Bit of duck DNA might protect poultry from flu, scientists say
Influenza has for years ravaged domesticated chickens. Now scientists suggest that a small piece of duck DNA might protect the farm birds against the virus -- saving commercial flocks and lessening the...
View ArticleInsights into environmental conditions that affect highly pathogenic bird flu...
On the eve of the 2010-11 influenza flu season, scientists and engineers have identified the environmental conditions and surfaces that could enable a highly pathogenic (H5N1) bird flu virus to survive...
View ArticleMigratory birds, domestic poultry and avian influenza
The persistence and recurrence of H5N1 avian influenza in endemic regions can largely be blamed on movement and infection by migratory birds. Trade in poultry, poultry products and caged birds, and...
View ArticleBird flu batters South African ostrich farms
Once filled with hundreds of ostriches, the fields of the Klein Karoo are strangely empty.
View ArticleDetails of lab-made bird flu won't be revealed (Update)
The U.S. government paid scientists to figure out how the deadly bird flu virus might mutate to become a bigger threat to people - and two labs succeeded in creating new strains that are easier to spread.
View ArticleUS official says bird flu limits not 'censorship'
Leading US health official Anthony Fauci on Wednesday rejected claims that the United States is censoring science by seeking to limit potentially dangerous bird flu information in major journals.
View ArticleControversial 'bird flu' edits move ahead
Top US scientists on Wednesday defended their bid to stop details of a mutant bird flu virus from being published and called for global cooperation to ward off an uncontrollable pandemic.
View ArticleBird flu researchers agree to 60-day halt (Update 2)
International scientists on Friday agreed to a temporary two-month halt to controversial research on a bird flu virus that may be easily passed among humans, citing global health concerns.
View ArticleFour US swans die from bird flu virus
Four swans found dead in Massachusetts had the bird flu virus, authorities said Wednesday, stressing that the strain was not dangerous to humans.
View ArticleGo-ahead for bird flu study publication after security check (Update)
Bird flu experts meeting in Geneva on Friday ruled that controversial research on a mutant form of the virus potentially capable of being spread among humans should be made public.
View ArticleUS journal editor backs change to bird flu policy
The editor of the US journal Science said Friday he supports the decision of bird flu experts in Geneva to make public controversial research about a mutant form of the H5N1 virus.
View ArticleStudy explores potential benefits, threats of nanotechnology research
Every day scientists learn more about how the world works at the smallest scales. While this knowledge has the potential to help others, it's possible that the same discoveries can also be used in ways...
View ArticleResearchers develop affordable and portable disease diagnostics for...
(Phys.org)—When viruses like HIV/AIDS strike in underdeveloped regions of the world, they often spiral out of control in part because there is no easy way to bring diagnostic equipment to remote areas...
View ArticleMutation altering stability of surface molecule in acid enables H5N1...
A single mutation in the H5N1 avian influenza virus that affects the pH at which the hemagglutinin surface protein is activated simultaneously reduces its capacity to infect ducks and enhances its...
View ArticleResearchers use microRNA to trap mutant viruses in the lab
(Phys.org) —It's a scenario straight out of a sci-fi horror flick. Scientists take a deadly virus that people can only catch from birds and genetically engineer it so we can give it to each other....
View ArticleInfluenza virus in wild birds in Norway
Ducks and gulls are the natural hosts of influenza A virus. Ragnhild Tønnessen's PhD research project has characterised influenza A viruses in gulls and ducks in Norway.
View ArticleDeadly H5N1 bird flu needs just five mutations to spread easily in people
It's a flu virus so deadly that scientists once halted research on the disease because governments feared it might be used by terrorists to stage a biological attack.
View ArticleEmergency preparedness in zoos and aquariums
You need only look at the papers or television news to see the reports. Infectious disease outbreaks, weather emergencies and disasters both natural and man-made. They're all not just threats to human...
View ArticleAvian influenza expert raises concerns as USDA stockpiles vaccines
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is creating a stockpile of avian influenza vaccines, but an expert suggests careful consideration of the strategy and cautions that the strain of the next outbreak is...
View ArticleLarge scale conformational dynamics control the function of H5N1 influenza...
An international collaboration of scientists from the CEA, CNRS, University Joseph Fourier, the EMBL and the ILL has revealed the molecular function of a protein essential for replication of H5N1...
View ArticleShades of 1918? New study compares avian flu with a notorious killer from the...
In the waning months of the First World War, a lethal virus known as the Spanish flu (influenza A, subtype H1N1), swept the United States, Europe and Asia in three convulsive waves. The year was 1918....
View ArticleScientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird and...
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported the identification of human monoclonal...
View ArticleInDevR's FluChip detects, distinguishes swine-origin H1N1 from human...
InDevR, a small biotech company in Boulder, CO, and the Influenza Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta confirmed today that the M gene version of InDevR's FluChip...
View ArticleHuman nose too cold for bird flu, says new study
(PhysOrg.com) -- Avian influenza viruses do not thrive in humans because the temperature inside a person's nose is too low, according to research published today in the journal PLoS Pathogens. The...
View ArticleNew vaccine strategy might offer protection against pandemic influenza strains
A novel vaccine strategy using virus-like particles (VLPs) could provide stronger and longer-lasting influenza vaccines with a significantly shorter development and production time than current ones,...
View ArticleNew 3-D structural model of critical H1N1 protein developed
Singapore scientists report an evolutionary analysis of a critical protein produced by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain in Biology Direct journal's May 20 issue.
View ArticleStudy: Indirect transmission can trigger influenza outbreaks in birds
New data on the persistence of avian influenza viruses in the environment has allowed a team of University of Georgia researchers to create the first model that takes into account both direct and...
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