Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, Precursor to AIDS is at least 32,000 years old

Why did it jump to humans only in the last few decades? Two competing theories.

Various Regions of Canada and the United States Prepare for West Nile Virus as Mosquito Season Arrives

Saskatchewan, Okanagan Country and Colorado governments gear up and issue warnings against the mosquito borne West Nile Virus.

Doctor who first advocated MMR Vaccine - Autism link has his name struck off the medical register in the UK

The General Medical Council of the UK ruled that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who first came up with the theory that the measles mumps rubella (MMR) vaccine was a cause of autism in children, was guilty of serious professional misconduct in the way he carried out his research

Southern Utah Mosquitos Carrying West Nile Virus

A side effect of global warming is the spread of insect borne tropical diseases to the temperate zones. Southwest Utah Public Health Department confirmed yesterday the discovery of the presence of the West Nile Virus in a sample of mosquitoes from the region. The West Nile virus causes the debilitating West Nile Fever, similar to Dengue Fever and West Nile encephalitis.

FDA Issued Warning Letter to GlaxoSmithKline for False Advertising Regarding Topical Antibiotic Ointment

Company warned for implying that ointment is effective in treating MRSA infections and other misleading claims

C-diff outbreaks in British and Canadian Hospitals and New Research on C-diff

C. diff (Clostridium difficile) may be a normal part of a person's intestinal flora. C. diff Colitis occurs when overuse of antibiotics wipes out competing bacteria, allowing antibiotic resistant C. Diff to overpopulate. C-diff Colititis is a common hospital-spread disease, it is spread through the fecal oral route in cramped areas like hospitals due to insufficient cleanliness. A hospital in North Staffordshire recently had 28 patients affected with the disease a similar outbreak in a hospital in Nanaimo, Canada has led to the deaths of at least three patients. The Irish Health Protection Surveillance Centre reports a drop in C. diff figures. Meanwhile Researchers at New York Hospital's Queens-Weill Cornell Medical College report that C. diff infection is aggravated by low vitamin D levels.

Gonorrhea: A New Drug Resistant Super Strain Emerges

A new super strain of the bacterium that causes Gonorrhea (veneral disease, "the clap") is fast emerging that is resistant to multiple varieties of antibiotics. Misuse of antibiotics by the livestock industry is possibly to blame.

Wilful Transmission of HIV

AIDS/HIV "Patient Zero" Gaëtan Dugas reportedly used to have unprotected sex with people and then tell them that he was dying from "gay cancer" and that they would probably get it as well. Nowadays a number of countries require HIV infected individuals to disclose their infected status to their sex partners, and people who fail to disclose their infected status may face criminal prosecution for sexual assault or for murder.

The case of one such willful transmitter of HIV, 33-year-old Nushawn Williams is up in court. Williams has served 12 years for statutory rape and reckless endangerment and the government is seeking to keep him locked up indefinitely. Williams boasted of having had sex with up to 300 woman prior to his arrest.