Futurity.org » West Nile virus

3D model reveals enzyme’s attack

Sally Sherwen-Melbourne — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:29:31 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) —Scientists have determined the structure of the enzyme endomannosidase, which clarifies how viruses like HIV and Hepatitis C hijack human enzymes.

The findings open the door to the development of new drugs to combat these deadly viruses that infect more than 180 million people worldwide.

Software predicts West Nile’s ground zero

David Orenstein-Brown — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:04:30 +0000

BROWN U. (US) — A computer model of the spread of West Nile virus in California in 2005 was able to predict areas where human cases would be concentrated, especially around Sacramento.

The success of the model, say researchers, depended on its focus on biological factors and on a high volume of reports from members of the public.

Bacteria fighter downs dengue fever

Mary Jane Gore-Duke — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:15:24 +0000

DUKE (US) — Cells that help the body ward off bacteria and pathogens do double duty by also recognizing viruses in time to create an immune response.

“It appears the mast cells are activated and call immune system cells to the skin where they clear infection, which limits the spread of infection in the host,” says Ashley St. John, a research fellow at Duke University.
St. John and colleagues chose to study the dengue virus because mosquitoes inject the virus through the skin, which is rich in mast cells.

Costly cuts to mosquito monitoring

Beverly Clark-Emory — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:37:54 +0000

EMORY (US) — Slashing funding for mosquito-borne disease surveillance would not save money, according to a new report.

Such cuts would likely translate into an exponential increase in both the number of human cases and the health costs when a disease outbreak occurs.

Sewage helps spread West Nile virus

Carol Clark-Emory — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:04:36 +0000

EMORY (US)—Sewage that overflows into urban creeks and streams during periods of heavy rain can promote the spread of West Nile virus, a study finds.

The analysis of six years of data showed that people living near creeks with sewage overflows in lower-income neighborhoods of Southeast Atlanta had a seven times higher risk for West Nile virus than the rest of the city.

Robins hold clues in West Nile ‘crime story’

Debra Levey Larson-Illinois — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:55:42 +0000

U. ILLINOIS (US)—The primary culprit in spreading West Nile virus—the common mosquito, Culex pipiens—appears to have a significant, albeit unwitting, accomplice: the robin.

“Robins are what we call super-amplifiers of the disease,” says Jeff Brawn, an ornithologist at the University of Illinois.

Birds of a feather don’t fight infection together

Kitta MacPherson-Princeton — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:02:46 +0000

Using radio transmitters to measure fever and sickness behavior in various populations of North American song sparrows living in the wild, a team of scientists has discovered that different populations of the same animal species respond differently with fever when they fight infection in the wild. It is believed that the discovery will help predict where infections hazardous to human will spread. (Credit: Kamiel Spoelstra/Princeton)

PRINCETON (US)—Different populations of the same animal species don’t always use fever to fight infection the same way.

The findings may help scientists predict the locations where diseases carried by animals are most likely to take hold—and could forecast where infections—including those that can have serious effects on humans, such as West Nile virus—will spread. The results were published in the journal Functional Ecology.

West Nile likely traveled by mosquito, not bird

Tim Parsons-JHU — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:56:33 +0000

The westward spread of West Nile virus across the United States may have been the doing of mosquitoes. “In the past, people assumed that birds played the primary role in the spread of West Nile,” said senior author Jason Rasgon. “However, the rapid spread of West Nile did not follow a leap-frog pattern or move north to south along migratory bird routes like we would expect.” (Courtesy: iStockphoto)

JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—Mosquitoes, not birds as previously thought, may be to blame for West Nile virus’s rapid westward spread across the United States.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University reach that conclusion in a study in the March 2 edition of Molecular Ecology.

Down dengue fever with flightless mosquitoes

Tom Vasich-UC Irvine — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:40:58 +0000

Infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit the virus causing dengue fever, but they are rendered flightless in a new strain genetically engineered by UCI and British scientists. “Controlling the mosquito that transmits this virus could significantly reduce human morbidity and mortality,” says says Anthony James. (Credit: James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)

UC IRVINE (US)—A new strain of mosquitoes in which the females can’t fly may help curb the transmission of dengue fever, one of the world’s most pressing public health issues.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues from the University of Oxford and Oxitec Ltd. created the new breed and expect the flightless females to die quickly in the wild, curtailing the number of mosquitoes and reducing—or even eliminating—dengue transmission.

Mosquito surveillance on the cheap

Beverly Clark-Emory — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:25:01 +0000

Anyone with access to a hardware store, and about $45 to $70, can make the Prokopack mosquito aspirator, which uses a battery-powered motor to suck up live mosquitoes for analysis. “This device has broad potential, not only for getting more accurate counts of mosquito populations, but for better understanding mosquito ecology,” says Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, the invention’s namesake.

EMORY—Researchers believe they have come up with the most inexpensive and efficient way to monitor adult mosquitoes and the deadly diseases they carry, including malaria and West Nile virus.

“This device has broad potential, not only for getting more accurate counts of mosquito populations, but for better understanding mosquito ecology,” says Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, the invention’s namesake and a post-doctoral fellow in environmental studies at Emory University.