http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. An invisible barrier separates land animals in Australia from those in south-east Asia may also restrict the spillover of animal-borne diseases like avian flu, but researchers have found that fruit bats on either side of this line can carry Nipah virus, a pathogen that causes severe human disease. The findings are published April 24 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Andrew Breed from the University of Queensland, Australia and colleagues from other institutions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-biogeographic-barrier-australia-avian-flu.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:00:07 EST news286037828 EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, released new research on Ebola virus in fruit bats in the peer reviewed journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases, a monthly publication by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found Ebola virus antibodies circulating in ~4% of the 276 bats scientists screened in Bangladesh. These results suggest that Rousettus fruit bats are a reservoir for Ebola, or a new Ebola-like virus in South Asia. The study extends the range of this lethal disease further than previously suspected to now include mainland Asia. "Research on Filoviruses in Asia is a new frontier of critical importance to human health, and this study has been vital to better understand the wildlife reservoirs and potential transmission routes for Ebola virus in Bangladesh and the region," said Dr. Kevin Olival, lead author and Senior Research Scientist at EcoHealth Alliance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-reservoir-ebola-virus-bangladesh.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:16:11 EST news277575305 Could pigs be an unexpected source for transmitting the deadly Ebola virus? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-canada-lab-probes-pig-link.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:10:01 EST news272198526 A horse was put down in Australia after contracting the deadly Hendra virus -- the ninth animal to die in an outbreak which has exposed almost 50 people in two states. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-killer-australian-virus-outbreak-ninth.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:33:41 EST news229840407