The influenza A virus does not lie dormant during summer but migrates globally and mixes with other viral strains before returning to the Northern Hemisphere as a genetically different virus, according to biologists who say the finding settles a key debate on what the virus does during the summer off season when it is not infecting people.
With the fall harvest season approaching, Health Canada is advising parents and caregivers that children should not be served unpasteurized apple juice or other unpasteurized products, such as unpasteurized cider, fruit juices and raw milk.
The New York City Health Department confirmed the first human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in a 41-year-old Brooklyn woman.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval of a second test for the detection of West Nile virus (WNV) in blood and organs.
US State officials reported mosquito pools testing positive for West Nile Virus in the following locations: Camp Hill Borough, Cumberland County; Concord Township, Delaware County (3 samples); Thornbury Township, Delaware County; Washington Township, Franklin County; Allentown City, Lehigh County; Bethlehem City, Lehigh County; Philadelphia City; Conewago Township, York County.
A campaign led by the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) to prevent major outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea in Sudan during the rainy season this year is paying dividends, with the number of cases of the sometimes fatal condition in the north of the country almost 90 per cent below last year?s figures.
Novartis announced today the availability in the US of the first shipments of Fluvirin influenza virus vaccine for the 2007/08 season.
A team of entomologists from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources has completed their assessment of the impact of mosquitoes following the flooding that occurred in southeast Kansas last month.
Australia is experiencing a worse than normal influenza season in 2007, with increased numbers of cases being reported across several states and territories.
Most flu immunization plans in the United States do not address how to vaccinate hard-to-reach populations — undocumented immigrants, substance users, the homeless, homebound elderly, and minorities — and this potentially dangerous omission can lead masses of people to become ill during an outbreak of pandemic flu or other contagious disease, according to a new study by the New York Academy of Medicine in the current issue of the Journal of Urban Health.