Mechanism of Marburg virus sexual transmission identified in nonhuman primates
(US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases) Research by Army scientists elucidates the mechanism of sexual transmission of filoviruses, which have been shown to persist in the testes and other immune privileged sites. Sexual transmission of filoviruses was first reported in 1968 after an outbreak of Marburg virus disease and recently caused flare-ups of Ebola virus disease in the 2013-2016 outbreak. The team found that Marburg virus persists in seminiferous tubules and that Sertoli cells are the reservoir for the virus. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - August 30, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Bats may have co-opted viral proteins produced by Ebola for immune function
(Cell Press) Approximately 18 million years ago, genes encoding viral proteins 35 (VP35s) integrated into the genomes of Myotis (mouse-eared) bats. Produced by the highly deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses, VP35s suppress the host immune system and play a critical role in the efficient replication and virulence of these filoviruses. A study publishing July 24 in Cell Reports sheds light on the potential functional role of these so-called non-retroviral integrated RNA viral sequences (NIRVs) in bats. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - July 24, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Could we predict the next Ebola outbreak by tracking the migratory patterns of bats?
(Lehigh University) The researchers -- Javier Buceta, Paolo Bocchini and Graziano Fiorillo -- worked with satellite information and parameter sampling techniques to create their Ebola-prediction framework, which integrates data and modeling to predict the conditions linking bats' behavior with the outbreak of Ebola. They have detailed their work in a paper titled " A Predictive Spatial Distribution Framework for Filovirus-Infected Bats " published online today in Nature's Scientific Reports. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - May 22, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Personal Protective Equipment for Use in a Filovirus Disease Outbreak: Rapid Advice Guideline (November 2016)
World Health Organization. 11/2016 This 71-page document provides guidelines that are intended for health workers providing direct care to patients with known or suspected filovirus disease, and recommendations for use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg) are highly contagious pathogens that cause severe and often fatal illness in humans. The risk of transmission of Ebola virus can be reduced if appropriate measures are taken, including the use of PPE. The document also includes a chapter on PPE in the framework of infection prevention and control, and health worker safety and well-being....
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - May 13, 2017 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: The U.S. National Library of Medicine Source Type: news
[This Week in Science] Fighting filoviruses with antibody therapy
Author: Lindsey Pujanandez (Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - April 7, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Lindsey Pujanandez Tags: Emerging Infections Source Type: news
Monoclonal antibody cures Marburg infection in monkeys
NIH-funded groups preparing for next filovirus outbreak. (Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH) News Releases)
Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH) News Releases - April 5, 2017 Category: American Health Source Type: news
WHO (World Health Organization) Target Product Profile for Multivalent Filovirus Vaccines: Providing Long-Term Protection to High-Risk Populations
World Health Organization. 11/2016 This 11-page document considers the prophylactic use of filovirus vaccines to protect high-risk groups whether before or during an outbreak of a public health emergency of international concern. These target groups comprise healthcare workers, frontline workers, and others at occupational risk, including potentially deployed international workers essential to assist in future outbreaks. The document provides guidance for prophylactic use only, where the primary objective of vaccination is individual protection and not interruption of transmission (reactive use). (PDF) (Source: Disaster Li...
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - March 31, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: The U.S. National Library of Medicine Source Type: news
A top 10 list waiting to save lives!
By Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog
Sometimes I have to remind myself we are in the 21st Century when I hear that infectious diseases are a leading cause of death among adults and remain the leading cause of death in children. While most of these deaths occur in the developing world, a significant number occur in middle income countries. Vaccines are the most cost effective medical intervention known to prevent infectious diseases. An effective vaccine can significantly reduce the mortality associated with them. However, while we have come a long way, the reality is that we have relatively few effective vaccines.
O...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - September 29, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
Ecologists identify potential new sources of Ebola and other filoviruses
An international team of ecologists has identified the bat species with the greatest potential to harbor filoviruses -- a family that includes Ebola virus. The researchers suggest that areas where many of these species overlap, notably in Southeast Asia, should be targeted for disease surveillance and virus discovery efforts. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - July 14, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
Artificial intelligence reveals undiscovered bat carriers of Ebola and other filoviruses
(Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies) Barbara Han, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and the paper's lead author, comments, 'Using machine learning methods developed for artificial intelligence, we were able to bring together data from ecology, biogeography, and public health to identify bat species with a high probability of harboring Ebola and other filoviruses. Understanding which species carry these viruses, and where they are located, is essential to preventing future spillovers.' (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - July 14, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Ecologists identify potential new sources of Ebola and other filoviruses
(University of Georgia) Worried about Ebola? Ecologists identify bats most likely to be filovirus carriers and map potential hotspots. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - July 14, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Progress towards protection from highly lethal Ebola, Marburg viruses
Ebola and Marburg filovirus disease outbreaks have typically occurred as isolated events, confined to central Africa. However, the recent Ebola epidemic spread to several African countries, and caused 11,000 deaths. That epidemic underscored the need to develop vaccines and therapeutics that could be used to fight future disease outbreaks. Now new research suggests that antibodies to filoviruses from individuals who have survived these diseases may offer protection -- not only against the particular filovirus that infected an individual, but against other filoviruses, as well. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - July 12, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
Progress towards protection from highly lethal Ebola, Marburg viruses
(American Society for Microbiology) Ebola and Marburg filovirus disease outbreaks have typically occurred as isolated events, confined to central Africa. However, the recent Ebola epidemic spread to several African countries, and caused 11,000 deaths. That epidemic underscored the need to develop vaccines and therapeutics that could be used to fight future disease outbreaks. Now new research suggests that antibodies to filoviruses from individuals who have survived these diseases may offer protection -- not only against the particular filovirus that infected an individual, but against other filoviruses, as well. (Source: E...
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - July 12, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Filovirus Medical Countermeasures (MCM) Workshop
U.S. Department of Defense, Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. 10/23/2015This resource provides information, presentation slides, and transcripts from a workshop on filovirus medical countermeasures held on October 20-23, 2015. It featured a discussion about how to bridge nonclinical data to the human data, analysis of vaccine endpoints to support establishing a correlate of protection, and information about gaining a better understanding of the difference between the in vitro and in vivo models to test therapeutics. Other topics included vaccines, the Ebola outbreak, and FANG (Filovirus An...
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - May 3, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: The U.S. National Library of Medicine Source Type: news
Single-Vector, Single-Injection Recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Vaccines Against High-Containment Viruses
There are many avenues for making an effective vaccine against viruses. Depending on the virus these can include one of the following: inactivation of whole virions; attenuation of viruses; recombinant viral proteins; non-replication-competent virus particles; or surrogate virus vector systems such as vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). VSV is a prototypic enveloped animal virus that has been used for over four decades to study virus replication, entry, and assembly due to its ability to replicate to high titers in a wide variety of mammalian and insect cells. The use of reverse genetics to recover infectious and single-cycl...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Immunology - April 8, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: news
