Zoonotic & Vector-Borne Diseases

On December 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Zika-related travel and testing guidance for Brownsville, Texas and the surrounding area after local officials confirmed 5 cases of the virus linked to local mosquitoes.

Today, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a safety document cautioning healthcare providers from relying solely on commercial IgM Assay results when diagnosing Zika, as false positives have been observed.

A recent study found that azithromycin topical gel can protect against Lyme disease if administered within 72 hours of a tick bite.

Daniel Eiras, MD, MPH, hospital epidemiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses Zika virus diagnostics.

A DNA-based Zika virus vaccine developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals proves successful in phase I open-label dose-ranging human trials.

Researchers discover that being exposed to latter stages of malaria infection prevents cells from developing immunity to early liver stage infection.

Daniel Eiras, MD, MPH, hospital epidemiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, explains how hospitals and healthcare systems can identify where resources need to be allocated when preparing for Zika outbreaks.

New, cost-effective technology from a biotech start-up may be able to revolutionize Zika diagnosis.

More on the latest news regarding Zika virus research in pregnant women and their growing fetuses is included in this article.

Researchers from Brazil evaluated the use of optical coherence tomography to assess the impact of congenital Zika virus infection on infants’ eyes.

Daniel Eiras, MD, MPH, hospital epidemiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, talks about prevalence of Zika in pregnant women in New York.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have published more information on the incidence of birth defects in infants born to mother infected with the Zika virus.

Researchers found that 6% of fetuses or infants congenitally infected with the Zika virus developed birth defects.

Holly Frost, MD, pediatrics physician scientist at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, in Minocqua, Wisconsin, discusses the prevalence of Powassan virus in humans in the United States.

The latest news regarding the spread of the Zika virus in the United States, and recent discoveries on how Zika infects the human brain is included in this article.

A defense mechanism by which plants and animals fight off RNA viruses was recently observed in human cells for the first time, offering researchers a look at new ways to treat viral diseases.

Researchers from Brazil have developed a platform that can successfully diagnose hundreds of different viruses.

The authors may have also discovered a potential therapeutic target for the complication.

Scientists are studying whether wild animals play a role in the transmission of Heartland virus to humans.

Researchers in a new study have utilized the human antibody response to a salivary peptide in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to determine the effectiveness of vector-control methods.

A letter published in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal reported the first human case of EEE in Arkansas.

Researchers from the University of California-San Francisco tested the ability of 2,177 FDA-approved compounds to reduce viral proliferation in Zika-susceptible cells.

Glaucoma, a serious eye disease that can potentially cause permanent vision loss, was diagnosed in an infant with Zika.

A new study’s findings make researchers optimistic as it proves that prolonged storage and pasteurization effectively inactivated Zika in the breast milk taken from women infected with the virus.

Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, and Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, chief executive of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation discuss how governments and business organizations should prepare for pandemics, especially a potential influenza pandemic.

A Texas resident with no history of travel has been diagnosed with the Zika virus. Officials believe this may be the first case of locally-transmitted Zika in the state.

A $29 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help focus efforts on eliminating malaria from Asia-Pacific and Southern Africa.

A study of 100 chickens collected from a marketplace in India finds multidrug-resistance in an emerging bacterial pathogen, and has researchers calling for improved food safety, monitoring, and surveillance.

Most biotech and pharmaceutical companies focus their research efforts on cures for chronic diseases that plague the majority of the population because that’s where the money lies; however, is the rise in devastating infectious diseases such as Zika redirecting the lens of many companies?

The Florida Keys are primed for the release of genetically modified (GM) male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that pass a self-limiting gene to their offspring.