epidemic

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Patron Saint of Epidemics Has a Name That Will Throw You

Germany's Aachen Cathedral readies for showcase on—wait for it—St. Corona

(Newser) - Whether it's true irony or Alanis Morissette-style irony (i.e., something closer to coincidence) may be debatable, but what can't be refuted is that a German cathedral is about to reintroduce to the world an oddly named saint for these times. As the coronavirus sweeps the globe, Reuters...

WHO: Coronavirus Epidemic 'Could Get Out of Control'
WHO: Coronavirus Epidemic
'Could Get Out of Control'
the rundown
Feb 28, 2020 8:00 AM CST

WHO: Coronavirus Epidemic 'Could Get Out of Control'

It has now hit 53 countries

(Newser) - World markets plunged Friday as the director-general of the World Health Organization warned that the coronavirus epidemic "could get out of control." Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the epidemic, which has now hit 53 countries, has "pandemic potential" and is at a "decisive point globally," where...

152 Kids Have Died Here. The Heat Is Making Things Worse

Officials trying to get a handle on encephalitis epidemic in Bihar state, India

(Newser) - India's Supreme Court on Monday directed state and national authorities to file reports to the court on an encephalitis outbreak in the eastern state of Bihar this month in which 152 children have died. A senior Bihar health department official, Sanjay Kumar, said the epidemic is showing signs of...

FDA May Take Drastic Moves to End Teen Vaping 'Epidemic'

Could ban sales if manufacturers don't comply with new requirement

(Newser) - Youth vaping is an "epidemic," as far as the FDA is concerned, and if manufacturers don't submit "robust" plans to prevent kids from getting their hands on flavored e-cigarettes, the agency will take action—possibly going so far as to order the flavored products off the...

Deadly Virus in India Could Cause Global Epidemic

The outbreak started with a fruit bat

(Newser) - The Nipah virus has now killed at least a dozen people in southern India and health workers fear it could become a global epidemic if it isn't tightly monitored. More than 40 other people have been infected with the virus, which has a mortality rate of around 75%, Fox...

Mom Shares Pic of Dying Son as a Plea
Mom Shares Pic
of Dying Son
as a Plea
in case you missed it
Apr 29, 2017 5:34 PM CDT

Mom Shares Pic of Dying Son as a Plea

A Canadian woman says her son who overdosed on fentanyl was not an addict

(Newser) - One mother in Canada is taking the heartbreak of losing her son to a fentanyl overdose and turning it into a poignant PSA on the dangers of the synthetic opioid. In a Facebook post, Sherri Kent shared a photo of her holding her dying 22-year-old son, Michael Kent, in his...

Did Salmonella Cause Outbreaks Behind Aztec Collapse?
Did Salmonella Bring
Down the Aztecs?
NEW STUDY
Feb 20, 2017 2:33 AM CST

Did Salmonella Bring Down the Aztecs?

Scientists present the first genetic evidence of the pathogen

(Newser) - In modern times, a strain of salmonella called Paratyphi C. causes a typhus-like outbreak called enteric fever that can kill as many as 15% of those it infects, mostly in developing countries. Now, evolutionary geneticists think this strain of salmonella could be what sickened and killed millions of natives in...

1 in 11 Organ Donors Died of Drug Overdose Last Year

More than 20 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant

(Newser) - As the number of Americans dying of drug overdoses continues to rise—thanks in large part to an opioid epidemic—so too has the number of organ donors. In fact, the percentage of donors who died of overdoses has nearly tripled since 2006, according to data gathered by the United...

Typhoid 'Superbug' Spreading Worldwide

H58 strain is 'completely transforming' disease

(Newser) - Efforts to fight typhoid in some of the world's poorest countries have helped create an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" strain of the disease that's spreading worldwide, researchers warn. According to a study published in Nature Genetics , the resistant H58 strain of typhoid is now present in at least 21...

