Category: Science and Tech
Medical Express Vaccination remains the most effective strategy for avian influenza prevention and control in humans, despite varying vaccine efficacy across strains. That’s according to the authors of a new review which delves into existing research into bird flu vaccines for humans. Published in the journal Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, the results of the paper are […]
May 29, 2024
Bird flu in U.S. cows caught scientists by surprise. Canadian research has seen it coming since 1953
CBC Older lab studies showed flu viruses like H5N1 can spread through unusual routes, but may have been overlooked. When U.S. dairy cows began falling ill with a dangerous form of bird flu, many scientists were struck by an unusual pattern: The virus kept showing up in cows’ udders, of all places. Influenza is usually […]
May 28, 2024
Body lice may have spread plague more than thought, science suggests
NBC News Lab experiments support the possibility that the blood-sucking bugs may have played a role in the rapid spread of the plague in the Middle Ages. Scientists have long debated whether human body lice might have helped drive the rapid spread of the bacteria responsible for the deadly plague in the Middle Ages, known as […]
May 21, 2024
Virome Sequencing Identifies H5N1 Avian Influenza in Wastewater from Nine Cities
Preprint server Avian influenza (serotype H5N1) is a highly pathogenic virus that emerged in domestic waterfowl in 1996. Over the past decade, zoonotic transmission to mammals, including humans, has been reported. Although human to human transmission is rare, infection has been fatal in nearly half of patients who have contracted the virus in past outbreaks. […]
May 14, 2024
The Conversation The last pandemic was bad, but COVID-19 is only one of many infectious diseases that emerged since the turn of this century. Since 2000, the world has experienced 15 novel Ebola epidemics, the global spread of a 1918-like influenza strain and major outbreaks of three new and unusually deadly coronavirus infections: SARS, MERS and, of course, COVID-19. Every year, researchers […]
May 7, 2024
White House overhauls rules for risky pathogen studies
Science New policies for gain-of-function and “dual-use” research will cover broader swath of experiments. The White House is tightening federal oversight of so-called gain-of-function (GOF) studies that could enhance risky viruses in ways that increase their ability to cause a pandemic. It is also overhauling rules for a broader category of federally funded research on […]
May 7, 2024
Chinese scientist who first published COVID sequence stages protest after being locked out of lab
AP The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China staged a sit-in protest outside his lab after authorities locked him out of the facility — a sign of Beijing’s continuing pressure on scientists conducting research on the coronavirus. Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post Monday that he and his team had […]
May 1, 2024
Scientists tried to give people COVID — and failed
Nature Researchers deliberately infect participants with SARS-CoV-2 in ‘challenge’ trials — but high levels of immunity complicate efforts to test vaccines and treatments. When Paul Zimmer-Harwood volunteered to be intentionally infected with SARS-CoV-2, he wasn’t sure what to expect. He was ready for a repeat of his first brush with COVID-19, through a naturally acquired […]
May 1, 2024
Do Our Flu Antivirals Work on H5N1?
MedPage Today With avian influenza A (H5N1) infecting more mammals than ever before — including U.S. dairy cattleopens in a new tab or window — infectious disease experts are paying close attention to whether current influenza antivirals would be effective should H5N1 adapt to humans. All influenza viruses have extremely similar internal mechanisms for reproduction, William Schaffner, […]
Apr 30, 2024
Deforestation pushes animals in Uganda forest to eat virus-laden bat poo
BBC Animals in a Ugandan forest have been eating bat poo laden with viruses after tobacco farming wiped out their usual food source, a study has found. A virus linked to Covid-19 was among the 27 identified in the poo eaten by chimpanzees, antelopes and monkeys. Researchers say this finding sheds light on how new […]
Apr 24, 2024