Global

Daniele Santos holds her baby Juan Pedro, who has microcephaly, on May 30 in Recife, Brazil. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE - Cell Reports - Zika Virus Infection in Mice Causes Panuveitis with Shedding of Virus in Tears

washingtonpost.com - by Lena H. Sun - September 6, 2016

Researchers have found that the Zika virus can live in eyes, and research in mice may help explain why some Zika patients develop eye disease, including a condition that can lead to permanent vision loss.

In a study published Tuesday in Cell Reports, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis describe the effect of Zika virus infections in the eyes of mouse fetuses, newborns and adults.

The study suggests that the eye could be a reservoir for the virus. Eye infection raises the possibility that people could become infected with Zika through contact with tears from infected people, they said.

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cidrap.umn.edu - by Lisa Schnirring  - September 2, 2016

WHO panel cites virus spread, research gaps
CLICK HERE - WHO - Fourth meeting of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations (2005) regarding microcephaly, other neurological disorders and Zika virus 

CDC funds for microcephaly, birth defects
CLICK HERE - CDC awards $2.4 million to five jurisdictions to fight Zika

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that its Zika emergency committee, which met yesterday, has recommended keeping the public health emergency in place, as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced $2.4 million in funding to help five of the nation's most populated cities detect and manage Zika-related birth defects.

CDC-Colombia effort, Singapore cases, brain cell infection
In other new Zika developments, the CDC announced a formal research collaboration with Colombia, Singapore reported more Zika cases, and researchers revealed possible differences in brain cell infections between the two Zika lineages.

statnews.com - by Helen Branswell - August 30, 2016

CLICK HERE - The Lancet Global Health - Prevention of sexual transmission of Ebola in Liberia through a national semen testing and counselling programme for survivors: an analysis of Ebola virus RNA results and behavioural data

The Ebola virus can hide itself in the testicles of men who’ve survived the disease for far longer than had been previously thought, a new study suggests.

In fact, the research reports on a man who was still emitting fragments of Ebola viruses in his semen 565 days after he became ill — or 18 months. . . .

. . . suggesting it may be due to age-related changes in the immune system.

. . . The work, published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Global Health, was done by scientists from the Liberian Ministry of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. . . .

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Dr. Angela Rocha shows brain scans of a baby born with microcephaly at the Oswaldo Cruz Hospital in Recife, Brazil.  FELIPE DANA/AP

CLICK HERE - NEJM - Prolonged Shedding of Zika Virus Associated with Congenital Infection

CLICK HERE - Radiology - Congenital Brain Abnormalities and Zika Virus: What the Radiologist Can Expect to See Prenatally and Postnatally

statnews.com - by Helen Branswell - August 24, 2016

A new report from Brazil raises questions about whether the Zika virus can continue to damage an infected infant’s brain after birth.

An infant in Sao Paulo whose mother was infected late in her second trimester was born without any visible birth defects. But testing showed the baby had the Zika virus in his blood; the virus remained in his system for at least a couple of months.

At six months, it became apparent that the child had suffered Zika-related brain damage.

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