All posts tagged: virus

NHS shingles vaccine targeting herpes zoster virus could significantly delay onset of dementia, study suggests | Science & Tech News

NHS shingles vaccine targeting herpes zoster virus could significantly delay onset of dementia, study suggests | Science & Tech News

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A vaccine being used by the NHS to prevent shingles could also significantly delay the onset of dementia, according to new research that has left scientists baffled. The study on more than 200,000 older people shows those who were given the ‘recombinant’ vaccine Shingrix were diagnosed with dementia an average of 164 days later than those given an older-style jab. The effect was as pronounced as the first new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, which are currently awaiting approval by UK medicines regulators. The scientists behind the study say they don’t know what the biological mechanism is for the effect, but it is highly statistically significant. “It is correlation, not causation,” said one. Previous studies have hinted the shingles vaccine may also have an effect on dementia, but this is by far the most significant research to date. The researchers seized on an opportunity for what they called a “natural experiment”. In 2017, the United States switched almost overnight from using a live vaccine called Zostavax to Shingrix, which is made using genetic techniques. Both target …

Scientists Backtrack, Admit Proposed Virus Experiments Could Have Been Done In China

Scientists Backtrack, Admit Proposed Virus Experiments Could Have Been Done In China

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Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Scientists with close ties to China and the U.S. government is now saying that risky experiments he proposed—which some experts believe could have led to the creation of SARS-CoV-2—may have been done, deviating from earlier statements. Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, testifies before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Washington, on May 1, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) Another scientist involved in the proposal also says he doesn’t know if the work was done. “To the very best of my knowledge … the work hasn’t been done,” Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, told a congressional panel this week. Mr. Daszak, however, admitted that he doesn’t know whether scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China have done the proposed experiments. “Do you know if the WIV started this work?” he was asked during a U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing in Washington. “No,” Mr. Daszak replied. “Then you can’t say that the …

Bird flu: ‘Strong evidence’ suggests virus has passed from mammals to humans for first time | Science & Tech News

Bird flu: ‘Strong evidence’ suggests virus has passed from mammals to humans for first time | Science & Tech News

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Scientists fear bird flu has spread from mammals to humans for the first time, marking another step in the evolution of the deadly virus. New analysis concludes there is “strong evidence” that a Texas farm worker who tested positive for the H5N1 virus caught it from sick dairy cattle. Although there have been other people infected with the virus in recent years – including some who have died – they all acquired it from birds. There is growing concern about the failure of American authorities to contain the spread of the virus. So far 36 herds in nine states have tested positive. But testing of milk has suggested the virus has spread far more widely. The longer it spreads unchecked in a domesticated mammal, the greater the chance of it becoming adapted to a new species – and being passed on to humans who have close contact. According to the report in The New England Journal of Medicine, the unidentified man’s symptoms were mild. He developed the eye infection conjunctivitis but had no fever and …

USDA says ground beef tests negative for bird flu virus

USDA says ground beef tests negative for bird flu virus

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The Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday that all the ground beef samples sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories for PCR testing were negative for the H5N1 bird flu virus. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service collected 30 samples of ground beef from retail outlets in the states with dairy cattle herds that had tested positive for H5N1 at the time of sample collection. “NVSL reported that all samples tested negative for H5N1. These results reaffirm that the meat supply is safe,” the USDA added. Federal authorities have been working to confirm the safety of milk and meat products after the detection of H5N1 in 34 dairy cattle herds across nine states since the end of March. Additionally, one case has been confirmed in a person in Texas. The Food and Drug Administration said preliminary results of tests on additional dairy products show pasteurization inactivates the bird flu virus. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have said the overall public health risk is low, but is higher for those …

Helpful virus could save billions of gallons of wastewater produced by the oil and gas industry

Helpful virus could save billions of gallons of wastewater produced by the oil and gas industry

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Ramón Sánchez (pictured right), a doctoral candidate within UTEP’s chemistry program, has identified a novel method for treating bacteria in ‘produced water’ through the use of bacteriophages. Ricardo Bernal, Ph.D., (pictured left) is an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UTEP and Sánchez’ doctoral advisor. (CREDIT: UTEP) The oil and gas industry generates vast quantities of wastewater, also known as produced water. A 2022 report by the Texas Produced Water Consortium estimates a staggering 168 billion gallons annually in the Permian Basin alone. This massive waste stream presents a significant challenge due to its complex chemical composition, making traditional treatment methods difficult and expensive. Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are viruses that specifically target and infect bacteria. Often lethal to a single bacterial species, phages hold immense potential for a rapid and cost-effective approach to treating produced water on an industrial scale. Ramón Antonio Sánchez, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate in UTEP’s chemistry program, emphasizes the potential impact. “If successful, this could revolutionize the way the oil and gas industry manages …

Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence allowed back in his lab after sit-in protest 

Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence allowed back in his lab after sit-in protest 

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BEIJING —  The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China said he was allowed back into his lab after he spent days locked outside, sitting in protest. Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post on Wednesday, just past midnight, that the medical center that hosts his lab had “tentatively agreed” to allow him and his team to return and continue their research for the time being. “Now, team members can enter and leave the laboratory freely,” Zhang wrote in a post on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. He added that he is negotiating a plan to relocate the lab in a way that doesn’t disrupt his team’s work with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, which hosts Zhang’s lab. Zhang and his team were suddenly told they had to leave their lab for renovations on Thursday, setting off the dispute, he said in an earlier post that was later deleted. On Sunday, Zhang began a sit-in protest outside his lab after he found he was locked out, a sign …

US commercial milk supply safe despite discovery of bird flu virus fragments

US commercial milk supply safe despite discovery of bird flu virus fragments

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said this week that about one in five U.S. commercial milk samples from a nationwide survey contained traces of bird flu virus, but it maintained that the product remains safe to consume. The public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu pathogen is minimal, the World Health Organization said Friday, adding that countries should remain vigilant and work to reduce exposure. The FDA said late Thursday that additional testing was required to determine whether a live virus was still intact in the milk samples but added that there was currently no evidence that the milk posed a danger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA said that pasteurization used in production makes the milk safe for consumption, as it heats the milk to a specific temperature to kill harmful bacteria and viruses. Further, milk from sick cows gets diverted or destroyed in the pasteurization process. The FDA said in its latest update that “to date, the retail milk studies have shown no results that would change our …

Bird flu virus traces detected in 1 in 5 pasteurized cow milk samples

Bird flu virus traces detected in 1 in 5 pasteurized cow milk samples

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Genetic material from a particularly virulent strain of bird flu virus has been found in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk, according to an April 25 update from the Food and Drug Administration. The tested milk came from a nationally representative sample and the positive results came from milk in areas with herds of dairy cows where Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or H5N1 infections have been detected. The FDA’s new test results indicate that the virus has spread further among dairy cows than previously indicated. As of April 25, bird flu had been detected in 33 herds in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio, and Texas. This particular virus strain has caused a devastating outbreak in wild and commercial birds since 2021. It first spread to mammals in 2022 and can occasionally infect humans. Only two human cases of HPAI have been reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The FDA used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) testing to inspect the milk samples. …

Bird flu virus found in one-fifth of US milk samples, testing shows

Bird flu virus found in one-fifth of US milk samples, testing shows

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However, the FDA continues to believe that America’s commercial milk supply is safe and authorities have reaffirmed that the risk to humans remains low.  Only one person, a dairy worker from Texas, one of the affected states, has been infected. The individual developed conjunctivitis, or ‘pink eye’, after close contact with a cattle herd. There have been no reports of human-to-human transmission. Mandatory testing of dairy cows moving across state borders was implemented by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday, in a bid to contain the virus and understand the extent of the outbreak.  Texas, Kansas, Michigan and Ohio are among the eight affected states, according to USDA. A separate survey of commercial milk products has also been conducted by scientists at Ohio State University. The research collected 150 samples from around the Midwest, representing dairy processing plants in 10 different states, including some where herds have tested positive for H5N1. Genetic testing found viral fragments in 58 samples, the US health website Stat reported. The presence of H5N1 in cattle has raised …

1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk contained virus fragments, FDA finds

1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk contained virus fragments, FDA finds

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The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that traces of the bird flu virus have been found in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk, providing a more detailed picture of how much of the milk supply has been affected. The tested milk came from a nationally representative sample, with more of the positive results coming from milk in areas with infected herds of dairy cows, the FDA said. A spokesperson declined to say how many samples were tested. As of Thursday, bird flu had been detected in 33 herds in eight states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio and Texas. Richard Webby, an influenza virologist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, said the number of positive samples is consistent with numbers he’s reviewed from smaller sample sets. “But the number does seem high if the number of infected farms is indeed only 30-odd,” Webby wrote in an email. “Clearly there are more infected animals out there than being reported.” The FDA first said Tuesday that it had found viral fragments …