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The United States is offering to help China in its fight against a viral infection that has killed 34 children, including two reported Friday, and sickened thousands of others. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt is making a previously scheduled trip to Beijing next week and plans to discuss health issues with Chinese officials, with the outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease expected to feature prominently, U.S. Embassy spokesman Susan Stevenson said. The scope and volume of infections brings to mind the SARS epidemic of 2003, when China was criticized internationally for trying to conceal the emergence of...

<p>Since I can't post stories from CNN, please go to the site and read titled story.</p>

BEIJING (Reuters) - A deadly virus has spread rapidly in eastern China, killing at least 21 children and infecting nearly 3,000, Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

Three Viruses Threaten Watermelon, Squash, Pumpkins, Cucumbers And Now Green BeansCucurbit Leaf Crumple Virus, a major problem of cucumbers, was found in green beans in Florida for the first time. (Credit: USDA) ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2008) — Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Florida have made recommendations to help growers deal with several whitefly-transmitted viruses that threaten cucurbits and other crops in that state. In recent years, the number of whitefly-transmitted viruses in cucurbit fields, home to crops like cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, melons and watermelons, has increased to almost epidemic proportions in Florida. Researchers led by plant pathologists Scott Adkins...

Flu Viruses Take One-way Ticket Out Of Asia, Then Travel The WorldSeasonal influenza A (H3N2) strains constantly evolve in overlapping epidemics in East and Southeast Asia, which periodically spread to the rest of the world along the pathways shown here. (Credit: Image courtesy of NASA/University of Cambridge) ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2008) — Seasonal influenza strains constantly evolve in overlapping epidemics in Asia and sweep the rest of the world each year, an international research team has found. These findings suggest that by focusing surveillance efforts on East and Southeast Asia, researchers may be able to extend their forecast of the...

New And Deadly Viruses Passed Through Sweet Food And Domestic Animals ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2008) — Nipah virus is a new and deadly brain and lung disease that emerged from Singapore and Malaysia ten years ago. It is now spreading into rural India and Bangladesh killing up to three-quarters of the people who become infected in some outbreaks, scientists heard April 3, 2008 at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting. "People are catching this disease by drinking date palm juice or probably by eating fruit contaminated by the virus, or through contact with infected animals. We have seen nine...

Severe West Nile Infection Could Lead To Lifetime Of Symptoms ScienceDaily (Mar. 18, 2008) — Most people who suffer severe infection with West Nile virus still experience symptoms years after infection and many may continue to experience these symptoms for the rest of their lives according to research presented March 17 at the 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia. "What we are finding is that about 60% of people, one year after severe infection with West Nile, still report symptoms," says Kristy Murray of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, a lead researcher...

This year, more than 21,000 people will be diagnosed with some form of brain cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. While benign forms are relatively easy to treat, malignant tumors require a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Even then, tumor cells may remain deeply lodged, replicating and spreading quickly through healthy brain tissue. Now researchers at Yale University have found that a virus that's in the same family as rabies effectively kills an aggressive form of human brain cancer in mice. Using time-lapse laser imaging, the team watched vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) rapidly home in on brain tumors,...

(This has become increasingly irritating. Why do I need three or four things running to do ONE job!) Unfortunately, eweek doesn't want anyone a FR to read them! The link to the above titled article is here.The resulting Slashdot discussion is here.

Any experts on virus protection? I have McAfee VIRUS PROTECTION, but I also have a big time vundo virus infection which I can't get rid of. The techs at McAfee give advice and downloads which do nothing. Is there a better virus protection which will- get rid of my vundo and protect me from another attack? Help. Help. Help. Thank you.

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have found that therapy can be used to stimulate the production of vital immune cells, called “T- cells,” in adults with HIV infection. HIV disease destroys T-cells, leading to collapse of the immune system and severe infection. The thymus gland, which produces T-cells, gradually loses function over time (a process called “involution”) and becomes mostly inactive during adulthood. Because the thymus gland does not function well in adults, it is difficult for HIV-infected adults to make new T-cells. Thus, therapies that stimulate...

Evolutionary History Of SARS Supports Bats As Virus Source ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2008) — Scientists who have studied the genome of the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) say their comparisons to related viruses offer new evidence that the virus infecting humans originated in bats. The analysis tracing the viruses’ paths through human and animal hosts counters assertions that SARS was eradicated in 2004 when thousands of palm civet cats in China were identified as the original source and killed in an effort to eliminate the risk of new outbreaks. According to this new analysis, humans actually appear...

An insidious computer virus recently discovered on digital photo frames has been identified as a powerful new Trojan Horse from China that collects passwords for online games - and its designers might have larger targets in mind. "It is a nasty worm that has a great deal of intelligence," said Brian Grayek, who heads product development at Computer Associates, a security vendor that analyzed the Trojan Horse. The virus, which Computer Associates calls Mocmex, recognizes and blocks antivirus protection from more than 100 security vendors, as well as the security and firewall built into Microsoft Windows. It downloads files from...

Ok, Daughter's laptop with an up to date anti-virus program and firewall has gotten infected with a worm called worm.win32.netsky. Can't find a removal program for this bugger and the scans haven't found or removed it. She was going to various School District web sites to apply for a teaching job when it happened It loaded on it's own new desktop icons, and diabled remove program from the task bar along with Ctl-Alt-Del. Anyone out there got ideas?

Digital photo frames containing malware have been found, heads up! http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3807 http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3787

The genetic information of organisms--as varied as goldfish and geraniums--is widely available to the global public. So are the biologic codes for many viruses, such as variola (which causes smallpox) and poliovirus. The advance of biological technologies that allow for the construction of specific genetic sequences raises the harrowing possibility that someone, somewhere would use available genetic information to unleash a biological attack. The quandary facing scientists in the life sciences is similar to the issues that confronted scientists at the dawn of the nuclear age: Can potentially dangerous knowledge be made secret? Or should it be kept widely available?...

GPs urge millions hit by bug to stay at home By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor and Aislinn Simpson Last Updated: 2:14am GMT 03/01/2008 Doctors' leaders warned people struck down by a violent stomach bug sweeping the country not to return to work as GPs reported that they were being inundated by sufferers. More than 100,000 people a week are catching norovirus, which causes sudden vomiting and diarrhoea, and the numbers contracting the disease will peak this month. The NHS advises patients affected to stay at home for 48 hours after they last suffered the symptoms Thousands of workers and children...

KAMPALA, Dec 10, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Another seven people were killed by the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Uganda as twelve new cases were reported over the weekend amid an outbreak that has sounded alarm in ten out of 79 districts across the country. A total of 29 people have so far been killed by Ebola out of 113 infections as of Monday morning, Sam Okware, chairperson of the National Task Force for Ebola, told Xinhua by telephone on Monday. He said seven new cases were reported in the western district of Bundibugyo which has been hit hard...

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Scorpions scamper in bowls, water snakes coil in tanks and cats whine in cramped cages, waiting to be slaughtered, skinned and served for dinner. Welcome to the Qingping market in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where everything from turtles to insects are sold alongside fowl and freshly caught fish. An outbreak of the SARS virus in 2002 resulted in a local gourmet favorite -- the civet -- being banished to the black market. The racoon-like animal was blamed for spreading SARS, which infected 8,000 people globally and killed 800. But exotic wildlife and squalor have...

Ugandan health workers hit by Ebola, causing panic KAMPALA, Uganda: Health workers are among the dead in an Ebola outbreak in Uganda, spreading panic among those needed to help. Doctors and nurses did not at first know what they were facing, so failed to protect themselves, according to a lawmaker representing the western area at the center of the outbreak. Experts say the Ebola subtype that sparked the outbreak is new and the classic Ebola symptoms were not always present, slowing diagnosis. "We are facing a crisis in health care here," said Jane Alisemera, the lawmaker representing Bundibugyo, the district...

Wed Dec 5, 3:17 AM ET KAMPALA (AFP) - The Ebola virus has killed two doctors in western Uganda, bringing the toll to 21 since the strain first appeared in September, an official said on Wednesday. "The sad news is that our doctor who was admitted in Mulago died last night and a senior clinic officer who had been in critical condition died this morning," said Samuel Kazinga, district commissioner for Bundibugyo, the epicentre of the new outbreak. Kampala's Mulago hospital is the largest in the country. Some health officials have said that a lack of appropriate equiment in Mulago...

