Chikungunya News and Research

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Facts associated with Zika virus

As the Zika virus captures headlines across the United States, with its possible link to birth defects and the first cases reported in the U.S. (all traced back to overseas travel), it's an opportune time to review the facts associated with this disease.

22 Jan 2016

Mosquitoes known to transmit dengue, chikungunya more likely to lay eggs in water sources near flowers

Certain mosquitoes are more likely to lay eggs in water sources near flowers than in water sources without flowers, according to an article published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

6 Jan 2016

More effort needed to reduce risks of mosquito-transmitted epidemics in the U.S. and Mexico

Despite the increasing risks of mosquito-transmitted epidemics in the United States and Mexico, policymakers in both countries have made little effort to prevent future outbreaks, according to a new policy brief by tropical-disease and science policy experts at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

18 Dec 2015

Scientists find effective antiviral mechanisms to inhibit chikungunya virus

Scientists looking at the antiviral mechanisms of two previously identified human monoclonal antibodies have found they potently inhibit chikungunya virus (CHIKV) at multiple stages of infection.

11 Dec 2015

Oxitec prepares to increase supplies of OX513A to address recent outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil

Intrexon Corporation, a leader in synthetic biology, today announced that Oxitec, a UK-based subsidiary of the Company, is prepared to increase supplies of its proprietary mosquito control solution, OX513A, through its Brazil facilities to assist Brazil in addressing the recent devastating outbreak of the Zika virus and other diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

8 Dec 2015

Chikungunya may cause severe brain infection

The mosquito-borne virus chikungunya may lead to severe brain infection and even death in infants and people over 65, according to a new study that reviewed a chikungunya outbreak on Reunion Island off the coast of Madagascar in 2005-2006.

26 Nov 2015

Researchers successfully test new method for rapid diagnosis of Ebola in Guinea

An international team of researchers, including Ahmed Abd El Wahed, scientist at the University of Göttingen and the German Primate Center, has tested a new method for rapid diagnosis of Ebola in a field trial in Guinea. The test procedure was carried out using a portable suitcase laboratory. The mobile suitcase lab is operated with solar power and enables simple on-site diagnostics in remote areas without the need of an equipped laboratory.

6 Nov 2015

UTMB scientists work with InBios International to develop novel diagnostic test for chikungunya

A novel and affordable diagnostic test for chikungunya will soon be available thanks to the work of researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in partnership with a commercial lab.

30 Oct 2015

Researchers test effectiveness of commercially available mosquito repellents

Researchers at New Mexico State University tested 10 commercially available products for their effectiveness at repelling mosquitoes, and the results were published in the Journal of Insect Science.

29 Oct 2015

Generex agrees to acquire 51% equity interest in Hema Diagnostic Systems

Generex Biotechnology Corporation today announced that it has entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC (HDS), a Florida company that designs and manufactures proprietary infectious disease detection technologies.

30 Sep 2015

Real-time blood test based on DNA sequencing can rapidly diagnose Ebola and other acute infections

Using technical advances not yet developed when the 2014 Ebola outbreak began, UC San Francisco-led scientists completed a proof-of-principle study on a real-time blood test based on DNA sequencing that can be used to rapidly diagnose Ebola and other acute infections. The researchers said that the test can be used even where lab space and medical infrastructure are scarce.

From Oxford Nanopore Technologies 29 Sep 2015

Scientists discover genetic markers for mosquito resistance to insecticides

Controlling mosquitoes that carry human diseases is a global health challenge as their ability to resist insecticides now threatens efforts to prevent epidemics. Scientists from the CNRS, IRD, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble and Institut Pasteur in French Guiana have identified new genetic markers for mosquito resistance to insecticides, which could improve its detection in the field.

24 Jul 2015

Vanderbilt investigators develop potential antibody treatments against chikungunya

In late 2013 the Caribbean had its first case of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. Today there have been almost 1.2 million cases in 44 countries or territories, including 177 cases in 31 U.S. States. Vanderbilt University Medical Center's James Crowe, M.D., Ann Scott Carell Professor and director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, and his team are reporting the first large panel of antibody treatments against this disease in the current issue of Cell Host and Microbe.

9 Jul 2015

Dengue and chikungunya-carrying mosquitoes spreading to new areas, warn scientists

Scientists behind the first global distribution maps of two species of dengue and chikungunya-carrying mosquitoes warn they are spreading to new areas where they could cause disease.

1 Jul 2015

Sex-determining gene in mosquitoes may help reduce disease transmission

Researchers with the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech have identified a gene responsible for sex determination in mosquitoes that can transmit yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya viruses.

22 May 2015

Health workers now have rapid test to detect presence of chikungunya virus within an hour

Scientists at a U.S. Army research center have modified an assay that tests whether or not a sample of mosquitoes harbors the virus responsible for the disease known as chikungunya (CHIKV), long a problem in the Old World tropics but recently established in the Americas.

12 May 2015

Purdue researchers identify new class of chemical insecticides to control mosquitoes

Purdue researchers have identified a new class of chemical insecticides that could provide a safer, more selective means of controlling mosquitoes that transmit key infectious diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and elephantiasis.

2 Apr 2015

Researchers harness gene editing technique in mosquito that infects people with deadly diseases

Traditionally, to understand how a gene functions, a scientist would breed an organism that lacks that gene - "knocking it out" - then ask how the organism has changed. Are its senses affected? Its behavior?

30 Mar 2015

Animated film deals with the biology of tiger mosquito

The tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, draw more and more attention. Native to Asia, it is invading all the continents, causing a considerable nuisance, and being able to transmit viruses responsible for such serious diseases as dengue or chikungunya.

25 Mar 2015

Insect-borne diseases increase with warmer climate

Insects, such as mosquitoes and ticks, are responsible for transmitting a range of diseases, such as malaria, chikungunya, dengue fever, and West Nile virus. The risk of contracting such illnesses is generally only considered when booking an exotic holiday. However, experts from the Emergency Response Department at Public Health England have warned that climate change could allow such vector-borne diseases to emerge closer to home.

23 Mar 2015