Virus

Explained: Why minks falling sick to bird flu is worrying for humans

The bird flu virus drawing attention today — Type A H5N1 — was first identified in 1959 in Scotland. As bird flu affects more and more animals, such as those at the mink farm, there is concern that the virus will evolve to spread more easily between people, potentially triggering a pandemic

COVID-19: How healthy gut microbiome can bring down severity of infection

A healthy gut microbiome, the vast collection of microorganisms that live in our gut and include bacteria, fungi, and viruses, has been shown in studies to improve the immune response to respiratory infections by regulating immune cells and messages

Three years after COVID-19, how prepared are we for the next pandemic

The WHO is currently working on updating its list of priority pathogens, which could pose the next pandemic threat. Coronaviruses and influenza viruses will be among the main suspects because of their proven pandemic potential

A week into easing, uncertainty over China virus direction

In Beijing and elsewhere, pharmacies are running out of medications and testing kits and many hospital staff are staying home

Is China secretly developing a virus ‘deadlier’ than COVID-19 in a Pakistan laboratory?

There could be a virus more fatal that COVID-19. China’s infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology is reportedly developing pathogens which can cause more contamination than coronavirus in a lab run by the Pakistan army in Rawalpindi

COVID-19: Treatments for better protection against future variants identified

The study, published in the Journal of Infection, found new combination therapies that are highly effective in cell culture experiments and that may reduce the formation of novel variants

31,000 cases and counting... How countries can stop the spread of monkeypox

With only a limited global supply of vaccines, authorities are racing to stop monkeypox before it becomes entrenched as a new disease

Explained: Why London is offering polio vaccine booster doses to children

London will offer a polio booster vaccine to one million children aged 1-9 years after the virus was detected in sewage samples across the capital

New evidence suggests possible 'community spread' of polio in New York

According to health experts, the polio virus has been identified in seven different wastewater samples in two adjacent counties north of New York City

'Experimental chewing gum 'traps' Omicron particles in saliva'

According to a new study, the chewing gum traps COVID particles in the saliva and hold promise for curbing transmission of new variants of the virus