Zoonotic Infections News

Vehicles transporting pigs played a role in spreading porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PEDV, in the United States in 2013, according to recent findings.

Researchers have developed a novel early warning system to assess the likelihood of a dengue epidemic in Brazil during the World Cup, and they indicate that the highest risk for an outbreak is in three northeastern cities that will be hosting some of the matches this year.

The characterization of avian influenza viruses found in Adélie penguins in two distinct sites in Antarctica suggests a unique genome that digressed from other avian viruses between 49 and 80 years ago, according to recent study results.

After meeting for the fifth time, the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee expressed concern over the sharp rise in cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, but determined that the current situation has not met conditions for a public health emergency of international concern, according to Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda, MD, MPH.

The CDC has listed five parasitic infections as priorities for public health action in the United States, based on factors such as the number of people infected, the severity of the disease and the ability to prevent and treat them.

In the United States, cases of human rabies are rare. In 2012, only one case was reported to the CDC.

Children younger than 5 years who have severe malarial anemia are at risk for long-term impairment in cognitive ability, according to researchers from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

The University of Pittsburgh and Sanofi-Pasteur are partnering to assess the efficacy of Sanofi-Pasteur’s investigational dengue vaccine, according to a university press release.

Spring has arrived, and along with warmer weather and blossoming tree buds, a seasonal risk looms, especially for outdoor enthusiasts. The risk for Lyme disease, and the cardiac complications that can be associated with it, increases as people spend more time outdoors.

Researchers warn that chikungunya virus has great potential to become a severe epidemic in the Americas — including in the United States — based on new data published in the Journal of Virology.