Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Mimicking the body's own defenses to destroy enveloped viruses

Just as bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance, viruses can also evade drug treatments. Developing therapies against these microbes is difficult because viruses often mutate or hide themselves within cells. But by mimicking ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Kenya must wake up to the threat of an outbreak of Rift Valley fever

Heavy rainfall in Kenya has left a trail of destruction in parts of the country, leading to deaths and rendering roads impassable. Some rivers have burst their banks and dams have overflown for the first time in many years.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Infection mechanism of Rift Valley fever virus identified

Rift Valley fever virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, is responsible for outbreaks in livestock in Africa and can also be fatal in humans. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, working with the University of Göttingen, ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

University spin out company addresses new vaccines

The University of Plymouth has launched a new spin out company which will address new vaccines for diseases which spread from animals to humans and for use in infection control.

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Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a viral zoonosis (affects primarily domestic livestock, but can be passed to humans) causing fever. It is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, typically the Aedes or Culex genera. The disease is caused by the RVF virus, a member of the genus Phlebovirus (family Bunyaviridae). The disease was first reported among livestock in Kenya around 1915, but the virus was not isolated until 1931. RVF outbreaks occur across sub-Saharan Africa, with outbreaks occurring elsewhere infrequently, but sometimes severely. In Egypt in 1977-78, several million people were infected and thousands died during a violent epidemic. In Kenya in 1998, the virus claimed the lives of over 400 Kenyans. In September 2000, an outbreak was confirmed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen). On 19 Oct 2011, the first confirmed human case of Rift Valley fever contracted in Zimbabwe was reported in a Caucasian female traveler who returned to France after a 26-day stay in Marondera, Mashonaland East Province during July and August, 2011.

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