Torrential rains over the weekend buried Sri Lanka under mudslides and the worst floods since 2003. Although the storm – now Cyclone Mora – has left for Bangladesh, the effects are far from over. Aid agencies are bracing for more possible rains as well as an uptick in dengue, cholera and other water-borne diseases.
Scientists have ample reason to keep an eye on a mosquito-borne virus called mayaro, but when the media rushes to declare it the next Zika epidemic, the result may do more harm than good. Mayaro has been circulating in Latin America for decades, but little is known about the virus.
Humanitarian groups sounded the alarm this week, warning that people in Yemen are suffering on all fronts as the armed…
Bill and Melinda Gates like science and technology, and believe innovation is the key to solving some of the world’s…
News that two American aid workers who were infected with the Ebola virus are being provided treatment in Atlanta has…
Taken in isolation, the news reports that polio appears to have returned to Syria for the first time since the late 1990s, that dengue and yellow fever is showing up across the southern United States and that Texas has had its worst year ever for West Nile virus all seem like separate disease outbreaks. And they are. But taken together, they should also serve as a reminder that disease, especially infectious disease, doesn’t spread independent of human behavior – and bad behavior on the other side of the planet can kill here.
Brazil’s battle against dengue is worth special scrutiny because this country is one of the world’s up-and-coming ’emerging markets,’ and improving health is a top priority on its development agenda. How is it doing against the spread of this expanding mosquito-borne disease?
I hate to admit it, but I kind of like the idea of genetically altering mosquitoes — or the bacteria…
It’s rarely on most Americans’ minds, but worldwide dengue is a big killer. And it’s spreading fast. The U.S. Centers…
The idea of altering mosquitoes to fight disease appears to be quite contagious. It’s almost become a news category unto…