Epidemics and pandemics

Doctors develop a list of those allowed to die in a catastrophe
Physicians, government agencies draft a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients would be treated - and which would not — during a pandemic
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Canada confirms tuberculosis in Manitoba cow
For the first time since 2004, a Canadian cow is diagnosed with TB; Canadian health authorities says no part of the infected cow entered the human or animal food chain
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Death toll in China disease outbreak hits 34
China issues national alert after rapid spread of hand, foot, and mouth disease brings toll to 34 and nearly 25,000 infected; most of the deaths have involved enterovirus 71, or EV71
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China accuses U.S. of hampering probe into tainted heparin
Chinese scientists say they were refused information about victims of the recent heparin contamination and other specific details related to the case; the FDA says that federal law prevents it from sharing individual patient information with China unless information that would identify the patient is removed
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Secrets of bubonic plague bacteria's virulence revealed
Bubonic plague has killed more than 200 million people during the course of history and is thus the most devastating acute infectious disease known to man; scientists are closer to understanding bacteria’s virulence
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Drug-resistant tuberculosis on the increase in the U.K.
The incidence of tuberculosis in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland has been on the increase with more than 8,000 cases reported in 2006; the cause: changing population structure and ongoing migration
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Chinese officials accused of covering up killer virus
Chinese authorities are criticized for covering up an outbreak of a deadly enterovirus 71, which left 20 dead and more than 1,500 ill
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Researchers find source of lethal heparin
A common blood-thinning drug heparin, produced in China, was linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as twenty-one deaths across the United States, and many more around the world; researchers find that the source of contamination was a complex carbohydrate named oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, which has a structure so similar to heparin but which is nearly undetectable
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Indonesia runs airport bird flu drill
Indonesia is the nation worst hit by the bird flu so far, with 107 dead since the first human case appeared here in 2005; authorities run a bird flu detection drill at the Bali airport
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Human testing of Vietnamese-made H5N1 vaccine
Vietnam begins human testing of Vietnamese-made H5N1 vaccine; initial tests involve 240 volunteers; Vietnam has already tested avian flu vaccine on monkeys and reports results were encouraging
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AWWA urges scientific approach to pharmaceuticals in drinking water
The sky may not be falling: Stories about pharmaceutical traces in U.S. drinking water abound, but an expert from Southern Nevada Water Authority testifies before Senate subcommittee that worries about the ill effects of such traces are exaggerated
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Rare, atypical mad cow case reported in Canada
A case of mad cow disease discovered in Canada in December involves an atypical strain of the infection also reported in Europe, Canadian officials said Wednesday
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New killer virus found in Bolivia
New killer virus, related to the West African Lassa virus, discovered in the jungles of Bolivia; researchers say that urbanization and climate change could expand its range
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South Korean avian flu situation worsens
In less than two weeks, South Korea has confirmed eleven cases of the deadly H5N1 strain, which had been contained in the southwest of the country, some 200 miles south of Seoul
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Scientists create first successful avian flu virus antibodies libraries
Libraries were developed using samples from survivors of the 2005-6 bird flu outbreak in Turkey; antibody libraries hold the promise for developing a therapy to stop a pandemic in its tracks and provide treatment to those infected, as well as pointing the way toward the development of a universal flu vaccine
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