Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Bad News on Bird Flu
The virus has now infected someone in Taiwan, the first time that its off mainland China. “A new strain of bird flu that emerged in China over the past month is one of the “most lethal” flu viruses so far, worrying health officials because it can jump more easily from birds to humans than the one that started killing people a decade ago, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday. Scientists are watching the virus closely to see if it could spark a global pandemic but say there is little evidence so far that it can spread easily from human to human.” (Yahoo! http://yhoo.it/Zla2MY)
Good News on World Malaria Day
April 25 is world Malaria Day. Here is a potentially significant technology that can detect counterfeit malaria drugs and help reduce resistant strains from emerging. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has developed a hand-held device capable of identifying counterfeit or substandard malaria drugs and has signed a letter of intent with Corning Inc. to manufacture the product. The device, known as CD-3, is a battery-operated tool that uses different wavelengths of light to compare an authentic malaria drug with a potentially fake product, the FDA said on Wednesday.” (Christian Science Monitor http://bit.ly/10B1vIG)