zika virus

Person to person Zika virus transmission

The title of a Eurosurveillance article, “An autochthonous case of Zika due to possible sexual transmission, Florence, Italy, 2014” was written to make the headlines. The title should be “An autochthonous case of Zika due to person to person contact, Florence, Italy, 2014.” An Italian man returns from a 10 day holiday in Thailand and a day later develops a …

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TWiV 377: Chicken with a side of Zika

On episode #377 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVniks review the past week’s findings on Zika virus and microcephaly, and reveal a chicken protein that provides insight on the restriction of transmission of avian influenza viruses to humans. You can find TWiV #377 at microbe.tv/twiv, or you can listen below. [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV377.mp3″] Click arrow …

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Rubella virus and birth defects

Amidst the fear surrounding Zika virus, remember that there are over 100,000 children born each year with birth defects caused by infection with rubella virus. The virus Rubella virus is a member of the Togaviridae family, which also includes chikungunya virus. The genome is a 9.7 kilobase, positive strand RNA enclosed in a capsid and surrounded by a membrane …

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Scientists, share your Zika virus reagents!

Today I learned that a number of investigators refuse to share their samples of Zika virus with other laboratories. There are countless stories about scientists not sharing reagents because they want to be the first to make a discovery. This behavior allows them to publish first, secure more grant funding, garner invitations to speak at meetings, and generally stroke their egos. This …

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