#Containing infectious disease outbreaksresearchers at the University of East Anglia have identified a rapid response which could help halt infectious diseases such as bird flu swine flu
and SARS before they take hold. Focusing on the avian flu virus strain H5n1 research published today in the journal PLOS ONE identifies key stages in the poultry trade chain which lead to its transmission to other birds animals and humans.
High risk times for the disease to spread include during transportation slaughter preparation and consumption.
It is hoped that the findings and recommendations will help stop the spread of other infectious diseases.
The H5n1 avian flu strain has been responsible for the deaths of millions of poultry as well as 375 confirmed human deaths.
Areas of Southeast Asia have been hardest hit with more than 2500 reported outbreaks among domestic poultry in Vietnam alone.
Since 1980 an average of one new infectious disease emerges in humans every eight months--representing a substantial global threat to human health.
and mammals such as SARS and bird flu represent 60 per cent of outbreaks. As well as representing a significant global health threat they also create a burden to public health systems and the global economy.
Perhaps the most problematic new capability the human strains acquired is the ability to resist methicillin an important antibiotic for fighting staphylococcal infections.
#First probable person to person transmission of new bird flu virus in China; But H7n9 is not able to spread efficiently between humansthe first report of probable person to person transmission of the new avian influenza A (H7n9) virus in Eastern China has just been published.
The findings provide the strongest evidence yet of H7n9 transmission between humans but the authors stress that its ability to transmit itself is limited and non-sustainable.
Avian influenza A (H7n9) virus was identified recently in Eastern China. As of 30 june 2013 133 cases have been reported resulting in 43 deaths.
and tested for influenza virus. Of these one (a son in law who helped care for the father) had mild illness but all contacts tested negative for H7n9 infection.
whether the novel avian influenza virus possesses the capability to transmit person-to-person. She concludes that the infection of the daughter is likely to have resulted from her father during unprotected exposure
But research by a team of University of Maryland biologists shows the timber rattlesnake indirectly benefits humankind by keeping Lyme disease in check.
Human cases of Lyme disease a bacterial illness that can cause serious neurological problems if left untreated are on the rise.
The decline of these mammal predators may be a factor in Lyme disease's prevalence among humans.
whether the rattlers also play a role in controlling Lyme disease. Kabay used published studies of timber rattlers'diets at four Eastern forest sites to estimate the number of small mammals the snakes consume
Because not every human bitten by an infected tick develops Lyme disease the team did not estimate how many people are spared the disease because of the ecosystem service that timber rattlesnakes provide.
Return of wolves aids grizzly bears in Yellowstonea new study suggests that the return of wolves to Yellowstone national park is beginning to bring back a key part of the diet of grizzly bears that has been missing for much of the past century--berries that help bears
Berries are one part of a diverse food source that aids bear survival and reproduction and at certain times of the year can be more than half their diet in many places in North america.
Asexual reproduction as a success model seems to be characteristic of many parasitic fungi including those that afflict humans such as athlete's foot.
#H7n9 influenza: History of similar viruses gives cause for concernthe H7n9 avian flu strain that emerged in China earlier this year has subsided for now
but it would be a mistake to be reassured by this apparent lull in infections. The virus has several highly unusual traits that paint a disquieting picture of a pathogen that may yet lead to a pandemic according to lead scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases.
David Morens Jeffery Taubenberger and Anthony Fauci in a paper published in mbio the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology describe the history of H7 viruses in animal and human disease
and point out that H7 influenza has a tendency to become established in bird horse and swine populations and may spillover repeatedly into humans.
Although this previously unrecognized strain of avian influenza A has now been associated with 132 confirmed human infections and 39 related deaths (as of June 14) the rate at
H7n9 also shares many characteristics with another influenza strain that continues to spillover into humans:
highly pathogenic avian influenza H5n1. Among other commonalities both viruses have a clinical picture that includes bilateral pneumonia acute respiratory distress syndrome
The possibility that H7n9 might infect pigs is particularly troubling as swine are considered a mixing vessel for viruses--a breeding ground for novel viral reassortants like the 2009 H1n1 pandemic influenza strain commonly known as swine flu.
