Scientists from four well-known institutions say the next major disease like HIV/AIDS or SARS could occur in any of a number of developing countries concentrated along the equator. They encourage increased surveillance to prevent the spread of a potential outbreak.

A shortage of fresh drinking water is causing an outbreak of diarrhea in Bangladesh after last week's Cyclone Sidr lashed the country leaving almost 3,500 dead, local authorities said Wednesday.

A mystery illness in Angola that has made at least 370 people sick may be linked to exposure to a toxin, but lead and mercury poisoning have been ruled out, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.

An outbreak of Rift Valley fever has killed up to 100 people in Sudan and is threatening the lives of many more. For humans, contracting Rift Valley fever is often fatal, as there is no effective vaccine and the disease is easily spread from animals to people.

Doctors and AIDS activists are warning that an increasing number of simultaneous tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infections has created a deadly co-epidemic that is spreading throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Instead of attacking wild birds for our new disease problems, a far more cost effective approach should focus on keeping wild animals separate in the places where they often commingle: in wildlife markets and international trade, according to wildlife health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a recent issue of the prestigious Journal of Wildlife Diseases.

Health experts at a conference in Kuala Lumpur say climate change is causing an increase in disease in Asia. They warn the situation is likely to get worse and urge governments to be prepared.

Jack Kevorkian, the American physician of Armenian origin who became known as "Dr Death", was released from prison recently after eight years.