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Washington County records four cases of drug-resistant HIV

Four men in King County, Washington, have been diagnosed with a strain of HIV that is resistant to at least two types of antiretroviral drugs, and health officials on Thursday said they are concerned the strain could spread, the Seattle Times reports.

7 Feb 2007

Chinese authorities prevent HIV/AIDS advocate from coming to U.S.

Chinese HIV/AIDS advocate and retired physician Gao Yaojie last week was put under house arrest by Chinese authorities to prevent her from visiting the U.S. next month to accept an award from the group Vital Voices Global Partnership, the New York Times reports.

7 Feb 2007

UNAIDS to introduce HIV testing guidelines in India that recommend provider-initiated testing

UNAIDS in March plans to introduce new HIV testing guidelines in India that recommend health care providers initiate testing and counseling, the Hindustan Times reports.

7 Feb 2007

Gambian President claims three day HIV/AIDS cure

Leading South African HIV/AIDS experts are shocked and dismayed by a claim by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh that he can cure AIDS in three days.

6 Feb 2007

British experts baffled by bird flu outbreak

Although more than 150,000 turkeys have been slaughtered at a farm in Suffolk in England in order to curb the spread of the deadly bird flu virus, officials remain baffled as to the source of the outbreak.

5 Feb 2007

Hurricane style warning system will help U.S. cope with a bird flu pandemic

The plan is an early-warning ranking system similar to that deployed at times of hurricanes and is intended to protect and mobilize the country against a flu pandemic.

4 Feb 2007

Brits on high alert as bird flu kills thousands of turkeys

British health officials have confirmed that the avian flu virus which killed 2,600 turkeys at a farm in Lowestoft, Suffolk was indeed the H5N1 virus.

4 Feb 2007

Scientists change bird flu virus and stop it spreading

Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have found that just two small changes in the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic stopped it from jumping between mammals in the laboratory.

4 Feb 2007

Indonesia comes up with bird flu vaccine

The head of Indonesia's national committee on avian influenza has announced that scientists there have developed a bird flu vaccine for humans.

1 Feb 2007

UK scientists reverse symptoms of mad cow disease

The researchers at University College, London, believe they have found a way to treat the disease in humans as long as it is detected before it has done harm to a large number of brain cells.

1 Feb 2007

Nigeria confirms avian influenza infection in woman from Lagos

The government of Nigeria has announced the death from suspected avian influenza infection in a 22-year-old female from Lagos. She died on 16 January 2007.

31 Jan 2007

World's largest particle physics accelerator tackles malaria

Malaria kills more than one million people each year, most of them young children living in Africa. Now physicists in the UK have shared their computers with biologists from countries including France and Korea in an effort to combat the disease.

31 Jan 2007

Rift Valley Fever - 411 suspected cases

As of 30 January 2007, 411 suspected cases, including 121 deaths (case-fatality rate, 29%) have been reported in North Eastern Province, Coast Province, Eastern Province and Central Province. One hundred and thirty-one cases have been laboratory confirmed.

31 Jan 2007

Institute of Materia Medica and TB Alliance partner to tackle tuberculosis

The Institute of Materia Medica (IMM), a member of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit, product development partnership accelerating the discovery and development of new TB drugs, today announced plans to pursue a joint research partnership to develop promising, novel anti-tuberculosis agents.

31 Jan 2007

Molecular change in 1918 pandemic influenza virus stops transmission

Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that a molecular change in the 1918 pandemic influenza virus stops its transmission in ferrets that were in close proximity, shedding light on the properties that allowed the 1918 pandemic virus to spread so quickly.

31 Jan 2007

Investment level in HIV prevention related to HIV incidence in U.S.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health conducted a historical analysis to examine the relationship between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) HIV prevention budget and HIV incidence in the U.S. from 1978 to 2006.

31 Jan 2007

Rift Valley Fever threat puts Kenya on the verge of a national disaster

Kenya is facing a possible national disaster over an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF).

31 Jan 2007

New York City approves contract to distribute 20 million condoms

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently approved a $1.57 million contract to deliver more than 20 million Ansell Healthcare's Lifestyle condoms and packets of lubricants to organizations and venues in the city to help curb the spread of HIV, the New York Post reports.

30 Jan 2007

Caribbean summit on HIV/AIDS long overdue

At last week's Caribbean Summit on HIV/AIDS in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, a "few regional leaders ... have finally taken their heads out of our soft sand," which hopefully will "expos[e] the salutary neglect" of those heads of state who have not applied for funds from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief for "political reasons" or "fatal ignorance.

30 Jan 2007

China aims to raise public awareness of HIV prevention

The program -- funded by U.S. Department of Labor -- aims to raise public awareness of HIV prevention, protect employment rights of people living with the disease, and reduce stigma and discrimination in the workplace (Xinhua/People's Daily, 1/26).

30 Jan 2007