- Emerging diseases ×
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Hot topic lecture: Paralytic disease caused by enteroviruses: the role of non-polio serotypes
May 31, 2019
One of the two Hot Topic Lectures taking place at the Microbiology Society Annual Conference in April this year was held by Dr Javier Martin (National Institute for Biological Standards and Control [NIBSC], UK). In his talk, titled ‘Paralytic disease caused by enteroviruses: the role of non-polio serotypes’ Dr Martin discussed the recent upsurge of acute flaccid myelitis cases reported in various countries in 2018 and their possible association with enterovirus infections.
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New microbes discovered in a Patagonian mara, tobacco fields and hospitalized patients
May 14, 2019
Each month, the Microbiology Society publishes the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM), which details newly discovered species of bacteria, fungi and protists. Here are some of the new species that have been discovered and the places they’ve been found.
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New antibiotics needed: Haemophilus influenzae
March 14, 2019
In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the ’12 Priority Pathogens’: a list of twelve microbes that are becoming increasingly resistant to current antimicrobials. These twelve pathogens are thought by WHO to pose the greatest threat to human health.
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Microbiology Editor’s Choice: Understanding Streptococcus suis pathogenesis
February 1, 2019
Each month, a manuscript published in our flagship journal Microbiology is chosen by a member of the Editorial Board. This month, the paper is ‘The Streptococcus suis sortases SrtB and SrtF are essential for disease in pigs’ and was chosen by Christiane Dahl.
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Microbe Talk: West Nile Virus
August 17, 2018
West Nile Fever is a disease spread to humans and horses by mosquitoes. In Europe this year, there have been 230 cases of West Nile Fever, and 17 deaths. This month, we spoke with an expert to discuss where the virus comes from, what influences disease spread, and what infection looks like:
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A killer snake fungus has been found in wild British snakes for the first time
July 20, 2017
Back in April 2016, we wrote about an emerging disease that’s been killing wild snake populations in North America. Snake fungal disease, or SFD, is an infection that leads to blisters and lesions on snakes’ skin, turning scales yellow and crusty, and making eyes clouded and milky. Last year, scientists identified that the disease is caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus that eats the keratin in infected tissue (the same protein found in nails and hair, although O. ophiodiicola only infects snakes).
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Yemen is facing “the worst cholera outbreak in the world”
July 10, 2017
Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, is in the middle of a cholera epidemic, with 5,000 new cases being reported every day. The country is in the midst of a devastating civil war that has claimed the lives of thousands and left millions of people without access to food, water and basic sanitation.
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How concerned should we be about H7N9 flu?
February 24, 2017
The past few weeks have seen an increasing amount of coverage about an ongoing outbreak of the H7N9 strain of avian influenza in China (often called ‘bird flu’).
