Ebola Virus Disease News and Research

Latest Ebola Virus Disease News and Research

Study finds novel small molecule that inhibits EboV entry into host cells

Ebola virus (EboV) is the cause of sporadic outbreaks of highly fatal infections in Africa that are unpredictable in onset and rapid in progression. There is no effective vaccine or therapy for EboV infection.

25 Aug 2011

Scientists identify cellular protein that plays a critical role in Ebola virus infection

Research published by two teams of Army scientists and collaborators has identified a cellular protein that plays a critical role in Ebola virus infection.

25 Aug 2011

Scientists identify critical protein responsible for Ebola virus infection

In separate papers published online in Nature, two research teams report identifying a critical protein that Ebola virus exploits to cause deadly infections. The protein target is an essential element through which the virus enters living cells to cause disease.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers discover NPC1 protein as crucial for Ebola virus to enter host cells

Although outbreaks are rare, Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is one of the deadliest known viruses affecting humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1,850 EHF cases with more than 1,200 deaths have been documented since the virus was identified in 1976.

25 Aug 2011

New ‘cure-all’ antiviral method discovered

In a new development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection.

15 Aug 2011

UVA biologists discover new information about how Ebola virus works

Molecular and cell biologists at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered new information about how the Ebola virus works that could eventually lead to new drug treatments for the deadly virus.

6 Jul 2011

Medicago, USAMRIID enter research collaboration for Ebola vaccine candidate

Medicago Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) for the development of a plant-based VLP vaccine candidate for the prevention of Ebola. Ebola is a very serious hemorrhagic fever virus for which no licensed treatment or vaccine exists.

26 May 2011

Zaire ebolavirus may replicate in pigs and transmit to other animals

Canadian investigators have shown that a species of ebolavirus from Zaire that is highly virulent in humans can replicate in pigs, cause disease, and be transmitted to animals previously unexposed to the virus.

13 May 2011

Post-infection treatment with NanoViricides FluCide reduces lung lesions caused by lethal influenza infection

NanoViricides, Inc. reports that post-infection treatment with its optimized FluCide™ drug candidates resulted in dramatic reduction in the number of lung lesions that are caused by a lethal influenza virus infection. These findings were seen in the most recent H1N1 influenza animal study.

5 Apr 2011

Abbott launches PLEX-ID Biothreat Assay to detect, distinguish 17 different pathogens

Abbott announced today that it has introduced the PLEX-ID Biothreat Assay, which is designed to detect and distinguish 17 different biothreat pathogens.

7 Feb 2011

Small molecules may inhibit entry of Ebola into human cells

Ebola, a virus that causes deadly hemorrhagic fever in humans, has no known cure or vaccine. But a new study by University of Illinois at Chicago scientists has uncovered a family of small molecules which appear to bind to the virus's outer protein coat and may inhibit its entry into human cells.

20 Jan 2011

New groundbreaking research advances understanding of HIV

It is estimated that 38 million people worldwide are currently infected with HIV and that 4.1 million more are added each year. For scientists to design treatment therapies that are effective over the long-term it is essential to learn more about how the virus mutates and develops resistance to medications.

13 Dec 2010

New simple diagnostic tool to detect dangerous viruses

Boston University researchers have developed a simple diagnostic tool that can quickly identify dangerous viruses like Ebola and Marburg. The biosensor, which is the size of a quarter and can detect viruses in a blood sample, could be used in developing nations, airports and other places where natural or man-made outbreaks could erupt.

22 Nov 2010

Sen. Lugar highlights potential bioterrorism threat posed by unsecured medical facilities in East Africa

Senator Dick Lugar on Friday said that poorly secured medical laboratories in East African countries, which host insurgent groups linked to Al Qaeda, are vulnerable to bioterrorism, Agence France-Presse reports.

16 Nov 2010

Modified sugar compound protects against world's deadliest viruses

When a team of European researchers sought to discover how a class of antiviral drugs worked, they looked in an unlikely place: the sugar dish. A new research report appearing in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that a purified and modified form of a simple sugar chain may stop fast-acting and deadly viruses, such as Ebola, Lassa, or Marburg viruses, in their tracks.

4 Nov 2010

Paragon Bioservices awarded contract to assist USAMRIID in vaccine development efforts

Paragon Bioservices, a Baltimore-based CMO focused on the contract research, process development and manufacturing of biologics, announced today that it has been awarded a $4.99 million contract to assist the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases in its vaccine development efforts.

22 Oct 2010

Researchers investigate reverse zoonosis in marine invertebrate

The spread of lethal diseases from animals to humans has long been an issue of great concern to public health officials. But what about diseases that spread in the other direction, from humans to wildlife. A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Georgia has just been awarded a five-year $2 million Ecology of Infectious Diseases grant from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health to study the first known case of such a "reverse zoonosis" that involves the transmission of a human pathogen to a marine invertebrate, elkhorn coral.

21 Oct 2010

NIH awards grant to Bavarian to advance early research in filoviruses

Bavarian Nordic A/S announced today that the company has received funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance its early research in filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg virus).

14 Oct 2010

“Black Death” of the Middle ages blamed on bacteria

Black Death or plague that killed an estimated one-third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages has been ascribed to a bacteria called Yersinia pestis by anthropologists.

10 Oct 2010

Aethlon Medical reestablishes efforts to advance Aethlon Hemopurifier

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, disclosed today that it has reestablished efforts to advance the Aethlon Hemopurifier within U.S. Government programs that support the development and purchase of treatment countermeasures against bioterror threats.

21 Sep 2010