EurekAlert! In the Spotlight

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

This month, we’re focusing on infectious diseases, a topic that affects lives and communities around the world. Here, you’ll find the latest research news, insights, and discoveries shaping how infectious diseases are being studied, prevented, and treated globally.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Dec-2025 09:11 ET (20-Dec-2025 14:11 GMT/UTC)

3-Sep-2025

Groundbreaking study suggests that mutations driving evolution are informed by the genome, not random

University of Haifa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A groundbreaking study published in this week’s issue of PNAS by scientists from Israel and Ghana shows that an evolutionarily significant mutation in the human APOL1 gene arises not randomly but more frequently where it is needed to prevent disease, fundamentally challenging the notion that evolution is driven by random mutations and tying the results to a new theory that, for the first time, offers a new concept for how mutations arise.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

3-Sep-2025

Infectious disease modelling teams invited to strengthen global response to highly pathogenic avian influenza

Biofaction (Austria)
Business Announcement

An international modelling challenge is calling on experts across disciplines to help tackle one of Europe’s — and the world’s — most pressing health threats: highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The initiative, which is now open for applications, seeks to improve outbreak modelling readiness and to foster international collaboration among researchers and decision makers from academic, government, and other backgrounds worldwide. Modelling teams from academia, public health, the private sector or other backgrounds are warmly invited to participate and participation is free.

Funder: Horizon Europe

3-Sep-2025

Gray seals perplex scientists with lack of response to flu infection

University of Connecticut
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Something strange happens when two kinds of seals living in the waters around Cape Cod get infected with influenza – harbor seals get sick but gray seals don’t.

Scientists know that both gray seals and harbor seals can contract influenza. But, generally, only harbor seals get sick and may die from the virus.

This perplexing phenomenon led Milton Levin ‘04 Ph.D., associate research professor of pathobiology and veterinary science in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR), and his collaborators to investigate if a difference in a piece of the immune system called cytokines could be responsible for this difference.

Journal: Journal of Wildlife Diseases

3-Sep-2025

Rare immune cells offer new hope for treating acute respiratory distress syndrome

Institute of Science Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Basophils, a type of white blood cell, promote recovery from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in mice, according to researchers at Science Tokyo. In a mouse model of ARDS, basophils were found to release interleukin-4 (IL-4), which suppresses inflammatory neutrophils in the lungs during the recovery stage. The study suggests that targeting the basophil–IL-4–neutrophil pathway could offer a new therapeutic approach for ARDS, a condition with high mortality rates and no dedicated treatments.

Journal: European Respiratory Journal

27-Aug-2025

Myocardial infarction may be an infectious disease

Tampere University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A pioneering study by researchers from Finland and the UK has demonstrated for the first time that myocardial infarction may be an infectious disease. This discovery challenges the conventional understanding of the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction and opens new avenues for treatment, diagnostics, and even vaccine development.

Journal: Journal of the American Heart Association

26-Aug-2025

American College of Cardiology issues vaccine guidance for adults with heart disease

American College of Cardiology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The American College of Cardiology has issued Concise Clinical Guidance (CCG) recommending vaccines to protect adults with heart disease against respiratory illness, including influenza, COVID-19 and RSV, and other diseases where vaccination is shown to offer cardiovascular protective benefits. The guidance also provides detailed evidence for each vaccine recommendation and answers to frequently asked questions to guide conversations between clinicians and patients.

Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology

25-Aug-2025

Generative AI uncovers undetected bird flu exposure risks in Maryland emergency departments

University of Maryland School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine developed a new and highly effective application of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to quickly scan notes in electronic medical records and identify high-risk patients who may have been infected with H5N1 avian influenza or “bird flu”, according to new findings published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Journal: Clinical Infectious Diseases
Funder: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality