Free Republic

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said Sunday the American public shouldn’t worry about the coronavirus outbreak in China. “It’s a very, very low risk to the United States,” Fauci said during an interview with radio show host John Catsimatidis. “But it’s something that we as public health officials need to take very seriously... It isn’t something the American public needs to worry about

Japan is to ask all schools to close from Monday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, PM Shinzo Abe says. The closure - thought to affect 13 million students - will continue until the school year ends in late March. World Health Organization head Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said the global outbreak had now reached a "decisive point" and had "pandemic potential". For the second day running, more cases have been reported outside than inside China. Dr Tedros urged governments to act swiftly and aggressively to contain the virus. "This is not a time for fear. This is a time...

U.S. finds low-risk H5N1 bird flu strain in ducks Fri Sep 1, 2006 5:43pm ET By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mallard ducks in Maryland have tested positive for bird flu, apparently a common, less pathogenic strain that poses no risk to humans, the U.S. Agriculture and Interior departments said on Friday. The H5N1 avian influenza virus was found in fecal samples from "resident wild" mallards in Queen Anne's County in Maryland, on the U.S. central Atlantic coast. "Testing has ruled out the possibility of this being the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain that has spread through birds in Asia, Europe...

<p>The attack "is not good for Syria, not good for the United States and not good for the peace process, if there is one," says Murhaf Jouejati, referring to a U.S.-sponsored "road map to peace" that aimed to rebuild confidence between Israelis and Palestinians and establish a Palestinian state by 2005.</p>