#Clues to flus mechanisms uncovered: Scientists analyze how influenza-related proteins help infect cellsa flu virus acts like a Trojan horse as it attacks
and infects host cells. Scientists at Rice university and Baylor College of Medicine have acquired a clearer view of the well-hidden mechanism involved.
Their computer simulations may lead to new strategies to stop influenza perhaps even a one-size-fits-all vaccine.
The discovery detailed this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows the path taken by hemagglutinin a glycoprotein that rides the surface of the influenza virus as it releases fusion peptides to invade a host cell.
Ma said the key to stopping the flu could be to attack these intermediate structures.
this is the reason people need flu shots every year. But he suspects the inner part of the protein is conserved more highly.
Such agents could lead to a universal flu vaccine that would last a lifetime. He said the membrane fusion mechanism is shared widely among many biological systems
which makes influenza a good model for studying other diseases. HIV has one. Ebola has one.
And it's also shared by intercell transport in the nervous system Ma said. He noted the work could not have been done without CTBP
Hause's most recent work has led to the discovery of an influenza virus in cattle.
A swine sample came in that we thought was influenza but all other tests were said negative Hause.
We found instead that this was an entirely new type of influenza. Subsequent research has shown that it is widespread in cattle not just pigs.
Now we're studying the association of this strain of bovine influenza with respiratory disease in feedlots.
Some diseases such as flu mutate and change rapidly and can jump from humans to pigs
Neonicotinoid insecticides are receiving increased attention by scientists as we explore the possible links between pesticides nutrition infectious disease
Similarly a'blueberry muffin'rash is characteristic of congenital rubella while the appearance of a red blood cell is referred to as'doughnut'shaped.
There's even a reference to an entire dish as a skin condition called tinea versicolor is denoted by its'spaghetti and meatball'appearance.
(ALAT) the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR) the European Respiratory Society (ERS) the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
and HIV Research (CDUHR) in the August 2014 edition of Pediatrics identifies how prevalent Hookah use is and
It's like Typhoid Mary a BVDV Bossy he says. The animal will shed the virus for its entire life.
The results derived from the model in the Nature paper entitled A dynamic model of bovine tuberculosis spread
because they potentially carry infectious diseases says Jennifer Layden MD infectious disease specialist at Loyola University Health System.
Ticks can carry Lyme disease and Rocky mountain spotted fever and mosquitoes can spread West Nile Virus. Insect repellents are used to avoid exposure to pests that can bite attach
or burrow into the skin. DEET is the most effective ingredient to protect against biting insects.
As in many infectious disease models uniform disease persistence of bluetongue occurs if the basic reproduction number for the whole system exceeds one.
town by the Euphrates river in Syria may be the first evidence that agricultural irrigation systems in the middle East contributed to disease burden according to new Correspondence published in The Lancet Infectious diseases.
#Conditions linked to deadly bird flu revealed: High risk areas identifieda dangerous strain of avian influenza H7n9 that's causing severe illness and deaths in China may be inhabiting a small fraction of its potential range
and appears at risk of spreading to other suitable areas of India Bangladesh Vietnam Indonesia
Unlike H5n1 the other virulent form of avian influenza to emerge in recent years H7n9 produces little signs of illness in birds
For example in the avian influenza study the maps helped researchers rule out intensive poultry operations in Northeastern China as a source of H7n9
and that they were effective smoking cessation aids. Newer brands were more likely to focus on choice and versatility.
In addition to causing painful itchy bumps to people mosquito bites can transmit serious diseases such as malaria dengue fever
and The americas via trade citrus is now under attack from citrus greening an insidious emerging infectious disease that is destroying entire orchards.
They recommend applying repellents containing 20-50%DEET to the skin when in countries with diseases spread by insects such as malaria and dengue fever.
Brazil for example has dengue fever--a viral infection that is transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes which can cause life-threatening illness.
which aids public health--a natural goal for hospitals to have said Sites. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Ohio State university.
One type of animal that naturally produces all fatty acids is the c. elegans roundworm and in 2004 Kang's group reported that mice transgenic for a c. elegans gene called fat-1 converted omega-6s into omega-3s in their tissues.
and often infected by fleas with plague bacteria Knutie says. Permethrin has been sprayed in burrows but that is labor-intensive so it might be used on vegetation the animals drag into their burrows.
