Usutu, an African virus under surveillance in Europe

“This is a virus transmitted by mosquitoes that circulates between birds. It can attack the nervous system of certain birds, such as blackbirds, and cause significant mortality. It was first observed in southern Africa, in Swaziland, in 1959,” says Serafin Gutierrez, a virology researcher with CIRAD”S ASTRE research unit. The virus, called Usutu, belongs to the genus Flavivirus, which includes […]

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Nurses outperform doctors in colorectal cancer surveillance model

Putting nurses in charge of colorectal cancer surveillance instead of doctors has shown to reduce the number of unnecessary colonoscopies and the number of cases progressing to cancer. The South Australian audit of 732 colonoscopies over three months in 2015 found that 97 per cent of procedures adhered to Australian guidelines in the nurse-led model while compliance was just 83 […]

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