In The News

Human-to-Human Spread of Coronavirus: NBC News

Eric Baculinao, Dawn Liu, Yuliya Talmazan and Janis Mackey Frayer January 21, 2020
Chinese health officials have identified about 300 cases of the new coronavirus, with dozens of other cases waiting for verification. About 95 percent of the cases are linked to the Wuhan area. Still, authorities around the globe have increased screenings at airports and other travel hubs to prevent rapid spread, similar to SARS in 2003. China’s government has also confirmed human-to-human...

Genetic Sequence of New Virus in China: STAT

Helen Branswell January 10, 2020
Global health officials monitor reports of a new lung disease infecting about 60 people near Wuhan, China, a city of 11 million people. Researchers suspect that an animal species transmitted the virus, and researchers in China “generated a full genetic sequence… a key step in efforts to learn more about the cause of an outbreak of unusual pneumonia,” reports Helen Branswell for STAT News. “The...

Samoa’s Measles Epidemic Part of Global Surge: PRI

Elana Gordon December 11, 2019
Samoa is an independent nation in the Pacific and nearby American Samoa is a US territory. Many on these islands, like others throughout the world, once dismissed measles as a harmless childhood disease, and now both contend with the disease. An outbreak began in September, disrupting Samoan businesses and schools on the island of 200,000 people. The disease is highly contagious and symptoms do...

Ebola Treatments Show Promise: Popular Science

Nicole Wetsman August 14, 2019
Preliminary data suggest two experimental treatments for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo are improving survival rates. The fatality rate for Ebola is 67 percent, and with the antibody treatments, risk of death fell to 10 percent, reports Nicole Wetsman. She explains how the World Health Organization developed a plan for ethical testing of treatments during such emergencies after the...

Ebola Outbreak as Global Emergency: STAT

Helen Branswell July 19, 2019
Public health providers have battled Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a year, with cases also reported in Uganda and near Rwanda, and the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency, the fifth such declaration in its history. A strategic plan to stem the outbreak could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. “The declaration, which critics have contended is...

Ebola Crisis: Council on Foreign Relations

Claire Felter June 20, 2019
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo officially started in August of 2018, in the northeastern regions of the country bordering Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan. Claiming more than 1,300 deaths, with cases doubling in the past three months, the Ebola crisis is escalating but remains second place to the 2014-2016 outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people. The World Health...

Swine Fever in N Korea May Spur Talks: Korean Times

Park Ji-won June 6, 2019
Africa swine fever attacks domestic and wild pigs and causes severe economic losses. The disease emerged last year in China and has since spread to Mongolia, Vietnam, and North Korea. US and South Korean officials are in talks to assess how South Korea can provide food aid and prevent the disease’s spread. Seoul has urged cooperation and awaits response from North Korea. South Korea also requires...