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Scientists detect Marburg virus in Sierra Leone fruit bats

Scientists have detected Marburg virus in fruit bats in Sierra Leone, marking the first time the deadly virus has been found in West Africa. Eleven Egyptian rousette fruit bats tested positive for active Marburg virus infection. Research teams caught the bats separately in three health districts.

24 Jan 2020

Infectious disease expert explains about Wuhan coronavirus

A new coronavirus virus, likely first transmitted to people from animals at a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, is making international headlines as disease detectives work to uncover what it is, how it's transmitted, and how deadly the virus actually is.

24 Jan 2020

New vaccine against African swine fever appears to be more effective than previous vaccines

Government and academic investigators have developed a vaccine against African swine fever that appears to be far more effective than previously developed vaccines. The research appears this week in the Journal of Virology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology.

23 Jan 2020

Emerging public health concern about Wuhan coronavirus

Since December, a new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, has killed at least 17 people and sickened close to 600. Cases continue to spread globally, with one identified in Washington state.

23 Jan 2020

Combination of two immune defense strategies could afford alternative approach to treating sepsis

The human immune system uses two pre-programmed strategies to tackle infection. One is fever, a resistance mechanism that tries to eliminate a pathogen by raising the body's temperature.

23 Jan 2020

Wuhan coronavirus: Disease timeline and on the ground response

The Wuhan coronavirus or 2019-nCoV, a novel coronavirus, is spreading from China to other countries, with the United States confirming its first case of the potentially fatal disease. The virus has killed 17 people in China, sickening more than 500 people across six countries, and leaving thousands of people in quarantine.

22 Jan 2020

Study explains equal attraction of mosquitoes to flowers and humans

A new study published online on December 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports the discovery of the basis on which mosquitoes are drawn towards a type of orchid of which they are inordinately fond, resulting in its pollination.

22 Jan 2020

New strain of coronavirus sparks concerns of a wider outbreak throughout China

Reports of a new strain of coronavirus causing pneumonia-like symptoms in the central Chinese city of Wuhan have sparked concerns of a wider outbreak throughout China and possibly in other countries.

21 Jan 2020

USA confirms 1st Wuhan coronavirus case

The United States has its first confirmed case of a mysterious and new virus, the Wuhan coronavirus, which originated in China and has killed nine people and sickened hundreds since it first appeared, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.

21 Jan 2020

Novel coronavirus from Wuhan in China

The Australian Government Department of Health is aware of the cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from the region of Wuhan in China, and watching developments very closely.

20 Jan 2020

Fitness tracker devices show potential as predictors of flu outbreaks

Researchers at Scripps Research Translational Institute have found that fitness tracker devices – wearable tracker devices that measure heart rate and sleep duration – are better predictors of real-time flu outbreaks than current surveillance methods.

17 Jan 2020

Discovery of mechanism by which Zika virus enters brain cells

Two independent studies published by Cell Press on January 16, 2020, report that the mechanism by which Zika virus enters brain cells has been identified and even more, exploited to prevent Zika infection and to kill cancer cells instead.

16 Jan 2020

Genetically engineered mosquitoes halt Dengue spread

A new study published in the journal PLOS Pathogens in January 2020 reports the development of mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to resist infection by several types of the dengue virus. This is the first time ever that all types of the virus have been targeted by the engineering of the mosquito DNA. Covering all virus types is essential to achieve proper disease control.

16 Jan 2020

New sensitive marker may enable early diagnosis, treatment of spotted fever rickettsioses

Rickettsiae are bacteria that cause severe, potentially lethal human infections, including Mediterranean spotted fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

16 Jan 2020

Woman from Chinese city Wuhan lands in Bangkok with mysterious Corona virus infection

The World Health Organization (WHO) said this week that there is a possibility of an outbreak of a strain of Corona virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Both common cold viruses as well as the deadly SARS virus belong to the family of Corona viruses say experts. A new case of the infection has been reported in a Chinese woman travelling to Thailand and this has sparked fears of the infection spreading beyond the boundaries of the nation.

15 Jan 2020

Important things you need to know about seasonal flu

Seasonal flu is a serious illness causing approximately 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths each year. Federal health officials are reporting that the 2019-2020 flu season could be the worst in decades.

13 Jan 2020

Study suggests average body temperature in humans falling

For decades, people have considered the average human body temperature to be 98.6 F, or 37 degrees Celsius. However, a new study published January 7, 2020, in the journal eLifeindicates this may no longer be the norm – and the researchers suggest a reason for their observed drop in average temperature.

13 Jan 2020