All Emerging Threats & Epidemiology articles – Page 9
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NewsWhat factors influence likelihood and severity of Ebola outbreaks?
Two new papers looked at factors that contribute to how Ebola outbreaks begin and how severe they become. This Q&A looks at how the results could inform public health interventions to prevent pathogen emergence or slow the spread of Ebola and other infectious diseases.
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NewsResearch guides response to unprecedented 2023 E. coli outbreak affecting Calgary kids
Protocols developed by scientists informed care when hundreds of children were sick due to a severe strain of E. coli. Overall, 40 children were hospitalized, 21 developed HUS and nine required dialysis. The number of children who developed HUS was less than half of what would typically occur in an outbreak of this size.
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NewsAntibiotics can affect the gut microbiome for several years
Researchers have found strong links between a person’s history of antibiotic use and the composition of their gut microbiome, including the diversity of bacterial species.
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NewsScientists identify more effective way to detect poultry viruses in live markets
Scientists have found that viruses circulating in live poultry markets can be detected more effectively by sampling the surrounding environment than by testing individual birds. The study shows that environmental sampling can uncover a broader range of poultry viruses.
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NewsThermo Fisher Scientific launches new color-based culture media to help detect Candida infections faster
Thermo Fisher Scientific today announced the launch of Thermo Scientific™ Brilliance™ Candida 2 Agar and Spectra™ Candida Agar, new color-based (chromogenic) culture media to help laboratories quickly detect and differentiate clinically important Candida species.
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NewsTackling tuberculosis systematically: How the environment shapes TB risk
Researchers introduce the concept of the “tuberculogenic environment”: the complex interplay of structures, rules, and living conditions that keep certain communities at high TB risk, even when care is available.
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NewsImaging technique is step towards needed treatments for hantaviruses in new molecular ma
Researchers have produced a detailed blueprint, the highest resolution yet, for a protein complex the Andes virus uses to infect host cells. The new detailed structural information enabled the researchers to produce a vaccine candidate that caused mice to produce neutralizing antibodies against the Andes virus.
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NewsHPV vaccination provides “sustained protection” against cervical cancer
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is associated with a significantly reduced risk of invasive cervical cancer, with no indication of waning protection up to 18 years after vaccination, finds a study.
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NewsVaccine uptake: Why conspiracy theories can be so irresistible
New research has found that understanding how someone processes information can be a strong predictor of whether they are drawn to conspiracy beliefs that can influence vaccine uptake, trust in institutions and responses to emergencies.
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NewsYou don’t need to be very altruistic to stop an epidemic
Researchers have used a mathematical model of epidemic behaviour to find that even people who are only barely altruistic - valuing their own life as equivalent to the lives of around 100,000 others – would still see it as rational to drastically reduce their social contacts when infected.
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NewsThe hidden infections that refuse to go away: how household practices can stop deadly diseases
A 13-year study reveals why a deadly parasitic infection targeted for elimination in China persisted in some areas even after decades of control. The research investigated some of the last pockets of schistosomiasis in the country, finding that farming practices and unsafe sanitation contributed to disease spread.
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NewsPower grids to epidemics: study shows small patterns trigger systemic failures
Why do some systems collapse suddenly after what seems like a minor disturbance? In nature, a local disease outbreak can quickly escalate into an epidemic. New research suggests that in many cases, the key isn’t the entire system – but its smallest building blocks.
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NewsBooster jabs reduce the risks of COVID-19 deaths, study finds
Booster vaccines reduced the risk of COVID‑19–related hospitalisation and death, according to a new study of over 3 million adults who had the autumn 2022 vaccine in England.
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NewsDebilitating virus can spread in cool weather, increasing health risk in Europe
Chikungunya virus, a debilitating tropical disease caused by infected mosquito bites, poses a greater health threat in Europe than previously thought because it can be spread when air temperatures are as low as 13 degrees Celsius.
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NewsStrategic changes in water treatment could prevent disease outbreaks
A breakthrough new study shows how strategic changes in water treatment effectively treated a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease. For the first time, the study provides evidence of an outbreak being stopped by introducing disinfection to previously untreated groundwater.
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NewsGlobal commitment on display as countries negotiate key annex to the Pandemic Agreement
Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded a weeklong round of negotiations on draft annex for Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) – a key component of the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
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NewsMpox: recombinant virus with genomic elements of clades Ib and IIb
Recombination of monkeypox virus (MPXV) strains has been documented in recent months, with two cases of a recombinant strain comprising clade Ib and IIb MPXV reported, the World Health Organization says.
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NewsFire-footed rope squirrels identified as a natural reservoir for monkeypox virus
A cross-species transmission event documented in Côte d’Ivoire provides new insights into the spread of mpox in the wild.
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NewsCommunity spread drives ongoing measles transmission in Europe
Preliminary data for 2025 show a significant drop in the number of reported measles cases across EU/EEA countries compared with 2024. However, these figures are still twice as high than those reported in 2023.
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NewsH5N1 causes die-off of Antarctic skuas
More than 50 skuas in Antarctica died from the high pathogenicity avian influenza virus H5N1 in the summers of 2023 and 2024, marking the first documented die-off of wildlife from the virus on the continent.