Recent News

By Category: Agents & Toxins

Tick by tick: Studying Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus carried by ticks

(ScienceDaily) When University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers set out to study Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, they faced a daunting challenge. The deadly virus requires biosafety level 4 containment, and it’s carried by ticks. That meant that if scientists wanted to study the transmission of the virus, they had to do something that Read More »

August 20, 2013
| Filed under Africa, North America, Agents & Toxins, Biosafety, and Research
Share

Scripps Research Institute scientists reveal how deadly Ebola virus assembles

(e!ScienceNews) Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered the molecular mechanism by which the deadly Ebola virus assembles, providing potential new drug targets. Surprisingly, the study showed that the same molecule that assembles and releases new viruses also rearranges itself into different shapes, with each shape controlling a different step of the virus’s Read More »

August 19, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, North America, South America, Agents & Toxins, and Research
Share

Uganda confirms at least one case of Crimean-Congo fever

(FoxNews) An Ugandan farmer has been hospitalised with a confirmed case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, and a further three people are suspected to have died from the same virus, the health ministry said Friday. The virus, which causes severe bleeding and has a fatality rate as high as 40 percent, is usually spread by tick Read More »

August 19, 2013
| Filed under Africa, North America, South America, Agents & Toxins, and International
Share

New studies fine-tune H7N9 severity estimates

(CIDRAP) A lull in the number of H7N9 cases in China has given experts a chance to sift the data to fine-tune the clinical picture of the disease, which now suggests that it is less serious than earlier assessments, with more mild infections than previously thought. Some of the obstacles to gauging H7N9’s true severity Read More »

July 5, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, and Research
Share

Scientists warn against complacency on deadly H7N9 bird flu

(YourHealth) A new and deadly strain of bird flu that emerged in China in February but seems to have petered out in recent months could reappear later this year when the warm season comes to an end – and could spread internationally, scientists said on Monday. A study by researchers in China and Hong Kong Read More »