SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Experts from the World Health Organization and South Korea on Saturday downplayed concerns about the MERS virus spreading further within the country, which recorded its 14th death and 12 new infections, but said that it was premature to declare the outbreak over.
China has approved a new polio vaccine, the first of its kind to be produced in the country, a month after local authorities gave the green light for a home-grown Ebola vaccine amid Beijing’s push to become a world leader in producing innovative drugs. The development drew praise from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday who said the vaccine, which will be given to Chinese children as part of routine disease prevention, would help the global fight against the polio virus. China’s private and state-run medical laboratories have been growing in sophistication, helping reduce reliance on imported medicines and competing with global rivals. “This new vaccine is a critically important weapon in the fight against polio as the world nears the eradication of this dreaded disease,” Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO representative in China, said in a statement.