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In 430 B.C., a new and deadly disease - its cause remains a mystery - swept into Athens. The walled Greek city-state was teeming with citizens, soldiers and refugees of the war then raging between Athens and Sparta. As streets filled with corpses, social order broke down. Over the next three years, the illness returned twice and Athens lost a third of its population. It lost the war too.
An influential psychiatrist who was the host of the popular NPR program "The Infinite Mind" earned at least $1.3 million from 2000 to 2007 giving marketing lectures for drugmakers, income not mentioned on the program.
Ms Grayston spend several hours a day in a pool with the "doctor fish"
A woman with the skin condition psoriasis has travelled to Turkey to sit in water and be nibbled by flesh-eating fish in a bid to find a cure.
Samantha Grayston, 38, from Kent, said she returned from her three-week trip to find the "doctor fish" treatment had worked and boosted her confidence. She spent six hours a day at the spa near Kangal in eastern Turkey.
© BBCBeamish sniffed out a melanoma on his owner's chest
A man from north Oxfordshire has credited his pet Rottweiler with sniffing out his skin cancer. Chris Tuffrey, from Banbury, had a mole on his chest for 15 years but "put his head in the sand" and ignored it.
But he said thanks to his dog Beamish "nuzzling and licking" him and trying to lift his arm near the mole, he went to a doctor to get it checked out. Within a two weeks, melanoma was confirmed by the hospital and the cancerous mole was removed.
A new species of Ebola virus has turned up near the foothills of western Uganda. Named Bundibugyo, after a district in the region, the virus resembles no other previously discovered strains - a feature that might complicate ongoing efforts to develop a universal vaccine.
Based on an outbreak about a year ago, 35% of people infected with Bundibugyo die, says Jonathan Towner, a microbiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, who was part of a team that identified the virus.
"If there was a disease spreading in North America with that kind of case fatality that would be a big deal," he says.
Other strains of Ebola previously discovered in Sudan and Zaire can kill more than 90% of people.
When Towner's team received samples of the virus from Uganda, their initial line of tests for previously known Ebola strains turned up negative, he says. "It was clearly Ebola virus, but it was not something we had seen before," he says.
Based on an outbreak about a year ago, 35% of people infected with Bundibugyo die, says Jonathan Towner, a microbiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, who was part of a team that identified the virus.
"If there was a disease spreading in North America with that kind of case fatality that would be a big deal," he says.
Other strains of Ebola previously discovered in Sudan and Zaire can kill more than 90% of people.
When Towner's team received samples of the virus from Uganda, their initial line of tests for previously known Ebola strains turned up negative, he says. "It was clearly Ebola virus, but it was not something we had seen before," he says.
Raw milk is illegal in many countries as it can be contaminated with potentially harmful microbes. Contamination can also spoil the milk, making it taste bitter and turn thick and sticky. Now scientists have discovered new species of bacteria that can grow at low temperatures, spoiling raw milk even when it is refrigerated.
According to research, the microbial population of raw milk is much more complex than previously thought.
"When we looked at the bacteria living in raw milk, we found that many of them had not been identified before," said Dr Malka Halpern from the University of Haifa, Israel. "We have now identified and described one of these bacteria, Chryseobacterium oranimense, which can grow at cold temperatures and secretes enzymes that have the potential to spoil milk."
According to research, the microbial population of raw milk is much more complex than previously thought.
"When we looked at the bacteria living in raw milk, we found that many of them had not been identified before," said Dr Malka Halpern from the University of Haifa, Israel. "We have now identified and described one of these bacteria, Chryseobacterium oranimense, which can grow at cold temperatures and secretes enzymes that have the potential to spoil milk."
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that infants born as a result of assisted reproductive technology, or ART -- such as in vitro fertilization and the use of donor eggs -- are two to four times more likely to be born with certain types of birth defects than infants conceived naturally. But, the study's lead author says, the overall risk is still relatively low.
"The most important findings were that for infants conceived using ART, we see an increased risk for certain birth defects," said Jennita Reefhuis, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. She says that children conceived using ART were found to have twice the risk of septal heart defects (a "hole" in the heart), more than twice the risk of cleft lip with or without cleft palate, and four times the risk of two gastrointestinal defects.
"The most important findings were that for infants conceived using ART, we see an increased risk for certain birth defects," said Jennita Reefhuis, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. She says that children conceived using ART were found to have twice the risk of septal heart defects (a "hole" in the heart), more than twice the risk of cleft lip with or without cleft palate, and four times the risk of two gastrointestinal defects.
Taxpayers will pay $300,000 to a man who lost his penis and a testicle after doctors misdiagnosed a case of flesh-eating bacteria while he was being held in a Washington state prison, local news organizations report.
The Seattle Times says Charlie Manning, 61, reached a settlement with the state four years after he fell ill while serving a 13-month sentence for stealing a neighbor's gun and threatening him.
"After he developed an infected hemorrhoid and his symptoms worsened, including a fever, swollen genitals, bleeding from the rectum and a rash on his torso, prison medical staff diagnosed him as having an allergic reaction to cold medicine," the Times reports. "By the time a doctor at Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen found Manning had necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacteria, and he was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the bacteria had spread to his pelvic area."
The Seattle Times says Charlie Manning, 61, reached a settlement with the state four years after he fell ill while serving a 13-month sentence for stealing a neighbor's gun and threatening him.
"After he developed an infected hemorrhoid and his symptoms worsened, including a fever, swollen genitals, bleeding from the rectum and a rash on his torso, prison medical staff diagnosed him as having an allergic reaction to cold medicine," the Times reports. "By the time a doctor at Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen found Manning had necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacteria, and he was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the bacteria had spread to his pelvic area."
Miami girl was kept alive by a blood-pumping device until her transplant
MIAMI - D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest.
"But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."
As she was being released Wednesday from a Miami hospital, the shy teen seemed in awe of what she's endured. Since July, she's had two heart transplants and survived with artificial heart pumps - but no heart - for four months between the transplants.
MIAMI - D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest.
"But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."
As she was being released Wednesday from a Miami hospital, the shy teen seemed in awe of what she's endured. Since July, she's had two heart transplants and survived with artificial heart pumps - but no heart - for four months between the transplants.
Study finds gut germ in 40 percent of grocery meats; CDC says not to worry
An Arizona researcher found 40 percent of meat products tested from three national chain stores were contaminated with bacteria normally associated with severe hospital infections. Federal health officials, however, say more study is needed to determine whether C. diff is transmitted through food.
A potentially deadly intestinal germ increasingly found in hospitals is also showing up in a more unsavory setting: grocery store meats.
More than 40 percent of packaged meats sampled from three Arizona chain stores tested positive for Clostridium difficile, a gut bug known as C. diff., according to newly complete analysis of 2006 data collected by a University of Arizona scientist.
An Arizona researcher found 40 percent of meat products tested from three national chain stores were contaminated with bacteria normally associated with severe hospital infections. Federal health officials, however, say more study is needed to determine whether C. diff is transmitted through food.
A potentially deadly intestinal germ increasingly found in hospitals is also showing up in a more unsavory setting: grocery store meats.
More than 40 percent of packaged meats sampled from three Arizona chain stores tested positive for Clostridium difficile, a gut bug known as C. diff., according to newly complete analysis of 2006 data collected by a University of Arizona scientist.
