All articles tagged with #eradication
The USDA released its billionth sterile fly into Texas as part of the ongoing sterile insect technique campaign to eradicate the New World screwworm, aiming to disrupt the pest's breeding; despite concerns about potential spread, fewer than 50 screwworm cases have been reported in the U.S. this year as production is ramped up.
Polio, once near eradication thanks to a vast global vaccination effort, now faces a real comeback as funding cuts, policy shifts, and anti-vaccine sentiment erode vaccination campaigns, surveillance, and social mobilization. Outbreaks persist in several regions and vaccine-derived polio cases rise, warning that without sustained funding and a shift from oral to injectable vaccines, polio could reemerge in the U.S. and worldwide, undoing decades of progress like India’s 2014 eradication milestone.
Despite huge gains in reducing wild poliovirus, funding shortfalls, political barriers, and access issues in Afghanistan and Pakistan are undermining eradication efforts. With budget cuts, waning urgency, and operational challenges (including bans on female vaccinators and disrupted US-backed infrastructure), experts doubt that current strategies will achieve eradication, prompting calls to consider alternative plans while remaining vigilant for outbreaks and vaccine-derived polio.
In May 1980 the WHO formally declared smallpox eradicated after a 13-year, roughly $300 million vaccination drive that used a ‘ring vaccination’ approach—targeting contacts around each case rather than mass vaccination—pioneered by Donald Henderson and William Foege. The last naturally acquired case was Ali Maow Maalin in Somalia (1977), with the final global case in a laboratory-related incident (Janet Parker, 1978). By the late 1970s the disease had been eliminated from most regions (South America by 1971, Indonesia 1972, India 1975, Bangladesh 1975, Ethiopia 1976), though continued lab stocks existed in two secure facilities (CDC in Atlanta and VECTOR in Koltsovo) and remain the subject of ongoing debate about destruction and biosecurity.
The piece recounts how the U.S. defeated screwworms in 1966 via the Sterile Insect Technique—mass-releasing sterile flies developed by Edward Knipling and Raymond Bushland—after decades of outbreaks and early missteps, including Florida and Southwest eradication efforts and cross-border cooperation with Mexico; it warns that today’s re-emergence demands large-scale, preventative action and renewed funding for monitoring to avoid repeating past economic and agricultural losses.
A New World screwworm case has been detected in Texas six decades after eradication in the U.S., triggering an aggressive response due to fears of significant disruption to the livestock industry.
William Foege pioneered ring vaccination, a targeted strategy that stopped smallpox by vaccinating the right people around cases, transforming a centuries-old killer into a disease we no longer fear; his death underscores the danger of letting proven public-health progress fade as measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases resurge.
Global health officials report a record-low 10 human guinea-worm cases in 2025 (in Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan), keeping the eradication program on track to potentially remove the parasite as a human-disease threat—only the second disease to be eradicated after smallpox. Animal infections persist in several countries, but case reporting, public education, and safer water measures continue to drive transmission down since 1986, with hundreds of millions of cases prevented.
The Carter Center reports that human Guinea worm infections dropped to a historic low of 10 cases in 2025, signaling the world is closing in on eradication of the disease.
An op-ed tribute recounts how Bill Foege’s surveillance-containment method—proactive case finding, isolating cases, and vaccinating contacts—helped eradicate smallpox worldwide, including pivotal efforts in India after initial mass-vaccination resistance, and cemented a lasting legacy for public health.
A rare case of flesh-eating screwworm in the U.S. has been reported in a traveler returning from Central America, but health officials say the risk to the public is very low due to the parasite's limited presence and effective containment measures. The screwworm, a fly whose larvae can cause severe tissue damage, mainly affects livestock but can infect humans through open wounds. Ongoing efforts in Central America and Mexico aim to control outbreaks, and the U.S. has prepared response plans to prevent further spread.
A parasitic fly known as the New World screwworm, previously eradicated from North and Central America, is re-emerging and spreading, threatening livestock, humans, and pets, prompting international efforts to control its population through sterile insect techniques and increased surveillance amid concerns about climate change and cattle movement.
The new world screw worm, a parasitic fly that lays eggs in the wounds of warm-blooded animals, is resurging in Central America, threatening livestock and human health. Despite decades of eradication efforts using sterile male flies, the pest has reappeared in countries like Costa Rica and Panama, prompting calls for more advanced genetic solutions like gene drives. Factors such as climate change, deforestation, and migration may be contributing to the screw worm's comeback, challenging scientists and farmers to find effective control measures.
New polio vaccines are crucial for preventing outbreaks and achieving global eradication. While two of the three wild poliovirus serotypes have been eradicated, challenges remain with the last serotype and vaccine-derived polioviruses. Improved vaccines, testing, and sanitation efforts are essential to overcome these hurdles and protect children from this debilitating disease.
In the latest Helldivers 2 Major Order, players noticed strange behavior from the Automatons, with some robots choosing not to fight and instead following players. This has sparked debate among players about whether the robots are attempting diplomacy or simply trying to survive eradication. Some players see it as a form of betrayal, while others speculate it could be an intended part of the game's lore. Regardless, players are advised to remain cautious and prepare with the best weapons and armor to ensure the liberation of planets from the Automatons.