Bird flu has hit six poultry markets in the capital. In the last 15 days, three workers from one of the markets came down with the flu; however, they have recovered.The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B) made the detections.The affected markets are among the 16 poultry markets that are under constant surveillance by the two research organisations, IEDCR sources say.In the wake of the latest developments, the Department of Livestock Services at a meeting on Wednesday decided to form 10 committees to monitor all poultry markets in the capital...
And people want to make folk in Canada and the USA work in BSL4 environments on this virus? Please!
Via Saigon Giai Phong: Ministry warns of bird flu pandemic in Vietnam. Nguyen Van Binh, Head of the Department of Preventive Health under the Ministry of Health, stated on March 9 that Vietnam had recorded four cases of ...
In October and November 2010, novel H1N2 reassortant influenza viruses were identified from pigs showing mild respiratory signs that included cough and depression. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis showed that the novel H1N2 reassortants possesses HA and NA genes derived from recent H1N2 swine isolates similar to those isolated from Midwest. Compared to the majority of reported reassortants, both viruses preserved human-like host restrictive and putative antigenic sites in their HA and NA genes. The four internal genes, PB2, PB1, PA, and NS were similar to the contemporary swine triple reassortant viruses' internal genes (TRIG). Interestingly, NP and M genes of the novel reassortants were derived from the 2009 pandemic H1N1.
Depressed pigs? Do they sigh a lot and watch weepy movies? But that H1N1 is a real survivor - its genes or some of them have persisted since 1918, and don't look to be going away.
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diseases are known to be zoonotic diseases that can infect different kinds of animals.
Conclusions
This finding concludes that mouse-adapted agents 139A and ME7 change their pathogenic characteristics during the transmission to hamsters. The novel prions in hamsters' brains obtain new molecular properties with hamster-specificity.
No more mouse kebabs, people.... Seriously, though, this is rather sinister in terms of expanding the known "phylogenetic gap" that prions can cross
The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) recently caused explosive outbreaks in Indian Ocean islands and India. During these episodes, the virus was mainly spread to humans through the bite of the mosquito Aedes albopictus. Concomitantly to the description of symptoms of an unexpected severity in infants and elderly patients, a viral genome microevolution has been highlighted, in particular consisting in the acquisition of an A226V mutation in the gene encoding envelope glycoprotein E1, which was later found to confer an increased fitness for A. albopictus. We previously decrypted the entry pathway used by CHIKV to infect human epithelial cells and showed that these mechanisms are modulated by the E1-A226V mutation. In this report we investigated the conditions for CHIKV entry into mosquito cells and we assessed the consequence of E1 gene mutation on these parameters.
On March 6, four papers were published in the open access journal mBio offering a range of perspectives on whether the strains of H5N1 bird flu that are transmissible in ferrets should be published and studied.
The strains have been the focus of debate since September, when word of the transmissible viruses first emerged. In December, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) recommended that certain parts of the research, slated to be published in Nature and Science, be redacted—and 3 dozen researchers agreed. But after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that the research should be published in full last month, the NSABB decided to give it a second look, reopening debate.
Researchers have successfully flushed latent HIV infection from hiding, with a drug used to treat certain types of lymphoma.
In a clinical trial, six HIV-infected men who were medically stable on anti-AIDS drugs, received vorinostat, an oncology drug. Recent studies by Margolis and others have shown that vorinostat also attacks the enzymes that keep HIV hiding in certain CD4+ T cells, specialized immune system cells that the virus uses to replicate. Within hours of receiving the vorinostat, all six patients had a significant increase in HIV RNA in these cells, evidence that the virus was being forced out of its hiding place.
ASM publications follow a simple set of guidelines. First, we believe strongly that good science should be published in its entirety after peer review. Accordingly, we require that all primary data be accessible, that DNA sequences be filed in GenBank, that structural coordinates be available, etc. Second, we also understand that science should do no harm. Accordingly, we require that all papers have vetted animal use and human subject protocols and that appropriate biosafety and biosecurity procedures have been followed. We also have set guidelines based on principles set forth by the National Academy of Sciences and the NSABB that attempt to deal with experiments in seven categories most likely to fall into “dual use research of concern” (2). These categories are “yellow lights” or “caution signals” that require extra attention to be sure that the work does not cause or have the potential to cause harm.
A reasoned, careful analysis of a thorny problem. But again, letting the NSABB speak for the world.