Uganda Ebola death toll hits 19 3 hours ago KAMPALA (AFP) — The dreaded Ebola virus has killed 19 people in western Uganda since September, officials said Tuesday, with new outbreaks of linked diseases surfacing in other parts of the country. Hours after the 19th Ebola patient died in Bundibugyo district, State Health Emmanuel Otaala highlighted fears of extremely contagious cholera, plague, meningitis and hepatitis outbreaks. "As we are trying to contain Ebola, we came across four other outbreaks," Otaala told reporters. The health ministry reported cholera in western Hoima and northeastern Nebbi districts; plague in Nebbi; meningitis in Nebbi...

Ebola outbreak spreading Kampala - The Ebola outbreak that has killed 18 people in western Uganda appears to be spreading, officials said on Sunday, as authorities examined a sample taken from a dead patient in the south of the country. Government officials told AFP that the disease, which flared in September, had spread to three new zones in the impoverished Bundibugyo district near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Virologists were meanwhile examining a sample taken from a suspected victim who died overnight in Mbarara region, 160km southeast of the affected district. Medics flee Health officials said several...

Tree man 'who grew roots' may be cured By Matthew Moore Last Updated: 2:55am GMT 27/11/2007 An Indonesian fisherman who feared that he would be killed by tree-like growths covering his body has been given hope of recovery by an American doctor - and Vitamin A. Dede, now 35, baffled medical experts when warty "roots" began growing out of his arms and feet after he cut his knee in a teenage accident. Watch: Dr Anthony Gaspari believes that he has diagnosed Dede's rare condition The welts spread across his body unchecked and soon he was left unable to carry out...

There was a lot of hoopla surrounding the controversial suggestion that obesity is "socially contagious" made by Harvard and University of California, San Diego researchers earlier this year. According to this earlier study, if someone’s friend becomes obese, for example, that individual’s chances of becoming obese went up by 57% percent. Among mutual friends, the effect increased up to 171%. The study was the first of it’s kind, and appeared to show a strong correlation between our friend’s waistlines and what we personally find to be a socially acceptable size. But what if fat wasn’t just “socially” contagious in the...

ATLANTA (AP) - There's a mutated version of the common cold and it can be deadly. It's killed 10 people in the U.S. in the last 18 months. And infectious diseases investigator with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a new variant of an adenovirus has caused at least 140 illnesses in New York, Oregon, Washington and Texas. It was called boot camp flu when hundreds of Air Force recruits got sick earlier this year at Lackland Air Force base in Texas. One 19-year-old trainee died. The recruits were infected with a variety of cold viruses but at...

ATLANTA (AP) - A mutated version of a common cold virus has caused 10 deaths in the last 18 months, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Adenoviruses usually cause respiratory infections that aren't considered lethal. But a new variant has caused at least 140 illnesses in New York, Oregon, Washington and Texas, according to a report issued Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illness made headlines in Texas earlier this year, when a so- called boot camp flu sickened hundreds at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The most serious cases were blamed on the...

A small number of Seagate's Maxtor Basics Personal Storage 3200 consumer hard drives are infected with a password-stealing virus. If you bought one of Seagate's Maxtor Basics consumer hard drives recently, check it for viruses. Especially if you're a gamer. Seagate is warning that a "small number" of its Maxtor Basics Personal Storage 3200 hard drives recently shipped with the Virus.Win32.AutoRun.ah virus, malicious software that "searches for passwords for online games and sends them to a server located in China," according to a note posted on the Seagate Web site. Only drives purchased since August 2007 are affected, Seagate said....

SAN FRANCISCO — In a backhanded compliment to Apple Inc., online criminals are apparently so impressed with its scorching sales they are sending Macintosh computers an attack typically aimed at machines running Microsoft Corp.'s dominant Windows operating system. Symantec Corp. researchers said the Web sites serving up the new attack also deploy a Windows version. "For a while Mac users have enjoyed the benefits of being a small enough population that hackers didn't go after them directly _ that's obviously now changing," said Ben Greenbaum, senior research manager at Symantec Security Response. Lynn Fox, an Apple spokeswoman, said the Cupertino-based...

Evidence is building that the cold sore virus may be linked to Alzheimer's disease, an expert says. In lab tests, Manchester University found brains infected with the herpes simplex virus, HSV-1, saw a rise in a protein linked to Alzheimer's. Scientists believe the discovery could pave the way for a vaccine that may help prevent the brain disorder, New Scientist magazine reported. But such a breakthrough was a long-time off, experts said. The researchers infected cultures of human brain cells with the virus and found a "dramatic" increase in levels of the beta amyloid protein - the building blocks of...

