News Focus Channel: WK Health Zika Feature 2

National Geographic's THE HOT ZONE shows biosecurity's importance

Kansas State University — Thu, 23 May 2019 13:05:41 EST

Ron Trewyn, Kansas State University NBAF liaison, writes to encourage people to watch THE HOT ZONE, a National Geographic limited series inspired by two Kansas State University veterinarians and leaders and their work during the 1989 Ebola-related outbreak in Virginia.

Repurposed Drug Found to Be Effective Against Zika Virus

UC San Diego Health — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 11:05:33 EST

In both cell cultures and mouse models, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C effectively protected and rescued neural cells infected by the Zika virus -- and blocked transmission of the virus to mouse fetuses. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Brazil and elsewhere, say their findings support further investigation of using the repurposed drug as a potential treatment for Zika-infected adults, including pregnant women.

Zika Vaccine Induces Robust Immune Responses in Three Phase 1 Trials

Beth Israel Lahey Health — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 18:30:00 EST

Healthy adults mounted strong immune responses after receiving an investigational whole inactivated Zika virus vaccine, according to interim analyses of three Phase 1, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials conducted at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and Saint Louis University School of Medicine. The findings were published today in The Lancet.

Study Raises Possibility of Naturally Acquired Immunity Against Zika Virus

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 14:00:00 EST

Birth defects in babies born infected with Zika virus remain a major health concern. Now, scientists suggest the possibility that some women in high-risk Zika regions may already be protected and not know it. New research in PLOS Pathogens on Nov. 16, performed in mice, shows women who develop symptom-free Zika infections may be able to acquire immunity that would protect them from future infections and their offspring in a future pregnancy.

Antibody Protects Against Zika and Dengue, Mouse Study Shows

Washington University in St. Louis — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 11:00:00 EST

The same countries hard hit by Zika virus - which can cause brain damage in babies infected before birth - are also home to dengue virus. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers report that they have found an antibody that protects against both viruses. These findings, in mice, could be a step towards an antibody-based preventative drug to protect fetuses from brain damage, while also protecting their mothers from both Zika and dengue disease.

Test Uses Nanotechnology to Quickly Diagnose Zika Virus

Washington University in St. Louis — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 15:30:01 EST

Currently, testing for Zika requires that a blood sample be refrigerated and shipped to a medical center or laboratory, delaying diagnosis and possible treatment. Now, Washington University in St. Louis researchers have developed a test that quickly can detect the presence of Zika virus in blood. Although the new proof-of-concept technology has yet to be produced for use in medical situations, test results can be determined in minutes, and the materials do not require refrigeration.

Rewired Taste System Reveals How Flavors Move From Tongue to Brain

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 13:00:00 EST

By creating mice with mixed-up taste sensors, HHMI Investigator Charles Zuker and colleagues show how the taste system continually remakes itself.

Can Florida Mosquitoes Transmit New Strains of Painful Chikungunya Virus?

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 14:05:20 EST

UF/IFAS researchers used a baseline comparison of infection and transmission rates of Florida mosquitoes to those from the Dominican Republic, a region associated with numerous human cases. Barry Alto, an associate professor of entomology at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, led a team of UF/IFAS researchers that measured mosquito infection and transmission of the emergent strains of chikungunya -- Asian and Indian Ocean - in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.

Vaccines Protect Fetuses From Zika Infection, Mouse Study Shows

Washington University in St. Louis — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 12:00:00 EST

A new study in mice shows that females vaccinated before pregnancy and infected with Zika virus while pregnant bear pups who show no trace of the virus. The findings offer the first evidence that an effective vaccine can protect vulnerable fetuses from Zika infection and resulting injury.

Southern Research Probe of Zika Virus Looks Into 'Rebound Virus'

Southern Research — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 10:05:29 EST

Southern Research scientists are investigating how the Zika virus is able to find a safe harbor in an infected host's tissue and stage a rebound weeks after the virus was seemingly cleared by the immune system.

Zika Infections Could Be Factor in More Pregnancies

University of Wisconsin-Madison — Thu, 25 May 2017 14:00:00 EST

Zika virus infection passes efficiently from a pregnant monkey to its fetus, spreading inflammatory damage throughout the tissues that support the fetus and the fetus's developing nervous system, and suggesting a wider threat in human pregnancies than generally appreciated.

Could Yellow Fever Rise Again?

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 10:05:33 EST

Many people might not have heard of the Aedes aegypti mosquito until this past year, when the mosquito, and the disease it can carry - Zika - began to make headlines. But more than 220 years ago, this same breed of mosquito was spreading a different and deadly epidemic right here in Philadelphia and just like Zika, this epidemic is seeing a modern resurgence, with Brazil at its epicenter.

Pre-Existing Immunity to Dengue and West Nile Viruses May Cause Increased Risk in Zika-Infected

Mount Sinai Health System — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:05:58 EST

As the Zika virus continues to spread rapidly across the globe, it might pose a particular risk to people previously infected with two related viruses, dengue and West Nile, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found. Their study, published in the journal Science, may help explain the severe manifestations of Zika virus infection observed in specific populations, including those in South America.

Saint Louis University Researchers Predict Zika Hot Spots in the U.S.

Saint Louis University Medical Center — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 11:05:30 EST

Researchers predicted the places in the continental U.S. where Zika is most likely to be transmitted are the Mississippi delta and southern states extending northward along the Atlantic coast and in southern California.

For Female Mosquitoes, Two Sets of Odor Sensors Are Better Than One

Vanderbilt University — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 16:05:54 EST

A team of Vanderbilt biologists has found that the malaria mosquito has a second complete set of odor receptors that are specially tuned to human scents.

Device Will Rapidly, Accurately and Inexpensively Detect Zika Virus at Airports and Other Sites

Florida Atlantic University — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 09:00:06 EST

About the size of a tablet, a portable device that could be used in a host of environments like a busy airport or even a remote location in South America, may hold the key to detecting the dreaded Zika virus accurately, rapidly and inexpensively using just a saliva sample. For about $2 and within 15 minutes, researchers hope to accurately determine whether or not an individual has an active infection.

Scripps Florida Scientists Find Clue to Why Zika, but Not Its Close Relatives, Causes Birth Defects

Scripps Research Institute — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:05:39 EST

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have uncovered the details behind the virus's unique ability to cross the placental barrier and expose the fetus to a range of birth defects that often go beyond microcephaly to include eye and joint injury, and even other types of brain damage.

University of Miami Doctors Publish Study of First Locally-Acquired Zika Transmission

University of Miami Health System, Miller School of Medicine — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 14:05:27 EST

Following the recent Zika outbreak in Miami-Dade County, a multidisciplinary team of physicians with the University of Miami Health System and Miller School of Medicine published a case study today in The New England Journal of Medicine, describing in detail the nation's first locally-transmitted case of Zika.

Penn Study Identifies Potent Inhibitor of Zika Entry Into Human Cells

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 12:00:00 EST

Researchers identified a panel of small molecules that inhibit Zika virus infection, including one that stands out as a potent inhibitor of Zika viral entry into relevant human cell types. They screened a library of 2,000 bioactive compounds for their ability to block Zika virus infection in three distinct cell types using two strains of the virus.

New Mechanism to Control Human Viral Infections Discovered

University of California, Riverside — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:00:46 EST

A team of researchers, co-led by a University of California, Riverside professor, has found a long-sought-after mechanism in human cells that creates immunity to influenza A virus, which causes annual seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics.