Tagged: virus

Monday Micro: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in Korea - Infectious Thoughts

Siouxsie Wiles • Jun 08, 2015 •

“MERS-CoV electron micrograph1” by Maureen Metcalfe/Cynthia Goldsmith/Azaibi Tamin – http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/photos.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. In 2012 a new virus emerged in the Middle East. Causing severe respiratory and flu-like, the disease was called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)* or “Saudi-SARS”. The virus responsible was found to be a … Read More

Monday Micro – Ebola outbreak in Guinea - Infectious Thoughts

Siouxsie Wiles • Mar 24, 2014 •

The news is full of reports of an outbreak of Ebola in the west African country of Guinea. Ebola is one of a group of related viruses which cause viral haemorrhagic fever. There is no vaccine or treatment for these viruses. So far reports are that there have been at least 80 cases with 59 deaths. Read More

Monday Micro – killer viruses - Infectious Thoughts

Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 03, 2014 •

Recent virus-related papers to get excited about: 1. Visualising HIV infection A paper just out in the open access journal PLOS Pathogens describes using 3D electron microscopy to visualise the Human Immune Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-1 infecting gut immune cells (1). If you remember, HIV is the virus which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Read More

Monday Micro – Is the new Saudi coronavirus a pandemic in waiting? - Infectious Thoughts

Siouxsie Wiles • May 13, 2013 •

Between November 2002 and July 2003, a novel respiratory virus appeared in South China, spreading first to Hong Kong and going on to infect people in 37 countries around the world. As the virus spread, thousands were quarantined, schools were shut, and many airports implemented thermal screening programmes to stop potentially infected people from getting on planes. By the end … Read More

Monday Micro: vomiting robots, oysters and the Ferrari of viruses! - Infectious Thoughts

Siouxsie Wiles • Jan 07, 2013 •

Welcome to the first Monday Micro post for 2013. Hope you all had a lovely festive season. Here in New Zealand we are enjoying our summer holidays, unlike the UK which is currently in the midst of its ‘winter vomiting virus’ season. The agent responsible, human norovirus (HuNoV) is the leading cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans, affecting all ages, … Read More

Nature publishes first of the ‘weaponised’ flu papers - Infectious Thoughts

Siouxsie Wiles • May 04, 2012 •

And it’s Open Access! Late last year it was revealed that 2 papers submitted to the journals Science and Nature had been sent to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), an American committee charged with providing guidance on the potential of research to be misused to pose a biological threat to public health or national security. Read More

TOSP Episode 23: March 5th 2012 - The Sciblogs Podcast

Aimee Whitcroft • Mar 06, 2012 •

Episode 23 of TOSP is _out_, yo! This week, aimee and Elf talk Mars, twisted radiowaves, a new livestock virus, the new number of neurons in a human brain (clue: it’s less than you might think), oxygen-generating biomaterial, SpeechJamming, meetings and IQ, using cellphone data following disasters, and the survival of the brightest. Read More

Suppressing superflu recipe: nanny state or drawing a sensible line in the sand? - Infectious Thoughts

Siouxsie Wiles • Nov 29, 2011 •

Reading New Scientist gives me my weekly reality check regarding how little I know about anything. This week I found out about a committee in the USA called the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity which is charged with providing advise and guidance on the potential of research to be misused to pose a biological threat to public health … Read More