonhuman primates against both the Marburg and Ravn viruses even when administered five days after infection.
The study was conducted by the University of Texas... Read More »
In the wake of a report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that stated one in ten women infected with Zika virus gave birth to a child with virus-related effects, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently introduced a bill to provide local communities with resources... Read More »
According to a recent study conducted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, individuals previously infected with West Nile virus or dengue fever may carry an increased risk of complications should they become infected with Zika virus.
In recent years, Zika virus has spread... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an organization under the direction of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently began its Phase 2/2b VRC 705 clinical trial, testing an experimental DNA vaccine designed to protect against Zika virus infection.
Zika... Read More »
Officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently outlined the organization's efforts to combat tuberculosis (TB), one of the world's most serious infectious diseases.
In a joint statement, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci and other NIAID officials said the... Read More »
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a new strategic plan last week to improve the prevention, surveillance, and emergency response to infectious diseases on the continent.
Prior to its approval, the plan was reviewed by Africa CDC experts, the advisory and... Read More »
Researchers at the St. Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice recently published an article pinpointing where Zika virus is most likely to be transmitted in the continental United States.
Their study revealed the most likely point of transmission to be along the... Read More »
A team of researchers at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine recently published their initial findings of an early-stage vaccine to protect against Zika virus infection.
With new funding, the team is preparing to move forward with non-human primate testing and, eventually,... Read More »
Sustainable federal funding to develop and stockpile medical countermeasures is critical to the security and public health emergency preparedness of the United States, panelists said during a Bipartisan Policy Center event on Tuesday.
And medical countermeasures are needed now as the United... Read More »
According to a recent study led by the University of Florida and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, most cases of dengue fever occur very close to an individual’s home and are transmitted from the same family of mosquitoes.
Findings from the study were published in the March... Read More »
The United States must prepare for surprise attacks at home and abroad from traditional weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and from the new, emerging and largely unknown consequences posed by synthetic biological threats, a senior defense official told House congressional members on Thursday.
... Read More »
A group of Sandia National Laboratory researchers recently developed a smartphone-controlled, battery-operated diagnostic device that can detect Zika virus, dengue fever, and chikungunya in under 30 minutes.
The device costs approximately $100 and weighs under one pound.
Contemporary... Read More »
Broomfield Public Health and Environment in Broomfield, Colorado recently reported plague activity around the Great Western Reservoir Open Space in relation to a mass prairie dog die off.
The organization said this is the first incident of plague activity seen in the area this season. Cautionary... Read More »
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently discovered that a naturally-produced enzyme called 25-hydroxycholestrol (25HC) protects animals against Zika virus infection and can be manufactured to create compounds against a broad range of viruses.
Research for this... Read More »
According to a recent study at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Zika virus and dengue fever are so closely related to one another that the body’s immune system treats Zika like another version of dengue.
The researchers said the immune response showed that pre-existing... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated its epidemiological information to its website regarding Zika virus, which includes implications to the blood and tissue collection community.
The new information includes data about areas with potential increased risk... Read More »
During a recent Stanford University School of Medicine study, a combination of two cancer drugs inhibited both dengue fever and Ebola virus infections in mice subjects, despite the viruses being so different from one another.
Results of the study were published in the Feb. 27 issue of the... Read More »
A group of Democratic members of Congress recently sent a public letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price and the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), questioning how actions by the Trump Administration could harm the CDC’s preparedness in the... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued last week a Zika virus travel notice for Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, and the Solomon Islands.
The CDC’s travel notices warn individuals, particularly pregnant women, to practice enhanced precautions when traveling to... Read More »
Recent presidential administrations confronted infectious disease emergencies that threatened both human lives and the U.S. economy, and with the likelihood high that the Trump administration will be no exception, the U.S. government should strengthen its public health emergency preparedness now,... Read More »
The Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG), an initiative launched by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), recently provided an update in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases on ARLG progress, outlining its ongoing and future efforts.
The leadership... Read More »
Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), recently published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, discussing the unusually large outbreak of yellow fever in rural Brazil and how the situation needs careful attention by world... Read More »
According to a recent study conducted by the University of Toronto and Public Health Ontario, Canadians who reported travel-related illnesses after returning from the Americas were commonly diagnosed with dengue, but actually were infected with cases of Zika virus that were more severe than... Read More »
Kansas State University (KSU) recently launched a new research fellowship aimed at studying highly-contagious epidemic animal diseases and the threats they pose to national security.
The fellowship is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is administered through... Read More »
A research team at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (PennVet) recently identified new therapeutic targets for the tropical disease leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that can cause painful skin ulcers that can become metastatic after a period of time.
The... Read More »
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently selected Kacey Ernst, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Arizona’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, as a 2017-2018 public engagement fellow.
As part of her fellowship, Ernst will... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of 12 anti-biotic resistant priority pathogens this week, which represent the 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
WHO said the list was made to promote research and development of new antibiotics and is part... Read More »
A team of scientists at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health recently discovered a new method to accurately predict the timing and intensity of West Nile virus outbreaks.
The method uses a computer model to forecast multiple situations that imitate potential behaviors of an... Read More »
A team of scientists at the University of California, Riverside, recently explored ways small regulatory RNA molecules, called microRNAs, play in the mosquito egg maturation process.
The team hopes that by studying microRNAs of Aedes aegypti species mosquitos, they might be able to find ways to... Read More »
According to a recent study conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an investigational malaria vaccine protected a small number of healthy adults from infection with a malaria strain different from that contained in the vaccine.
Results of the Phase 1... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently began a Phase 1 clinical trial to examine an investigational vaccine that provides protection against a range of common mosquito-transmitted diseases, such as Zika virus, malaria, West Nile, and dengue fever.
The... Read More »
In the wake of the Zika virus outbreak in the Americas and the Caribbean, a university professor recently developed a biological-behavioral-operational computer model designed to help lawmakers choose the best intervention strategies to help contain the spread of infectious diseases.
Eva Lee,... Read More »
A research team at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston recently discovered the mechanisms that the Zika virus uses to change the brain’s development.
A report was published in a recent issue of Stem Cell Reports.
Zika virus is typically spread through the bite of... Read More »
According to a recent paper published in the Journal of Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases, common domesticated animals such as cattle, chickens, pigs, frogs, rabbits, sparrows, and goats are not carriers of the Zika virus.
The paper was authored by Kansas State University (KSU) doctoral... Read More »
Emergent Biolsolutions Inc. recently received a task order from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics for the treatment of viral hemorrhagic fever.
The agreement consists of a 36-month base period of... Read More »
