Zika Virus News and Research

Latest Zika Virus News and Research

WHO sends experts to monitor Zika virus in Cabo Verde

Responding to a request from the Ministry of Health in Cabo Verde, the World Health Organization is sending a team to Cabo Verde, with joint participation of experts from WHO AFRO and the Institut Pasteur, Dakar.

21 Mar 2016

Findings could be final puzzle piece in developing effective dengue vaccine

In a small clinical trial led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers say that a promising single-dose dengue vaccine, developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health, was 100 percent effective in preventing human volunteers from contracting the virus, the most prevalent mosquito-borne virus in the world.

18 Mar 2016

New study further supports link between Zika virus and microcephaly

New research, based on data from the 2013-14 Zika outbreak in French Polynesia, further supports the association between Zika virus and microcephaly.

16 Mar 2016

AMP disappointed as FDA takes enforcement action against physicians for Zika virus test

The Association for Molecular Pathology, the premier global, professional society serving molecular diagnostics professionals, is very concerned and disappointed to see the FDA taking enforcement action against the physicians at Texas Children's Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital for their laboratory developed procedure (LDP) for Zika virus, which was designed to identify virus-specific RNA sequences in a large metropolitan area.

16 Mar 2016

Study: New SARS-like WIV1-CoV virus poised to infect humans

A SARS-like virus found in Chinese horseshoe bats may be poised to infect humans without the need for adaptation, overcoming an initial barrier that could potentially set the stage for an outbreak according to a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

16 Mar 2016

Biological change in mosquito mating could be used to fight mosquito-borne diseases

Genetic cues from male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes passed on during sex affect which genes are turned on or off in a females' reproductive tract post-mating, including genes related to blood feeding, egg development and immune defense, according to new Cornell research.

14 Mar 2016

WHO: International experts agree to advance R&D for Zika medical products

After a three-day consultation on Zika research and development, international experts, convened by WHO, have agreed on top priorities to advance R&D for Zika medical products.

10 Mar 2016

Researchers report first case of acute myelitis due to Zika virus infection

A first case of acute myelitis following infection with Zika virus has been reported for the first time by a research team from Inserm Unit 1127 Brain and Spinal Cord Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Sorbonne University) and neurologists at Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital and the University of the Antilles.

9 Mar 2016

SC Johnson delivers over 60,000 units of OFF! insect repellent to help protect families from Zika virus

Today, as part of its commitment to provide at least $15 million to help protect families from the Zika virus, SC Johnson announced a donation of more than 60,000 cans and bottles of OFF! personal insect repellent to the CDC Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

8 Mar 2016

NIHR HPRU announces new round of funding to support Zika virus research

A round of funding to support research on the emerging Zika virus was announced this week by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at the University of Liverpool.

8 Mar 2016

Zika virus can cause a range of abnormalities in pregnant women, study finds

New research presents strong evidence that the Zika virus can indeed cause a range of abnormalities in pregnant women infected with the virus -- with the effects manifesting any time during pregnancy. Some of the abnormalities noted have not been reported in connection with the virus.

7 Mar 2016

Researchers identify how Zika virus may cause microcephaly in fetuses

Working with lab-grown human stem cells, a team of researchers suspect they have discovered how the Zika virus probably causes microcephaly in fetuses. The virus selectively infects cells that form the brain's cortex, or outer layer, making them more likely to die and less likely to divide normally and make new brain cells.

7 Mar 2016

FSU researchers make major breakthrough in Zika virus research

Florida State University researchers have made a major breakthrough in the quest to learn whether the Zika virus is linked to birth defects with the discovery that the virus is directly targeting brain development cells and stunting their growth.

7 Mar 2016

Google gives UNICEF $1 million to help fight Zika

Google is providing UNICEF with a $1 million grant to support the charity’s efforts to combat the Zika virus.

3 Mar 2016

Study provides first evidence that Zika virus may cause Guillain-Barré syndrome

Analysis of blood samples from 42 patients diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) during the Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia provides the first evidence that Zika virus might cause GBS, a severe neurological disorder, according to new research published in The Lancet today.

2 Mar 2016

MD Biosciences launches rapid assay to detect Zika virus

MD Biosciences, Inc. Clinical and Diagnostic Services Laboratory announces the release of its rapid assay to detect the virus in human blood and urine samples. The nucleic acid test can be performed in a few hours in blood, plasma, serum or urine samples.

1 Mar 2016

Preventing the spread of Zika: an interview with Professor John Oxford

The link between the Zika virus and Guillain-Barré on the one hand, and pregnancy and the virus affecting the fetus in terms of microcephaly on the other, is still not confirmed conclusively.

1 Mar 2016

Johns Hopkins Medicine expert offers tips to prevent Zika virus

People looking forward to a warm, sunny vacation may want to pack insect repellent for their trip.

1 Mar 2016

Novel way proposed for developing infectious disease models to uncover hidden patterns of transmission

Ebola. Chikungunya. Zika. Once rare and exotic pathogens keep popping up and turning into household names. It's the new reality as the climate warms, humans expand more into wildlife habitats and air travel shrinks the distances across the globe.

27 Feb 2016

Researchers identify, isolate and characterize two Ebola virus neutralizing monoclonal antibodies

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine, affiliated to the Università della Svizzera italiana, and Humabs BioMed SA, a Swiss antibody therapeutics company, have identified, isolated and characterized two Ebola virus neutralizing monoclonal antibodies from the blood of a survivor of an Ebola infection.

27 Feb 2016