Knutie says permethrin-treated cotton has been used in the Northeast to get mice to incorporate it in their nests to kill Lyme disease-carrying ticks.
in the same family as HIV and which infects sheep and goat species. Lentiviruses are viruses responsible for slow infections that damage the immune system and
The researchers'next step is to use hearts from the same GE pigs with the same immunosuppression utilized in the current experiments to test their ability to provide full life support by replacing the original baboon heart.
The same molecular machinery employed by Pseudomonas syringae is used also by a host of microbes to cause diseases that afflict people including salmonella the plague respiratory disease and chlamydia.
and one-third believe protein boosts metabolism and aids in fat burning. Gen Zen: Today's Millennials between the ages of 14 and 33 view their food choices as healthier more expensive more natural/organic less processed better tasting and fresh (Hartman 2013c.
#Using tobacco to thwart infectious disease? An international research group led by Arizona State university professor Qiang Shawn Chen has developed a new generation of potentially safer and more cost-effective therapeutics against West Nile virus and other pathogens.
For the study MABS were produced rapidly in tobacco plants in as little as ten days giving promise to change the image of scourged product that causes lung cancer into a manufacturing system for societal benefits against infectious diseases.
Emerging Infectious diseases 18: 1508-1511 2012. This is the first wild Anopheles population to display such complete multiple resistance
#Study fingers chickens, quail in spread of H7n9 influenza virusamong the copious species of poultry in China quail and chickens are the likely sources of infection of H7n9 influenza virus
The H7n9 avian influenza virus was reported first in humans in March 2013 in China. Since then over 375 human cases have been confirmed
This work supports the need for better surveillance in animal species for avian influenza says Suarez.
and is an academic research tool that has many of the same features as powerful learning aids that are currently on the market.
These tools which are called sometimes digital tutors can be used as study aids or as platforms for administering homework
E-cigarettes are used both as cessation aids and as safer alternatives to combustible tobacco: ultimately it depends not on how we classify these new products
The second att 1 aids in the insects'immune response. These genes have been found to play a role in rootworm resistance to crop rotation.
#Birds of all feathers and global flu diversitya group of international scientists have completed the first global inventory of flu strains in birds by reviewing more than 50 published studies
and performed as part of the USAID PREDICT project identified over 116 avian flu strains in wild birds.
Avian flu outbreaks come with no warning. In 2013 an H7n9 avian flu strain caused a deadly outbreak in people in China.
This surprised virologists as the strain had caused never before disease in humans. To date there have been more than 300 clinical cases of H7n9 with a 33 percent mortality rate.
(when a virus jumps from one species to another) of avian flu can be traced back to human contact with domestic poultry.
Although avian flu strain diversity often originates in wild birds it is the mixing of viruses among poultry pigs
and monitor the diversity of all avian flu viruses--not just those known to cause disease.
Completing the first global inventory of flu strains in birds is a key step in building that understanding.
This snapshot of the world of flu virus diversity in birds is the outcome of many years of ecology
and adequately financing surveillance to describe global flu diversity. To address this the authors introduced a new method
which borrows on approaches used by ecologists to estimate the diversity of flu viruses in a particular location.
With this approach health authorities can design surveillance programs to detect a given percentage of flu virus diversity.
The scientists also looked at patterns of flu diversity in different bird hosts. Mallards carry the highest number of strains at 89
Given that flu viruses can jump from domestic poultry to people ongoing efforts at improving biosecurity at poultry farms
Roundwormsthe banana variety Yangambi km5 produces toxic substances that kill the nematode Radopholus similis a roundworm that infects the root tissue of banana plants--to the frustration of farmers worldwide.
and Dirk De Waele (Laboratory for Tropical Crop Improvement) bodes well for the Grande Naine the export banana par excellence which is very susceptible to the roundworms.
This roundworm infects banana crops worldwide. The nematodes are invisible to the naked eye but they can penetrate the roots of banana plants by the thousands.
We have wondered always how the Yangambi km5 fights off roundworms. This study offers an answer.
Researchers have wondered always how the Yangambi km5 manages to fight off roundworms says De Waele. This study goes a long way in answering that.
