pandemic

(University of Maryland) In the first study to examine how the H1N1 pandemic virus interacts with other flu strains, laboratory research by the University of Maryland found no evidence of "reassortment" to form a more virulent "superbug," but did demonstrate the heightened communicability of the pandemic form responsible for the so-called swine flu.

The pandemic virus prevailed over and out-competed the other strains in ferrets, reproducing, on average, twice as much.

Obama's plan to revamp financial regulation aims to protect borrowers from the confusing and high-risk mortgages that fed a pandemic of delinquencies and foreclosures.

With swine flu now an official pandemic, the race is on among drugmakers to produce a vaccine.

The new swine flu is rattling Americans from coast to coast and President Barack Obama pledged "to do whatever it takes" to battle an emergency that world health authorities warned is inching closer to a full-fledged pandemic.