Although avian influenza viruses have not caused widespread human transmission in 94 years of surveillance there have been numerous instances of avian influenza spillover
All the unknowns surrounding the virus make a strong case for enhancing basic and applied research into the evolution of influenza viruses and for better integration of influenza virology within human and veterinary public health efforts.
We have a unique opportunity to learn more of influenza's many secrets and thereby enhance our ability to prevent
For many years pyrethroid insecticides have been deployed in developing countries to fend off diseases such as malaria dengue fever and more.
We've also started exchanging ideas and information with scientists facing related challenges such as herbicide resistance in weeds and resistance to drugs in bacteria HIV and cancer.
Funding for the project came from a five-year $3. 6 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases part of the National institutes of health.
#Ferrets, pigs susceptible to H7n9 avian influenza viruschinese and U s. scientists have used virus isolated from a person who died from H7n9 avian influenza infection to determine
whether the virus could infect and be transmitted between ferrets. Ferrets are used often as a mammalian model in influenza research
and efficient transmission of influenza virus between ferrets can provide clues as to how well the same process might occur in people.
The researchers dropped H7n9 virus into the noses of six ferrets. A day later three uninfected ferrets were placed inside cages with the infected animals
The potential public health implication of this observation is that a person infected by H7n9 avian influenza virus who does not show symptoms could
The researchers also infected pigs with the human-derived H7n9 virus. In natural settings pigs can act as a virtual mixing bowl to combine avian-and mammalian-specific influenza strains potentially allowing avian strains to better adapt to humans.
The research was supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases part of the National institutes of health.
The above story is provided based on materials by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases. Note:
#Bird flu in live poultry markets are the source of viruses causing human infectionson 31 march 2013 the Chinese National Health and Family planning Commission announced human cases of novel
H7n9 influenza virus infections. A group of scientists led by Professor Chen Hualan of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has investigated the origins of this novel H7n9 influenza virus
and published their results in Springer's open access journal Chinese Science Bulletin (Springeropen). Following analysis of H7n9 influenza viruses collected from live poultry markets it was found that these viruses circulating among birds were responsible for human infections.
These results provide a basis for the government to take actions for controlling this public health threat.
The novel H7n9 influenza virus was identified in China as the agent that causes a flu-like disease in humans resulting in some deaths.
Of these samples 20 were positive for the presence of H7n9 influenza viruses. All of the positive samples originated from live poultry markets in Shanghai.
The analysis of these novel H7n9 influenza virus isolates showed that that the six internal genes were derived from avian H9n2 viruses
HA receptor-binding specificity is a major molecular determinant for the host range of influenza viruses.
which is characteristic of the HA gene in human influenza viruses. This finding implies that H7n9 viruses have acquired partially human receptor-binding specificity.
#Potential flu pandemic lurks: Influenza viruses circulating in pigs, birds could pose risk to humansin the summer of 1968 a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong kong.
This strain known as H3n2 spread around the globe and eventually killed an estimated 1 million people.
A new study from MIT reveals that there are many strains of H3n2 circulating in birds
The researchers led by Ram Sasisekharan the Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT also found that current flu vaccines might not offer protection against these strains.
From a pandemic-preparedness point of view we should potentially start including some of these H3 strains as part of influenza vaccines.
Influenza evolutionin the past 100 years influenza viruses that emerged from pigs or birds have caused several notable flu pandemics.
When one of these avian or swine viruses gains the ability to infect humans it can often evade the immune system which is primed to recognize only strains that commonly infect humans.
since the 1968 pandemic but they have evolved to a less dangerous form that produces a nasty seasonal flu.
and helps determine how well an influenza virus can evade a host's immune response. The researchers also took into account the patterns of attachment of the HA protein to sugar molecules called glycans.
The researchers then exposed some of these strains to antibodies provoked by the current H3 seasonal-flu vaccines.
One of the amazing things about the influenza virus is its ability to grab genes from different pools he says.
Sasisekharan and colleagues are now doing a similar genetic study of H5 influenza strains. The H3 study was funded by the National institutes of health and the National Science Foundation Story Source:
and air quality and ameliorate infectious diseases. Lead author of the study Dr Leydimere Oliveira said:
and eliminate this plague said Claude Fauquet a scientist at the International Center for Tropical agriculture (known by its Spanish acronym CIAT) who heads the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21).
and other destructive viruses like the smallpox of cassava--formidable diseases but threats we can eradicate
#Risks of H7n9 infection mappeda map of avian influenza (H7n9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious diseases of Poverty today.
