Human Cytomegalovirus affects billions of people all around world so why haven't most of us heard of it?
The hands of a patient infected by monkeypox in Katako-Kombe, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1997.
Brian W.J. Mahy/CDC
Monkeypox is very contagious and there is no cure. But the good news is the body can heal itself from the virus. Singapore is the first in Asia, where the monkey smallpox virus has infected humans.
They’re not perfect, but flu shots are still good to get.
AP Photo/David Goldman
The 2018-2019 flu season was less deadly than the last. But the pattern of infection was unusual, thanks to the various strains circulating and the way flu shots work over time.
Viruses attack and infect a bacterium.
Cholera kills fast, and outbreaks are common in war-torn regions and after natural disasters where clean water is scarce. A new strategy to prevent cholera infections is a 'cocktail' of live virus.
In most cases, scientists are still unsure of what causes Alzheimer’s disease.
FGC / Shutterstock.com
After the failure of multiple drug trials the outlook for an Alzheimer's drug is bleak. This shouldn't be a surprise. We don't know the cause or even how to diagnose the disease.
The flu comes on rapidly and symptoms get worse over the first few days.
The 2018 flu season was mild, while 2017 was a particularly bad year. It's impossible to predict what the 2019 flu season has in store, but we've seen more cases so far this year than usual.
The Ebola virus.
The Ebola virus claimed 11,000 lives in 2014. Today, scientists may have cured the disease in guinea pigs by using antibodies.
The latest malware is designed especially to make small companies pay through the nose for their data.
These are viruses called bacteriophages that infect only bacterial cells.
Bacteria are becoming resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics. These expensive, hard-to-treat infections are prompting physicians to reassess using viruses to destroy bacteria.
Ant infected and killed by entomopathogenic fungus.
New research shows teaming fungi with 'friendly' viruses could create an environmentally sustaiable and efficient way to protect crops.
This is a model of the adenovirus type 5 which causes respiratory infections.
When you think of viruses, you might think of the horrible illnesses they cause, like flu or Ebola. But now researchers are learning how to use the unique traits of viruses to treat disease.
People may unknowingly bring measles back from other countries, including Europe.
We've had the measles vaccine in Australia since 1968, but a two-dose program was only introduced in 1992. And if you haven't had the second dose, you're at risk of contracting measles.
Scientists still rely on a set of 19th century postulates to identify disease-causing organisms but more than 100 years of research shows why we need to move on.
pH. John Walter, 2017. Photograph by Jonathan Bassett.
There are many ways of visualising scientific concepts, as we discovered when an artist got in touch about some of our work.
Human poo is a concoction made up mostly of water with a sprinkling of the solid stuff.
Around 75% of our faeces is made up of water. The other 25% is the good stuff, including bacteria, viruses and undigested food.
An Atlanta hospital set up a mobile ER to deal with the large number of flu cases.
AP Photo/David Goldman
Part of the problem was a mismatch between the influenza strains circulating and the vaccine available. Here's how annual flu shots are formulated.
Monitoring sewage for virus allows for a quick public health response if any polio is detected.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Polio can be circulating through a community long before anyone is paralyzed. Monitoring sewage for the virus lets public health officials short-circuit this 'silent transmission.'
Pygmies in the Dzanga-Sangha Forest Reserve, Central African Republic.
Somewhere along our evolutionary path, we lost the ability to defend against hepatitis C. But not all humans lost this ability.
Every surface of our body – inside and out – is covered in microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi and many other microscopic life forms.
Just because you don't have the flu doesn't mean that your aren't teeming with viruses inside and out. But what are all these viruses doing, if they aren't making you sick?
Cane toads are on the march, but new genetic research could slow them down.
New genetic knowledge about cane toads could give us the knowledge we need to throw some more roadblocks in front of this persistent invader as it marches across Australia.