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First ever U.S. case of Marburg fever confirmed in Colorado
Marburg hemorrhagic fever is extremely rare — and deadly; the disease is caused by a virus indigenous to Africa, and was brought to the United States by a researcher who traveled to Uganda
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Fake Internet drugs risk lives, fund terrorism
Study finds that 62 percent of the prescription-only medicines offered on the Internet are fakes; some of the fake-drug schemes are operated by terrorist organizations as a means of raising funds
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Political squabbles hobble H5N1 research
Indonesia has had the most cases of human H5N1 flu since 2005; it refuses to share the virus samples with Western pharmaceutical companies unless these companies agree to share with Indonesia the profits from the vaccine these companies develop — and also guarantee Indonesia access to a vaccine in case of a pandemic
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Researchers show promising approach to avian flu vaccine
Terrapin researchers are developing a universal flu vaccine for animals; it could ultimately help prevent or delay another avian flu pandemic in humans
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Economic downturn to hurt medical emergency preparedness
Progress made better to protect the United States from disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and bioterrorism is now at risk, due to budget cuts and the economic crisis
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Biosafety Lab-Level 4 dedicated in Galveston, Texas
The $174 million, 186,267-square-foot lab will employ 300 people; the lab is one of two approved in 2003 by NIH (the second is being built in Boston); critics question placing a BSL-4 lab on a barrier island vulnerable to hurricanes
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New killer virus identified in South Africa
Yet-to-be-named virus has already killed four people; NIDC scientist: “The virus is new in terms of its genetic make up and there is currently no vaccine against it…. [it has] high lethal potential for humans”
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HHS offers legal shield to anthrax manufacturers, distributors
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers legal shield to manufacturers and distributors of anthrax vaccines and treatments under a “public health emergency” to be in effect until the end of 2015
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DARPA seeks ultrasonic tourniquets
New device, placed on the arm or a leg of an injured soldier or first responder will use ultrasound scanning to pinpoint internal bleeding, before focusing “high-power energy” on the bleed sites
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Xoma in $65 million anti-botulism drug development contract
First human monoclonal antibody drug program to target multiple botulinum toxins
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New bird flu strain detected in Nigeria
Nigeria has reported two new highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks; laboratory results show that the newly discovered virus strain (H5N1, clade 2, EMA3) is genetically different from the strains that circulated in Nigeria during earlier outbreaks
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The pandemic potential of H9N2 avian influenza viruses
Researchers show that some currently circulating avian H9N2 viruses can transmit to naïve ferrets placed in direct contact with infected ferrets — but aerosol transmission was not observed, a key factor in potentially pandemic strains
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Indonesia probes bird flu outbreak in Sumatra
Thirteen people in a Sumatra village taken ill with what Indonesian specialists think is a bird flu outbreak; the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 240 people worldwide since late 2003; Indonesia is the country worst-hit by the virus
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New virus fights other viruses by spreading at their expense
Newly discovered virsu may help fight viral infections by hijacking the replication machinery of the lethal viruses; the new virsus — called Sputnik — is the first member of a new class they call “virophages”
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Bacteria were the real killers in 1918 flu pandemic
Medical and scientific experts now agree that bacteria, not influenza viruses, were the greatest cause of death during the 1918 flu pandemic
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The long view
Combatting the Measles Threat Means Examining the Reasons for Declining Vaccination Rates
Measles was supposedly eradicated in Canada more than a quarter century ago. But today, measles is surging. The cause of this resurgence is declining vaccination rates.
Social Networks Are Not Effective at Mobilizing Vaccination Uptake
The persuasive power of social networks is immense, but not limitless. Vaccine preferences, based on the COVID experience in the United States, proved quite insensitive to persuasion, even through friendship networks.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.