Polio vaccination in Pakistan, where the wild virus continues to circulate.Credit: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty If you are under 60, the global quest to eradicate polio has been with you for most of your adult life. During that time, the natural strain of the virus, also known as wild-type polio, has been eliminated from almost all countries.
Ten years ago, the virus that causes polio seemed to be on its way to extinction. In August 2016, Nigeria experienced its last two cases of the wild virus, leaving it circulating only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Amid global enthusiasm, Hamid Jafari, who at the time was leading polio operations and research at the World
Two scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, have been charged in connection with biological material they brought into the United States from abroad.Credit: PBH/Alamy Images Two virologists at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) face charges related to the alleged smuggling of non-infectious monkeypox virus (MPXV) and other biological samples into the
The parasite that causes diarrhea Cyclospora cayetanensis It reproduces through egg-like structures called oocysts (stained orange in this microscope image).Credit: CDC/DPDx – Melanie Moser A microscopic parasite found in contaminated food products is ruining summer meals across the United States in the largest outbreak of its kind in the country’s history. And health officials have
Passengers disembarked from the MV Hondius at the Canary Islands wearing personal protective equipment.Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Close to 150 passengers and crew members on the cruise ship MV Hondius struck by an outbreak of a deadly hantavirus have disembarked and are returning to their home countries, where they will quarantine. The way that will happen,