Outbreaks of measles in developing countries may be reduced by vaccinating infants at 4.5 months of age as well as at the World Health Organization's recommended routine vaccination at 9 months, according to a study published on BMJ.com today.

Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases but they also are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every year. However, many people, scientists among them, are largely unaware of the roles fungi play in the world around us.

Outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB) may be able to be identified by looking at certain characteristics of the first two patients, according to new research.

In an unprecedented initiative, US and Canadian experts have developed a comprehensive framework to optimize and manage critical care resources during times of pandemic outbreaks or other mass critical care disasters.

Over the past 35 years the proportion of foodborne outbreaks linked to the consumption of leafy green vegetables has substantially increased and that increase can not be completely attributed to Americans eating more salads according to research presented today (March 17) at the 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia.

Outbreaks of the notorious crown of thorns starfish now threaten the “coral triangle,” the richest center of coral reef biodiversity on Earth, according to recent surveys by the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that 73% of avian flu outbreaks in the UK would not spread beyond the initial infected farm, but larger outbreaks are more likely to involve the duck meat industry.

A review of measures taken to address a 2004 outbreak of the highly infectious Norwalk virus at The Johns Hopkins Hospital has provided the first solid documentation of expenses and efforts in the United States to stop the infection from spreading among patients, staff and visitors.

Most flu immunization plans in the United States do not address how to vaccinate hard-to-reach populations (HTR)--undocumented immigrants, substance users, the homeless, homebound elderly, and minorities--and this potentially dangerous omission can lead masses of people to become ill during an outbreak of pandemic flu or other contagious disease, according to a new study by The New York Academy of Medicine in the current issue of the Journal of Urban Health.

Researchers at UCLA have developed a mathematical model that mimics a particularly nasty and ongoing outbreak in the Los Angeles County Jail (LACJ) of the flesh eating bacteria Staphylococcus Aureus.

The research, conducted by paleoclimatologist Curt Stager of Paul Smith's College in Paul Smiths, N.Y. and colleagues, can be used by public health officials to increase measures against insect-borne diseases long before epidemics begin. The results are published online in the August 7 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.