virus

What to know about the 'slapped cheek' virus uptick in the U.S.

6:00am August 17, 2024

Most healthy people have either no symptoms or flu-like symptoms from a parvovirus B19 infection, but it can lead to serious complications for certain groups of people.

Health & Safety

Rabies count rises in Greensboro

4:20pm August 25, 2023

by David Ford

On Friday, another case of animal rabies in Greensboro was confirmed by the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services.

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An image of the hepatitis C virus Image made from a transmission electron microscopy. The virus is adept at evading the immune system.

Hep C has a secret strategy to evade the immune system. And now we know what it is

2:33pm July 26, 2023

by Bec Roldan

How does the hepatitis C virus keep the immune system at bay? A scientist finds the answer — and it involves a standard technique used by villains.

Registered pharmacist Sapana Patel, loads a syringe with monkeypox vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in West Hollywood, Calif.

Health & Safety

How to keep your pets safe from monkeypox — and what to do if they get it

6:25am August 16, 2022

by Ayana Archie

Animal carriers of the virus include various rodents, dogs, primates, hedgehogs and shrews, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People protest during a rally calling for more government action to combat the spread of monkeypox at Foley Square on July 21, 2022 in New York City.

Critics say 'monkeypox' is a racist name. But it's not going away anytime soon

3:34pm August 01, 2022

by Bill Chappell

Scientists call the name "discriminatory and stigmatizing." The World Health Organization agrees. But no progress has been made on finding a new name. And some say the name doesn't need changing.

Health & Safety

$36M awarded to WFIRM to study the effects of viruses on humans

2:43pm June 29, 2022

by Eddie Garcia

Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (

NC suspends poultry events, public sales over avian flu concerns

4:16pm April 14, 2022

by Keri Brown

North Carolina is suspending poultry shows and public sales until further notice because of growing concerns over a highly contagious strain of the bird flu.

Waterfowl and the raptors that dine on them, like this bald eagle and snow goose, have both been killed by the new bird flu virus.

A worrisome new bird flu is spreading in American birds and may be here to stay

3:09pm April 09, 2022

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Scientists are tracking a deadly bird flu outbreak that has infected wild birds in more than 30 states. Purging the nation's poultry supply may not be enough to keep the virus from sticking around.

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Sikhulile Moyo, the laboratory director at the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership and a research associate with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, headed the team that identified the omicron variant.

The scientist in Botswana who identified omicron was saddened by the world's reaction

7:19pm December 16, 2021

by Melody Schrieber

He and his team were stunned by the number of mutations. They felt they'd made a contribution by alerting the world to a dangerous variant. Then came the travel bans for residents of southern Africa.

The numerals in this illustration show the main mutation sites of the delta variant of the coronavirus, which is likely the most contagious version. Here, the virus's spike protein (red) binds to a receptor on a human cell (blue).

The Delta Variant Isn't Just Hyper-Contagious. It Also Grows More Rapidly Inside You

4:14pm July 08, 2021

by Michaeleen Doucleff

New research from China suggests people infected with the delta variant have, on average, about 1,000 times more virus in their respiratory tracts than those infected with the original strain.