diseases

A mumps outbreak benches some of the NHL's top players

PRI's The World

December 16, 2014

Sidney Crosby is one of the NHL's top goal scorers, but he's also one of more than a dozen players currently sidelined with the mumps. The outbreak has led the league to give players and coaches booster shots in an effort to contain the spread of the disease.

Health & Medicine

Nigeria's government stunned critics in acting quickly to make the country 'Ebola free'

October 22, 2014

After the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria, the rise of Ebola seemed to be another threat too big for the country's government. But the WHO now says Nigeria has defeated Ebola thanks to the government's rapid response, which gives some Nigerians renewed hope.

Health & Medicine

The death of a key doctor damages the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone

PRI's The World

July 30, 2014

The Ebola virus has killed nearly 700 people in West Africa, and the death toll now includes the doctor who was leading the fight against the disease in Sierra Leone. That's left the campaign there desperately short of expertise.

Lifestyle & Belief

Fertility Treatment for HIV-Positive Women in Africa

PRI's The World

August 28, 2013

Across Africa, many HIV-positive women would like to have children, but they face a dilemma: How can they become pregnant without putting their partners at risk? Dr. Okeoma Mmeje, an ob-gyn at the University of Michigan, offers an inexpensive solution.

Health & Medicine

Combating Contraception Mythology in South Africa

PRI's The World

August 27, 2013

Sexual attitudes are changing in South Africa. But there remains challenges in family planning and disease prevention. Anchor Marco Werman talks with reporter Poppy Louw from The Times newspaper in Johannesburg about those challenges.

Health & Medicine

Deadly MERS Virus Traced to Bats in Saudi Arabia

PRI's The World

August 22, 2013

A deadly new SARS-like virus has been traced to bats. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, is lethal to 60 percent of those infected. A new study has found the virus is carried by a type of bat in Saudi Arabia, ground-zero for the disease.

Arts, Culture & Media

Remembering Ali Maow Maalin, the Last Person in the World to Contract Smallpox

PRI's The World

July 26, 2013

In Somalia, Ali Maow Maalin died unexpectedly this week. His passing is a milestone in the history of a viral disease: smallpox. Ali Maow Maalin was the last person in the world to be infected with naturally occurring smallpox.

Health & Medicine

Dual Epidemics Threaten Australia's Koalas

PRI's The World

April 17, 2013

Australia's koala population has been hit hard by two rapidly spreading diseases: chlamydia (a sexually transmitted infection) and a retrovirus similar to HIV. Scientists are working to develop vaccines, while lay citizens help care for sick koalas.

China's Bird Flu Credibility Gap

PRI's The World

April 11, 2013

The Chinese government is reacting to the new outbreak of bird flu with some refreshing transparency. But The World's Mary Kay Magistad in Beijing tells anchor Marco Werman that some Chinese who have questioned official statistics have landed in jail.

Arts, Culture & Media

Faces of Elephantiasis: In Nigeria, Patients Remain After the Disease is Gone

PRI's The World

April 11, 2013

Philip Graitcer used to work in Africa as an epidemiologist for the CDC. Recently he returned to Africa as a journalist and met people living with elephantiasis. He shares his thoughts on the patients who remain even when a disease is gone.

Health & Medicine

Global Implications of HIV Infected Baby Deemed to be Cured

PRI's The World

March 04, 2013

Scientists say a girl born with HIV two-and-a-half years ago appears to have been cured. Though the apparent breakthrough is limited to one infant case, the news may give hope to the millions of people living with the HIV virus around the globe.

Health & Medicine

Part IV: The Infectious Connection

PRI's The World

December 06, 2012

Cancer can be triggered by infectious diseases, especially in impoverished parts of the world. Scientists in the US and Africa are working to unravel how viruses and bacteria cause malignancies.

Rape as a weapon of war

PRI's The World

September 29, 2009

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to tackle a particularly disturbing tactic of war this week: the use of rape as a weapon. Jeb Sharp talks with Anne-Marie Goetz of UNIFEM, the UN's development agency for women.

Lifestyle & Belief

Fertility Treatment for HIV-Positive Women in Africa

PRI's The World

August 28, 2013

Across Africa, many HIV-positive women would like to have children, but they face a dilemma: How can they become pregnant without putting their partners at risk? Dr. Okeoma Mmeje, an ob-gyn at the University of Michigan, offers an inexpensive solution.

Business, Economics and Jobs

Global Sex Workers Meet to Fight HIV

PRI's The World

July 26, 2012

Anchor Aaron Schachter speaks with the BBC's Rahul Tandon in Calcutta about a meeting of sex workers there.

Arts, Culture & Media

Tweets and Germs: Monitoring Infectious Diseases Online

PRI's The World

April 11, 2013

Several scientific groups are tracking the global spread of infectious diseases by monitoring Twitter, web searches, and other content online. The World's Rhitu Chatterjee looks at the promise and challenges of disease surveillance via the internet.

Health & Medicine

Yellow fever returns

PRI's The World

March 11, 2008

Richard Reynolds reports from Buenos Aires on an outbreak of yellow fever in South America.

Conflict & Justice

AIDS doctors arrested in Iran

PRI's The World

January 16, 2009

Iran has one of the best HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs in the world. But two of the architects of that system have now been thrown in jail. The World's Marco Werman hears their story from Sarah Kalloch of Physicians for Human Rights.

Arts, Culture & Media

The 1976 swine flu outbreak

PRI's The World

April 29, 2009

Health & Medicine

Egypt's pig slaughter

PRI's The World

May 05, 2009

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