Health News
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have awarded a $300,000 grant for research focusing on the nature of the immune response induced by the action mechanisms of plant-made Virus-Like Particles (VLP) to Dr. Louis Vezina, Chief Scientific Officer of Medicago and to Dr. Brian Ward and Dr...
Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced that its affiliate VGX International Inc. (Korean Stock Exchange: 011000) has received approval in Korea to begin a Phase I clinical trial in healthy volunteers for Inovio's SynCon™ preventive DNA vaccine (VGX-3400) targeting H5N1 avian influenza...
Campylobacter Bacteria in Cattle Manure May Survive Composting Contrary to popular belief, some disease causing bacteria may actually survive the composting process...
An international team of scientists has created a highly pathogenic laboratory hybrid of the H5N1 bird flu and human seasonal flu viruses by swapping just one gene, and propose that a similar genetic interaction could happen in nature between the current pandemic H1N1 swine flu and H5N1 avian flu strains, highlighting the importance of continued surveillance...
Genetic interactions between avian H5N1 influenza and human seasonal influenza viruses have the potential to create hybrid strains combining the virulence of bird flu with the pandemic ability of H1N1, according to a new study. In laboratory experiments in mice, a single gene segment from a human seasonal flu virus, H3N2, was able to convert the avian H5N1 virus into a highly pathogenic form...
Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc...
Social interaction between neighbours, work colleagues and other communities and social groups makes voluntary vaccination programs for epidemics such as Swine Flu, SARS or Bird Flu a surprisingly effective method of disease control...
One quarter of Ontario hospitals surveyed in a Queen's University-led study do not have an influenza pandemic plan and few plans that do exist have been tested. In addition, key players were not involved in developing the plans, and funding for pandemic preparedness was inadequate. "It's not good enough just to have a plan, you have to test it...
The two strains of the H1N1 influenza virus responsible for the 1918 and 2009 global flu pandemics do not cause disease in birds. The results of the study, published in the February issue of the Journal of General Virology, also show it is unlikely that birds played a role in the spread of the H1N1 virus in these pandemics...
Genetic analyses of avian influenza in wild birds can help pinpoint likely carrier species and geographic hot spots where Eurasian viruses would be most likely to enter North America, according to new U.S. Geological Survey research...