Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. Scientists believe flight may influence their immune responses to coronoviruses, which cause fatal diseases such as SARS and MERS in humans.
(Shutterstock)
Scientific studies show that bats may carry “coronoviruses” causing SARS and MERS - without showing symptoms of disease. Could the bat immune system be key to human survival in future pandemics?
Women wearing their WIPNET T-shirts plan a peace jamboree the day before the Liberian election in October 2017.
(Carter Center)
In the 50 years following the discovery of the Marburg virus there have only been 12 known outbreaks.
An infection prevention and control professional wipes her gloves with a bleach wipe during an ebola virus training in Ottawa.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)
Infectious diseases pose a continual threat to Canadians. Ensuring the population stays healthy requires increasing investment in our public health system.
Tackling local diseases like rabies could help health authorities identify new outbreaks more easily.
N. Bastiaensen/World Organisation for Animal Health
By tackling local threats and controlling existing diseases, countries are able to build the capacity needed to deal with future emerging disease threats.
When an Ebola outbreak is detected, surveillance, community engagement , laboratory services and tracing infected persons should be activated to prevent rapid spread of the disease.
Almost one-third of human disease requires surgery, but most of those people who need surgery are not getting it. Here’s why we need to make surgery more accessible.
Medical workers move a woman, who is suspected of having Ebola, upon her arrival at Meioxeiro Hospital, in Vigo, northwestern Spain, 28 October 2015.
SALVADOR SAS (EPA)/ AAP
This antivirus software protects health, not computers. Researchers are beginning to combat deadly infections using computer-generated antiviral proteins – a valuable tool to fight a future pandemic.
Africa is home to many disease outbreaks yet is ill-prepared to deal with them.
UNMEER/Martine Perret
African leaders need to up their health allocations to help the new World Health Organisation Director-General meet his health care targets for the continent.
When a man was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas in 2014, workers cleared out the apartment unit where he had been staying.
Reuters/Jim Young
President Trump wants to slash global health funding at a time when more investment is needed, not less. This spending can protect Americans – as well as foreigners – from deadly diseases.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the new Director-General of the World Health Organisation
Reuters/Denis Balibouse
The new director-general of the World Health Organisation has set universal health coverage as a priority. There are several ways to make headway with this goal.
Donald Trump’s first budget request for fiscal year 2018 includes drastic cuts for diplomacy and overseas aid.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
In the last decade, the United States has been the leading funder for preparing and responding to global infectious outbreaks, and the delivery of basic health care to low-income countries.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the newly elected Director-General of the World Health Organisation.
Reuters/Denis Balibouse
There are a number of challenges that the World Health Organisation’s new leader, Ethiopian-born Tedros Ghebreyesus, will have to navigate during his tenure.
Part-time lecturer at the Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard University, and Lecturer at the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Liberia
Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, and Professor of Neurology, University of Liverpool