ZIKA VIRUS NEWS SOURCE

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In Chaos, researchers developed a model to spatially distribute mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria, which reduce the transmission of the dengue virus. The researchers use real data on human and vector activity in a framework that can be analyzed from a mathematical point of view, allowing them to re-create and understand the epidemiological situation and identify those geographical areas with the greatest vulnerability, creating a ranking of areas that prioritizes those where Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes can have the strongest and most beneficial impact on the spread of the virus.

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Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have found that Zika virus can mutate to become more infective—and potentially break through pre-existing immunity.

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New funding from the Gates Foundation will support cutting-edge genetics strategies designed implement and safely restrain gene drives that help stop the spread of malaria, which annually infects more than 200 million people.

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In what they call surprise findings, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists report that — unlike fruit flies — mosquitoes’ odor sensing nerve cells shut down when those cells are forced to produce odor-related proteins, or receptors, on the surface of the cell.

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An invasive species of mosquito has established itself in three Iowa counties, according to data from Iowa State University entomologists. The species is capable of transmitting disease, but ISU experts said the species’ arrival is no cause for alarm.

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New research indicates that a common mosquito species (after detecting a telltale gas that we exhale) flies toward specific colors, including red and orange. Scientists believe these findings help explain how mosquitoes find hosts, since human skin, regardless of pigmentation, emits a red-orange “signal” to their eyes.

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A Zika virus vaccine candidate is effective at preventing the Zika virus passing from mother to fetus in preclinical animal studies, according to a new study in the journal npj Vaccines. The research is a collaboration between Trudeau Institute, Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC), and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), where the vaccine was developed.

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A family of proteins best known for their role in diminishing HIV infectivity may have the goods to outwit other emerging and re-emerging viruses, scientists have found.

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Scientists have created the precision-guided sterile insect technique, a new CRISPR-based technology to control Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading wide-ranging diseases including dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika.

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Expert Q&A: Do breakthrough cases mean we will soon need COVID boosters? The extremely contagious Delta variant continues to spread, prompting mask mandates, proof of vaccination, and other measures. Media invited to ask the experts about these and related topics.

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The mosquito protein AEG12 strongly inhibits the family of viruses that cause yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and Zika and weakly inhibits coronaviruses, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators. They found that AEG12 works by destabilizing the viral envelope, breaking its protective covering.

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Artificial light abnormally increases mosquito biting behavior at night in a species that typically prefers to bite people during the day, according to research from the University of Notre Dame that was published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

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More than 100 million infections of Zika virus within Central and South America and the Caribbean went undetected between 2015 and 2018, according to a new study.