#Asthma drug aids simultaneous desensitization to several food allergies, study findsan asthma drug accelerates the process of desensitizing patients with food allergies to several foods at the same time a new study
Protocol used to demonstrate brucellosis-free bison from infected herdsa new study from the USDA Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) demonstrates that it is possible to qualify bison coming from an infected herd as free of brucellosis using quarantine procedures.
In response to Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) guidelines on federal and state bison management actions the USDA APHIS Brucellosis Eradication:
if it could successfully be used to qualify the animals as brucellosis-free. Results of the study indicated that it is feasible to take young bison from an infected population
and Rule (UM &r) qualify them as brucellosis-free in less than three years. Between 2005 and 2008 more than 200 bison calves of Yellowstone national park origin were transported to a quarantine facility at Corwin Springs Montana just outside Yellowstone national park.
and tested for brucellosis. Those animals that tested positive were euthanized and those remaining were tested until all had two consecutive negative tests.
Since the primary mode of brucellosis transmission is via abortion and birthing events all animals testing negative were held until they produced their first calf
At that point the bison were considered brucellosis-free. The study showed that all bison continued to be brucellosis-free over the course of the seven-year study after the initial screening period and through several calving cycles.
No evidence of brucellosis was found in either newborn calves or their mothers. The results of this study indicate that under the right conditions there is an opportunity to produce live brucellosis-free bison from even a herd with a large number of infected animals like the one in Yellowstone national park said Dr. Jack
Rhyan APHIS Veterinary Officer. Additionally this study was a great example of the benefits to be gained from several agencies pooling resources
and expertise to research the critical issue of brucellosis in wildlife. The authors of the study note that agencies charged with the management of bison agree that capture
and relocation of bison to other suitable habitats would be an appropriate alternative to the lethal removal of bison that exceed population objectives for Yellowstone national park as defined by the IMBP.
and would not transmit brucellosis to cattle or other animals. At the same time a movement to ecologically restore bison to large landscapes is gaining momentum throughout the United states
and Canada and brucellosis-free bison may be needed to seed those landscapes. In particular the genetics of Yellowstone bison are important
and these research findings enable us to practice genetic rescue from brucellosis infected bison herds.
We've also learned a great deal about brucellosis blood testing and how to better interpret results when screening animals for this disease.
or as debilitating as influenza. But almost nothing is known regarding how pathogens of pollinators are transmitted at flowers postdoctoral researcher Scott Mcart
#Studies of cow antibodies help scientists understand how our own bodies workunderstanding how antibodies work is important for designing new vaccines to fight infectious diseases
#Study on flu evolution may change textbooks, history booksa new study reconstructing the evolutionary tree of flu viruses challenges conventional wisdom
and solves some of the mysteries surrounding flu outbreaks of historical significance. The study published in the journal Nature provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the evolutionary relationships of influenza virus across different host species over time.
In addition to dissecting how the virus evolves at different rates in different host species the study challenges several tenets of conventional wisdom--for example the notion that the virus moves largely unidirectionally from wild birds to domestic birds rather than with spillover
in the other direction. It also helps resolve the origin of the virus that caused the unprecedentedly severe influenza pandemic of 1918 The new research is likely to change how scientists
and health experts look at the history of influenza virus how it has changed genetically over time
and how it has jumped between different host species. The findings may have implications ranging from the assessment of health risks for populations to developing vaccines.
Using the new family tree of the flu virus as a map showed which species moved to which host species and when.
It revealed that for several of its 8 genomic segments avian influenza virus is not nearly as ancient as often assumed.
which included UA graduate student Guan-Zhu Han and Andrew Rambaut a professor from the University of Edinburgh who is affiliated also with the U s. National institutes of health found a strong signature in the data suggesting that something revolutionary happened to avian influenza virus
Worobey said the timing is provocative because of the correlation of that sudden shift in the flu virus'evolution with historical events in the late nineteenth century.