HIV Epidemic Strikes an Indiana County

Needle-sharing fueled the outbreak

(Newser) - In one southern Indiana county, at least 72 people have been diagnosed with HIV since December. The Scott County "epidemic" has been fueled by opiate addicts sharing needles, and it's moving fast—another seven residents have tested "preliminary positive," and Reuters reports that officials fear the...

True Root of Black Death: Giant Gerbils?

Climate fluctuations suggest the plague entered European harbors from Asia

(Newser) - Much-maligned black rats and their fleas have long been blamed for spreading the Black Death that claimed millions of lives in Europe over the course of a few hundred years, but scientists now have a new critter they think was at fault. By studying tree rings to learn about precise...

Origin of Ebola Outbreak: Tiny Guinea Bat?

Team says bats hunted by kids likely started this outbreak

(Newser) - The current Ebola epidemic—which now totals upward of 20,000 cases and more than 7,700 deaths—has already been traced to the tiny village of Meliandou in southern Guinea, where the person thought to be patient zero, 2-year-old Emile Ouamouno, died with Ebola-like symptoms in late 2013. Fruit...

The Ebola Outbreak: It's Time for 'Plan C'

We need 500M doses of a vaccine we don't have: Michael Osterholm

(Newser) - Plan A for stopping Ebola calls for shutting it down where it's already occurring, and that's not working. There's no Plan B in place to prevent it from expanding even further, especially if it hits a busy area with limited health care. So it's time for...

'Hero' Ebola Doctor Dies; US Physician Is 'Grave'

Disease threatens to spread to Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria

(Newser) - Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, one of the leading doctors fighting Sierra Leone's Ebola outbreak, died today of the virus in yet another high-profile casualty , reports the BBC . The death of the man hailed by the government as a "national hero" comes as Nigeria, the continent's most populous...

'Tip of Iceberg'? Ebola Toll Passes 500

Aid group blames 'gross misjudgement in gauging severity'

(Newser) - Deep in the forests of southern Guinea, the first victims fell ill with high fevers. People assumed it was the perennial killer malaria and had no reason to fear touching the bodies. Some desperate relatives brought loved ones to the distant capital in search of better medical care, unknowingly spreading...

California Facing Whooping Cough Epidemic

More than 3K cases reported this year

(Newser) - At least 3,458 cases of whooping cough have been reported in California this year—more than the number reported through all of last year. Facing 800 cases in the past two weeks, the state has now declared an epidemic, the San Jose Mercury News reports. "We urge all...

Skeletons Reveal Black Death Secrets

Victims led hard lives before dying, scientists say

(Newser) - Skeletons dug up in London last year are indeed the remains of people who died from the Black Plague—and who suffered a tough life before falling ill, the BBC reports. Forensic analysis shows that teeth taken from at least four of the 12 corpses discovered during excavation for a...

Swine Flu's 2009 Death Toll Not 19K—It Was 203K
Swine Flu's 2009 Death Toll
Not 19K—It Was 203K
new study
Nov 27, 2013 1:37 PM CST

Swine Flu's 2009 Death Toll Not 19K—It Was 203K

New research finds H1N1 epidemic killed 10 times more than estimated

(Newser) - WHO initially reported 18,631 lab-confirmed deaths from 2009's "swine flu" epidemic—but a new study by epidemiologists finds that H1N1 actually killed as many as 203,000 people. The researchers looked at respiratory deaths in 20 countries and then used that data to calculate a global figure....

US Woefully Unprepared for New Tuberculosis Epidemic

Multidrug-resistant TB on the rise, and US is at risk: experts

(Newser) - Though multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was basically conquered in the US in the 1990s, it's now at epidemic levels in other parts of the world—and the US is not prepared, reports the Wall Street Journal in an extensive look at the disease. As TB strains get more drug-resistant abroad—a...

Vermont Declares Whooping Cough Epidemic

Urges adults to get vaccinated

(Newser) - Vermont is officially in the midst of a whooping cough epidemic, the state's department of health has declared, urging everyone age 19 and older to get vaccinated. As of the end of last week there had been 522 reported cases of the disease, formally known as pertussis, the Burlington ...

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