Pandemic
Two New Diseases Could Spark Global Outbreaks
May 13, 2013 10:30 am | by MARIA CHENG,AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsTwo respiratory viruses in different parts of the world have captured the attention of global health officials — a novel coronavirus in the Middle East and a new bird flu spreading in China. Last week, the coronavirus related to SARS spread to France, where one patient who probably caught the disease in Dubai infected his hospital roommate.
Three Suspected Cases Of SARS-Related Virus In France
May 10, 2013 1:26 pm | by GREG KELLER,Associated Press | News | CommentsFrench health officials said Friday they are investigating three suspected cases of a deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS, in people who had close contact in the hospital with France's only confirmed case. A nurse at the hospital where the man was hospitalized in late April has herself been under watch at the hospital in Douai since Thursday night.
Canada Not Planning H7N9 Vaccine Studies; Will Watch U.S. Result
May 10, 2013 10:51 am | by Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press | News | CommentsCanada currently has no plans to ask its pandemic flu vaccine manufacturers to make trial batches of vaccine to protect against the new H7N9 bird flu, senior officials of the Public Health Agency of Canada have revealed. While the U.S. government has said it will ask several flu vaccine manufacturers to start growing up batches of serum against the new virus this summer, Canada will watch, wait and learn from the work the U.S.
New Strain Of Bird Flu Found To Be Highly Lethal
April 26, 2013 12:12 pm | by GILLIAN WONG,Associated Press | News | CommentsA new strain of bird flu that emerged in China over the past month is one of the "most lethal" flu viruses so far, worrying health officials because it can jump more easily from birds to humans than the one that started killing people a decade ago, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.
How Chinese Bird Flu Infects Humans Is Still A Mystery
April 19, 2013 3:36 pm | by GILLIAN WONG,Associated Press | News | CommentsAlmost three weeks after China reported finding a new strain of bird flu in humans, experts are still stumped by how people are becoming infected when many appear to have had no recent contact with live fowl and the virus seemingly isn't passing from person to person.
Flu Season Fuels Debate Over Paid Sick Time Laws
January 22, 2013 1:22 pm | by JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press | News | CommentsAn unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.
Flu Outbreak Felt In Ky. Hospitals, Workplaces
January 15, 2013 10:39 am | by BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe statewide flu outbreak has become bad enough to prompt a central Kentucky hospital complex to place temporary restrictions on visiting patients, while health care workers brace for the coming weeks when influenza usually hits its peak.
Flu? Malaria? Disease Forecasters Look To The Sky
January 8, 2013 11:15 am | by MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsIn one recent study, two scientists reported they could predict -- more than seven weeks in advance -- when flu season was going to peak in New York City. Theirs was just the latest in a growing wave of computer models that factor in rainfall, temperature or other weather conditions to forecast disease.
Palestinians Say 9 Dead From Swine Flu Outbreak
January 3, 2013 9:17 am | News | CommentsDeputy Health Minister Asad Ramlawi also said Monday more than 225 people have been infected by the H1N1 influenza strain, known as swine flu. He said more than 25,000 vaccinations have been administered this year to prevent it. The West Bank has 2.5 million residents.
Telepresence Robots Let Employees 'Beam' Into Work
January 2, 2013 5:35 pm | by TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press | News | CommentsTelepresence-robot makers are trying to bridge that gap with wheeled machines — controlled over wireless Internet connections — that give remote workers a physical presence in the workplace. The robots could let managers inspect overseas factories, salespeople greet store customers, family members check on elderly relatives or art lovers tour foreign museums.
FDA Approves First-Of-A-Kind Seasonal Flu Vaccine
November 27, 2012 9:43 am | News | CommentsThe FDA approved Novartis' Flucelvax to prevent influenza in people 18 years and older. The new method has been promoted by U.S. health officials because it is faster than egg-based production and could speed up manufacturing in the event of a pandemic.
British Medical Journal Slams Roche On Tamiflu
November 12, 2012 6:21 pm | by MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsA leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu. The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
This Year's Flu Vaccine Guards Against New Strains
October 2, 2012 1:11 pm | by LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsLast year's flu shot won't shield you this year: Two new strains of influenza have begun circling the globe, and the updated vaccine appears to work well against them, government officials said Thursday. Just because last year was the mildest flu season on record doesn't mean the virus might not bounce back to its usual ferocity this winter.