In the 1870s an immense horse flu outbreak swept across North america Worobey said City by city
The horse flu outbreak pulled the rug out from under the economy. According to Worobey the newly generated evolutionary trees show a global replacement of the genes in the avian flu virus coinciding closely with the horse flu outbreak
which the analyses also reveal to be the closest relative to the avian virus. Interestingly a previous research paper analyzing old newspaper records reported that in the days following the horse flu outbreak there were repeated outbreaks described at the time as influenza killing chickens
and other domestic birds Worobey said. That's another unexpected link in the history and the there is a possibility that the two might be connected given
Ever since the influenza pandemic of 1918 it has not been possible to narrow down even to a hemisphere the geographic origins of any of the genes of the pandemic virus. Our study changes that Worobey said.
The results also challenge the accepted wisdom of wild birds as the major reservoir harboring the flu virus from where it jumps to domestic birds
and aids in improving the GHG mitigation potential of corn-derived renewable fuels continued Jayasundara.
#Drought contributed to Typhus epidemics in Mexico from 1655 to 1918, study showsepidemiological data integrated with climate data taken from tree-ring estimates of soil moisture levels demonstrate that drought contributed to the spread of typhus in Mexico from 1655 to 1918 according to a new study by researchers
at the University of Arkansas. The study has modern-day policy implications because although typhus can be treated with modern antibiotics it remains a threat in remote impoverished areas of South america Asia
and Africa and could reemerge as a serious infectious disease especially where social strife and underdeveloped public health programs persist.
The researchers describe their findings in an article published Feb 11 in Emerging Infectious diseases a Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention journal that tracks and analyzes disease trends. Historical records show that typhus has accompanied traditionally war famine
and poverty said David Stahle a Distinguished Professor of geosciences. Now because of Mexico's rich historical record of epidemic disease we can see that drought as reconstructed by tree-ring chronologies caused conditions that allowed typhus to flourish in central Mexico over a 250-year period.
Stahle and Jordan Burns a graduate student in geography at the U of A compared historical records of 22 typhus epidemics in central Mexico with soil moisture estimates based on tree-ring reconstructions.
They analyzed data gleaned from almanacs diaries and personal accounts as well as medical and death records from hospitals physicians cemeteries and municipalities.
Below-average tree growth drought and low crop yields occurred during 19 of the 22 typhus epidemics.
The observed relationship between drought and typhus epidemics in colonial and modern Mexico is curious
because drought has not been considered specifically a risk factor for typhus Burns said. But drought much like war and natural disasters caused famine in poor agricultural regions
Epidemic typhus is caused an infectious disease by a bacterium transmitted between people by body lice. The disease spreads where conditions are crowded and unsanitary.
#Genetic find might lead to cattle that are more resistant to TBSCIENTISTS have identified genetic traits in cattle that might allow farmers to breed livestock with increased resistance to bovine tuberculosis (TB.
A. Clinton White director of the Infectious disease Division at UTMB asked Richards-Kortum to help develop a diagnostic test for the parasite.
Cryptosporidiosis is also a threat to people with HIV whose immune system is less able to fight it off he said.
In the most recent global burden-of-disease study diarrheal disease accounts for the loss of more disability-adjusted life years than any other infectious disease
and Roy Curtiss III (who directs the Institute's Center for Infectious diseases and Vaccinology). Avian Pathogenic E coli (APEC) belong to a broad group of extraintestinal pathogenic E coli (Expec) strains.
Last year a campaign to vaccinate children in Scotland against influenza was halted because of concern in the Muslim community about pork gelatine within the vaccine.
and reemerging infectious diseases explain these researchers. Toxic viral cocktails appear to have a strong link with honey bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) a mysterious malady that abruptly wiped out entire hives across the United states
and reduce the risk of rabies and other diseases is now the focus of a new effort by the Wildlife Conservation Society the Peregrine Fund and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.
when designing public health messagesâ#concludes Dr. Choi. â#oeresults from this study suggest that messages about the lack of evidence on e-cigarettes being cessation aids
Do you want a flu shot? The kiosk has the capability to ask a series of targeted questions.
Have you been exposed to swine flu? The machines are all the same, but the questions are tailored by the client.
when your last tetanus shot was shot, so the is wasted not if your shot is current.
We give you the tetanus shot if you need it, but we don't depend on you to remember
Here's a summary of what the study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious diseases, found:
If we could get people to wash their hands six times a day we could cut infectious diseases in half.
or HIV patient that can't hold down food because of the disease's affect on their appetite.
If you're going to plague a high-density downtown with a parking garage, I can't think of a better addition.
