Health officials have identified a new coronavirus, in the same family of viruses that cause the common cold and that triggered the SARS epidemic that killed hundreds around the world in 2003.
Global Health
TIME’s Mobile Tech Issue: Tracking Disease, One Text at a Time
How cheap cell phones — and quick thumbs — are saving lives in Uganda
Report: Why 40% of Donated Medical Equipment Goes Unused in Poor Countries
High-tech medical equipment is largely wasted in the developing world, a new report finds, because donated machines are not designed to run in the settings they’re sent to.
H5N1: Bird Flu Pandemic May Be Closer than Thought, Study Finds
It may take as few as five mutations for H5N1 to go from being a bird-only problem to a potentially deadly human pandemic flu, researchers report.
The Disease that Won’t Die: Tuberculosis in Peru
Tuberculosis has been brought under control in much of the world, thanks to prevention practices and powerful antibiotics. But in poor nations like Peru, the disease still kills hundreds of babies and children — and new …
African Study Shows Zinc Saves Lives
Pneumonia is the most common cause of death among children under 5, but a new study finds that there may be a cheap and easy way to increase kids’ survival: zinc.
Fake Malaria Drugs Endanger Millions of Lives
Counterfeit or weakened versions of life-saving antimalarial drugs are making the rounds in Africa, potentially putting millions of lives at risk and encouraging drug resistance, say scientists.
Early Results of an Experimental Malaria Vaccine Hold Promise
British scientists report they have developed an experimental vaccine that shows early potential to neutralize many, perhaps all, strains of the deadliest malaria parasite.
Squeezing Blood From a Grain of Rice?
Billions of people rely on rice as a staple crop. Now here’s another reason to grow it: scientists have figured out a way to use the grain to produce a key component of human blood.
How Funky Foot Odor Could Help Save Lives
Fifteen years ago a Dutch scientist stood in a room, naked, and let himself be swarmed by mosquitoes. The idea was to see which part of the body the bugs were most attracted to. Turns out, it’s the feet — the stinkier the better.
U.N. Update: Barriers to Women’s Access to Justice and Health Care Persist
As it does each year in advance of the G8 meeting, the United Nations released an update on Tuesday on its progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a series of initiatives set forth in 2000 to improve conditions …
Why the London Vaccine Summit Is a Triumph for Global Health
When the media writes about vaccines in the U.S. and Europe, usually we’re reporting on the endless controversy over whether some vaccines cause autism. (Short answer: they don’t.) That’s the luxury of wealth and health — …
Where Have All the Women Gone? Why Sex Selection Persists
Greater and greater numbers of boys are being born for every girl. In her new book, Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men, Beijing-based journalist Mara Hvistendahl investigates …