HealthMay 15, 2014
Deadly MERS Camel Virus Crosses Ocean to U.S.
Infection’s spread is still limited, although cases have nearly tripled in past two months
Stories by Helen Branswell
Helen Branswell is STAT's infectious diseases and public health reporter. She comes from the Canadian Press, where she was the medical reporter for the past 15 years. Helen cut her infectious diseases teeth during Toronto's SARS outbreak in 2003 and spent the summer of 2004 embedded at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2010-11 she was a Nieman Global Health Fellow at Harvard, where she focused on polio eradication. Warning: Helen asks lots of questions.
The SciencesJanuary 1, 2014
Botulism Bioterror Worries Keep Research under Wraps
Bioterror worries keep key details out of new studies
October 22, 2013
Researchers Keep Mum on Botulism Discovery
Publishing all the scientific details, they say, might show terrorists how to create a bioweapon
HealthAugust 1, 2013
The Hidden Threat That Could Prevent Polio’s Global Eradication
Polio could soon be wiped out—but only if scientists can track down the last carriers
June 7, 2013
Saudi Silence on Deadly MERS Virus Outbreak Frustrates World Health Experts
Middle East respiratory syndrome, a cousin of SARS, has sparked global concern for its pandemic potential, but Saudi Arabia has yet to release information that could help protect the rest of the world
April 16, 2013
Ill-Advised: Researchers Agree Puzzling New Bird Flu Should Be Taken Seriously
It's time to commit to memory a new combination of H and N influenza numbers. Since it arrived on the scene H7N9 has vexed researchers and shown it can be deadly to humans
November 29, 2012
Outbreak Specialists Track Down Recent Coronavirus
Health officials are trying to figure out if the virus is moving from person to person
HealthApril 1, 2012
Why Polio Isn't Going Away
As the number of cases of the paralytic disease fall, world health officials have to grapple with a vexing problem: a component of the most widely used polio vaccine now causes more disease than the virus it is supposed to fight
HealthFebruary 14, 2012
Dread Reckoning: H5N1 Bird Flu May Be Less Deadly to Humans Than Previously Thought--or Not
Are fears of human-to-human transmitted bird flu overblown or does it make sense, based on current fatality rates, to anticipate a worst-case scenario for a future outbreak of H5N1 flu?
HealthJanuary 9, 2012
PAIN Relief: India on Track to Be Declared Polio-Free Next Month
For the first time, the polio virus has disappeared from the country for 12 months, but it could still be re-imported from neighboring nations that continue to fight the devastating disease
HealthDecember 2, 2011
New Flu Strain Makes Health Experts Nervous
Is a new strain of H3N2 swine flu a danger to public health or just to the reputations of public health experts?
HealthJanuary 1, 2011
Flu Factories
The next pandemic virus may be circulating on U.S. pig farms, but health officials are struggling to see past the front gate