Texas Official Warns Against ‘Measles Parties’ Amid Growing Outbreak
At least 146 measles cases have been identified in West Texas so far, including 20 hospitalizations and one death.
DNA reveals Romans helped spread TB across three continents
The Romans gave us roads, public toilets and the modern calendar, but we may also have them to thank for spreading a deadly disease: tuberculosis
Zambia to kill 2,000 hippos because they might spread anthrax
Over the next five years 2,000 hippos are to be culled in Zambia, supposedly to stop them giving people anthrax, but the cull may inadvertently fuel the trade in hippo ivory
Chimp evolution was shaped by sex with their bonobo relatives
Some chimpanzee populations gained useful DNA from interbreeding with bonobos, and one may even have become more gentle and “bonobo-like” in its brain structure and behaviour
Lizards keep evolving toxic green blood and we don’t know why
All the green-blooded lizards in the world live in New Guinea, but it turns out the trait has evolved there independently at least four times
A plague from South Korea is killing frogs and toads worldwide
The world’s amphibians are dying in swathes because of the lethal chytrid fungus, and it seems the epidemic had its origins on the Korean peninsula
The frogs bouncing back after almost being wiped out by disease
A few amphibian species in Panama are recovering from near-extinction, after apparently evolving resistance to the deadly chytrid fungus
CRISPR immune system lets silkworms defeat viral infections
The CRISPR immune system from bacteria has been engineered into silkworms, allowing them to fight off a virus that plagues the silk industry
Medicine for sick koalas turns out to actually kill them
Koalas are often given antibiotics to treat a lethal strain of chlamydia, but the medicines often kill the koalas by wiping out friendly bacteria in their guts
Leopards that live in cities are protecting people from rabies
Wild leopards wander into the Indian city of Mumbai to prey on feral dogs – and in doing so they stop the dogs biting people and passing on the rabies virus