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19/04/2016

An international research team including scientists from Spain, Mexico and the Netherlands have found evidence of a previously unknown interaction between viruses.:
Scientists have discovered evidence of one virus parasitising another, improving its infectivityor ability to enter, survive and multiply in a host. Specifically, the iflavirus hitch-hikes on the back of the baculovirus, a virus used since the 1940s as the basis for biological pesticides in crop fields, meaning the work has potential implications in plague control and ecology. Their study was published in PeerJ in March.

By hitching a ride, the iflavirus essentially 'upgrades' its viral transmission from vertical (from mother to embryo) to horizontal (peer to peer, often killing the host), while also remaining in an infectious state for longer, protected within the host virus' occlusion body.

But it is not all gain: while this interaction results in increased environmental persistence and transmission opportunities for the iflavirus, it has also been observed to reduce the pathogenicity of the baculovirus. Salvador Herrero, genetics professor at the Universitat de València (University of Valencia, UV) and the study coordinator, explains: "The efficiency of the baculovirus […] can be compromised by the presence of the parasite virus."

The prevalence of this interaction in nature is as yet unquantified, though many insects are known to become infected by baculoviruses, including many worms, and crop and woodland plagues.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Asociación RUVID. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

07/03/2015

A 40-year-old woman from Chhetrapati succumbed to H1N1 virus last evening, becoming the first reported casualty of swine flu in the country this year.

She lost her life to the virus while undergoing treatment at Bag Bazaar-based Kathmandu Model Hospital. The hospital has not disclosed the identity of the victim.

Dr Deepak Sharma of the hospital said the woman had been receiving treatment at the hospital for the last 11 days. “She visited the emergency ward on February 17 after she complained of respiratory problem. She was discharged that day but was admitted the next day when she visited the hospital with additional health problems,” he told THT.

As her health did not improve, the hospital sent her blood sample to National Public Health Laboratory, Teku, on February 24. She tested positive for H1N1 virus the next day. She died of the virus despite treatment after diagnosis. Dr Sharma said the woman was a patient of bronchial asthma and was suffering from pneumonia. She had not travelled outside the Kathmandu Valley in the recent past.

He said, “She was suffering from mild flu but had poor immunity. Therefore, medication could not help her.”

The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has also confirmed that the woman succumbed of swine flu.

Dr Jeetendra Man Shrestha, EDCD’s focal person for H1N1 virus, appealed to the public not to panic. He said, “The situation has not worsened. This is a seasonal flu and can be kept at bay if one adopts preventive measures.”

He said a person suffering from swine flu should not get too close to others, should wear a mask, maintain proper hygiene and rest as much as possible for speedy recovery. This year more than 300 samples were tested at NPHL and 42 people have tested positive. The government has also set up health desks at the major entry points on country’s border and Tribhuvan International Airport.

The virus was first detected in Nepal in 2009. Eighteen deaths were reported last year in Kathmandu due to the virus, while 300 blood samples had tested positive for swine flu.

08/01/2015

A team of Princeton scientists has discovered a key mechanism in how bacteria communicate with each other, a pivotal breakthrough that could lead to treatments for cholera and other bacterial diseases.

The mechanism is a chemical that cholera bacteria use for transmitting messages to each other, known as CAI-1, and has been isolated in the lab of molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler. Her team has shown that the chemical also can be used to disrupt the communication that exists among the bacteria, potentially halting the disease's progress. The discovery could lead to an entirely new class of antibiotics.

"Disease-causing bacteria talk to each other with a chemical vocabulary, and now we can interfere with their talk to control infections," said Doug Higgins, a graduate student in Bassler's lab and first author of the research team's paper on the findings. "This paper specifically concerns cholera, but it provides proof in principle that we can do it with any bacteria."

01/01/2015

Happy New Year to all of facebook Friends and Members

Ebola mechanism.
19/10/2014

Ebola mechanism.

A deadly new disease has emerged that is wiping out amphibians, scientists report.A number of viruses have been found in...
19/10/2014

A deadly new disease has emerged that is wiping out amphibians, scientists report.

A number of viruses have been found in northern Spain that are killing frog, toad and newt species. Infected animals can suffer from ulcers on their skin and die from internal bleeding.

Researchers fear the strains, which belong to the Ranavirus group, have already spread to other countries.

The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

Lead author Dr Stephen Price, from University College London, said: "Until the outbreaks, we didn't really know about this lineage of virus.

"But since these die-offs began, we've started to see them elsewhere - in China in giant salamanders, and it looks like they are emerging in places like France and the Netherlands as well."

Common midwife toad haemorrhaging
The viruses cause internal haemorrhaging and some animals have large open sores on their skin
Dead amphibians were first spotted in the Picos de Europa National Park, in Spain, in 2005.

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“
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It is a pretty graphic disease with a high kill-rate”

Dr Stephen Price
UCL
An investigation by a team of researchers found that a range of new viruses were the cause.

Two of the viruses, called CMTV-like Ranaviruses, were infecting large numbers of animals.

What is unusual is that they can jump between a range of species, killing off frogs, toads and newts.

Dr Price said: "In the Picos de Europa National Park, we've seen major population collapses in three species: the common midwife toad, the common toad and the alpine newt. But we also found all the common amphibian species in the park were highly susceptible and experiencing disease and mortality.

"It is a pretty graphic disease with a high kill-rate. We've shown these viruses have caused simultaneous declines in several species of host."

Alpine newt
Alpine newts have also been killed by the viruses in Spain
The researchers believe the virus can even spread to reptiles.

"We recorded a snake that had been feeding on amphibians infected with disease, and it showed signs of the virus," said Dr Price.

Conservationists are especially worried about these new viruses because 41% of all amphibians already face extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Another disease, called the chytrid fungus, has spread around the world, killing off many populations.

Scientists fear that if the new viruses spread, they could have a devastating effect on these already vulnerable animals.

The research was carried out by scientists at UCL, the Zoological Society of London, Queen Mary University of London, the Museum of Natural Science in Madrid, and the Picos de Europa National Park.

Ebola Scare Turns Dallas Hospital Into a 'Ghost Town'
19/10/2014

Ebola Scare Turns Dallas Hospital Into a 'Ghost Town'

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