Latest Tropical diseases Stories
OXFORD, England, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Oxitec scientists have reported the creation of a new flightless strain of the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. The breakthrough, reported in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, could help stop the spread of this dangerous and invasive pest. The Asian tiger mosquito is a serious nuisance biter, but is also capable of transmitting dengue fever, Chikungunya, West Nile Virus and a host of other diseases. In...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Patients who have a history of infection with West Nile virus (WNV) should be screened for chronic kidney disease (CKD), after US researchers have found varying degrees of the life-threatening disease in 40 percent of those patients who also contracted the mosquito-borne illness at an earlier time. Researchers from three organizations -- Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital and The University of Texas Health...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Florida residents are voicing their opposition to the release of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes by a British pest control company; despite the fact that the pesky critters were engineered to impede the spread of dengue fever. Dengue Fever, which comes from a virus spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, was first recognized in the 1950s, yet has become a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in tropical...
Rainfall and temperature affect the abundance of two mosquito species linked to West Nile Virus in storm catch basins in suburban Chicago, two University of Illinois researchers report. Marilyn O’Hara Ruiz, a professor of pathobiology, led the study with graduate student Allison Gardner. The study was conducted using mosquito larvae collected from catch basins in Alsip, a southwest suburb. The researchers examined weather factors that influenced the levels of mosquito larvae in the...
Study at UCSF and Yale finds protease inhibitors are potent, single-day cures for disease in hamsters A drug candidate that is nearing clinical trials against a Latin American parasite is showing additional promise as a cure for hookworm, one of the most widespread and insidious parasites afflicting developing nations, according to a collaborative study at UCSF and Yale University. The drug candidate, known by the scientific name K11777, is under development at UCSF and is targeted to...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online With summer now in full swing, many of us will be entertaining with picnics and barbecues and socializing outside. Chances are, you’ll find some unwanted guests at your outdoor activities. Mosquitoes seem to have a mysterious ability to locate human prey and Zainulabeuddin Syed, a mosquito biologist with the University of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health, has gone a long way towards figuring out how they do it. What...
New study published in Vaccine indicates cost of production could be as low as $0.20 per dose Research funded by the Dengue Vaccine Initiative (DVI) involving an economic analysis of producing a tetravalent dengue vaccine shows that the cost could be as low as $0.20 per dose with an annual production level of 60 million doses packaged in ten-dose vials. The study used data on a vaccine developed by US NIH and the facilities of the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo, Brazil. These findings...
DALLAS, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Confirmed human cases of the West Nile Virus (WNV) in Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties are leading many Texans to question whether or not they are doing all they can to protect themselves and their families from potentially harmful mosquitoes. Recent rains, coupled by a warm winter and early spring, have exacerbated this year's mosquito activity. Local entomologists are expanding upon recommendations for residents to help manage mosquitoes in...
DALLAS, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reports of the West Nile Virus (WNV) in 17 California counties and confirmation of the state's first human case this year are leading many residents to question whether or not they are doing all they can to protect themselves and their families from potentially harmful mosquitoes. The recent warm winter and early spring have exacerbated this year's mosquito activity. Local entomologists are expanding upon tips for residents to...
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO) WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27: MOSQUITO CONTROL Profile America -- Wednesday, June 27th(. )It's summer, and one of the perennial pests of the season is mosquitos. While most people think of them as inconvenient, there is a deadly side to these flying insects, in the form of West Nile virus and...
Latest Tropical diseases Reference Libraries
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease with a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family. It is transmitted by the bite of female mosquitoes and is found in tropical and subtropical areas in South America and Africa, but not in Asia. Primates and a few kinds of mosquitoes are the only known hosts. The origin of the disease is most likely Africa. From there it was introduced to South America through the slave trade in the 16th century. There...
West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. It is part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses and is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It primarily infects birds but can infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, and other mammals. Humans are generally infected through the bites of mosquitoes and about 90% of West Nile Virus infections are without symptoms. The virion is 45-60 nm and covered with a relatively smooth protein surface. It is...
Marburg virus, or Marburg, is the standard name for the genus of viruses Marburgvirus which contains the species, Lake Victoria Marburgvirus. It causes Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever (MHF) which originated with primates. It originated in Africa and can infect humans and primates. It is in the same taxonomic family as Ebola and both are identical structurally although they elicit different antibodies. It was named after the location of the first outbreak in Marburg, Germany in 1967. The...
Lassa fever, first described in 1969 in Lassa, is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever. Clinical cases were known a decade before this but were not associated with this viral pathogen. It is endemic in West African countries and causes approximately 5,000 deaths. The Natal Multimammate Mouse is the primary animal host. The rodent is a source of protein but the virus is usually transmitted by the contact with the feces and urine of animals accessing grain stores in residences. The lassa virus...
Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), caused by the dengue virus, is among the spectrum of acute febrile tropical disease and is transmitted by mosquitoes. Occurring mainly in the tropics it can be life threatening and is caused by four closely related virus stereotypes of the genus Flavivirus. It was identified and named in 1779. It has a nickname of "breakbone fever" due to it causing sever generalized bodyache. It tends to be more prevalent in the urban districts of its range...