Potato blight and flu have much in common
Dell, HP vie for spotlight again. This time, on environmental leadership. It being climate week
so their milk contains high levels of an antimicrobial enzyme to help infants ward off stomach infections, a problem that plagues the developing world's children.
but in Hong kong, a frightening outbreak of the SARS virus 10 years ago awakened an interest in living more healthfully.
Especially after SARS, more people started going out to the countryside, Chan said. More people started to think about death â
Interactive map shows where HIV cases are most prevalent Infographic: Just how safe is your neighborhood?
HIV drug made in GM tobacco enters clinical trialstoday in London, UK regulators announced the approval of Europe's first clinical trial of an anti-HIV product produced in genetically modified tobacco plants.
Yep, tobacco. The phase I trial, carried out at the University of Surrey Clinical Research Centre,
will test the safety of the plant-produced antibody designed to stop transmission of HIV when applied directly to the vaginal cavity.
anti-HIV microbicide. The active ingredient is called an antibody P2g12 â oe it recognizes proteins on the surface of HIV to block infection.
More specifically, it's a monoclonal antibody made from immune cells for one specific role. It was discovered by private Austrian biotech Polymun.
P2g12 hasn't been shown to actually prevent HIV infection in humans, Nature News reports, so a version made by tobacco plants won't see approval anytime soon.
exposure to infectious diseases, including HIV, to chemical contaminants, such as some illegal drugs, and to a limited number of prescription drugs that might be in the human milk,
Potato blight and flu have much in commonin 1846 the first of my ancestors arrived in America.
Which turns out to have a lot in common with a disease stalking my family (and yours) today, the flu.
The influenza germ is constantly changing and the potato blight is capable of similar changes. Senior author Gene Nusbaum of Harvard described its ability to change as exquisite.
and tomato crops throughout the U s. Flu has similar adaptability. Just this week scientists have found N1h1 infecting deeper into the lungs than seasonal flu
while Israel has isolated a strain that resists Tamiflu, the most common antiviral. By attacking this adaptability, pandemic skeptic Peter Palese of the Mt.
the flu virus can be controlled. Here again the potato blight offers some clues. Nearly three-quarters of the blight's genome consists of junk DNA,
Now if we can just to the same with the flu
Protesting in Brussels? Throw milk at the governmentthinking of protests, kettling, bottle and coke-can missiles,
Richard Webby, health expert, on the new deadly flu strainlast spring, on April 9, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised its Emergency Operations center to Level II
The Chinese government reported increasing numbers of humans falling dangerously ill due to a powerful new flu strain, H7n9,
Smartplanet spoke with Dr. Richard Webby, Director of the World health organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds at St jude Children's Research Hospital.
We know that the H7n9 flu has infected humans, and some of the cases were fatal.
I imagine there are a great number of flu strains that are carried by animal populations at any given time.
In the animal population there is a whole soup of flu viruses. We are not good at determining
Was there any overt indication that this strain of flu was more of a risk?
--which is the other bird flu that has been going for a decade or more now-there has been 600 cases in humans.
but it did have some signatures that we associate with mammalian virus. Where does this virus rank among the flu viruses we know about already?
But if we rank it highest amongst the avian flu viruses, what does that mean? The next leap is:
But flu viruses do change. If you give them enough opportunity they will adapt to a new host.
Is it stronger than a regular flu? are infected humans much sicker? Is there a higher chance of pneumonia?
what stops a lot of the severe disease of the normal human flu strains is immunity. Essentially anyone over the age of 10 years has had probably the flu a couple of times,
and at least in the U s.,most have been vaccinated a couple of times. So we have quite a bit of immunity to the human flu viruses.
And that probably stunts a lot of the ability of that virus to cause disease. It can still get in
We group flu viruses into pathogenic types. Highly pathogenic or low pathogenic. Some viruses of the H5n7 type fall into a very virulent form.
With any flu viruses there is a period when you're infectious before you start to get clinical signs.
What do you think avian flu will do over the next 10 to 15 years? What is the potential for a possible pandemic?
We would like to be on course toward a universal flu vaccine. We have vaccinated against the H1
There is some hope that perhaps we can target other parts of the virus. There is a lot of work toward creating a universal flu vaccine.
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