The COVID-19 pandemic is a rare event in its scale and spread. But in responding to it, people have been looking at lessons from other outbreaks of infectious disease. What…
Five lessons from past global influenza outbreaks for COVID-19
Podcast: The Social Dynamics of Pandemics
The global pandemic Covid-19 is impacting people in many and varied ways. The effects on all our lives are immense and diverse, from rural and urban communities, young and old,…
Science, uncertainty and the COVID-19 response
One of the abiding images of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the UK has been the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, looking nervous and uncomfortable, flanked by his scientific advisors at…
The social life of infectious diseases: a new impact story from STEPS
A new multimedia story, ‘The social life of infectious diseases’ is the first in a new series of impact stories from the STEPS Centre. It traces how our thinking on…
AVIAN FLU BIO-TERROR FEARS
By Julia Day Researchers in a Dutch University laboratory have mutated the H5N1 strain of avian influenza so that it can be transmitted betweem humans through the air via coughs…
MONTREUX: ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND HEALTH RISKS
By Michael Loevinsohn, STEPS Centre member On Wednesday I chaired a session on New Directions in Health-Environment Research: Implications for Health Systems. The topic is a bit off the beam…
NEW BOOK: AVIAN INFLUENZA: SCIENCE, POLICY AND POLITICS
Our new book, Avian Influenza: Science, Policy and Politics, edited by Ian Scoones, is out today. Earthscan books is offering a 20% discount (see link below). Buy from Earthscan (20%…
SWINE FLU: SOME EMERGING LESSONS
By IAN SCOONES, STEPS Co-Director Read a short version of this piece, published in The Guardian.The back-story of the swine flu outbreak is gradually seeping out. There are some vitally…
BOY ‘WAS FIRST TO GET SWINE FLU’
From the BBC News website following the authorities in Mexico saying they think they have pinpointed where the swine flu virus began. The video features ABC News’ Jeffrey Kofman speaking…
SWINE FLU: GOVERNING GLOBAL HEALTH IN AN AGE OF EPIDEMICS
By IAN SCOONES, STEPS Centre Co-Director More than 150 deaths in Mexico, a public emergency declared in the US, China banning imports of pigs from the USA and Mexico, health…