Also in Global Health News: TB Vaccine, Avian Flu, NTDs In Rwanda

Aeras Opens New TB Vaccine Manufacturing Facility

Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation on Monday opened a new 9,000-square-foot vaccine manufacturing facility that has the capacity to produce 200 million doses of a tuberculosis vaccine, the Washington Business Journal reports. Aeras is now able to produce vaccines for its four clinical trials currently underway. Jerald Sadoff, president and CEO of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation said, "This is not just pilot production," adding, "We can make things that can be actually sold" (Sinha, Washington Business Journal, 5/4). Aeras hopes to produce a total of six vaccine candidates over the next few years, according to Sadoff (Cranmore, Gazette.Net, 5/4). Aeras and the new facility receive funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Sinha, Washington Business Journal, 5/4).

New York Times Examines 'Worrisome' Avian Influenza Developments

Although news coverage has focused on swine influenza (H1N1) recently, there have been "worrisome" avian influenza (H5N1) developments, the New York Times reports. Since late March, two people – a 31-year-old man and 2-year-old – have died of avian influenza in a hospital in Indonesia despite "aggressive" efforts to stop the spread of the H5N1 virus there, according to the New York Times. Additional deaths have been reported in Egypt and Vietnam, where the source of one woman's infection remains unclear. Although the avian flu virus is usually acquired from contact with an infected bird, scientists "worry that it could mutate to become better able to spread between humans," writes the New York Times (Rosenthal, New York Times, 5/5).

Country-Wide Campaign in Rwanda Aims To Educate, Prevent Neglected Tropical Diseases

The New Times/AllAfrica.com examines how the results of a 2008 survey examining neglected tropical diseases in Rwanda have helped to guide a countrywide sanitation campaign. Since the beginning of the year the Mass Drug Administration has reached out to more than 3 million children and next month, an adult de-worming program with the capacity to treat 60,000 adults will launch in Ruhondo and Burera districts – two districts with high prevalence of intestinal worms (Barigye, New Times/AllAfrica.com, 5/1).