Infectious Disease : Goats and Soda Infectious Disease

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STORIES OF LIFE IN A CHANGING WORLD

Infectious Disease

Wednesday July 26, 2017

Dengue Fever Cases Top 100,000 In Sri Lanka's Outbreak

A worker fogs a neighborhood on the outskirts of Colombo in Sri Lanka in an effort to ward off mosquitoes. The country is facing an outbreak of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Dengue Fever Cases Top 100,000 In Sri Lanka's Outbreak

July 26, 2017 • A dengue fever outbreak has left some hospitals so full that they're turning away patients.

Tuesday July 25, 2017

New Report Shows 64 Of 195 Countries Aren't Meeting A Basic Vaccination Target

Leanne Abraham and Brittany Mayes/NPR

Infectious Disease

New Report Shows 64 Of 195 Countries Aren't Meeting A Basic Vaccination Target

July 25, 2017 • The goal is to reach 90 percent of children with the DTP vaccination — a child's first scheduled immunization. Some countries are barely at 50 percent.

Wednesday July 19, 2017

Why Zika Is Especially Hard On The Women Of Brazil

Maria Carolina Silva Flor and Joselito Alves dos Santos with their 18-month-old daughter, Maria Gabriela Silva Alves. The baby was born with Zika syndrome. Amanda Klasing hide caption

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Amanda Klasing

Infectious Disease

Why Zika Is Especially Hard On The Women Of Brazil

July 19, 2017 • They've been largely responsible for warding off mosquitoes at home — and caring for the children born with microcephaly. A new study says that the government has not given them the support they need.

Thursday July 13, 2017

How Did Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Pop Up In Spain?

Ticks of the genus Hyalomma, pictured here, are principally responsible for passing on Crimea-Congo hemorrhagic fever to humans. Adam Cuerden hide caption

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Adam Cuerden

Infectious Disease

How Did Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Pop Up In Spain?

July 13, 2017 • The Ebola-like virus is found mainly in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Friday June 30, 2017

How To Stop The World's Worst Cholera Outbreak

The scene after a mortar attack on the southern city of Taez. Ahmad Al-Basha/Getty Images hide caption

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Ahmad Al-Basha/Getty Images

Infectious Disease

How To Stop The World's Worst Cholera Outbreak

June 30, 2017 • There are more than 200,000 cases in Yemen, a war-ravaged country whose health system is collapsing. We asked specialists what needs to happen to bring the disease under control.

Wednesday June 28, 2017

Mutant Strains Of Polio Vaccine Now Cause More Paralysis Than Wild Polio

Nurses give the oral polio vaccine to a Syrian child in a refugee camp in Turkey. The oral polio vaccine used throughout most of the developing world contains a form of the virus that has been weakened in the laboratory. But it's still a live virus. Carsten Koall/Getty Images hide caption

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Carsten Koall/Getty Images

Youth

Mutant Strains Of Polio Vaccine Now Cause More Paralysis Than Wild Polio

June 28, 2017 • So far this year, there have been only six cases of wild polio — and 21 cases of vaccine-derived polio, most of them in Syria.

Wednesday June 21, 2017

Spillover Beasts: Which Animals Pose The Biggest Viral Risk?

Matt Twombly for NPR

Infectious Disease

Spillover Beasts: Which Animals Pose The Biggest Viral Risk?

June 21, 2017 • Rodents, primates and bats likely carry hundreds of thousands of viruses we haven't yet identified. But how do you know which ones might infect humans?

Spillover Beasts: Which Animals Pose The Biggest Viral Risk?

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Tuesday May 9, 2017

Drug Resistant TB Is Predicted To Steadily Spread In 4 Countries

A tuberculosis patient in a hospital for chest diseases in the Indian region of Kashmir. NurPhoto/Getty Images hide caption

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NurPhoto/Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Drug Resistant TB Is Predicted To Steadily Spread In 4 Countries

May 9, 2017 • The case numbers are already high in certain countries. It's not only hard to treat — it's extremely contagious.

Saturday April 22, 2017

U.N. To Pull Controversial Peacekeepers From Haiti

Brazilian members of the United Nations Stabilization Mission In Haiti stand by a shelter in Les Cayes ahead of a visit by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on October 15, 2016. Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Health

U.N. To Pull Controversial Peacekeepers From Haiti

April 22, 2017 • Some say they brought a measure of stability. But they also brought cholera — and have been accused of sexual abuse.

Friday April 21, 2017

#CuriousGoat: Will Climate Change Help Ticks And Mosquitoes Spread Disease?

The black-legged tick, ixodes scapularis, can spread Lyme disease. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images hide caption

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Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Health

#CuriousGoat: Will Climate Change Help Ticks And Mosquitoes Spread Disease?

April 21, 2017 • The disease-spreading bugs are creeping north in the states. But will they bring diseases like Lyme and Zika with them?

Sunday April 16, 2017

As A Boy, He Learned About Science By Rubbing Calves' Ears

Dr. Thumbi Mwangi, an infectious disease epidemiologist from Kenya, at Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, on Nov. 29, 2016. In the U.S., Mwangi worked on a vaccine for cows that aimed to combat the same disease he saw the bovine battle in Kenya as a kid. Akash Ghai/for NPR hide caption

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Akash Ghai/for NPR

Infectious Disease

As A Boy, He Learned About Science By Rubbing Calves' Ears

April 16, 2017 • Dr. Thumbi Mwangi had a eureka moment when he began researching a cattle disease in the U.S. The treatment was the same thing his dad the farmer had him do when he was growing up in Kenya.

Friday April 14, 2017

A Family Of Ebola Fighters: 'With God's Help, We Made It'

Kadija Shellu is now 7. She had not only Ebola, but malaria as well. Ashoka Mukpo for NPR hide caption

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Ashoka Mukpo for NPR

Health

A Family Of Ebola Fighters: 'With God's Help, We Made It'

April 14, 2017 • It's the third anniversary of the Ebola pandemic; 2014 was a catastrophic year. But one family in Liberia gave health workers a reason to celebrate.

Tuesday April 11, 2017

Surprising And Sobering: 7 Facts About Global Health

Fishermen in Papua New Guinea, living on their boats, wait for the tide to change before going out to fish. Tuberculosis is a major health threat in the Pacific Ocean nation. Jason South/The AGE/Fairfax Media via Getty Images hide caption

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Jason South/The AGE/Fairfax Media via Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Surprising And Sobering: 7 Facts About Global Health

April 11, 2017 • What's an often overlooked killer in the world of global health? Why is heart disease both rising and falling? How did the Model T solve a health problem?

Why Chinese Scientists Are More Worried Than Ever About Bird Flu

A shop owner holds a live chicken for sale in a Hong Kong market. Isaac Lawrence/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Isaac Lawrence/AFP/Getty Images

Health

Why Chinese Scientists Are More Worried Than Ever About Bird Flu

April 11, 2017 • A rapidly evolving strain of bird flu has killed a record number of people this year in China. Scientists are concerned about its potential to spur a global pandemic.

Why Chinese Scientists Are More Worried Than Ever About Bird Flu

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Friday April 7, 2017

As Measles Surges In Europe, Officials Brace For A Rough Year

Alyson Hurt/NPR

Health

As Measles Surges In Europe, Officials Brace For A Rough Year

April 7, 2017 • If you're traveling this spring, be sure you're vaccinated. 2017 is shaping up as a bad year for the measles, with thousands of cases in Italy and Romania. And vaccine coverage is stagnating.