No, Really: Govt Warns Of 'Zombie Apocalypse'
September 14, 2012 12:23 pm | by ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press | News | CommentsTongue firmly in cheek, the government urged citizens Thursday to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, part of a public health campaign to encourage better preparation for genuine disasters and emergencies. The theory: If you're prepared for a zombie attack, the same preparations will help during a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack.
Texas Pandemic Flu Toolkit
August 13, 2012 12:50 pm | Videos | CommentsThe Texas Pandemic Flu Toolkit helps the state of Texas better prepare for and respond to pandemics by allowing officials to run simulations and come up with strategies to effectively stockpile and deploy resources. The deployment of antiviral medications, vaccines and public health announcments are modeled to determine the most effective strategy.
Speakers' Soapbox: Donna Arobone Blurs Fiction With Reality
August 10, 2012 10:06 am | by Luke Simpson, Editor | Articles | CommentsDonna Arobone, IIG Divisional Contingency Coordinator at Vanguard, speaks with Continuity Insights about why she chose the movie Contagion as a case study in pandemic preparedness, what she would name her band and why Eleanor Roosevelt would have made a good business continuity professional.
Texas A&M Dedicates Biodefense Center
July 24, 2012 11:15 am | by MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe goal is to provide a vaccine in 12 weeks, about half the time it took researchers in 2009 to address the H1N1 — or swine flu — pandemic.
Bird Flu Study Published After Terrorism Debate
June 26, 2012 1:19 am | by MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsThe second of two bird flu studies once considered too risky to publish was released Thursday, ending a saga that pitted concerns about terrorism against fears of a deadly global epidemic.
Business Continuity Returns To New York On October 29-30, 2012
June 4, 2012 4:51 pm | by Luke Simpson, Editor | News | CommentsContinuity Insights New York is the long-awaited return of a dedicated business continuity event to the Northeast. Commissioner Jerome Hauer from the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Commissioner Joseph Bruno from the New York City Office of Emergency Management will open the event with a plenary session on The State of Preparedness.
Officials Unsure Why Flu Season Was Mild In Okla.
May 8, 2012 10:09 am | by KEN MILLER, Associated Press | News | CommentsState health officials say the reasons for the decline from 872 hospitalizations and 26 deaths in 2011 to 316 hospitalizations and nine deaths in 2011 are difficult to pinpoint.
Bird Flu Kills Teen In Eastern Indonesia
March 27, 2012 10:54 am | News | CommentsA 17-year-old has died of bird flu in Indonesia. He is the country's sixth fatality from the virus so far this year.
Government Seeks New Review Of Easier-To-Spread Bird Flu
March 5, 2012 6:06 pm | by LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsBird flu only occasionally sickens people, mostly after close contact with infected poultry, but it can be deadly when it does. Scientists have long feared it might mutate to spread more easily and thus spark a pandemic. Researchers in the Netherlands and Wisconsin were studying how that might happen when they created bird flu strains that at least some mammals — ferrets — can spread by coughing or sneezing.
Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Now Bat Flu? Human Risk Unclear
February 27, 2012 6:41 pm | by MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsFor the first time, scientists have found evidence of flu in bats, reporting a never-before-seen virus whose risk to humans is unclear. The surprising discovery of genetic fragments of a flu virus is the first well-documented report of it in the winged mammals. So far, scientists haven't been able to grow it, and it's not clear if — or how well — it spreads.
Bird Flu Still A Menace In Asia & Beyond
February 20, 2012 8:02 pm | by MARGIE MASON, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsThought bird flu was gone? Recent human deaths in Asia and Egypt are a reminder that the H5N1 virus is still alive and dangerous, and Vietnam is grappling with a new strain that has outsmarted vaccines used to protect poultry flocks.
Locals Nervous After Mexico Swine Flu Spike
February 7, 2012 5:37 am | by KATHERINE CORCORAN, Associated Press | News | CommentsThere have been 1,623 cases of all strains of flu in Mexico recorded so far for January, 90 percent of them H1N1.
