Hantavirus News and Research

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Simple paper strip test can rapidly diagnose Ebola

When diagnosing a case of Ebola, time is of the essence. However, existing diagnostic tests take at least a day or two to yield results, preventing health care workers from quickly determining whether a patient needs immediate treatment and isolation.

25 Feb 2015

Researchers report first evidence of Seoul hantavirus in wild rats in the Netherlands

In a paper just published in the peer reviewed journal Infection, Ecology & Epidemiology, researchers report discovering the first evidence of Seoul hantavirus (SEOV) in the wild rat population in the Netherlands. The discovery comes on the heels of similar ones in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom in recent years, and has some researchers concerned about the potential spread of the virus to humans.

16 Feb 2015

Study provides proof of concept for developing antibodies against human pathogens

Scientists investigating the potentially deadly hantavirus have used a novel approach to developing protective antibodies against it. Their work, published in today's online edition of Science Translational Medicine, provides proof of concept for producing antibodies against a broad range of human pathogens.

28 Nov 2014

IU Bloomington biologists to receive funding from NSF’s Dimensions of Biodiversity Program

Indiana University Bloomington biologists who specialize in the ecology and evolution of microbes have been named one of 12 teams in the nation to receive funding from the National Science Foundation's Dimensions of Biodiversity Program.

17 Oct 2014

Researchers develop animal model of human hantavirus pulmonary syndrome

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have developed an animal model of human hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in rhesus macaques, an advance that may lead to treatments, vaccines and improved methods of diagnosing the disease.

29 Apr 2014

UTMB experts honored with Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to study of deadly diseases

The global experts who study the deadliest infectious diseases recognized the contributions of Frederick A. Murphy and Thomas G. Ksiazek, professors at the University of Texas Medical Branch, with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 6th annual International Symposium on Filoviruses. The filoviruses include Ebola and Marburg viruses that cause death in 50 to 90 percent of people infected. The current outbreak of Ebola virus raging in West Africa has caused more than 100 deaths so far.

16 Apr 2014

Microbiologists find way to use statins to fight Hantavirus

wo Perelman School of Medicine microbiologists may have found a way to use statins, the well-known blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drugs, to fight the hantavirus, a mysterious and lethal microorganism that appeared suddenly in the US southwest over 20 years ago.

12 Feb 2014

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and herpesvirus saimiri: an interview with Elazar Rabbani, Chief Executive Officer of Enzo

Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition where fibrotic or scarred tissue progressively develops in the lungs. In some cases the particular cause is known but in others it remains unknown and is given the term “idiopathic”.

14 Jan 2014

Report shows 2824 new cases of hantavirus disease in Germany in 2012

2824 new cases of hantavirus disease were reported in Germany in 2012, the highest number ever in a single year. In the current issue of Deutsches -rzteblatt International, Detlev Kr-ger and coauthors present the main facts about this disease (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2013; 110[27-28]: 461-7).

25 Jul 2013

Ecology, evolution of infectious diseases to be highlighted at ESA's annual meeting

West Nile virus, Lyme disease and hantavirus. All are infectious diseases spreading in animals and in people. Is human interaction with the environment somehow responsible for the increase in these diseases? The ecology and evolution of infectious diseases will be highlighted at two symposia at the Ecological Society of America's annual meeting, held from Aug. 5-9 in Minneapolis, Minn.

29 Jun 2013

UNM scientists identify chemical compound that appears to control cell metastases

It's the spread of the original cancer tumor that kills most people. That's why cancer researchers vigorously search for drugs that can prevent metastases, the spread of cancer. The research team co-led by Angela Wandinger-Ness, PhD, and Larry Sklar, PhD, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center has found a chemical compound that appears to control cell migration and adhesion, two important characteristics of metastatic cancer cells.

14 Mar 2013

Global trade pressures may heighten disease incidence

The pressures of global trade may heighten disease incidence by dictating changes in land use. A boom in disease-carrying ticks and chiggers has followed the abandonment of rice cultivation in Taiwanese paddies, say ecologist Chi-Chien Kuo and colleagues, demonstrating the potential for global commodities pricing to drive the spread of infections.

24 Sep 2012

Scientists succeed in clarifying molecular signature of hantaviruses

Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Labor Berlin GmbH have succeeded in clarifying the molecular signature of the viruses that lead to an increasing size and number of hantavirus outbreaks in Germany.

3 Sep 2012

Drug molecules designed for influenza may be adapted to treat other viruses

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study shows how compounds blocking an enzyme universal to all influenza viruses may allow development of new antiviral drugs that also avoid the problem of drug resistance

3 Aug 2012

Tick-borne disease identified as emerging threat

Five years ago, large numbers of farmers in central China began falling victim to an mysterious disease marked by high fever, gastrointestinal disorder and an appalling mortality rate - as high as 30 percent in initial reports. Investigators from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention hurried to the scene of the outbreak. On the basis of DNA evidence, they quickly concluded that it had been caused by human granulocytic anaplasmosis, a bacteria transmitted by tick bites.

24 Mar 2011

Study reveals expansion of NK cells after acute infection

The natural killer cells of our immune defense are activated for an extended period after the acute infection, which challenges the prevailing view that the elevation and activation of cells quickly pass.

3 Mar 2011

Green on satellite images warns of hantavirus outbreaks

The risk of deadly hantavirus outbreaks in people can be predicted months ahead of time by using satellite images to monitor surges in vegetation that boost mouse populations, a University of Utah study says. The method also might forecast outbreaks of other rodent-borne illnesses worldwide.

15 Feb 2011

NPMA offers tips to recognize and avoid rodent infestations this winter

With the flu and common colds going around, it's hard enough already to stay healthy during the winter, but a rodent infestation could mean a host of other potential health concerns. Rodents can contaminate food sources with feces that can spread Salmonella and Hantavirus. With rodents invading an estimated 21 million homes every winter, the threat to consumers is very real.

25 Jan 2011

Biodiversity degradation may have perverse consequences for emerging pathogens

Habitat destruction and species extinction may lead to an increase in diseases that infect humans and other species, according to a paper in the journal Nature co-authored by a University of Florida ecologist.

2 Dec 2010

Prairie dog study holds significant implications for understanding spread of infectious diseases

Prairie dogs, once abundant in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, have been decimated in recent decades by plague - a virulent bacterial disease spread by fleas.Plague outbreaks periodically sweep through large prairie dog towns with thousands of inhabitants, killing virtually the entire population within months. Other prairie dogs move in and build a new colony, which eventually is wiped out when the disease returns.

4 Aug 2010