Recent News

By Region: Africa

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 »

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 »

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 »

Trapped in a Killing Field: MIT Study Suggests Travel Restrictions in the Event of an Epidemic

(ThePeoplesVoice) A study published in The Royal Society Interface by researchers at MIT may influence policy as to potential travel restrictions in an epidemic. The study suggests that such restrictions will slow the progress of a pandemic. What is implicit in the paper’s recommendations is that people may be confined—quarantined in fact—to a heavily affected  Read More »

Dengue outbreak has killed 26 in Central America: officials

(MENAFN) An unusually potent outbreak of dengue fever has killed 26 people and infected nearly 40,000 more so far this year in Central America, where the mosquito-born illness is endemic. Honduras has seen the most fatalities, with 15, followed by Nicaragua, with five. The highest number of infections has been recorded in Costa Rica, with  Read More »