The preliminary results of our study made a prediction of bird flu risk which could explain the pattern of the most recent cases.
The research was supported by an IBB Hamill Innovations Grant the Robert A. Welch Foundation the National Science Foundation and the National institutes of health through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases.
#Vets and medical doctors should team up to tackle diseases transmitted from animals to humansa new study at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp analyses the impact of animal brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis (BTB) on animals
The World health organization (WHO) ranks them as major zoonoses infectious diseases transmitted between species. The research maps risk factors for transmission of these diseases from animals to humans indicating that closer collaboration between medical doctors
The study concludes that it is crucial to address the interlinks between humans animals and the environment to control animal brucellosis and BTB.
While contagion is extremely unlikely in industrialised countries the largest part of the world's population lives in areas where animal brucellosis
and bovine tuberculosis are not under control. Hence ITM calls for increased collaboration between animal and human health specialists in a so called One Health approach.
Boukary studied brucellosis and BTB in over 1100 households keeping livestock. He collected nearly 5000 blood samples for brucellosis and tested almost 400 cattle for BTB.
Such a large scale approach involving animal and human health specialists is still a rarity. Results show that around 13%of herds included animals infected with brucellosis.
It was found that animals below the age of one were more likely to fall ill than animals aged 1-4 years.
Human brucellosis and tuberculosis from animal originin humans brucellosis induces undulating fever sweating weakness anemia headaches depression as well as muscular and bodily pain testicular inflammations in men and spontaneous abortion
Human tuberculosis from animal origin can affect the lungs but is located often in others part of the body.
While contagion is extremely unlikely in industrialised countries the largest part of the world's population lives in areas where animal brucellosis
and bovine tuberculosis are not under control. Future studies at ITM will analyse the impacts of these diseases in humans in more detail.
and osteoporosis. The nutrient also plays an integral role in modulating the immune system to help fight infections like the flu
Using Lessons Learned from recent studies on H5n1studies on this disease recently completed by researchers from the Asia Partnership on Emerging Infectious diseases Research (APEIR) developed a series of messages for policy makers that are highly relevant to the current outbreak.
The recent human cases of H7n9 avian influenza demonstrate the importance of adopting the lessons learned from H5n1 avian influenza.
Studies on this disease recently completed by researchers from the Asia Partnership on Emerging Infectious diseases Research (APEIR) developed a series of messages for policy makers that are highly relevant to the current outbreak.
Economic studies and studies on small scale producers showed that these producers were hit very hard by avian influenza.
In areas affected by H7n9 influenza which already covers Jiangsu Zhejiang and Anhui provinces and beyond support for taking up alternative jobs should be considered for households rearing poultry
The measures in place on these farms would not be sufficient to prevent an H7n9 influenza virus from gaining entry to farms
Studies on wild birds conducted as part of APEIR demonstrated the importance of undertaking surveillance in wild birds to characterise the influenza viruses carried by these birds.
The studies conducted by APEIR did find some additional influenza virus subtypes other than H5n1 viruses
and this information helps in understanding the transmission of other influenza viruses by wild birds.
APEIR recommended that all gene sequences of influenza viruses should be shared as soon as they are available
APEIR researchers including Professor Lei Fumin of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are currently investigating the possible role of wild birds in transmission of H7n9 avian influenza.
This study on avian influenza policies also found that agriculture sectoral policy should be coherent with public health sectoral policy
so as to minimise effects on livelihoods and to prevent the disease caused by H7n9 avian influenza. APEIR is poised to play an important role in investigating
Nitric oxide is a gas that widens blood vessels and aids blood flow. We were surprised by how little nitrate was needed to see such a large effect Ahluwalia said.
Tobias Hoch Ph d. who conducted the study said the results shed light on the causes of a condition called hedonic hyperphagia that plagues hundreds of millions of people around the world.