Researchers analysing the computer malware Duqu have hit a brick wall and are asking the programming community to help identify a mysterious code at the heart of the worm.
I tell you, more and more I feel that we need to incorporate computer viruses into our taxonomies
Map: Worldwide Confirmed Human Cases Updated. Click on image to enlarge. Click on title for postmark descriptions. Located on the right side-bar for future reference. Posted by Commonground at 6:44 AM ...
"...we intensively sampled two sympatric parrot populations from Mauritius over a period of 11 years and screened for the circovirus Beak and Feather Disease Virus. During the sampling period a severe outbreak of Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, which is caused by Beak and Feather Disease Virus, occurred in Echo parakeets. Consequently, this dataset presents an ideal system to study the evolution of a pathogen in a natural population and to understand the adaptive changes that cause outbreaks."
Reasonably good paper - and prescooped as a news item by both AJC and CU.
A couple of problems with it, however: first, they say "Circoviruses are amongst the smallest and simplest of all viruses, but are relatively poorly characterised." - and neglect to cite a paper which DOES thoroughly characterise BFDV diversity.
Varsani A, Regnard GL, Bragg R, Hitzeroth II, Rybicki EP. J Gen Virol. 2011 Apr;92(Pt 4):752-67.
Second, they refer to a "replicase gene" or allele: it's Rep, guys, for replication associated protein - a rolling circle replication initiator, and NOT a replicase.
Scientists fear row over bird flu studies may undermine credibility of the fieldWinnipeg Free PressTORONTO - As influenza scientists and biosecurity experts continue to do battle over controversial bird flu studies, some in the flu world worry arguments...
"Vaccines are based on a scientific-sounding mythology that is widely believed by gullible physicians and scientists who simply believe what they are told rather than what’s real. This mythology is based on the belief that injecting foreign matter into the human body will cause the immune system to adapt to the weakened foreign matter by creating antibodies that fight off future infections. This explanation, however, is pure mythology. In reality, an immune system can only invoke an adaptive response when it is properly nourished with vitamin D. And if the patient has enough vitamin D, they need no vaccine because vitamin D protects them from seasonal influenza in the first place."
Yeah. Right. SO people in sunny countries don't get flu? Rubbish!!! If anything, flu is worse in the tropics because it occurs all year round!
DNR warns of largemouth bass virus in 4 West Virginia lakesThe RepublicThe Division of Natural Resources say recent samples of fish have revealed the presence of largemouth bass virus in four West Virginia lakes.
Whatever next? Gibson long neck virus...Fender Stratocaster wilt....
A British scientist has become the first human to be infected with a computer virus. Dr Mark Gasson, a cybernetics expert at the University of Reading, has h...
"For the H5N1 and influenza field in general, we urge that the debate be expanded to discuss the mechanisms, requirements, and infrastructure required for maintaining a healthy international research enterprise in the coming years, since this is ultimately the best preparedness for coping with an ever-changing pathogen that has already shown capable of producing devastating pandemics."
43 years after the first case of Lassa fever was recorded, the country [Nigeria] is still grappling with the virus that is transmitted by hairless tailed bush rats that abound in the country. With more than 40 lives already lost and over 400 others infected this year alone, Olaolu Olusina examines the inadequate surveillance system and lacklustre response to the killer virus which is responsible for some 5,000 deaths every year.
We conclude that the early control of HIV-1 replication by immunodominant CD8+ T cell responses may be substantially influenced by rapid, low frequency viral adaptations not detected by conventional sequencing approaches, which warrants further investigation. These data support the critical need for vaccine-induced CD8+ T cell responses to target more highly constrained regions of the virus in order to ensure the maintenance of immunodominant CD8 responses and the sustained decline of early viremia.
So: it's the luck of the draw, then. And T-cell-stimulating vaccines are the way to go?
THE Department of Health has received an expert report on a possible link between the sleeping disorder narcolepsy and the human swine flu vaccine Pandemrix.
Just when I'd convinced everyone around me to get vaccinated...!
"...the E1-defective HPV16 genome became established in human keratinocytes only as episomes in the presence of exogenous E1 expression. Once established, it could replicate with the same efficiency as the wild-type genome, even after the exogenous E1 was removed. However, upon calcium-induced keratinocyte differentiation, once again amplification was dependent on exogenous E1. These results demonstrate that the E1 protein is dispensable for maintenance replication but not for initial and productive replication of HPV16."
Always a good idea to check whether or not your virus is actually susceptible when you think it is....
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