The new coronavirus found in the Middle East that is very similar to the SARS virus that killed 800 people in 2002 has been found to be spread from human to human.
Health officials in the UK made the announcement after a third British citizen was confirmed to be infected with the virus. The scientists say the infected man contracted the disease from a relative. Continue reading
The Centers for Disease Control have confirmed the first cases of a completely drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis in South Africa. The CDC report is calling the infection “virtually untreatable.”
Tuberculosis is the second most fatal infectious disease worldwide after HIV. Continue reading
A second case of the extremely deadly SARS-like virus that first appeared in the Middle East, has been confirmed in England.
The patient who is currently in intensive care at a Manchester hospital had recently traveled to the Middle East. Continue reading
A major trial of a new vaccine to fight tuberculosis has ended in failure after researchers discovered it did not provide protection to infants exposed to the bacteria.
The trial is significant because the current vaccine, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is only partially effective against the bacteria. While the new vaccine, MVA85A, showed some boosting of the immune system in adults, it produced no reaction in infants who had been given BCG. Continue reading
A new strain of norovirus accounted for 58% of the reported cases of what some people call “stomach flu” last month. Continue reading
Researchers in the Netherlands and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are resuming a very controversial plan to take the deadly H5N1 virus and make it easier to transmit to humans. Continue reading
A dengue fever epidemic has broken out in southern Brazil.
Health authorities have reported about 600 residents a day coming to clinics suffering from the symptoms of dengue fever since the start of the year. Continue reading
Over 51 people have been confirmed to have contracted cholera in Havana as the Cuban government admits the first major outbreak of the disease in the capital city in over 50 years.
One man died from the disease and others have been hospitalized. Continue reading
A variant of the norovirus discovered last year in 2012 in Australia has spread to the level it is prepared to overtake all other noroviruses in Europe.
The variant, Sydney 2012, has been identified by genetic testing in England as causing more cases of “winter vomiting disease” than any other virus. The virus causes violent and projectile vomiting, diarrhea, fevers, headaches and stomach cramps. Continue reading
A cholera epidemic in Haiti has killed almost 8,000 people leading the United Nations to launch a $2 billion appeal for help in stopping the deaths.
The campaign comes as reports begin to surface that the current outbreak, the worst in the world at this time, started in a United Nations camp. Dr. Daniele Lantagne, a cholera specialist, said that UN troops from Nepal arrived with the disease. Nepal has widespread cholera cases and the molecular structure of the Haitian cholera matches strains from Nepal in 2010. Continue reading