New techniques to help halt the spread of diseasescientists have revealed a new technique to introduce disease-blocking bacteria into mosquitoes with promising results that may halt the spread of diseases such as dengue yellow fever and potentially malaria.
When infected with the bacteria Wolbachia mosquitoes are unable to spread viruses such as dengue a disease
There have been around 2400 cases of dengue infection in Northern Australia in recent years. However the bacteria has been difficult to spread within the mosquito population
which is a strong blocker of dengue and other viruses. Insecticide use is very common in dengue
and malaria-prone regions and so this strategy should select for the survival of only the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes
The research at UNC was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases. Future studies will investigate the mechanisms behind the vaccine's effectiveness Dr. Lemon said.
#Chemical trickery explored to help contain potato pestthe pale cyst nematode Globodera pallida is one bad roundworm.
In the U s. alone cigarette smoking accounts for more deaths annually than HIV illegal drugs alcohol motor vehicle injuries suicides and murders combined.
#Predicting hotspots for future flu outbreaksthis year's unusually long and rocky flu season would be compared nothing to the pandemic that could occur
if bird flu became highly contagious among humans which is why UCLA researchers and their colleagues are creating new ways to predict where an outbreak could emerge.
Using surveillance of influenza cases in humans and birds we've come up with a technique to predict sites where these viruses could mix
and Egypt's Nile Delta are danger zones where bird flu could combine with human flu to create a virulent kind of super-flu.
--and use the researchers'models to identify other hotspots--for increased monitoring of flu in humans livestock poultry and wild birds.
That could help detect a novel flu virus before it spreads worldwide the researchers said.
The research paper Predicting Hotspots for Influenza Virus Reassortment was published March 13 in the peer-reviewed public health journal Emerging Infectious diseases.
Previous pandemics such as the 1957 and 1968 influenzas that each killed more than a million people or the 2009 H1n1 swine flu outbreak that killed 280000 worldwide developed
when viruses from humans and animals exchanged genes to create a new virus in a process called reassortment.
Recent research using mice confirms that genes from bird flu and human flu can combine to create dangerous new flu strains.
Swine which are susceptible to both bird and human flu could serve as a mixing vessel for reassortment between the two viruses.
The mixing of genetic material between the seasonal human flu virus and bird flu can create novel virus strains that are more lethal than either of the original viruses said senior author Thomas Smith director of the Center for Tropical
Research and a professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
The researchers looked for locations where bird flu outbreaks human flu outbreaks and swine populations overlapped to predict hotspots where reassortment is more likely using a $1. 3 million grant from the Fogarty International Center at the National institutes of health.
The research focused on two flu strains that studies in mice have shown can combine with lethal results:
the seasonal H3n2 human flu and the H5n1 strain of bird flu that has crossed occasionally over into humans.
While the World health organization has identified six countries as hosts to ongoing widespread bird flu infections in poultry in 2011--China Egypt India Vietnam Indonesia
Not all flu outbreaks whether bird or human are tracked. The scientists had to identify indicators of flu outbreaks such as dense poultry populations
or rain and temperatures that encourage flu transmission. For each type of flu we identified variables that were predictive of the various virus strains Fuller said.
We wanted a map of predictions continuously across the whole country including locations where we didn't have data on flu outbreaks.
Although the researchers had bird flu data for parts of both China and Egypt other countries such as Indonesia don't have full reporting systems in place.
Even in China and Egypt accurate reporting is hampered by farmers who may conceal flu outbreaks in order to sell their livestock.
If we provide incentives for better reporting we could more precisely predict future outbreaks Fuller said.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of California-Los angeles. The original article was written by Alison Hewitt.
The body wouldn't remember that it had been exposed to a particular pathogen such as measles or diphtheria and would not know how to successfully fight it off.
In experiments with a mouse model of human immune function the scientists vaccinated mice for listeria a common bacterium that causes food-borne illness
and governance as was witnessed during the 2003 SARS threat. Similar action focused on curbing ivory demand is key
unless there is a concerted international effort now the plague of tobacco smoking that has claimed 100 million lives in the Developed Nations will claim a billion in the Developing Nations where smoking has yet to take hold as it did during the last century in the U s. and other Developed nations.
