Research Brief

The waning number of Ebola cases is good news for West Africa, but for those developing a vaccine for the disease, it means time is running short.

On Monday, the Emerging Pathogens Institute partnered up with UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Bob Graham Center for Public Service, UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education, and Healthy Gulf, Healthy Communities Project to host “Five Years Later — Lessons Learned from the Deepwater.” The event took place at 6 p.m. in The Bob Graham Center for Public Service.

Researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Agricultural Sciences have been awarded more than $13.4 million for four studies to help fight citrus greening, the devastating disease that threatens Florida’s $10 billion citrus industry.

Spiny lobsters practice “behavioral immunity” to create safe havens that prevent them from contracting a lethal disease in the wild, an important finding for the $50 million annual spiny lobster fishery in Florida, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Florida scientist.

University of Florida researchers have grown a human norovirus in a cell culture dish, finally opening the door to developing medications for fighting the intestinal scourge that strikes tens of millions every year in schools, hotels and cruise ships worldwide.

On Sept. 29, the Emerging Pathogens Institute presented an overview of Ebola and the recent outbreak to the Florida Congressional Delegation and the Board of Governors. With the number of Ebola cases growing exponentially, EPI believes it is important to be informed on the disease and how it is spreading in West Africa and all around the world.

The number of severe flu cases in North Central Florida has escalated in recent months, and UF Health Shands Hospital has had a striking increase in influenza-related hospitalizations, with more than 150 admissions and a dozen deaths since late October, UF Health and county public health officials reported today.