October 24, 2007: The most powerful Internet weapon on the planet is apparently dying the death of a thousand cuts. The weapon in question is the Storm botnet. This was the largest botnet ever seen, and it appeared to be acting like something out of a science fiction story. Last Summer, the Storm network was believed capable to shutting down any military or commercial site on the planet. Or, Storm could cripple hundreds of related sites temporarily. Worse, Storm could have done some major damage in ways that have not yet been experienced. There's never been anything quite like Storm,...

I have going alot of research into fighting cancer, illness on this site, and I think ? that I made a discovery concerning water being blessed, and what Jesus said about tree of life. I feel strongly to pass this informations to you. I don't know what to make of this. I need help in understanding if I found something new, or old ? I would love some input as friends. ps..alot of my grammar is poor, and I don't write that good like many of you, so please forgive this...

Nine cases of Ebola confirmed in DR Congo region KINSHASA (AFP) — Nine cases of Ebola virus have been confirmed in the West Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo that is at the epicentre of an outbreak that has killed at least 174 people, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said Friday. "We have now nine cases of Ebola haemorrhagic fever confirmed in the laboratory, five cases of typhoid and one case of Shigella," WHO spokeswoman in DR Congo Cristiana Silvi told AFP. Symptoms of the epidemic -- high temperature, bloody diarrhoea, visible hemorrhaging -- were first seen...

Further cases of deadly Ebola virus confirmed in Congo Nine cases of the deadly Ebola virus were confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. The disease causes bleeding and fever and can prove fatal in 50 to 90 per cent of cases. It was identified last week in the province of Kasai Occidental. A major field operation had been launched by the country's Ministry of Health with the WHO calling on experts in disease control from as far afield as Canada and the United States. Work was underway to establish...

Congo's Ebola Outbreak Could Be Worst in Years By Craig Timberg Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, September 19, 2007; Page A19 JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 18 -- International medical personnel and supplies are being airlifted to a remote region of central Congo to combat what threatens to become the world's most serious outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in years.

A Republican Party Web site has been hacked, and for some time it has been spreading a variation of the long-running Storm Trojan horse to vulnerable visitors, a security researcher said Friday. This is the first time that Storm has taken to the Web for its victims, said Dan Hubbard, head of research at San Diego-based Websense Inc. "The big news is that Storm has added infecting sites to its arsenal," said Hubbard. Storm debuted in January but only cracked the top malware lists early this summer, and has become infamous for its ability to adapt its infection strategies. "They...

I have spent several days trying to rid my computer of a spyware virus, downloaded several "fixes," yet still have a popup telling me I have a spyware virus and need to download a winvirus. I don't often post vanity threads, but would appreciate any help, advice, you freepers can offer. I am pretty stupid when it comes to computing, except for sending email and surfing some websites. I appreciate any help or advice offered.

China is host to almost half of the world's malware-infected Web sites. According to a report released Monday by antivirus company Sophos, China--including Hong Kong--hosted 44.8 percent of the world's infected sites in August. The U.S. ranked a distant second, hosting 20.8 percent of sites that contain malicious code. The number of infected Web pages has also grown. Sophos said it detected an average of 5,000 new infected pages each day in the month of August. The company warned that simply staying clear of sites hosted in the top three countries of China, the U.S. and Russia is not an...

(Two years after amazing recovery, Fond du Lac girl is graduating today) Fond du Lac, WI - Jeanna Giese stood in the middle of the atrium at Marian College, nervously twisting a sparkly ring and frequently touching a blue bracelet that symbolized her miraculous recovery from rabies. As she cycled between anticipation of her date's arrival and fear that he might not show up, it was hard to believe that doctors once questioned whether the teen would be able to return to school - let alone recover enough to dance with friends at her senior prom or graduate on time...

Bloggers battered by viral storm Google's Blogger site is being used by malicious hackers who are posting fake entries to some blogs. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6970368.stm The fake entries contain weblinks that lead to booby-trapped downloads that could infect a Windows PC. Infected computers are being hijacked by the gang behind the attacks and either mined for saleable data or used for other attacks. The Blogger attack is the latest in a series by a gang that has managed to hijack hundreds of thousands of PCs.

