Fairfax County, Virginia is the scene of an outbreak of tuberculosis at Lee High School.
The health department says 430 people have been contacted to be tested as a result of exposure to three people confirmed to have contracted TB. The health officials would not say if the infected were students or teachers but said that everyone who needed to be tested has been notified. Continue reading
A chicken in Scott County is confirmed with avian influenza and state officials have quarantined poultry within a 6.2-mile radius around the infected bird’s farm. Continue reading
The Syrian Civil War is having a disturbing side effect: a massive measles outbreak across the northern part of the country.
The nation’s vaccination program has disappeared since rebels began their attempts to overthrow the government. As a result, over 7,000 people have been confirmed to have measles in the last few months according to Doctors Without Borders. Continue reading
A Brazilian man living in Ireland has become the country’s first reported case of leprosy in modern times.
The man had first contracted leprosy in Brazil 10 years ago and is likely suffering a recurrence of the disease. Continue reading
After months of downplaying the infectiousness of the new SARS-like virus first found in Saudi Arabia, now called MERS or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, the director-general of the World Health Organization is calling the virus a global threat. Continue reading
The World Health Organization is calling on governments to waive patient rights in connection to research on the novel coronavirus found in the middle east now called MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). Continue reading
A mysterious respiratory illness in southeast Alabama has killed two of the seven people infected.
All of the victims are adults. They have symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. So far, authorities have not been able to confirm the cause of the illnesses. Special respiratory precautions are being taken by medical personnel. Continue reading
The World Health Organization had admitted the Novel Coronavirus (NCoV), which has killed 18 of the 34 people it has infected, can be passed between people.
The release from the WHO follows reports from France of a second man who has contracted the virus in a very likely case of human-to-human transmission. Saudi Arabia also announced two more deaths from the virus. Continue reading
Scientists have discovered drug-resistant strains of the parasite that causes malaria.
Researchers in Cambodia have found strains unlike any other in the world. The organisms have shown resistance to the top drugs to fight malaria. The likelihood of drug resistant organisms was first suspected in 2008 across southeast Asia. Continue reading
China is reporting four more cases of the H7N9 bird flu.
The H7N9 virus, which has killed two people, is now confirmed to have been found in seven people. Three women, 32, 45 and 48, and one 83-year-old man were diagnosed between March 19th and 21st. Continue reading