Epidemics and pandemics

Russian official warns of bird flu risk
Russia needs to take steps to prevent a human pandemic from bird flu, a government health official said
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Water monitoring system to be demonstrated in Congress technology fair
The House Committee on Homeland Security is holding a homeland security technology fair at the Rayburn building on Wednesday; a water bioterror monitoring system will be on display, and caught our eye
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Colorado city shuts down water supply because of salmonella poisoning
City orders shut down of water supply after many residents become ill; water supply to be treated for several days with concentrated chlorine, with residents restricted to bottled water and a no-shower regimen
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Long Island restaurant employee discovered with typhoid fever
A Long Island pizzeria employee worked for three days while infected before symptoms showed; health authorities say about 100 may be at “low risk” of infection
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CDC enlists U Indiana in epidemic information sharing, bioterror response
Indiana University awarded $2.6 million to bolster the ability of local, state, and federal agencies ability to share data and information on the outbreak of epidemics
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Pandemic flu may be well mitigated until vaccine is available
New study shows that high levels of compliance, ascertainment, and social distancing would make it possible to mitigate a flu pandemic until a vaccine is available
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Toxic newts lose war against immune-enhanced garter snakes
A newt is armed with a poison so deadly that a single animal can kill a dozen people; garter snakes, the newt’s main predator, have developed resistance to the poison; researchers say this does not bode well for humans: Our bodies may develop resistance which would make medications ineffective
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U.S. water supply contaminated by pharmaceuticals
There are 302 million people in the United States, but over the past five years, the number of U.S. prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases reached 3.3 billion; ingredients of these medications find their way to, and contaminate, the U.S. water supply; federal, state, and local governments do not regulate medical discharges into drinking water
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New sensor detects airborne pathogens
MIT lab develops an advanced sensor for airborne pathogen; current sensors take at least twenty minutes to detect harmful bacteria or viruses in the air, but the PANTHER sensors can perform detection and identification in less than three minutes
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Killing bugs dead
A new device, based on the old-fashioned mechanical air-pump technology, destroys airborne pathogens by rapidly heating contaminated air under pressure and mechanically compressing it
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FSIS exemplifies growing inadequacy of U.S. food inspection regime
Decline and fall: In FY 1981, FSIS spent $13.22 per thousand pounds of meat and poultry inspected and passed; by FY 2007, the figure had fallen to $8.26 per thousand pounds; in FY 1981 FSIS employed about 190 workers per billion pounds of meat and poultry inspected and passed; by FY 2007, FSIS employed fewer than 88 workers per billion pounds
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MPRI to help CDC prepare for disasters
Simulation and virtualization are becoming more popular as tools for preparedness; MPRI, a subsidiary of L-3 company, will use its simulation and training expertise to help CDC prepare for all-hazard disasters, including bioterrorism and pandemic outbreaks
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Infectious diseases on the rise around the world
Researchers offer proof that there is distinct, measurable rise in infectious diseases around the world; most of these diseases, including SARS and the Ebola virus, originated in wildlife; antibiotic drug resistance has been cited as another culprit, leading to diseases such as extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB)
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MIT researchers explain spread, lethality of 1918 flu
The 1918 pandemic outbreak that killed at least fifty million people; MIT researchers explain that the lethality of the 1918 pandemic was the result of an influenza strain which developed two mutations in a surface molecule called hemagglutinin, which allowed it to bind tightly to receptors in the human upper respiratory tract
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Indonesian girl contracts bird flu, possibly from relative
A fifteen-year old Indonesian girl contracts H5N1; health authorities fear this is a case of human-to-human infection — signifying a dangerous development in H5N1 trajectory
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