They may be a prospective source for an influenza pandemic, researchers warn.  

Only a few labs will earn funding for such “gain-of-function” research on SARS, MERS, and other deadly diseases.

Donald Henderson, who led the World Health Organization’s fight against the disease in the 1960s and ’70s, has passed away at age 87.

More than 320,000 mammalian viruses lurk; evolution of echolocation in bats and dolphins; accumulation of mutations in drug-resistant tuberculosis; senior researchers reluctant to retire

Some H5N1 and H7N9 bird flu viruses could be one mutation away from spreading efficiently between humans.

The creation of H5N1 bird flu strains that are transmissible between mammals has thrown the scientific community into a heated debate about whether such research should be allowed and how it should be regulated.

The bird flu virus infected several people who were also sick with seasonal flu, risking a genetic mixing of the two that could result in a greater threat.

The 1918 influenza was circulating silently before it began killing millions of people in just a year and a half.

Soderbergh’s new pandemic thriller gets a lot of the science right, but does contain a few unlikely details.