Doctors in Australia have called for urgent research into why a flesh-eating ulcer has become a "worsening epidemic" in the state of Victoria.

Local cases of Buruli ulcer, a skin disease most commonly found in Africa, have surged by 400% in the last four years, experts say.

Infections have also become more severe and spread to new areas.

Scientists Discover Genes Behind Deadly Heart Condition

Scientists say they have identified genes that cause a deadly heart condition that can only be cured by transplants of the heart or lungs.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension kills 50% of those affected within five years, but little was known about what caused the condition in certain people.

Currently, experts say they have discovered five genes that cause the illness.

The findings could result in earlier detection of the disease and ultimately new treatments, researchers say.

The Federal Government has appealed to World Health Organisation (WHO) to establish reference laboratory in the country as part of efforts to reduce time interval between detection and response to yellow fever epidemic in Nigeria.

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, made the appeal during the exit press briefing by WHO Director-General, Dr Tedro Ghebreyesus, on Friday in Abuja.

MedShare, a U.S.based non-profit organization, says it has made donations of new medical supplies and biomedical equipment to the tune of $40 million to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare systems in the last 20 years.

Vice-President, International Development of MedShare, Nell Diallo, made the disclosure at the Nigeria Day at Atlanta to celebrate MedShare 20 years of strengthening healthcare in Nigeria.

The event was attended by Nigeria’s Consul-General in Atlanta, Kayode Laro; his wife, Innocent Iwejuo; Consul, Information and Economics, representatives of Nigerian community organisations in the U.S. and members of the Nigerian diaspora.

The Borno State Government has confirmed three persons dead in fresh cholera outbreak in Kukawa Local Government area of the state.

Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia made the disclosure when the Director General, World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebrayesus, visited the WHO’s Emergency and Response Centre in Maiduguri.

He said that about 700 cases of cholera were recorded in Baga, Doron Baga and Kukawa in the past weeks.

Maxima Maduka, Chief Dental Therapist, Garki Hospital, Abuja, during an interview on Friday, urged people to inculcate the practice of using dental floss to remove food particles between the teeth instead of using tooth picks.

Dental floss is a cord of thin filaments used to remove food particles and dental plague between the teeth in areas a toothbrush is unable to reach.

Maduka, said dental floss, specially made to clean between the teeth, was safer and healthier than tooth pick.