Ebola rears head again in DRC; China, US report new strains of bird flu
WHO assesses EVD risk to be low at global level; China says H3N8 infection not a cause for worry
COVID-19: Need to relook human relationship with wild, domestic animals, says report
But should not come at the cost of ignoring needs of local / indigenous communities, warns report
Guinea Ebola outbreak risk ‘very high’, warns WHO
Among the 7 cases reported between January 18 and February 13, five have died
Antibiotic misuse in India’s livestock sector can be reduced
Awareness of farmers, legislation for clean sanitary practices in animal farms and its strict implementation can do the trick
Three win Nobel Prize in medicine for discovery of Hepatitis C virus
Harvey J Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M Rice won the prize for the discovery of the virus that caused several deaths in the 1960s and …
How Tanzania’s spousal escort policy frustrates antenatal healthcare
Only 51% Tanzanian women make four or more visits during their entire pregnancy, according to a report
Could forest loss have triggered the COVID-19 pandemic?
Scientific evidence shows that the felling of tropical forests creates ideal conditions for the spread of diseases
COVID-19 calls for renewed look at livestock farming
Poor sanitation facilities, unsafe disposal of factory waste at animal farms pose a problem by providing breeding ground for pathogens.
COVID-19 update: India records 5,880 fresh cases, active caseload crosses 35,000
With the daily positivity rate touching 6.91 per cent, several states have brought back the mandatory usage of masks and social distancing
The ‘kraken’ COVID variant XBB.1.5 is rising quickly in the US — here’s what it could mean for the UK
While XBB’s mutations enable it to evade our immune systems better than previous omicron subvariants, it doesn’t appear to be causing&…
China’s definition of COVID deaths ‘very narrow’, country’s data ‘under-represents’ severity: WHO
Updated definition is narrow since it counts only those deaths caused by COVID-induced pneumonia or respiratory failures
Lifecycle of COVID-19: Yet another omicron sub-variant has countries on high alert
XBB.1.5 shows how dynamic and wide-reaching SARS-CoV-2 variant evolution is, says expert
There’s a ‘weak spot’ in all major novel coronavirus variants — and scientists have found it
The weakness can be targeted by neutralising antibodies, paving the way for universally effective treatments
What is immunity debt and why is it causing a spike in swine flu cases
Delhi had 15 patients in August; 1,500 cases & 43 deaths reported from Maharashtra this year
Coming out of the jungle, infectious diseases
Diseases associated with forests can, in several ways, be seen as a reaction to change in relationship between humans and forests
Understanding zoonotic diseases: How viruses break the nature-human divide
Their novel nature and unpredictability make diseases that jump from animals to humans extremely dangerous
Only 2 cases of poliovirus in 2021 so far: WHO
At least 129 cases reported from January-October 2020; the disease will continue to be classified as a public health emergency of international …
Coronavirus outbreak: A new mapping tool that lets you scroll through timeline
To provide a clearer picture of an evolving story, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has developed a new outbreak-…
Why Ebola vaccine on trial in the DRC is raising hopes
The viral disease burden in Africa is largely underestimated and the rVSV-ZEBOV is a much-needed vaccine in the fight against Ebola
A 2015-like swine flu outbreak might be on the anvil
A major outbreak can be inferred from its rapid spread towards the northern states which have not been highly affected by the virus in the past …
Zika has unborn victims in Madhya Pradesh
As India fights its first Zika outbreak, Down To Earth finds a grievously unprepared response system in virus-hit districts of Vidisha and Bhopal …
WHO’s updated priority pathogen list to be out by early 2023
The current list includes COVID-19, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Ebola and Marburg
Zika virus has spread to several parts of India, finds ICMR
Cases from Telangana, Jharkhand confirm local transmission; experts push for more testing
Trans people twice as likely to die as cis men, women: Lancet study over 5 decades
Mortality risk among trans people did not decrease between 1972 and 2018; the risk may be higher in other countries due to social stigma, study …
WHO launches global facility for pathogen storage, sharing and analysis
The sharing of pathogens is currently done bilaterally between countries; WHO BioHub will expedite the process