<p>There is a nasty virus going around called win32A(expiroa) which is searching for banking info on your computer. People who have turned off their anti-virus have had as many as 1,300 viruses on their computer in under one day. McAffee and Sofus(sp) both have patches - I'm on my way for a fix.</p>

Deadliness of West Nile virus explained 22 August 2007 NewScientist.com news service A single genetic mutation might explain why West Nile virus has, within a decade, switched from causing relatively mild infections in humans to outbreaks of deadly encephalitis. The virus, which can pass to humans via mosquitoes that feed on infected birds, didn't pose a serious threat until the mid-1990s, when outbreaks of deadly infection sprang up in Israel, Romania, Russia and eventually North America. Aaron Brault and colleagues at the University of California, Davis, discovered that these new strains have in common a mutation in the gene for...

WASHINGTON --In the buffet of reasons for why Americans are getting fatter, researchers are piling more evidence on the plate for one still-controversial cause: a virus. New research announced Monday at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in Boston found that when human stem cells -- the blank slate of the cell world -- were exposed to a common virus they turned into fat cells. They didn't just change, they stored fat, too. While this may be a guilt-free explanation for putting on pounds, it doesn't explain all or even most of America's growing obesity problem. But it adds to...

Obesity can spread from person to person, much like a virus, researchers are reporting today. When one person gains weight, close friends tend to gain weight, too. [snip] The investigators say their findings can help explain why Americans have become fatter in recent years — each person who became obese was likely to drag along some friends. [snip] It may also mean that the way to avoid becoming fat is to avoid having fat friends.

West Nile virus surges with 27 casesOnly five had been reported by this time last year. Kern County is hit the hardest, with 22. Eighteen incidents were recorded just last week. By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer July 22, 2007 West Nile virus, spread by mosquitoes, has taken an early hold on parts of California this summer, sickening 27 people statewide compared with only five last year at this time. Unusually high temperatures throughout the state in March triggered an earlier start to the West Nile virus season than in other years. Human illnesses have been documented in six counties,...

WASHINGTON: Researchers have identified a novel cellular protein complex that is employed by HIV to 'compromise' with cell function and enhance viral replication. The discovery can lead to the development of a new class of drugs to combat HIV. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) causes AIDS by depleting essential immune cells called CD4+T lymphocytes in infected individuals, resulting in a compromised immune system. At the center of this process is the HIV protein, viral protein R (Vpr), which stops infected CD4+T cells from dividing and as a consequence compromises their immune function. In addition, by arresting cell division, Vpr...

CHICAGO: A popular theory on how HIV attacks the body's immune system is wrong, a new study has found. Scientists have long believed that HIV causes the slow depletion of healthy white blood cells — the T cells which recognise infections so the body can fight them off — by causing infected T cells to produce virus particles before dying. This ongoing cycle of infection, HIV production, reinfection and cell destruction has been called the "runaway" hypothesis. But if this were so, the T cells would be killed off far too quickly, the researchers found. Using a simple mathematical model,...

Homeland Security Department Acknowledges Own Computer Break-Ins, Virus Outbreaks The Homeland Security Department, the lead U.S. agency for fighting cyber threats, suffered more than 800 hacker break-ins, virus outbreaks and other computer security problems over two years, senior officials acknowledged to Congress. In one instance, hacker tools for stealing passwords and other files were found on two internal Homeland Security computer systems. The agency's headquarters sought forensic help from the department's own Security Operations Center and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team it operates with Carnegie Mellon University. In other cases, computer workstations in the Coast Guard and the Transportation...

Multi-Middleman 'Mpack' Attacks Use Google AdWords to Lure Victims By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews June 19, 2007, 11:46 AM One of Russia's fastest growing markets, and quite possibly a contributor to stabilizing that country's fickle economy, is cut-rate, self-deploying Trojan horse packages. As malware writers there have discovered, rather than baiting and waiting for victims to fall into their traps at random, so that they carry out DoS and identity theft attacks without knowing they're doing so, would-be victims worldwide will gladly pay for the privilege of knowingly carrying out those same attacks. "In terms of social engineering," writes...

WANTAGE, NJ (1010 WINS) -- Fifty people who ate at a Wantage Italian restaurant have come down with stomach flu symptoms, health officials said. While the cause of the outbreak at LiBerti's Restaurant is under investigation, an immediate inspection after the customers were sickened found violations with the establishment's water system. "The situation could have occurred a number of ways, from the water, from an employee who was ill who was handling food, from a customer who ate at the restaurant who passed it to somebody," Sussex County Health Administrator Stephen Gruchacz told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Saturday newspapers....