They chose the first plant-derived anti-HIV monoclonal antibody to be tested in humans. It was isolated purified
and death such as the AIDS virus Roossinck said. However on a research trip in Costa rica a biodiversity hot spot in Central america she noticed that unmanaged wild plants looked healthier than managed agricultural fields.
when cholera had been ravaging the capital Dr Wickstead explained. A garden on a site like this might tell us more about the people who lived
and infectious diseases accounted for the larger number of deaths during the hot months. Elephants are vulnerable to heat stress
Rabies continues to kill many thousands of people throughout the developing world every year and can also affect international travelers said Leonard Both M. Sc. a researcher involved in the work from the Hotung Molecular Immunology Unit at St george's University of London in the United kingdom. An untreated rabies infection is nearly 100 percent fatal
and is seen usually as a death sentence. Producing an inexpensive antibody in transgenic plants opens the prospect of adequate rabies prevention for low-income families in developing countries.
To make this advance Both and colleagues humanized the sequences for the antibody so people could tolerate it.
Although treatable by antibodies if caught in time rabies is said bad news Gerald Weissmann M d. Editor-In-chief of The FASEB Journal.
and biological control of plagues as their larvae feed on other insects that are damaging to crops
Others particularly mites and ticks can transmit diseases such as plague typhus or scabies. When the researchers compared their present-day maps with parasite distributions predicted for the future they found that lemur parasites could expand their range by as much as 60 percent.
Indeed that protein is relatively abundant in insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas where it aids the transport of zinc into those cells.
#New Antarctic geological timeline aids future sea-level predictionsradiocarbon dates of tiny fossilised marine animals found in Antarctica's seabed sediments offer new clues about the recent rapid
The research is published in Clinical Infectious diseases. Notes: 1. Tam CC Rodrigues LC Viviani L et al.
Plague outbreaks political conflicts and migration movements often matched periods of cooler temperatures. Moreover fluctuations in settlement activity appear to be linked to climate variability.
The Black death in the mid-14th century the Thirty years war between 1618-1648 and the Russian crusade of Napoleon in 1812 are three most prominent examples of climate-culture interactions.
(or at least large sections of it) from pathogenic variants of influenza viruses for example or from completely new pathogens explains Greenwood.
on infectious disease. Oral HPV-16 is believed to be responsible for the increase in incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers in the United states. An association between self-reported number of cigarettes currently smoked per day
A particular worry is unaddressed that the need for management of evolution that spans multiple sectors will lead to the spread of new infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance genes between natural human health and agricultural systems.
The first tetracyclines discovered in the late 1940s ushered in a new class of powerful antibacterial agents to treat high-mortality diseases among them anthrax and plague as well as such bacterial infections as chlamydia syphilis and Lyme disease.
#Fungus deadly to AIDS patients found to grow on treesresearchers have pinpointed the environmental source of fungal infections that have been sickening HIV/AIDS patients in Southern California for decades.
and brain and is responsible for one third of all AIDS-related deaths. The study which appears Aug 21 in PLOS Pathogens found strong genetic evidence that three tree species--Canary Island pine Pohutukawa
and UCLA infectious disease specialist Scott Filler M d. whose daughter Elan was looking for a project to work on during her summer break.
and compared the sequences to those obtained from HIV/AIDS patients with C. gattii infections.
and a more focused immunosuppression regimen in the baboon recipients according to a study published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery an official publication of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.
The second advance was the use of target-specific immunosuppression which limits rejection of the transplanted organ rather than the usual generalized immunosuppression
which is more toxic. Pigs were chosen because their anatomy is compatible with that of humans and they have a rapid breeding cycle among other reasons.
The researchers'next step is to use hearts from the genetically-engineered pigs with the most effective immunosuppression in the current experiments to test
Our study has demonstrated that by using hearts from genetically engineered pigs in combination with target-specific immunosuppression of recipient baboons organ survival can be prolonged significantly.
since 2009 Texas Children's has reduced significantly its rates of necrotizing enterocolitis one of the most devastating
in order to most effectively eradicate the threat of hemorrhagic fever. It includes the Zaire strain of Ebola virus that is currently spreading across West Africa as well as the Sudan strain and the Marburg virus a virus in the same family as Ebola
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