Richard Harris

The WHO has called for donations to help contain the outbreak. But money is just the first step. The challenges run from finding the right staff to prepping neighboring countries just in case.

Three companies are working to develop a drug that can battle Ebola. The free market has not produced a solution — a situation the U.S. government has been trying to correct.

Interest in drugs that might be used to treat Ebola virus has hit a fever pitch, but the buzz isn't simply about fear of Ebola, or about saving lives in poor nations of West Africa. It's also about money.

Take, for example, the Canadian drug company Tekmira. It is ...

Last week we learned that two Americans working in Liberia for a medical charity, Samaritan's Purse, were among those who had contracted Ebola. When their symptoms took a turn for the worse, the organization announced that the two were going to get experimental treatments. One was going to get ...

The sloppy handling by federal scientists of the world's scariest germs must stop, says the dismayed head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Are his new rules enough?

Tobacco companies Reynolds American and Lorillard have confirmed they're in talks about a merger. For Reynolds, the move would mean doubling down on the future of e-cigarettes.

Scientists hoped the baby's apparent cure would lead to similar treatments in infants worldwide. But with the child still HIV-positive, some question the ethics of a large study in other children.

Federal officials have announced that a young Mississippi girl, once thought to have been cured of HIV, now once again has detectable levels of the virus.

A racing mind and a pounding heart aren't all bad — the stress response can help humans and other animals deal with the unexpected. So what makes a vital system, which evolved to help us, turn toxic?

Scientists cleaning out an old laboratory on the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Md., last week came across a startling discovery: vials labeled "variola" — in other words, smallpox.

Under international convention, there are supposed to be only two stashes of this deadly virus: one at the federal ...

Scientists used high-powered DNA sequencing to diagnose infections missed by usual lab tests. The pricey method is still experimental, but might offer a way to identify tough-to-diagnose infections.

News about cancer therapies usually comes out in medical journals with the regular rhythm of an IV drip. But every now and then information comes out in a flood.

That's the case this weekend. The American Society of Clinical Oncology is holding its 50^th annual meeting in Chicago. The ...

Nat Love spent Christmas morning burying close companions. A dispute among friends over a saddle horse had ended badly. And in a scene straight from the movies, Arizona Bob had drawn his revolver, but A. Jack's hands reacted just a split-second faster. When the smoke cleared, five horses and three ...

Members of Amish communities in Ohio traveled to the Philippines for heartfelt reasons: They were there on service projects to help less fortunate people. Unfortunately, they came home with unwelcome hitchhikers: measles viruses.

Those travelers hadn't been vaccinated against this highly contagious disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...

Most attempts at a malaria vaccine have unsuccessfully tried to keep the parasite from breaking into red blood cells. But a new twist that keeps the parasite from escaping the cells may work better.

Many potential new drugs look like they could be big winners — at least when judged by how well they work in mice or other lab animals. Over the years, there have been a number of promising cancer "cures," possible Alzheimer's treatments, and candidate drugs for holding back the ravages ...

If you were a bear and wanted to make a go of it in the frozen North (think polar bear, of course), what would you need to survive?

White fur would help, to help you sneak up on prey. Also plenty of body fat to stay warm. And you'd need ...

Adelie penguins, which breed in huge colonies on the rocky Antarctic Peninsula, harbor a version of the avian influenza virus. But this strain doesn't make humans or the birds sick.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma has gone up dramatically in recent months and that the surge in seismic activity has increased the danger of a damaging quake in the central part of the state.

The USGS and Oklahoma Geological Survey issued a joint ...

Scientists tracking the ancestry of whooping cough say it arose abruptly in humans about 500 years ago, caused by a mutated bacterium that once lived only in animals. Genetic tricks helped it spread.