Before a deadly pandemic spreads across the globe, it starts small. The seemingly harmless cases can then slowly grow into global catastrophes. That journey has now been clarified with a new report from the John Hopkins Center for Health Security.

When considering what makes a disease a possible pandemic, there are no hard and fast guidelines. Instead, scientists typically look to the past to see historical examples of outbreaks showing effective responses to similar events.

But, this means we are always looking behind instead of properly evaluating serious pathogens with which we lack experience. Research, led by senior scholar Amesh Adalja, MD, has been put into “The Characteristics of Pandemic Pathogens” and aims to change this.

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The recent deaths of women from Oregon and New Mexico due to hantavirus have many asking, “What is Hantavirus?”

Essentially, hantavirus is a severe, potentially deadly, respiratory disease carried by rodents. There are several types of the virus, including the Andes virus and Seoul virus.

To date, no person-to-person contact has led to infection in the United States, though this has happened in Argentina and Chile. Hantavirus is best known to progress to HPS (Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome) though it can remain a non-pulmonary hantavirus infection.

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In the last year, there’s been a rise in diseases with a vaccine throughout the world. We’ve seen many recent outbreaks of diseases like yellow fever, cholera and measles.

There appears to be a similar risk of the illnesses in the United States.

A rise in the use of nonmedical vaccine exemptions in the U.S. means that preventable diseases are also on the rise, as shown by a June 2018 paper published in PLOS Medicine.

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In the endless drive to make aircrafts more efficient, Emirates is replacing real windows with virtual ones. The change will take place in their latest Boeing 777-300ER first-class suite – and Emirates believe that it is the way of the future.

What are “Virtual Windows”?

Rather than giving you a direct, clear space to look outward, virtual windows show you projected images from fiber-optic cameras placed outside the plane. This doesn’t mean a complete overhaul to the airplanes you’re accustomed to. Emirates chose to design the interior to still look exactly like a normal craft with windows.

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Ride sharing apps are widely used across the globe, but a lot of major cities and even countries are banning the services. By preventing these apps, many regions hope to boost the traditional local businesses.

Along with ease on travelers who are visiting the area, a lot of local commuters rely on ride-sharing apps for getting around their cities. According to Conde Nast Traveler, 81 percent of millennials “say they prefer ride-share services to traditional taxis.” Apparently, not everyone shares that sentiment.

The popular apps such as Uber and Lyft have had their services halted and heavily regulated by the country’s governments.

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For years scientists have believed that humidity helps to thwart the spread of the flu, but a new study says otherwise – at least for one strain.

Research led by the University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech seems to have discovered a major flaw with old testing methods. In determining the impact of humidity on the flu, tests didn’t work under realistic conditions. The methods failed to factor in airway secretions. Those are the particles that get into the air after sneezing, coughing or even exhaling.

In the 2018 tests, teams used a specially-designed rotating metal drum. The new addition would suspend aerosols while keeping up a stable humidity level.

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Ukraine has seen almost 20,000 cases of the highly-contagious measles in 2018. Countless foreign visitors will soon flock to nearby Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

With so many travelers coming from endemic countries, is the event a risk for measles?

If attendees have had one or both of the necessary vaccinations, they will appreciate the 93-97 percent success rate. If not, they may be in trouble.

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An international flight from the United States to Europe that takes four hours? That might sound like a fairy-tale to frequent travelers, but supersonic international flights could actually be a reality in the near future.

What is Supersonic Air Travel?

A supersonic aircraft is any that’s able to fly faster than the speed of sound. No, this isn’t the sci-fi technology that is may sound like. These aircrafts have been used for military purposes since the end of the 20th century.

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We’ve been looking for help to fight cancer for decades. Recent research shows that the answer may come from other dangerous diseases.

Researchers from Cardiff University say they have retrained viruses to directly target, invade and help destroy cancerous cells. This success could someday potentially provide successful treatment for real-world cases.

The study’s main idea expands off of current gene therapy techniques. They use viruses to treat various diseases after altering them so that they cannot pass on any disease.

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Hopes for a successful chikungunya vaccine rose in recent weeks.

The vaccine development company PaxVax Inc. announced that the FDA has marked their preliminary immunization for fast-track status.

Such a vaccine would be the first of its kind. As the CDC shares, there is currently no vaccination to prevent the infection. Considering there is no medicine to treat chikungunya, this is even more of a problem.

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