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November 14, 2012 Some doctors thought Lyme disease was a chronic condition that relapsed. Now, there's evidence that recurring cases of Lyme disease may actually be caused by multiple, discrete tick bites and infections.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 14, 2012 Southeast Asia is a hot spot for drug-resistant malaria. In the past few years, parasites in two regions have become less responsive to the last, best drug we have against malaria. Researchers report that this new type of drug resistance may be spreading to Vietnam and central Myanmar.

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November 14, 2012 Pakistan is close to eradicating one of the last two remaining types of polio left in the country, researchers announced on Monday. They haven't seen a case of this type in nearly seven months. Health workers are cautiously optimistic that their extra vaccination efforts are starting to pay off.

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November 12, 2012 Although Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in New England, researchers find that babesiosis, a disease that mimics malaria, is catching up. The swelling population of white-tailed deer and the ticks that feed on their blood may be why.

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November 7, 2012 Even as winter approaches, mosquitoes are still spreading West Nile virus in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 5,000 cases have been reported so far this year.

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October 22, 2012 Researchers in South Africa tracked how the evolution of the virus in two infected woman shaped the antibodies they produced to fight it. Several months after infection, the researchers saw that the patients had developed more "broadly neutralizing antibodies," which target different versions of the virus.

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October 19, 2012 Thanks to vigorous efforts to eradicate the poliovirus through vaccination, there are only three countries on the face of the earth where polio is still endemic. NPR reporters and editors hosted a chat on Twitter: #chasingpolio.

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October 18, 2012 Adding a 12-year-old antibiotic to the regimen of patients with highly drug-resistant tuberculosis cured nearly 90 percent of patients in a study involving about 40 people in South Korea. The study, though small, suggests that the battle against the ancient scourge is far from lost.

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October 9, 2012 Because of fears that lab-altered bird flu viruses could cause a deadly pandemic if they ever escaped the lab, scientists agreed to a moratorium on mutant H5N1 flu research eight months ago. Now top scientists in the field continue the debate about the work, publishing six commentaries for and against the end of the moratorium.

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October 5, 2012 At first it seemed likely that the two known cases of illness from the new cousin-of-SARS virus may have been exposed in or near the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. But now it's pretty certain that a 49-year-old Qatari man who had traveled to Jeddah last month didn't pick up the virus there after all.

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October 5, 2012 To curb a recent Ebola outbreak in Uganda, health workers quarantined over 40 people suspected of infection with the virus. Their belongings were burned and buried in case they were harboring the virus.

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October 4, 2012 A steroid drug administered to relieve back pain has been contaminated by the spores of a common leaf mold. Five deaths have been reported so far.

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October 3, 2012 Public health experts have gotten better at detecting new diseases and figuring out their cause since the SARS outbreak nearly 10 years ago. Advances in communications and genetics mean information about new microbes is more accessible.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

September 28, 2012 Virologists have published the genome sequence of the new coronavirus, which has killed one man and hospitalized another. The mystery virus is most closely related to coronaviruses that infect bats in Southeast Asia. But this doesn't necessarily mean that the men caught the virus directly from bats.

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