World on Brink of New Epidemic: WHO

(NEWSER) - While the world panics over swine flu, many far more serious outbreaks lie in wait, reports Foreign Policy. Here are some you won’t see on TV—yet:

• Cholera: The deadly diarrheal infection is rampant in Africa, with infections shooting up 96% in 2006. The current outbreak in Zimbabwe has killed 4,200 since August.
• Ebola: Unlikely to become a pandemic, but has an absolutely terrifying mortality rate.

World ill-prepared for massive outbreak

(NEWSER) - The world is in danger of losing up to 50 million people to an "inevitable" flu pandemic, and global response agencies aren't ready for such a test, the British government warns. A report rates early-warning systems as "poorly coordinated" and calls for an overhaul of the World Health Organization, reports the Independent. More»

Experts fear spread of disease, entrenched in avian population, to humans

(NEWSER) - The danger of a worldwide bird flu epidemic is growing as the virus becomes established in the avian population, Reuters reports. World Health Organization experts today urged all nations to prepare in case the H5N1 virus mutates into a form easily transferable between humans. In birds, the strain has spread across Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. More»

But cases are expected to rise with warm weather

(NEWSER) - The outbreak of a deadly virus in China hasn’t peaked yet—but it won’t affect the Beijing Games, a World Health Organization rep said. “I don't see it at all as a threat to the Olympics or any upcoming events,” he noted. Enterovirus 71 has killed 24 children and infected thousands, the Guardian reports. But the highest volume of cases is usually seen in June and July, WHO said. More»

Country demands guarantee any future vaccination will be affordable

(NEWSER) - Indonesia won't send avian flu specimens to the World Heath Organization, it said today, continuing a months-long stalemate over assurances that resulting vaccines will be cheap enough for the developing world. The country’s health minister had been in Geneva to rebuild WHO’s virus-sharing system, the AP reports. More»