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By Category: Research

Bad News for Bumblebees: Disease Spreading From Honeybees

(National Geographic) A study published online this week in Nature clearly revealed that two pathogens that infect honeybees have crossed over into populations of wild bumblebees. “We’ve known there was spillover, but this study is the most thorough survey to date” showing the diseases are making their way into other species, says Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an Read More »

February 27, 2014
| Filed under Agriculture and Research
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Scientists describe deadly immune ‘storm’ caused by emergent flu infections

(EurekAlert) Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have mapped key elements of a severe immune overreaction—a “cytokine storm”—that can both sicken and kill patients who are infected with certain strains of flu virus. Their findings, published in this week’s online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also clarify the Read More »

February 27, 2014
| Filed under Public Health and Research
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Faster anthrax detection could speed bioterror response

(R&D) Shortly following the 9/11 terror attack in 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to news outlets and government buildings killing five people and infecting 17 others. According to a 2012 report, the bioterrorism event cost $3.2 million in cleanup and decontamination. At the time, no testing system was in place that officials could Read More »

February 27, 2014
| Filed under Agents & Toxins, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, and Research
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Potential biomarkers of death identified in Ebola hemorrhagic fever

(Infectious Disease News) Recent data published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases identified certain chemokines and cytokines that were associated with death, hemorrhage and viremia related to Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Researchers from the Viral Special Pathogens Branch of the CDC evaluated serum samples from patients affected by Sudan virus-associated Ebola hemorrhagic fever during an outbreak Read More »

February 27, 2014
| Filed under Agents & Toxins, Public Health, and Research
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UNC Researchers Discover New Target For Dengue Virus Vaccine

(redOrbit) By re-engineering a tiny chain of amino acids in one type of dengue virus, Ralph Baric and Aravinda de Silva discover a new path toward solving the dengue vaccine dilemma. The research has the potential to transform vaccine development for other diseases, including SARS and HIV. Creating a vaccine that protects people from all Read More »